Amount of fans required for a Fractal R4?

[MellowFellow]

I am getting a fractal R4. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352020
The case comes with a preinstalled 140mm fan on both the back and front. I'm going to be installing a liquid cooling kit, which will take the space of the back fan.

So, should add an extra fan to the front and/or side panel? I don't do any overclocking (maybe in the future) and am going for a silent, but effective gaming rig.

Additional info: the components in the pc are 16gb ram, haswell i5, gtx 670, and several hard drives.

 

[Gnuffi]

word of advice, dont impede the back exhaust fan you need that for proper flow,
mount your water cooling:
1. in the top best,
2. bottom if you can,
3. and front if you must
you could take a look at teh Fractal R5 if possible, almost identical case, just slightly better sound dampening but more importantly, more/better cooling mounting options

Minimum amount of fans is 2, 1 front intake 1 back exhaust
for optimal air flow you want
1-2 front intakes,
1 back exhaust,
1 top back exhaust,
and 1 side intake
water cooling mount placement should be placed after these optimal flow placements are either installed or atleast considered into the effect of the rad/fan direction

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

i would definitely try to get the cooler attached to the top-rear vent and leave the rear exhaust as it is.
since you're going for as quiet as possible i wouldn't add any side or extra front fans.

 

[MellowFellow]

i would definitely try to get the cooler attached to the top-rear vent and leave the rear exhaust as it is.
since you're going for as quiet as possible i wouldn't add any side or extra front fans.

Oh, nice! The R5 is actually $10 cheaper for some reason.... weird. Okay, i'll leave the case stock fans alone for now unless i see the graphics card getting high temps.

 

[MellowFellow]

water cooling mount placement should be placed after these optimal flow placements are either installed or atleast considered into the effect of the rad/fan direction

This would be my first time doing watercooling as well. Most likely getting a corsair kit of some kind. Would it be okay using the stock fan from that kit as well, or should i replace those with something quieter/powerful?

 

[Gnuffi]

water cooling mount placement should be placed after these optimal flow placements are either installed or atleast considered into the effect of the rad/fan direction

This would be my first time doing watercooling as well. Most likely getting a corsair kit of some kind. Would it be okay using the stock fan from that kit as well, or should i replace those with something quieter/powerful?

you can safely use the stock fans, ofc buying aftermarket fans can give better cooling results and quieter operations, and Corsair's AIO kits usually come with some decent stock fans, so wait with buying aftermarket fans until you test your setup, and see how you like the noise
and then when/if you replace the stock fan, keep in mind and consider to use puss-pull fan config (1 fan on both sides) for optimal cooling and most silent operations(because you can lower the rpm with dual fans used)
just only "upgrade" fan if you do infact find a higher quality fan, (not all aftermarket fans are equal)

 

[MellowFellow]

Thanks everybody! That helps a lot

 

[Gnuffi]

i would definitely try to get the cooler attached to the top-rear vent and leave the rear exhaust as it is.
since you're going for as quiet as possible i wouldn't add any side or extra front fans.

Oh, nice! The R5 is actually $10 cheaper for some reason.... weird. Okay, i'll leave the case stock fans alone for now unless i see the graphics card getting high temps.

even if you see the graphics card temps rise, dont touch the back exhaust, just add a side panel fan for intake (its about the placement where the GPU is), that will help the most with gpu temps of any fan placement
always leave/never touch the basic 1 front 1 back exhaust fans, these are always minimum and must for any case cooling setup
if you do go for the R5, note how you have 3 roof mounts, if you dont use a optical drive(cd) you can remove the drive cage, and install your water cooling in the top slots hassle free of CPU, mobo and back exhaust fan
and depending on the size of your water cooling there is a chance you can fit it all in the middle top mount position, leaving you with the CD drive option, but still not interfering with the back

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

...Would it be okay using the stock fan from that kit as well, or should i replace those with something quieter/powerful?

the new Corsair Hydro series' included fans get extremely loud. they are fairly quiet up to ~55% then they turn into a jet engine racket.

i had a H115i Extreme and it was a major disappointment. it is a 280mm cooler and the temps were a bit higher than the 240mm cooler it had replaced and it was 3x as loud. ended up tearing it out and putting my old Thermaltake Water 3.0 Extreme back in, temps went right back down and sound was back to whisper quiet.

make sure you setup good fan curve(s) profile through your motherboard or through 3rd party software. it will make a huge difference with noise ratio and cooling. while temps are coolest the fans can stop or wind down to very low speeds/low noise, when temps start rising the fans can spin up to match and compensate.

 

[MellowFellow]

I'm not going to be doing any serious overclocking, especially right away. Might as well save $50 and get one that fits in the middle slot. I'll see if the case's foam padding quiets the jet engines any before i switch them out haha.

 

[Gnuffi]

also remember dont need to get excessive on the water cooling 😉
if you know what your plans are and you know you wont need say a H115i cooler or other brands such size, dont buy them 😉, just buy a smaller one that fits your needs and use
same reason people dont buy some crazy Kraken, or Noctua for an i5 6500, they know they wont ever need it 😉

 

[MellowFellow]

Was thinking about getting the Corsair Hydro H80i V2. Corsair's website has it rated as the best single slot radiator. The h75 is almost as good and runs a little cheaper.