What do you think of this proposed aircooling setup?

[acegazda]

I'm planning on building a system with a lian li pc-7b plus II case, and replacing the two 120mm fans with yate loons. I'm going to add an intake fan at the top of the case, and an exhaust fan on the side panel. These 4 will be controlled by a mitron 3.5" bay fan controller. For cpu cooling I'm planning on a arctic cooling freezer 64 pro, and a zalman vf900cu for the vga cooler. I may or may not get the zalman hd silencer, depends on how cheap I can get it. It might help with airflow with the front intake fan. Let me know what you think, I'm open to sugestions!
Links...
zalman hd cooler silencer
yate loon 120mm fans
zalman vf900cu
arctic cooling freezer 64 pro
mitron fan controller

 

[996GT2]

seems good, although you're going to be OCing heavily I would recommend a Scythe Ninja. Also consider Arctic Cooling fans for your case, especially the AC Fan 12 for exhaust.

 

[acegazda]

From what I've read on the forums, people have only experienced a 1-2c decre4ase in their cpu temps, have you had a different experience? How much do the ac fans cost? I can get the 4 yate loons for $21 shipped.

 

[m1ldslide1]

When picking out case fans I'd recommend looking at the CFM rating. Those Yate Loons only push 47 CFM, which is very low for a 120mm fan. Maybe someone else can educate more on the subject, but I'd look at something with much higher airflow.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835129245
This fan gets almost 90 cfm at 32dBA.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999344
This one gets 110 cfm at 39.5dBa. I just got it in the mail yesterday and it is pretty freakin' loud at 2400rpms, but it pushes a lot of air. Also it comes with a separate fan controller which it sounds like you won't need.

When I think of a fan setup, it seems like the rear case exhaust is the most important fan (besides CPU HSF) because it pulls the most air past your CPU, which is the component generating the most heat and also the component you want to be the coolest if you're OC'ing.

 

[acegazda]

both are pretty expensive at $20 shipped, each. Are they cheaper elsewhere? Thanks for the info, I only galnced at those numbers previously.

 

[RallyMaster]

AC Fan 12 should cost about 10 dollars
AF12025 should cost a bit less

Both have fluid dynamic beraings like the expensive Scythe S-Flex fans.

Also, the Silverstone recommended above is a decent fan, but personally I would stay far away from the Aerocool.

 

[m1ldslide1]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
AC Fan 12 should cost about 10 dollars
AF12025 should cost a bit less

Both have fluid dynamic beraings like the expensive Scythe S-Flex fans.

Also, the Silverstone recommended above is a decent fan, but personally I would stay far away from the Aerocool.

I guess this is the kind of thing that could use elaboration:
What do the fluid dynamic bearings buy you? Longevity? A cooler system? I saw those specs on newegg and the AC fans all pull WAY less air than the two that I linked to. They seem to have half the noise and half of the airflow, which means a quieter and warmer system as far as I understand.

Also, if cost is a concern, you could buy just one of the $20 fans and go with whatever else for the time being. I would mount it as the top rear exhaust fan and expect the performance to be similar to having two of any of the fans mentioned above. (110cfm silverstone vs 56cfm for the AC12)

My personal experience with building has been to buy one product and find out later that I should've bought a different product, and it kinda sucks. I'd rather buy one piece at a time and have superior performance to getting it all at once and finding out that I have to upgrade again once I get the bug to try to squeeze that last few mhz out of my OC...

 

[RallyMaster]

FDB gets you longer lasting fans as well as less motor noise. You don't need that much airflow. If you get too much air flowing through, it can actually be detrimental. 50 some CFM on a 120mm is perfectly enough. I'm using Cooler Master LEDs which are only 43 CFM and I've never seen this computer overheat (maxes out at 39C for CPU with fans turned up on a warm day). $20 for a fan is ridiculous. There is simply no need for 110CFM in just about all situations. 39.5dBA is also going to cause a few headaches if you don't undervolt them.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
FDB gets you longer lasting fans as well as less motor noise. You don't need that much airflow. If you get too much air flowing through, it can actually be detrimental. 50 some CFM on a 120mm is perfectly enough. I'm using Cooler Master LEDs which are only 43 CFM and I've never seen this computer overheat (maxes out at 39C for CPU with fans turned up on a warm day). $20 for a fan is ridiculous. There is simply no need for 110CFM in just about all situations. 39.5dBA is also going to cause a few headaches if you don't undervolt them.

