My new gaming pc. Can you recommend some tips for cooling and fan configuration?

narayan13

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Hello. All help is deeply appreciated. I recently ordered these parts for my pc:

MOBO: ASUS MAXIMUS VII FORMULA
CPU: 4790k
GPU: MSI GTX 980 4GB GAMING
SSD: SAMSUNG 840 EVO 250GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200 1000GB
RAM: 16GB-Kit G.Skill Sniper PC3-14900U CL9-10-9-28
CPU COOLER: Corsair Hydro Series H100i
FANS: NOCTUA NF-A14-PWM x2
PSU: EVGA 750W,80Plus Gold,10Yrs Wnt
OPTICAL DRIVE: ASUS DRW-24F1ST (Bulk) Silent
CASE: Corsair Obsidian Serie 750D

I would really like to have some tips on which fan configuration i should follow with the : 3x 140mm Stock case fans of 750d and the extra 2x Noctua NF-A14-PWM i also bought. I didnt mention the h100i cause thats going on the top as exhaust i guess.

I want to know what is the optimal configuration to do in the 750D with the fans and AIO i currently have.

Thanks in advance for any help.
 
Solution


The gray shaded ones in the chart are 120mm .... best are at top/

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1345-page7.html



Why are you trying to add fans just out of curiosity? With the stock fans, having 2 in the front on "high" and the one in the back on low/medium should be fine.

Make sure the front fans are on high though, because you want more intake than exhaust. The corsair stock fans are pretty good in my opinion.

It's the recommended course of action when having two fans, especially two extreme rpm fans, blowing air thru a radiator into the case. Greater air turnover will insure that...

narayan13

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First of all thanks a lot for replying and checking on my worries.
I've seen some of those setups you just showed me. The point is i dont have any more money to upgrade for other fans etc etc at the moment. I might do in the future thought.

So here it is:
I have the 3x 140mm Stock case fans.
The h100i.
And 2x Noctua NF-A14-PWM.
What is the best configuration i should do with the fans i possess at the moment??
 
Excellent choices fort he most part but I woulda went a different way with a few things. Two I'd swap if ya can

HDD - the SSD is doing squat for ya in game loading times for anything that's on the HD. Using a hybrid (SSHD) for the storage drive gives you comparable game loading times as to what is on the SSD.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822178381

H100i is doing nothing for you ..... it is easily outperformed by the betetr air coolers while forcing you to sit there listening to noise comparable to a modern vacuum cleaner. Give a listen here:
http://martinsliquidlab.org/2013/03/12/swiftech-h220-vs-corsair-h100i-noise-testing/

b2.jpg


As you can see above the Cryorig R1 and the Noctua DH14 have substantially better thermal performance while being 1/8th as loud (each 10dbA = a doubling of perceived noise level. So why pay more to get 8 times more noise and less thermal performance ?

If you just **want** water than why not get something that kicks the 100I's tail, cools ya CPU way way better and is 1/12th the noise level !!!! The Swiftech H220-X or better yet the H240-X does that as you can see in the above image:

http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/liquid/40870-swiftech-h220-x-open-loop-240mm-cpu-cooler-review?showall=&start=3

http://www.swiftech.com/
http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l3/g/c83/s1593/list/p1/b33/Swiftech-Water_Cooling_Kits_Cases-All-In-One-Page1.html

Given that ya already have the stuff and might not wanna switch anything ......

Air cooling is different from water cooling, in air cooling, general rule is top and rear out, everything else in. This is NOT adaptable to water cooling .... with water cooling, outside air will average 10C cooler than coolant .... inside case temps a 5C or less cooler than ambient. In short using outside air is at least twice as effective as using inside air, especially so if ya have top tier GFX and multiple cards the heat output of which dwarfs the CPU heat generated.

-If you read the h100i's instructions, it directs you to have air blow IN to the case. This is the recommended configuration for every water cooling setup. Install the H100i as per Corsair's written instructions, installing it as exhaust literally cuts it's cooling performance in half. yes, you're thinking it will make the interior case temperature hotter.... let's say you are correct for a moment and assume that the case temp goes up 2-3C .... so what ? Is there any compoent in your case where manufacturer says keep below this number ?

Apparently you are comfortable with air cooling everything in your case with air and your ONLY concern is your CPU .... so then why are you taking the 200 watts of heat from your GPU and sucking all that heat up thru your radiator to cool a CPU that puts out tops 130 watts ??????

If you were concerned about GPU temps, you would have cooled your GFX cards too. The fact is the 900 series has shown to perform as well on air as under water. The GOU is simply so efficient that it neve rgeats neat the 95C allowable rating .... so what if its temp goes up 2-3C ....

But what has more impact ? 200 watts of GPU heat going thru a radiator looking to cool 130 watts from a CPU overclocked to what you feel is a safe temperature limit ...... or 130 watts of CPU heat going thru a heat sink cooling something 30C below it's temperature limit ?

Now let's look at the reality of the situation.

