Question Suggestions for case fans? (aiflow RL06 case)

Anderegg

Junior Member
Mar 24, 2012
8
2
81
Have an airflow Silverstone RL06 case. Need recommendations for 2 front 140mm PMW intake and 1 rear 120mm PWM exhaust fan. The RL06 case is all mesh front, and has an open mesh top where you can mount a radiator which I don't have, so I have a mesh roof. The top 140mm spot is in line with the CPU cooler fan, which is then in line with the exhaust fan. The lower 140mm would be in line with the GPU. Not really sure if I want airflow all around, or pressure in front or in back or a mix and match. My i9-9900K/RTX 3080 Ti run around 84c/70c in Real Bench with current 120mm airflow fans, so not looking at needing insane 3000rpm fans or the like, prefering something QUIETER.

The picture below is an RL06 case with triple 120mm front fans. I will be using the dual 140mm option that deletes the lower fan which really only blows air into the PS shroud anyway.

5b083294-ea00-4cda-9906-0b4bbf02850b_1.a08691da4b4b93ac86b97133c5c98a77.jpeg
 

UsandThem

Elite Member
May 4, 2000
16,068
7,380
146
Have an airflow Silverstone RL06 case. Need recommendations for 2 front 140mm PMW intake and 1 rear 120mm PWM exhaust fan. The RL06 case is all mesh front, and has an open mesh top where you can mount a radiator which I don't have, so I have a mesh roof. The top 140mm spot is in line with the CPU cooler fan, which is then in line with the exhaust fan. The lower 140mm would be in line with the GPU. Not really sure if I want airflow all around, or pressure in front or in back or a mix and match.
With a completely open mesh case, you don't have to worry about pressure at all (since there will be none). Your only considerations are airflow and noise. Since the case won't dampen fan noise at all, for the fans to be quiet you will need to run them at lower RPMs.

Two 140mm fans in front and one rear 120mm exhaust fan would be plenty. If you add more fans on top for exhausting more air, that will increase your noise level without offering any real benefit (since you case is a completely open mesh case).

That said, my favorite fans based on their sound signature/performance are Be Quiet's Silent Wing 3 fans. They offer a lower RPM 140mm version that is only 15.5 dBA at 1000 RPM here.

If you want more airflow at the expense of more noise, they also offer a high RPM version of the fan here. You can then play around with a PWM curve in your BIOS to find a good balance of noise/performance.
 

Anderegg

Junior Member
Mar 24, 2012
8
2
81
Picked up the new 140mm front fans...unfortunately, the mounting points for the case only offer positioning where the lower fan is still blowing into the PS shroud. I ended up using some zip-ties (like an animal!) I had laying around to mount them where I wanted them. What type of rubber thingies should I use to replace the zip-ties with that would work in the slots of the case...I am not sure what size the slots are or if slots are standardized width, but they are too large for the metal screws obviously. Searching Amazon...seems like I would want the really long ones to make it easier to tug them through?

The noise levels going from 3x 120mm to 2x 140mm were about 2-3c across the board for all my sensors, and much much quieter at idle and at full blast. :-D

Paul
 

Topweasel

Diamond Member
Oct 19, 2000
5,436
1,654
136
I would think having a fan blow air into the PSU shroud is rather important for PSU cooling.
EH probably not. Most cases thats just blowing on the cables. In that case the PSU should be face down getting cool air from under the case and exhausting it. Not that PSU's really get that hot any more. You can get hybrid PSU's that don't even spin up fans at 400w power usage.