Advice on cooling in my mini ITX build

appledude9 · Jun 21, 2014

I'm using the Legacy V3-Plus case, with an i5 4570 CPU, 750 Ti super clocked GPU, 8GB RAM, 1TB HDD, CS450M PSU, and H97 mini ITX motherboard.

This is my first build so I'm nervous haha... and from what I've gathered online, the small build to be used for gaming purposes is prone to heat issues. Currently, I plan on using the stock CPU cooler... but I did go out and get just one fan today for the case.

It's just a cheap little 40mm fan, since the case only supports 40mm fans, it says.

First question is, how exactly do I connect the fan? There's a single SYS_FAN port on the motherboard, so I just plug the fan there? I'm confused because theres' the red/yellow/black cables coming out of the fan, then there's another part that it came with; a red/black cable with a prong on one and and then a 4 pin connector on the other. This

Next: if I need more fans, how do I do this since there's only one motherboard connection?

And finally, does anyone have this case or know if I'll need aftermarket cooling? I've seen some people say yes, others say no, other people have put fans on the bottom of the case even though it's not technically where the case designed them to go.. and as my 1st time ever putting together a PC I want to make sure I understand how to do everything to have a nice safe/cool PC.

Rammy · Jun 21, 2014

You should connect it to the System fan header (the port on the motherboard) as it should mean you can control the fans using your motherboard software. You can run multiple fans off a single header with splitters, but it's probably not a good idea to get too carried away here. The 4pin molex adaptor gives you the ability to connect it straight to the PSU, which means it will always run at 100% speed.

In theory you are using a low power graphics card, and a non-overclocked CPU. Conventional wisdom says you'll be fine in pretty much all scenarios from a cooling perspective.

The issue you have is that most people will base this off a standard mid-tower scenario, where you might have 1-2 mid-low quality fans, and some venting here and there. On the Legacy, you don't really have much in the way of airflow, but one side is basically entirely vented and even though your PSU will block most of this, hot air should still find it's way out. Given your component selection, I'd say it's highly unlikely you'll run into overheating issues. What may happen is that your graphics card and CPU cooler both run at a higher than desirable speed to keep the temps down, which might make it quite loud. The only real way is to test and see.

geofelt · Jun 21, 2014

I love small ITX cases. It reminds mw of the lian li Q07 which I have used before.

The stock intel cooler should do the job. There are better coolers, but you can always change out a cooler later.
Haswell 4570 will run relatively cool since there is no overclocking.
Similarly, your GTX750ti is one of the coolest and power efficient graphics cards out there.

Adding a 40mm fan might help, but they tend to run at high rpm's and be noisy.
I would hold it out and see how you do. The cpu and graphics card will self protect if they get too hot.

The fan looks looks like it has a molex power cable and a 4 pin connector. If your motherboard has a 4 pin system fan connector, use that. It will let you monitor rpm and adjust speed. The yellow lead is a speed sensor, the red/black are + - voltage leads.Otherwise the fan connected to the psu will operate at rated speed of 5000 rpm. That will be LOUD.

Lastly, remember that parts are built to tolerate heat. Do not be alarmed if temperatures rise so long as you do not get throttling.

Do not count on your psu for cooling. Its fan will operate only to cool the psu. Orient the psu to draw in air from the outside.

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Advice on cooling in my mini ITX build

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