- Top: 2 x 120mm (H100i - installed blowing out or backwards per Corsair instructions)
- Front: 2 x 140mm (Preinstalled blowing in)
- Bottom: 2 x 120mm (Noctua blowing in)
- Rear: 1 x 140mm (Preinstalled blowing out)

That's 4 blowing in and 3 blowing out ..... allowing for the resistance of the fan filters you will have just about equal flow entering thru inlet fans as going out thru outlet fans. The rear grille is therefore providing little or no flow either way. So 2/3 of all of the heat generated inside the case is going out thru the radiator.... effectively preheating the air being used to cool the CPU. Now lets look at it the way Corsair wants you to do it.

- Top: 2 x 120mm (H100i - installed blowing in as per Corsair instructions)
- Front: 2 x 140mm (Preinstalled blowing in)
- Bottom: 2 x 120mm (Noctua blowing in)
- Rear: 1 x 140mm (Preinstalled blowing out)

That's 6 blowing in and 1 blowing out ..... even allowing for the resistance of the fan filters you about 5 times the flow entering thru inlet fans as going out thru outlet fans. This puts your rear grille into functional use allowing for far more turnover than you had before. The heat generated by HD, MoBo, GFX card is shoved out the rear fan / rear grille before it ever gets to the top radiator leaving the H100i to double it's cooling capacity.

I have tested this in my own rig using 6 thermal sensors and a fog machine .... the air entering thru the bottom and top never mixes .... what comes in the top radiator goes out the rear ... what comes in thru the bottom radiator goes out the rear .... none of the coolant is being *asked* to cool with preheated air. I tested 3 scenarios:

Bottom In / Front In / Side In / Rear out / Top Out
Bottom out / Front In / Side In / Rear out / Top Out
Rear Out, everything else IN

The 3rd option resulted in the most air flow thru the case, lowest coolant temps and lowest CPU / GPU temps. I'll soon repeat with 15 fans after going to Push / Pull on the rads.....prolly over holidays.


When ya think about it, ya gotta think they guys who sell the thing would generally be in the best position to know which way it should be installed. See page 3

http://www.corsair.com/~/media/Corsair/download-files/manuals/49-000175_rev_AB_H100i_QSG_web.pdf

Attach the radiator and the fans as shown, for the best cooling performance we recommend mounting the fans as an air intake to your PC case.




 

narayan13

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1rst thing. I Could not find the swiftech-h220 thats why i went with h100i.

Also you said:
Now let's look at the reality of the situation.

- Top: 2 x 120mm (H100i - installed blowing out or backwards per Corsair instructions)
- Front: 2 x 140mm (Preinstalled blowing in)
- Bottom: 2 x 120mm (Noctua blowing in)
- Rear: 1 x 140mm (Preinstalled blowing out)

The point is that i dont have any 120mm fans. those 2 noctua fans are 140mm. Do they fit on bottom?

Should i put the 2x Noctua 140mm static pressure fans on front as intake, the 2x 140mm stock fans on bottom as intake, and h100i stock as intake and rear exhaust only ?

I would really like some help here.
 


That list of fans is what the case comes with

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139024 (See Specs tab)

Radiator and fan compatibility compatibility:
- Top: 3 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm
- Front: 2 x 140mm or 2 x 120mm (2 x 140mm included)
- Bottom: 2 x 120mm
- Rear: 1 x 140mm or 120mm (140mm included)

Perhaps you could exchange for these;

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007998%20600035565%20600035590&IsNodeId=1&Description=phanteks&name=120mm&Order=BESTMATCH
 

Adroid

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Why are you trying to add fans just out of curiosity? With the stock fans, having 2 in the front on "high" and the one in the back on low/medium should be fine.

Make sure the front fans are on high though, because you want more intake than exhaust. The corsair stock fans are pretty good in my opinion.

I have a Corsair 450D, and the 3 stock fans keep my system running nice and cool. I'm running a 3570K @ 4.3ghz and a GTX 770 superclocked 24/7. The corsair 450D runs a little cooler than the 750D. I think the 750D looks a little better, but the 450D has better dust filters, SSD mount behind motherboard tray, etc.
 


The gray shaded ones in the chart are 120mm .... best are at top/

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1345-page7.html



Why are you trying to add fans just out of curiosity? With the stock fans, having 2 in the front on "high" and the one in the back on low/medium should be fine.

Make sure the front fans are on high though, because you want more intake than exhaust. The corsair stock fans are pretty good in my opinion.

It's the recommended course of action when having two fans, especially two extreme rpm fans, blowing air thru a radiator into the case. Greater air turnover will insure that the GFX cards aren't using the preheated radiator exhaust as a source of air intake as well a slower overall temps for all components.

In addition, given the motherboard choice, it would be a huge waste of features not to use Asus FanXpert3 to control fan speeds, especially with a H100i in the mix. He will likely control the H100i's fans with the two CPU headers and use the six (6) system headers to control system fan speeds. More fans at lower rpms presents a much more pleasant user experience as you don't have to listen to fans whirring all day long. I have 10 fans currently and you can not tell if the system is on with your ears, even with side panels off.
 
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