Case fan help

[zixxle]

I am building a streaming PC. I have almost every part picked and ready to purchase; however, i am not sure what case fans (and how many) i need. I would really appreciate the help.

Here is my current build:

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7GHz 8-Core Processor
Motherboard: Asus - ROG Crosshair VII Hero (Wi-Fi) ATX AM4 Motherboard
RAM: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory 32GB total
Storage:
1. Seagate - BarraCuda 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive
2. Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
GPU: MSI GeForce GTX 1050 Ti DirectX 12 GTX 1050 Ti GAMING X 4G 4GB
Case: Phanteks - Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
PSU: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

[Darkbreeze]

That case comes with one fan, the rear exhaust. It supports two 140mm in front for intake and two additional 140mm in the top as exhaust. (Alternatively it also supports 3 120mm fans in front without the drive cages or 2 120mm with them left in. And it supports 3 120mm fans up top, if you choose not to go with 140mm fans. I would recommend using the larger 140mm models.)

Are you going to be overclocking? What CPU cooler are you planning to use?

I'd highly recommend that you just put two intake fans and one additional top rear exhaust fan. That should probably be enough for whatever you plan to do unless you plan to use liquid cooling and then we'll need to rethink the cooling fan situation because of the radiator which would come with it's own fans.

 

[zixxle]

That case comes with one fan, the rear exhaust. It supports two 140mm in front for intake and two additional 140mm in the top as exhaust. (Alternatively it also supports 3 120mm fans in front without the drive cages or 2 120mm with them left in. And it supports 3 120mm fans up top, if you choose not to go with 140mm fans. I would recommend using the larger 140mm models.)

Are you going to be overclocking? What CPU cooler are you planning to use?

I'd highly recommend that you just put two intake fans and one additional top rear exhaust fan. That should probably be enough for whatever you plan to do unless you plan to use liquid cooling and then we'll need to rethink the cooling fan situation because of the radiator which would come with it's own fans.

I was under the impression that the ryzen 7 2700x had a fan and heatsink on it already. Do i need extra cooling for it? If so i would do liqiud cooling. Also, no i will not be overclocking.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You don't NEED it, as the stock cooler is fine if you plan to simply run it at its default configuration, but if you plan to overclock it, or if you would simply prefer to have a HSF that doesn't annoy the piss out of you with it's fan noise every time you do something slightly demanding, it would be a good idea.

The stock wraith cooler is good, for a stock cooler. Compared to a decent aftermarket cooler though, and I do mean a decent one, not something cheap and low quality, it's no comparison. Not even close.

So if you won't be overclocking then it's not a necessity, but it still might be a worthwhile addition. I'd suggest you try it out first and then if you decide the cooling performance isn't what you expected or the noise is annoying, then go after a good cooler.

As to the case fans, are you looking to make this build quiet, or last a long time without having to replace any components (Obviously everybody wants this) or are you just wanting something to fill the holes and provide some case airflow for the here and now with no real care as to quality or aesthetics?

As far as choices of fans go, from best to good I'd probably look at them like this. Noctua, Thermalright (NOT Thermaltake), Corsair and BeQuiet (Mostly equal on their better models, except the Corsair Maglev fans which are probably up there between Noctua and Thermalright, at least.) and then you start running into the Cougar, Thermalright, Cooler Master and Deepcool level stuff.

 

[zixxle]

You don't NEED it, as the stock cooler is fine if you plan to simply run it at its default configuration, but if you plan to overclock it, or if you would simply prefer to have a HSF that doesn't annoy the piss out of you with it's fan noise every time you do something slightly demanding, it would be a good idea.

The stock wraith cooler is good, for a stock cooler. Compared to a decent aftermarket cooler though, and I do mean a decent one, not something cheap and low quality, it's no comparison. Not even close.

So if you won't be overclocking then it's not a necessity, but it still might be a worthwhile addition. I'd suggest you try it out first and then if you decide the cooling performance isn't what you expected or the noise is annoying, then go after a good cooler.

As to the case fans, are you looking to make this build quiet, or last a long time without having to replace any components (Obviously everybody wants this) or are you just wanting something to fill the holes and provide some case airflow for the here and now with no real care as to quality or aesthetics?

As far as choices of fans go, from best to good I'd probably look at them like this. Noctua, Thermalright (NOT Thermaltake), Corsair and BeQuiet (Mostly equal on their better models, except the Corsair Maglev fans which are probably up there between Noctua and Thermalright, at least.) and then you start running into the Cougar, Thermalright, Cooler Master and Deepcool level stuff.

I am using this PC for streaming on Twitch therefore quietness is a pretty high priority. Also i do want to go with liquid cooling; can you recommend some options for my build? I will look at case fans in the meantime.

