Define R4 Fan Placement

beetchu_ez

Honorable
Mar 21, 2013
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10,510
I've searched the forum and seen this come up a few times, but I feel like I still can't find a straight answer.

I have a Define R4 case and it came with two fans, one front bottom intake and one exhaust in the top/back rear pulling heat from the cpu. I just bought a Corsair AF140 140mm fan and am wondering what is the best setup for the fans.

Option 1: 2 stock fans in front as intake, corsair in rear.

Option 2: 1 stock fan in bottom default spot as intake, 1 exhaust back/rear, 1 exhaust back/rear/top.

Also, can I put all the fans on the controller and run them at the same voltage or should i put the exhaust fans to move more air than the intake?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I would like to overclock my system and want to get my temperatures right before I even begin. Btw, I am only interested in lowering the temp of my CPU at the moment, no other components.

Thanks.
 
Solution


Those temperatures seem fine, you have room to overclock a little. As long as you stay under 80 degrees you are fine, technically you could go as high as like a 100 but it's best to stay at or below 80.
People debate a lot whether a negative vs positive pressure system is best. I.e. more air in vs more air out. I would try both ways and monitor your temperatures to see what works best for you. My instinct would be two intake on the front, one exhaust out the back.
 

beetchu_ez

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Mar 21, 2013
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Thanks. As for a good way to test, what I've been doing is changing the fan, closing up the case and then letting it run idle for ten minutes. Is this sufficient? Does it make sense to test with the case cover off?
 


Test under the conditions you would normally be using, side of the case should be closed otherwise it completely messes up the airflow in your case. I would try doing some stress testing I doubt you will see much difference at idle.
 

beetchu_ez

Honorable
Mar 21, 2013
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10,510
I tried many different fan permutations and none seemed to make a difference. The only thing that mattered was that they were on and the faster they spun, the better they worked. Dropped my temps by 1 to 3C max. I think I just can't do much better due to my ambient temps. My room is 26 to 27C and my cpu at idle is 28 to 34C but goes up to 65 to 71C under Intel burntest. I'm not sure if this is good for a stock i5 3570. I'm using a Hyper EVO.
 


Those temperatures seem fine, you have room to overclock a little. As long as you stay under 80 degrees you are fine, technically you could go as high as like a 100 but it's best to stay at or below 80.
 
Solution


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