Best cooling solution in a NZXT H440 case?

[haroldj97]

In the next few weeks I am going to be building a new system, upgrading from an i5 2500k to most likely an i7 7700k but waiting to see what AMD Ryzen has to offer. Currently, I have a NZXT H440 case which has a random selection of fans put in at different configurations. I was wondering, what is the best fan configuration in this case? There are 3 fan mounts on the front (120mm), 3 on the top (120mm) and 1 on the back (140mm) and was considering whether or not it would be beneficial to put fans in all the available mounts. I am probably not going to go with an AIO water cooler since I have never particularly trusted water cooling and instead going with a be quiet Dark Rock 3 CPU cooler and don't know whether to configure this with the fan facing the front of the case or the rear. Finally, which fans are best? Since the case is windowed and I am going with a blue/black colour scheme Noctura fans, although good, are not fans I would want to use.

 

[Lutfij]

Try to balance the intake and your exhausts to carry away as much heat as you can though it won't hurt if your intake is a little more than the exhaust. The intakes should be located at the front while the exhausts should be top and rear. Just make sure the airflow path is from front to back/top and you're fine.

If budget isn't a factor, then you can get Noctua fans since they are silent and they tend to push a good amount of air(depending on the model you choose) while the bundled NZXT fans aren't bad either though some have complained about hearing the motor ticking from the NZXT FN fans. If you want Noctua but not their vanilla color scheme, you can look into iPPC range of fans.

Perhaps shoot us a budget?

 

[haroldj97]

Try to balance the intake and your exhausts to carry away as much heat as you can though it won't hurt if your intake is a little more than the exhaust. The intakes should be located at the front while the exhausts should be top and rear. Just make sure the airflow path is from front to back/top and you're fine.

If budget isn't a factor, then you can get Noctua fans since they are silent and they tend to push a good amount of air(depending on the model you choose) while the bundled NZXT fans aren't bad either though some have complained about hearing the motor ticking from the NZXT FN fans. If you want Noctua but not their vanilla color scheme, you can look into iPPC range of fans.

Perhaps shoot us a budget?

I don't really have a budget for this build, just going for what I want to buy and what is best for what I use my computer for which is mainly gaming as well as basic photo editing and word processing. I think I am going to replace the stock NZXT fans, although working, they do seem loud. I was looking at the Corsair AF120 / AF140 fans since they have a blue accent ring. Had a look at the iPPC Noctua fans and although a lot better than the standard ones, I am still not too sure about the brown cornering on the fans (I know I am being really picky). Just wondering, do you think it would be beneficial to put fans in all of the available slots in the case or just a waste of money?

 

[Lutfij]

Stay miles away from Corsair AF and SP fans since they were the worst fans to ever come out. The Quiet Edition's were even louder than the normal Performance Versions. The issue with the aforementioned fans was that they had horrible QC. The fan 's motor housing would rattle and then some more to end up with broken fan blades after brushing against the fans housing.

If you were to ask me, no, I don't think it's a waste of money. If you were hell bent on buying the best fans out there and were watercooling(custom level or even AIO's), I'd suggest looking into Noiseblocker E-loop's or Swiftech's Helix's or EK's Vardar. They all cost a pretty penny(except the Swiftech) and then both also double as case fans. Phobya have a black edition of the E-Loop fans. You aren't going for LED fans, now are you? Regarding the brown edgings for the noise dampeners, you can pick up one for each fan. There's more here for your fancy.

One other thing to think about is the fan connectors and how you plan to connect all of them to your system. Are you planning on connecting all to the motherboard or off a hub?

I was asking to match the fans since the rotation of all your fans should either be the same or a little higher for the exhaust. Even if you end up with different fans for both intakes and exhausts, keep in mind that not all the fans will behave the same at a particular RPM/signal.

 

[haroldj97]

After posting on here I did read mixed reviews on the corsair fans. There is a fan hub in the H440 case that I believe supports up to 8 fans which in turn connects to a pwm fan header on the motherboard. At the moment, I am not planning on doing a custom loop or using an AIO (here bad stories about them and don't think I could trust them). Definitely not going for led fanss, think they look cheap and tacky. So do you think it would be worth shile replacing the stock fans and adding more?

 

[Lutfij]

My opinion, yes and in fact purchasing all the fans off the same brand/make and model. You could work off the PWM fan hub bundled with your H440 but some have had some mixed experiences with them and opted to go for a completely different PWM fan hub/splitter altogether.

I don't suppose you awarded my post as Best Answer by accident, now, did you?

 

[haroldj97]

My opinion, yes and in fact purchasing all the fans off the same brand/make and model. You could work off the PWM fan hub bundled with your H440 but some have had some mixed experiences with them and opted to go for a completely different PWM fan hub/splitter altogether.

I don't suppose you awarded my post as Best Answer by accident, now, did you?

Yeah, accidentally clicked on Select as best answer in the email. I was looking at the NZXT Grid+ V2 as a replacement for the original fan hub since I could then use software to control the fans. Really not too sure what fans to pick now, thinking about replacing the 3 on the front, the one on the back and adding one to the top. The Noiseblocker fans seem good, though most online are talking about using them on radiators?

 

[Lutfij]

No worries, got you covered on the mishap 😉

Now, The Grid+ V2 isn't bad but if you're someone who prefers more control via the BIOS and manually inputting the RPM or even a fan curve that operates during CPU temps, you can just stick to the 8-way PWM splitter by Swiftech since you might've already found out the CAM software has it's own unique issues.

The NB E-Loop is an all rounder.

 

[haroldj97]

No worries, got you covered on the mishap 😉

Now, The Grid+ V2 isn't bad but if you're someone who prefers more control via the BIOS and manually inputting the RPM or even a fan curve that operates during CPU temps, you can just stick to the 8-way PWM splitter by Swiftech since you might've already found out the CAM software has it's own unique issues.

The NB E-Loop is an all rounder.

Is this the Swiftech PWM splitter you mention : Splitter. If it is, I'm not too sure where I get one in the UK since Amazon states its no longer avaliable and no where else seems to sell it

EDIT: These are the NB E-Loop fans that I am looking at getting: Fans

 

[Lutfij]

Ah so you hail from UK huh?

Yeap this is the splitter(or this) I'm talking about + this is the fan I'm suggesting you pick up.

There's nothing wrong with what you picked up but in retrospect it's a good idea to have the highest RPM fan and then dial it down a couple of notches as per your needs instead of working with an already limited unit from the factory.