Follow up question; do i need thermal paste, and do i take off the stock fan to replace it with the liquid cooling? Not exactly sure how that all works, this is my first time building a PC.

 

[Darkbreeze]

If you get an All in one closed loop liquid cooler, then yes, you will NOT install the stock cooler that comes with the processor. It will not come "installed". It would have to BE installed, so you just DON'T install it. Instead, you install the water cooler or whatever you buy in place of it.

What kind of budget do you want to use for the cooler?

For the fans, if quiet is the most important, followed by performance and longevity, I don't think you can do any better than Noctua.

I'd likely recommend getting 3 of these and putting them in the two front and one top rear fan locations,

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-A14-PWM-chromax-black-swap-premium-grade/dp/B07655KF5C

and one of these in the rear exhaust fan location.

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-F12-chromax-Black-swap-Premium-Grade-Quiet/dp/B07654PNFQ


As for the CPU cooler, I'll wait until I know your budget to make a recommendation on that.

 

[zixxle]

If you get an All in one closed loop liquid cooler, then yes, you will NOT install the stock cooler that comes with the processor. It will not come "installed". It would have to BE installed, so you just DON'T install it. Instead, you install the water cooler or whatever you buy in place of it.

What kind of budget do you want to use for the cooler?

For the fans, if quiet is the most important, followed by performance and longevity, I don't think you can do any better than Noctua.

I'd likely recommend getting 3 of these and putting them in the two front and one top rear fan locations,

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-A14-PWM-chromax-black-swap-premium-grade/dp/B07655KF5C

and one of these in the rear exhaust fan location.

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NF-F12-chromax-Black-swap-Premium-Grade-Quiet/dp/B07654PNFQ


As for the CPU cooler, I'll wait until I know your budget to make a recommendation on that.

Alright, ill do that for the fans for sure thanks.
As for the cooler, I am currently about $500 under budget for the entire build so i definitely have some extra money to get a quality liquid cooler. The one i was looking at was the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Lite ML240L

I'm not sure if this is a "high quality" cooler. I would appreciate some suggestions and links if possible. I really appreciate the help!

 

[Darkbreeze]

Definitely not the cooler I'd look at. You don't need anything particularly high end since you're not going to be overclocking. Honestly, a good air cooler would suffice, but if you want to go with an AIO for aesthetic reasons I'd look at the Corsair H100i Pro, Arctic liquid freezer 240 (Fairly quiet), EVGA CLC 240 or NZXT Kraken x52.

Those are all 240mm coolers. I'll have to look into whether or not your case will support a 280mm cooler, as one of those would provide better cooling but more importantly, it would offer much lower noise levels as it wouldn't need to work as hard to provide the same level of cooling at a lower noise level, as any of the 240mm coolers.

Even better, since noise is a concern for you and water coolers tend to be a lot noisier than air coolers, would be a good AIO cooler with some Noctua fans on it. Noctua fans are just quieter than anybody else's fans, pretty much hands down.

 

[zixxle]

Definitely not the cooler I'd look at. You don't need anything particularly high end since you're not going to be overclocking. Honestly, a good air cooler would suffice, but if you want to go with an AIO for aesthetic reasons I'd look at the Corsair H100i Pro, Arctic liquid freezer 240 (Fairly quiet), EVGA CLC 240 or NZXT Kraken x52.

Those are all 240mm coolers. I'll have to look into whether or not your case will support a 280mm cooler, as one of those would provide better cooling but more importantly, it would offer much lower noise levels as it wouldn't need to work as hard to provide the same level of cooling at a lower noise level, as any of the 240mm coolers.

Even better, since noise is a concern for you and water coolers tend to be a lot noisier than air coolers, would be a good AIO cooler with some Noctua fans on it. Noctua fans are just quieter than anybody else's fans, pretty much hands down.

Noise is definitely the biggest concern. Can you recommend a quality air cooler for my build? And do i need a fan controller for the case fans or is it just luxury?

Also my case does appear to support 280 mm liquid cooler, if you could give me a link for that as well. Which is best? The liquid cooler or the air cooler? Seems to me that the 280mm liquid cooler is better for keeping temperatures low but a bit louder. Which would you go with?

 

[Darkbreeze]

280mm is quieter than 240mm. 280mm fans move more air at the same RPM, plus the "tone" of a 140mm fan is less annoying than that from a 120mm fan. That goes for pretty much any fan.

Honestly, A Noctua NH-U14S should be plenty for that configuration and should be fairly quiet.

If you want an AIO option, personally, I'd go for the EVGA CLC 280 and put a pair of Noctua NF-A14 PWM black chromax swap fans on there.