Looking to add fans..

[chugot9218]

Hey guys,

I just build a brand new PC in a Corsair 600T case with an i5 3570k processor and a GTX 670. I had posted previously about my temperatures, I had performed an overclock using Asus' AI2 suite (I know, I know, use the bios! ) and it boosted my CPU up to about 4.4ghz. While I am gaming it generally stays in the high 50's low 60's (c) and running Prime95 gets as high as about 80(c), and idles from the low to mid 30's. From the responses I received, these temps were not high enough to warrant any major concern, however because my case features it I was considering adding a couple 120mm fans onto the mesh side panel. I have a Noctua NH-C12P SE14 cpu cooler (the fan blows down onto the heatsink/mobo), and am wondering if adding additional fans will interfere at all with it. I was thinking of adding an additonal 2 fans onto the side panel as intake fans and am wondering a). will this provide me with any significant additional cooling, b). will it interfere with my CPU cooler, c). currently my case fans are plugged into the 600T fan controller, if I connect these fans straight to my MOBO do I have to ensure they are PWM to interface with the Asus fan control program, and d). does anyone have a brand they recommend? I would like them to be in similar db ranges as the case fans already included in my case, I had seen a 2-set of Corsair fans but it made them sound more like heatsink fans (although I could certainly be misinterpreting it). Here is a link to those fans http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181021 . Any advice you guys can provide will be greatly appreciated!

-Chugot

 

[inzone]

Those look fine for what you want and they come with a voltage step down adaptor so if you want to lower the speed without connecting to a fan controller you can do that with this adaptor. You may only need one side fan since you have two 200mm and one 140mm now.

 

[skaz]

Side intake fans can actually mess up the airflow within a case and cause temperature increases. This is largely dependent on how you have your current fan's set up. The best way to find out if side fans will help or hurt you is to test them out.

Assuming your currently using a front to rear airflow setup - If you have the avaible mounts I would start by adding exhaust fans to the top/rear and test from there.

I like thermalright's x-silent fans. I'm currently using them throughout my system for both my case and even on my heatsink (for testing purposes only). Another good name in the fan world is Noctua. They have certain fans that do better as case fans such as the NF-S12B.

Not sure about the fan controller program you using. But a pwm fan will have 4 connectors. And is typically used for automatically controlling the fan speed based on a certain variable (ex. cpu temps). If the asus program your talking about is anything like speedfan then it can control 3 pin fans (non-pwm) as well.

Good luck.

 

[chugot9218]

Okay, I believe the case has the 200mm on the front and top set up as intake fans and the 140mm fan on the rear for exhaust. It looks like the side panel is the only available location for mounting additional fans, so the general concensus would be to try the fans out (I have noticed they are relatively cheap, certainly a plus!), and see how it effects airflow? I can't imagine they would include the option of mounting four additional side panel fans if they could have a negative effect on airflow, especially considering there are no other options for mounting fans available, but again I am no expert! Do cases traditionally have much more intake than exhaust? Ideally I would have liked to have an additional exhaust fan but that does not seem an option in my case. *Edit* Also, I am again wondering if my temps look okay and if adding more fans would be beneficial anyways *Edit*

 

[inzone]

I believe that the fan on the top of the case is an exaust fan and the rear fan is also an exaust so that the front fan is an intake. If you get the fans I would try one first and place it in the bottom hole on the side panel so it's blowing on to the motherboard slots. That way the two intake fans are near the bottom and the two exaust fans are near the top. If for some reason the top fan is blowing in the just take it out and reverse it so it's blowing out. Adding fans won't hurt anything just have the same number blowing in as you have blowing out.

 

[chugot9218]

Alright great, my last concern is with the set up of my CPU fan, if one of the side fans is essentially blowing into that (because it blows down onto the heatsink) will that effect its overall airflow or increase it?

 

[inzone]

Nothing will interfere with the cpu cooling because the fan is in direct contact and any fans you have or will add are not near enough to the cooler to afect it. You have two blowing in and two blowing out so that means there is air flow and these fans don't blow the air the same as regular fans you have around the house. They do move the air but not enought to disrupt the cpu cooler. It will actually be a benefit for the cpu cooler because the better the airflow the cooler the air is inside the case and therefore the cpu cooler will have cooler air to blow onto the cpu heatsink.

 

[chugot9218]

I have gone a little bit fan crazy here and have put together a potential configuration that includes my current set up and the additional fans I am looking to work into it. From what I understand this would provide a slightly higher positive airflow configuration, I am hoping the 200mm exhaust fan on the roof of the case could keep up with the additional airflow inside the case.

Also, the square in the middle with the 2 extra fans is the side panel mesh screen if that was not clear, and the new fans are in yellow. And the image is clearly not quite to scale, despite all my artistic talents