SaltyGamer

Honorable
Nov 12, 2015
16
0
10,510
www.tijdvoorbier.nl
Hello there,

TL;DR: I have the NZXT S340 non-Elite. If I place two Corsair ML140 Pro LED White fans in the back, do I need any front intake fans? Will the negative pressure suck in extra dust?

Right now I have an NZXT S340 (non-Elite) with two stock fans in the back, and two Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition White LED fans in the front. However, one of the stock fans sounds like a chainsaw sometimes. Also, the LED fans in the front are only 3 pins, meaning for my current setup they either run at full speed, or barely give off any light, since speed and brightness are controlled by the same pin... or something.

In short, I need some new fans. I watched this video from Dawid Does Tech Stuff, in which he states front intakes are not really necessary for the S340, since the front is quite restricted.
I'm running a Ryzen 5 3600 (not OC'ed) with a Hyper 212 Black Edition and a Radeon RX 5600XT. So temperature-wise the case is not much of a problem for me. However, only having two fans in the back might create negative pressure inside my case, as per this Techquicky. So would it be a problem installing only two fans in the back? I don't wanna suck more dust into my case than necessary. The case does have a magnetic dust filter in the front, which has worked very well over the past 5 or so years.

Since I still want white LED's (or RGB, but I'd probably put them only on white or blue anyway) I settled on the Corsair ML140 Pro LED fans. They are the same price as the ML120's in my area, and I thought 2x140 might be better than 2x120 to compensate for a lack of front intake fans. Also, I'd prefer somewhat quiet fans if that's possible.
What do you guys think? Also, if you have any suggestions for other fans, please let me know.

Thank you :)
 
Solution
The S340 is the predecessor to the H500, so the same rules regarding the H500 will apply here.
1)Do not install front intakes if you are only air cooling. Rear and top exhaust fans is the best overall fan config.
Unfortunately, there's limits to what can reasonably be cooled that way, due to BOTH intake and exhaust being strained.

2)If you decide to install a liquid cooler in there, be careful.
-People commonly use the 240/280mm space for hybrid cooling their cpu, but it is not the most ideal use of that space. Gpu thermals - especially on the big boys - tend to suffer as a result.
Both intake and exhaust are restricted in this chassis - gpu isn't getting that much air, plus it's dumping its heat inside the box, which doesn't escape...

Phaaze88

Titan
Ambassador
The S340 is the predecessor to the H500, so the same rules regarding the H500 will apply here.
1)Do not install front intakes if you are only air cooling. Rear and top exhaust fans is the best overall fan config.
Unfortunately, there's limits to what can reasonably be cooled that way, due to BOTH intake and exhaust being strained.

2)If you decide to install a liquid cooler in there, be careful.
-People commonly use the 240/280mm space for hybrid cooling their cpu, but it is not the most ideal use of that space. Gpu thermals - especially on the big boys - tend to suffer as a result.
Both intake and exhaust are restricted in this chassis - gpu isn't getting that much air, plus it's dumping its heat inside the box, which doesn't escape effectively, because there aren't that many gaps.

-The front should ideally be used for a hybrid gpu. Yes, it's still dumping heat in the chassis - some air is better than no air - but it's still cooler than what an air cooled card would release. Cooler chassis ambient air Vs an air cooled one.
 
Solution