Best Case fan for BitFenix Prodigy?

[sabot00]

Right now the airflow in my case is pretty bad since I haven't cared to OC much. Playing Metro has made me want to squeeze some more out of my 7870 (at 1100 currently).

I just have a stock 120mm at the front of my case right now, what are some good quality 200mm or 230mm fans? In terms of area a 230mm fan should have over 32% more area than a 200mm one, are 230mm fans a big step up? (I know there's a pretty big difference between 140 and 120).


Edit: Is this a good deal? http://www.amazon.com/BitFenix-Spectre-230mm-BFF-SPRO-23030WW-RP-White/dp/B008UZ14LQ/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1391041704&sr=8-5&keywords=230mm

 

[Brantyn Gerik]

Personally i feel the specters are a hit and miss..they don't seem to move much air at all. I believe that case can fit 2 140mm fans, which will give you very good results over just having one regular fan in the front. Cougar, corsair, noctua, and fantec all make top quality fans.
I would also suggest adding exhaust fans at the back and top if possible to help with overall airflow.

Remember, case compatibility is a big thing, especially with a small case like yours. do some research to see which fans fit.

That fan is indeed a good deal at that price, as usually they sell for around $24

 

[Rammy]

Couple of things.
Firstly, I'm not sure how much you can effect graphics card temperatures with case fans in a Prodigy. Having a larger fan at the front should, in theory, spread some cooler air in that direction, but it's a pretty small gap along the side of the case so it's not going to make a world of difference. I have a GTX660 in a Prodigy and while it's not the hottest/power hungry card, I can't make any difference to temps by installing fans in the roof or in the front.

The main disadvantage of having a single 120mm fan at the front is that it is probably just blowing against the HDD cages and not really doing a lot to help the flow through the case. For that reason, a 200/230 can make quite a nice difference, as can a 140mm as the mounting points for this push it above the HDD cages (assuming you have only the bottom cage installed).

A 230mm fan sadly does not have 32% more area than a 200mm fan. No fan is actually as big as it says it is. In the case of 120/140mm, it's a the square box surround that is 120*120*(depth - often 25mm) or 140*140*(depth).
When you get bigger, the mounting points aren't quite as standardised, and neither are the sizes.
A Bitfenix Spectre Pro 230mm fan is around 180mm in diameter
A Bitfenix Spectre Pro 200mm fan is around 180mm in diameter
I understand the 230mm is slightly bigger, but based on those drawings it's hard to see, it's that small. The 230mm fan is 5mm deeper though, meaning they can use deeper blades, effectively a greater angle of attack for better airflow. There isn't going to be a vast difference in performance though.

What I would say is that if you want to boost the system airflow as a whole, adding a quality 140mm to the back and any of the three larger options to the front is likely to give you a decent improvement. There are a couple of caveats to that though - If you are solely interested in proving graphics card temperatures, neither of these is going to help much. Also, having a 200/230mm fan at the front running at full speed is incredibly loud. I use a mesh front Prodigy with a 200mm fan, and it is by far the single loudest component at 100% speed, probably because it's nearest to me and there is nothing to muffle the noise.

 

[sabot00]

I can't change the back exhaust since I have my Kuhler 920 hooked up to that. I currently have no top exhaust fans because there's not enough room between the Kuhler's top and the top of the case. I was hoping a large positive pressure difference plus the effect of hot air rising will help mitigate the top exhaust issue.

The case can only fit 1x140, or 2x120's. I can't use both 120's without removing the optical, so I'm stuck with using the lower 120 right now, which really only blows on the very bottom of the mobo (really little amount of air).

Regarding the fan dimensions, I knew they weren't directly correlated with marketed diameter, but I didn't know it was that little of a difference. So Rammy, regarding the difference between the Spectre 200 and 230, is the only significant change the extra 4mm of depth?

If you guys take a look at the Prodigy's mounting areas, the 140 is at a really good position to hit everything, with the 200 and 230 only hitting things by virtue of their size. Given this placement, what would you guys recommend?

1. High quality 140 (ex Noctua)
2. High quality 200
3. 230mm (basically only bitfenix)

 

[Rammy]

Yeah I have a Kuhler 620 in the back of my Prodigy so I'm running a similar sort of layout.
I agree that putting fans in the roof won't make much/any difference. Tried it, albeit pretty amateurishly, and saw next to no difference with my setup. Air does find its way out of here if it needs to.

I reckon that all three of your options could be done by different people and they'd all get very similar results. I'm pretty happy with my Spectre pro, aesthetically it's nice, it seems to move a good amount of air when it has to, the build quality seems very robust too. The only real downside is the noise, which is not unlike a handheld vacuum cleaner at 100% speed. With that in mind, 140mm does give you a far greater selection of fans so it might be a good option. The one concern I would have with that is that you spoke about graphics card temperatures, and while I'm confident you won't make huge gains by using a 200/230 fan, you really won't do anything with a 140mm as it's so far off the graphics card.

 

[sabot00]

What's a good quiet fan that you recommend? I'm using one of the 120's that come with the case, and I'm pretty satisfied with the noise level, I thought the Spectre Pro is supposed to be quiet since it doesn't need to spin as much.

 

[Brantyn Gerik]

Yeah my only reason for not recommending the specter pro is that if you don't use a low noise adapter, it literally does spin up like a vacuum cleaner. also i bought 3 and had 2 defective ones, so it's just a personal distaste for the company's fans.

As far as ones that move a lot of air while doing it quietly,
Noctua does well,
Cougar, an underdog and fairly unheard of brand does GREAT and looks great inmy opinion, also you can get them fairly cheap (and their led ones are the best i've used so far personally)
Fantek makes great fans comparable to noctua as well

 

[Rammy]

In 200/230mm fans, there is a really small number of options. When I was shopping around my options were Coolermaster, NZXT and Bitfenix at 200mm and solely Bitfenix at 230mm.
I really can't complain about my Spectre Pro. It was very reasonably priced, and I've had no real issues with it.
Cougar are a name that always gets a good rep, especially for their hydraulic bearing fans. I looked into them at one point and they were incredibly expensive in the UK, but I don't know if that's a general rule.

 

[Brantyn Gerik]

In the u.s they are about as expensive as corsair. I personally had a cougar challenger as my first case and absolutely fell in love with the fans...Now in my new case i took the cougar 200mm fan from the challenger and put it in my cm storm trooper, and then filled the rest of the case with both the red led fans, and their black hydralic bearing fans. as far as i know, you CAN order the 200mm fan from them by special order, but it's around $28, but in my opinion is one of the best 200mm fans i have ever seen.