Normally I'd agree with this but cpu temps aren't the only ones to be concerned with. I've seen multiple instances where the cpu temps were fine but PWM and video card temps were too high. My coworker just built a rig that used low cfm 120mm fans and the PWM mosfets were hitting 68C+! I could put my hand directly in front of the intake fan and I felt almost nothing. There are generally some obstacles in the way of the front intake (hdds generally) that a higher cfm fan can help overcome.

Another example is my rig. If I leave all my 120mm fans at 5V, or 40-50cfm, (two sit in the front of the case on the radiator and one sits right over the video card in the side panel) I get artifacting in FEAR while oced. Bump those up to 7-10V, or 75-90cfm, and the artifacting disappears. It generally reduces my voltage regulator temps by 5-7C with the fans turned up.

Extra cfm won't help in a lot of situations but in some it will. I recommend getting good quality, high-cfm fans and than regulating them with a fan controller. Best of both worlds IMO. I'd also recommend the Scythe Ninja over the AC Cooler. You can pick it up for $33.95 at Jab-tech with a decent fan included.

 

[RallyMaster]

This is one reason I cut out the guard in front of my HDD 120mm and threw in a wire grill. It eliminates the woosh of air as well as helps airflow. I can feel quite a bit of air flowing from my low RPM fans and HDDs are 35, 35 and 31C respectively.

 

[Elfear]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
This is one reason I cut out the guard in front of my HDD 120mm and threw in a wire grill. It eliminates the woosh of air as well as helps airflow. I can feel quite a bit of air flowing from my low RPM fans and HDDs are 35, 35 and 31C respectively.

I'm not sure why we weren't feeling much air come out of my buddy's front fan. He has a Gigabyte Poseidon case with a good honey-comb grille style. We tried to move as much out of the way as we could but it still produced very little airflow.

OP- I would recommend that you make the top fan an exhaust and the side fan an intake as hot air rises and you'll be fighting the laws of Thermodynamics with an intake at the top. The side fan will also bring fresh air right onto the cpu.

If you don't mind working with your hands a bit than I've seen a very nice mod where someone took the stock hsf from a dual core Opteron/X2 and mounted it to their video card. I've seen it done with either zipties or bolts run through the four holes on the back of the card and up through the fins of the hsf. It does take out one or possibly two PCI slots but from your sig it didn't look like they were being used anyway. Temps were a lot better than any aftermarket air cooler currently available with overvolted load temps in the 50's. They are also pretty quiet since you can put a low db 80mm fan on them or stick with the stock AMD fan which is decent.

I wouldn't worry about the hdd cooler. If you have decent airflow through your case than it shouldn't heat up, especially being a 7200rpm drive.

I'm not familiar with the pc-7b case, but from the pictures online that I found it looks like you can fit a 120mmx38mm fan in the front and rear. That would give you more airflow at the same db level. Panaflo (104cfm@41.5db or 115cfm@45.5db) and Sanyo Denki (103cfm@39db) make the best 120mm fans IMO. You can regulate them down to 7V and they would be very quiet and still push some decent cfm.

 

[acegazda]

which fans would you say have the best noise/performance ratio... the mcubed x12 seems great according to a lot of comarisons, but I can't find it at any etailers! Same with acoustifan and scythe "f" series fans. What are the dba ratings for the yate loons?

 

[acegazda]

just found a place where you can get the acoustifan dustless fan 120mm. Link. It is $36... holy crap.

 

[Howard]

That's a lot of fans. You really want to OC to the limit, eh?

 

[acegazda]

I want to try to hit 2.8ghz, do you think four fans is overkill?

 

[RallyMaster]

not guaranteed to hit 2.8Ghz though...

 

[acegazda]

I know its kind of a chance thing, I would be happy with 2.7ghz or even 2.65ghz, If I go for the scythe ninja, I should be set though...right? Also, I'd jsut like to add that panaflo, acoustifan and scythe fans for 120mm are all above $30 each... thats not happening. What I'll probably end up doing is getting that aerocool turbine fan and 3 yate loons. Or possibly jsut the 3 yate loons. Again, is 4 overkill?

