AF or SP Fans for intake with dust filter?

[xRorz]

I have an NZXT H440 and was wondering whether or not I should get static pressure fans or airflow fans when there's a dust filter in front of them because I would like to change the fans out that came pre-installed with the case as they're quiet loud.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

AF or SP fans wouldn't be much of an upgrade.

Two of the reasons we tend to use the Enthoo Luxe over the H440 are 1) the 3 superior fans that come with it and 2) all fan mounts are 140mm. Also tend to go for more fans at slower rpms than less fans at higher rpms.

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

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My son had 9 Phanteks PH-F140SP's ( case fans / 2 air cooler fans) in his Luxe and the only noise emanated by the build was the noise from the EVGA G2's PSU fan.

The "Standard Pressure" fans work just fine ... just make sure you have more intakes than exhaust .. you will lose up to 1/3 if air flow with the intake filters. Unfortunately the H440 presents a bit of a dilemma

Front: 2 x 140 or 3 x 120mm
Top: 2x 140 or 3 x 120mm
Rear: 1 x 140 or 1 x 120mm

No normally, you'd go Rear and Top as exhaust, front as intakes ... so lets do the math

3 x 120 as intakes in front ... but with air restriction of (1/3), we have essentially 2 x 120
4 x 120 as exhaust in top and rear

So with 4 x 120 out and equivalent of 2 x 120 in, we now have the equivalent of 2 x 120mm of air being sucked in thru case's rear grilles... and what;s coming with it ?

a) Dust
b) Hot GFX Card exhaust
c) Hot PSU exhaust

What this case really reeds is a bottom vent opening and a pair of right side panel openings to allow more intake fan locations

Yes, we all learned in 8th grade earth science that hot air rises ... but not when ya sitting under ceiling fan. If adding fans, to prevent dust and hot exhaust from being sucked into the case, there is little choice but to make the top fans intakes just as you would with any water cooling build with a radiator on top.

Peeps mostly ignore the rear grilles as an essential part of case cooling. There is no need to have both intake and exhaust. Ever worked in a restaurant kitchen ? (We design them). There is an exhaust hood exhausting air and usually a wall or roof ventilator exhausting air ... no intake fans. The air exhaust creates a negative pressure inside the room; with the higher air pressure outside air is forced into the room thru non powered air vents.

With 5 in and 1 out ... my water cooled test bed has 6 case fans, (5 in and 1 out) and 10 rad fans blowing in ... you will have the equivalent of about 3.3 tomes the air coming in thru fans as going out. The other 2.33 times will exit the rear case grilles and eliminate the dust and hot exhaust from coming in.

If you have the opportunity to borrow a fog machine from a local garage band, you can readily demonstrates this yourself. You can even buy one yourself for $34

https://www.amazon.com/Chauvet-Hurricane-700-Fog-Machine/dp/B0002D0JX8

When ya put the fog behind the PC by the rear case grills... and fans on top blowing out, you will immediately see the fog (representing hot air exhaust and dust) filling the case.

 

[xRorz]

AF or SP fans wouldn't be much of an upgrade.

Two of the reasons we tend to use the Enthoo Luxe over the H440 are 1) the 3 superior fans that come with it and 2) all fan mounts are 140mm. Also tend to go for more fans at slower rpms than less fans at higher rpms.

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

SilentPCReview.com top 20

Phanteks PH-F140HP/TS
Noctua NF-A14 FLX
Noctua NF-A15 PWM
Noiseblocker B12-2
Noctua NF-P14 FLX
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120-12
Noiseblocker M12-S1
Corsair AF120 Quiet
Corsair AF120 Performance
Thermalright TR-TY150
Scythe Gentle Typhoon 120-14
Xigmatek XAF-F1453
Nexus Real Silent
Xigmatek XLF-F1453
Noiseblocker B12-PS
Corsair SP120 Quiet
be quiet! Silent Wings 2
Noiseblocker M12-S2
Antec TrueQuiet 120
Noiseblocker M12-P

My son had 9 Phanteks PH-F140SP's ( case fans / 2 air cooler fans) in his Luxe and the only noise emanated by the build was the noise from the EVGA G2's PSU fan.

The "Standard Pressure" fans work just fine ... just make sure you have more intakes than exhaust .. you will lose up to 1/3 if air flow with the intake filters. Unfortunately the H440 presents a bit of a dilemma

Front: 2 x 140 or 3 x 120mm
Top: 2x 140 or 3 x 120mm
Rear: 1 x 140 or 1 x 120mm

No normally, you'd go Rear and Top as exhaust, front as intakes ... so lets do the math

3 x 120 as intakes in front ... but with air restriction of (1/3), we have essentially 2 x 120
4 x 120 as exhaust in top and rear

So with 4 x 120 out and equivalent of 2 x 120 in, we now have the equivalent of 2 x 120mm of air being sucked in thru case's rear grilles... and what;s coming with it ?

a) Dust
b) Hot GFX Card exhaust
c) Hot PSU exhaust

What this case really reeds is a bottom vent opening and a pair of right side panel openings to allow more intake fan locations

Yes, we all learned in 8th grade earth science that hot air rises ... but not when ya sitting under ceiling fan. If adding fans, to prevent dust and hot exhaust from being sucked into the case, there is little choice but to make the top fans intakes just as you would with any water cooling build with a radiator on top.

