How many fans do I need?

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JackNaylorPE
The 480 is a very hot card. I'd be less concerned if you has a 3GB 1060 which would be faster in most games and typically produces only 118 watts when gaming. When cards get hot, they throttle... in other words, you lose performance because the slow down to reduce heat and protect them from damaging themselves.

If you do a web search on RX 480 Throttling, you will see lots of peeps posting on this subject... throttling also affects the 1070 and 1080 reference designs but the AIB cards and all the 1060s seem to be OK

Personally, on our builds we recommend filling every available fan location. This allows the fans to run at slower rpms and can result in the fan noise being lower than audible... Many younger folks tell me they don't...
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Dark Lord of Tech

Dark Lord of Tech

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Aug 18, 2009
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor (£190.08 @ Ebuyer)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! PURE ROCK 51.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£25.46 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B150M PRO-VDH Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£60.98 @ YoYoTech)
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£41.00 @ BT Shop)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£46.20 @ Eclipse Computers)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 4GB NITRO+ 4G Video Card (£218.98 @ BT Shop)
Case: BitFenix Nova ATX Mid Tower Case (£26.95 @ More Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£80.49 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case Fan: Corsair Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition (2-Pack) 37.9 CFM 120mm Fans (£21.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £712.13
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-01 22:10 GMT+0000
 
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ambrosesainsbury

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Nov 10, 2015
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Sorry but I already have a PC which I have bought so this is not helpful, all I want is to know if my PC will run to hot.
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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The CPU is 65 watts and you won't be overclocking
The GPU is 200 - 220 watts and will assume no overclocking

So say 275 watts. How we go from there depends on how quiet ya want the PC

You case is capable of:

Cooling Front 120mm x 2
Cooling Rear 120mm x 1 (included)

For a quiet PC (1250 rpm max), you'd want 50 - 75 watts per fan

Medium noise levels (1650 - 1800 rpm max) ya can go with 75 - 100 watts per fan .. that would mean 3 fans

I'd suggest getting 2 of these:

Phanteks PH-F120MP 120 mm PWM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835709037

I use them to blow air between the cards in SLI builds.

Have to check ya MoBo manual tho and see what fan headers provide what type of signal and if you have enough of them.

newegg says your MoBo has

1 x 4-pin CPU fan connector (CPU header)
2 x 4-pin system fan connectors (2 case fans, one being used

That would appear to limit you to just one additional case fan. However, the Phanteks fans draw only 0.2 amps. So if you want to control both over the 1 remaining sys header, then you will need one of these:

http://www.performance-pcs.com/modmytoys-4-pin-pwm-power-distribution-pcb-4-way-block.html




 
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ambrosesainsbury

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Thank you so much that is very helpful. But do I NEED them, I am a little tight for money and so will components start to break if I don't have them?
 
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skit75

skit75

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They won't break but may not last as long which is a very relative statement. A good rule of thumb is every 10C decreases component life by about 50%. In other words, keeping your rig 10C cooler over its life can make it last twice as long as it was going to [strike]originally[/strike] last if you had not cooled it by an additional 10C. :)
 
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JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE

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The 480 is a very hot card. I'd be less concerned if you has a 3GB 1060 which would be faster in most games and typically produces only 118 watts when gaming. When cards get hot, they throttle... in other words, you lose performance because the slow down to reduce heat and protect them from damaging themselves.

If you do a web search on RX 480 Throttling, you will see lots of peeps posting on this subject... throttling also affects the 1070 and 1080 reference designs but the AIB cards and all the 1060s seem to be OK

Personally, on our builds we recommend filling every available fan location. This allows the fans to run at slower rpms and can result in the fan noise being lower than audible... Many younger folks tell me they don't care a hoot about fan noise as they are playing with headphones or they have the speakers turned up so loud they can't hear it.

So with the 480, you may have to adjust the fan curve to to higher rpms to try and prevent throtttling .... alternately, you live with it. Again, which 480 you chose will make a big difference. Reference designs are particularly problematic.

Fans make great "stocking stuffers" ... pass the word among family and friends.

 
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