 

[Howard]

I would go with just 2 and then add more later, if I had to.

 

[Operandi]

I wouldn?t bother adding anymore fans to the PC-7B. Two 120mm's is plenty and anymore is approaching the point of diminishing returns. Yate Loon is a good choice for case fans, and they post pretty accurate specs due to being a actual manufacture of fans rather then a company that just changes the label and markets somebody else?s.

For the CPU I would go with the Thermalright SI-120 with this 120mm Delta, alternatively the XP-90 with a similar Delta would be a cheaper alternative. Also give the Zalman CNPS-9500 a look. I'm just not a fan of AC's HS/Fs.

Personally I think manual fan controllers are worthless. All modern boards (excluding low-end budget boards) are able to control at least the CPU fan based on temp. Most are also able to control a 2nd fan header (system) based on system temp, typically you would use this to control the exhaust fan. Intake fans are ok to run at a low fixed speed (5v) since they have relatively little to no impact on system temp.

Although you didn't ask, it appears you plan on going with the Asus a8n-e. From a noise perspective that would be a bad idea, as well as the poor reliability of the fan. I would suggest some of the higher-end passively cooled Asus boards.

 

[Gepidae]

If you do follow through with these opinions would you please post your temps and maybe some pics of the setup? I was actually gonna buy the same exact case and was wondering about the cooling options myself. I was actually consider just turning the rear fan in and making the top fan an exhaust

 

[acegazda]

yeah, I'll definetly post a full review of my setup, though, I'll have to borrow a digital camera as I don't have one of my own. One of the things that detract from my appeal of the thermaltake xp120 was the fact that you had to add your ow 120mm fan. The other thing was the price...$50. As far as the asus a8n-e board goes, I was planning on replacing the northbridge fan with a zalman passive one until I learned that it would obstruct the pci-e x16 slot. Then I figured I would replace the fan with an aftermarket version of the heatpipe cooler found on the a8n-sli premium. It is $20 shipped though, so if you could suggest a passively cooled MoBo with overclocking abilities comparable to the a8n-e, that would be great. Finally, I was only planning on a fan controller if I were to opt for 4 fans. Since it seems like the concensus opinion here is that that is too many, I will probably just replace the two existing ones with yate loons when I get the case. The manual fan controllers look better, IMHO.

 

[acegazda]

Anyone have any opinions on the zalman hd silencer/cooler? Are there any alternative options other than the thermaltake icage?

 

[LOUISSSSS]

didn't read anything but the OP, but the only thing i'd change really is the freezer pro to a scythe ninja
and if you can shell out the extra cash i'd get nexus. they're quieter and push enough air
vf900 = excellent, i love mine my x1900xt now idles at the same temps as my cpu @ 40c =]
but mine is moutned upsidedown as opposed to video cards in normal cases, my heatpipes are actually mounted the right way in my lian li case so that may be why i'm getting the great drop in temps

 

[Elfear]

I'd personally ditch the hdd cooler. No need IMO.

Originally posted by: acegazda
I know its kind of a chance thing, I would be happy with 2.7ghz or even 2.65ghz, If I go for the scythe ninja, I should be set though...right? Also, I'd jsut like to add that panaflo, acoustifan and scythe fans for 120mm are all above $30 each... thats not happening. What I'll probably end up doing is getting that aerocool turbine fan and 3 yate loons. Or possibly jsut the 3 yate loons. Again, is 4 overkill?

Panaflo Medium Speed 120x38 $9.95

Panaflo Ultra High Speed 120x38 $12.95

Sanyo Denki 120x38 $11.99

The latter two would need to be regulated by a fan controller or wired for 7V. They would arguably provide the best cfm/db though.

Scythe 120x25 $12.95


By the way, the Scythe Ninja is one of the top 5 coolers on the market right now. I have an Opteron 144 at work that Primed for 12+ hours at 2.9GHz@stock volts with a passive Ninja. The SI-120 is also an excellent cooler but it costs more than the Ninja, although it does have the advantage of cooling off the ram and PWM area.

 

[acegazda]

thanks for the links, I never checked there and I actually will change my spu cooler to a scythe ninja. Are the panafos better than yate loons?