Peeps mostly ignore the rear grilles as an essential part of case cooling. There is no need to have both intake and exhaust. Ever worked in a restaurant kitchen ? (We design them). There is an exhaust hood exhausting air and usually a wall or roof ventilator exhausting air ... no intake fans. The air exhaust creates a negative pressure inside the room; with the higher air pressure outside air is forced into the room thru non powered air vents.

With 5 in and 1 out ... my water cooled test bed has 6 case fans, (5 in and 1 out) and 10 rad fans blowing in ... you will have the equivalent of about 3.3 tomes the air coming in thru fans as going out. The other 2.33 times will exit the rear case grilles and eliminate the dust and hot exhaust from coming in.

If you have the opportunity to borrow a fog machine from a local garage band, you can readily demonstrates this yourself. You can even buy one yourself for $34

https://www.amazon.com/Chauvet-Hurricane-700-Fog-Machine/dp/B0002D0JX8

When ya put the fog behind the PC by the rear case grills... and fans on top blowing out, you will immediately see the fog (representing hot air exhaust and dust) filling the case.

So i should just keep the stock fans in the front? I've only currently got 2 exhaust fans. The stock 140mm and a be quiet 120mm so I think it's positive air pressure right now (Maybe negative if the dust filters remove a third of the amount of air it can move.)

What if I were to get a water cooler which exhausted air through the top fans less well?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

If you get a water cooler, the instructions will tell you to use the fans as intakes.

You have (3) 120mm supplied with the case ... effectively 2 120mm fans taking inlet air restriction into account.

You have (1) 120mm and (1) 140mm ... the 140 = about 1.33 120mm (all other things being equal)

So you have 2.33 out and 2.00 in using the rules of thumb... so negative pressure likely. Of course your inlet filters may be less restrictive than assumed... the only way to know would be to test with a fog machine.

I assume the be quiet is blowing air out on top, I'd flip it over and add 2 more forcing all air out the rear.

 

[xRorz]

If you get a water cooler, the instructions will tell you to use the fans as intakes.

You have (3) 120mm supplied with the case ... effectively 2 120mm fans taking inlet air restriction into account.

You have (1) 120mm and (1) 140mm ... the 140 = about 1.33 120mm (all other things being equal)

So you have 2.33 out and 2.00 in using the rules of thumb... so negative pressure likely. Of course your inlet filters may be less restrictive than assumed... the only way to know would be to test with a fog machine.

I assume the be quiet is blowing air out on top, I'd flip it over and add 2 more forcing all air out the rear.

Yea, the be quiet is blowing it out of the top. So you're saying I should make it an intake and get 2 more to intake as well? Meaning I'll only have 1 140mm for exhaust at the back?

Also, since the front panel of the nzxt is really close to the fans, combined with the dust filter, would SP fans be a better choice for the front? Or would it not matter since I would be using 3 intakes at the top?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Yea, the be quiet is blowing it out of the top. So you're saying I should make it an intake and get 2 more to intake as well? Meaning I'll only have 1 140mm for exhaust at the back?

Yes, I explained why in my 1st post

Also, since the front panel of the nzxt is really close to the fans, combined with the dust filter, would SP fans be a better choice for the front? Or would it not matter since I would be using 3 intakes at the top?

More fans at standard pressure > less fans at higher pressure. Might wanna think about some kind of intake filter at top if case doesn't have one.

6 in and 1 out means you can run them slower and still eliminate the sucking of dust and hot air exhaust intot he case:

Use 1 CHA fan header for the rear fan ... use a Phanteks PCB for the other 6 fans of a MoBo PWM header
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811984004

Set up separate fan profiles for each channel in the MoBo fan control utility

 

[xRorz]

Yea, the be quiet is blowing it out of the top. So you're saying I should make it an intake and get 2 more to intake as well? Meaning I'll only have 1 140mm for exhaust at the back?

Yes, I explained why in my 1st post

Also, since the front panel of the nzxt is really close to the fans, combined with the dust filter, would SP fans be a better choice for the front? Or would it not matter since I would be using 3 intakes at the top?

More fans at standard pressure > less fans at higher pressure. Might wanna think about some kind of intake filter at top if case doesn't have one.

6 in and 1 out means you can run them slower and still eliminate the sucking of dust and hot air exhaust intot he case:

Use 1 CHA fan header for the rear fan ... use a Phanteks PCB for the other 6 fans of a MoBo PWM header
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811984004

Set up separate fan profiles for each channel in the MoBo fan control utility

Is the fan hub needed if I already have one in the case? Or does it have to be that one so the speeds of the fans can change? Also, what fans would you recommend? Just 2 more be quiets? Should I keep the stock 3 fans at the front? And if I wanted to get an AIO cpu cooler, 280mm, would that be sufficient as an intake to keep it positive (3 in the frost 2 140s at the top)? Would I still need a dust filter?

Thanks for all the help btw, I appreciate it.