Case fans for Fractal R4 R9 290 Crossfire

[1kca]

So I just added a second 290 to my system and I'm looking for a couple of 140mm intake fans to replace the Corsair AF 140 (quiet edition) and stock Fractal R4 case fan I have in the front now.

I was almost 100% on the BeQuiet Silent Wings 2 but they're expensive and after reading countless reviews, the noise they output (or lack thereof) is more impressive than the amount of air they actually move which is a concern.

Can anyone recommend two 140mm case fans that are reasonably quiet (@12v?) but can push a good amount of air.

Aesthetics aren't too much of a big deal considering where they're going to be mounted, but at low load, noise is.

I'm still considering the Silent WIngs and also the Noctua Redux fans.


If it helps:

* Case is a Fractal R4 with a window (so can't mount any fans on the side panel)
* The top HDD drive cage is removed.
* Currently have 2x140mm fans as intake in the front, 1x 140mm exhaust on the rear and 1x 140mm exhaust mounted top-rear
* Will be connecting the fans to the case DC fan controller
* The two exhaust fans are Corsair AF140 quiet editions

Thanks for looking

 

[i7Baby]

The case fits -
1 - Front hydraulic bearing 140mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1000 RPM speed (included)
1 - Front 120/140mm fan (not included)
1 - Rear hydraulic bearing 140mm Silent Series R2 fan, 1000 RPM speed (included)
2 - Top 120/140mm fans (not included) - positions also support some models of 240mm radiators, depending on configuration
1 - Bottom 120/140mm fan (not included)

For the two fans on the front, I would've recommended the Corsair anyway. The Be Quiets probably had a resistor inbuilt to drop their rpm. You should be able to adjust all the fan rpm if they're plugged into your motherboard.

Noctua is quieter than Corsair but more expensive.

What about CPU Cooler and GPU fans? Are they noisy too?

So I'd just use my motherboard instead of the fan controller for case fans. And I'd keep the Corsair. In fact, I only have only front and one rear fan and have no probs at all even with gtx sli. So try minimising the no. fans especially if your not having overheating porbs.

 

[1kca]

Right now I only have 3x Corsair fans and 2x stock Fractals.

2 of the Corsairs are being used as exhaust and the last one is paired with one of the stock fractals as intake.


Right now, noise isn't an issue but temps are. Yesterday, after installing the second card, I played Mortal Kombat and Injustice and the system was fine - probably cos those games aren't very demanding but then I started Batman Arkham City, ran it for all of 5 mins, quit to desktop and both cards were at nearly 95 degrees. Then the system just locked up on the desktop and shut down.
The case was stupidly hot to the touch too.

I forgot to remove my overclock before installing the second card so I'm assuming that played a massive part in both temps and instability but even after clearing the OC, I think it would be a good idea to improve the airflow.

 

[1kca]

Also, I only have one system fan header left on the mobo because the two exhaust fans are each using one. I would need to use the case DC fan control for at least one of the fans anyway.

Also thanks for your quick reply

Edit: oh and the CPU cooler is a BeQuiet dark Rock 3 (not Pro) and it's near inaudible to me so that's fine.. The GPU fans are reasonable under load so they're okay too

 

[i7Baby]

Its not a real big case - Case dimensions (WxHxD): 232 x 464 x 523mm. But 290's shouldn't get that hot. Maybe 80C gaming.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r9-290-and-290x,3728-6.html What make and model?

 

[1kca]

MSI R9 290 gaming 4G.

I'm going to run the Arkham City in-game benchmark now and monitor the temps without any OC and see if the temps still clear 90C

 

[i7Baby]

OK. Post back with the temps.

 

[1kca]

GPU 1 Max - 94C
GPU 2 Max - 84C

 

[i7Baby]

Turn all the fans up - gpu and case - to see how low you can get it.

 

[1kca]

Set the fans to 12V and even opened the case door but the top card still exceeds 90.

Base Clock is 977 but even downlclocked to 947, it still climbs to 94C after the benchmark is finished and then throttles

 

[i7Baby]

Is this benchmark just a part of the game or something stressful like Furmark? What about normal game play?

If it was game playing, I'd expect 80C max. Fair enough the top/primary card a bit hotter.

 

[1kca]

I'm not sure. It uses scenes from the game but probably the most stressful ones? I'm not really sure

 

[i7Baby]

Can you just play the game for 10 mins and compare temps?

 

[1kca]

Alright, let me try that now

 

[1kca]

GPU 1 Max - 94C
GPU 2 Max - 83C

It took longer to reach there in gameplay but still 94C

 

[1kca]

If it helps, the tower sits on a bit of wood under my desk. Could putting it on the desk help at all? Or would better fans have more of an impact

 

[i7Baby]

My case has 1 inch legs so air can come in from the bottom. Yours?

Try swapping the cards around. I'd expect the top card to be 5C higher (mines 2C hotter) not 10.


Edit - Oh and blow the case out especially coolers and filters.

 

[1kca]

Case is about 4cm off the carpet but the feet are only about 2cm in height. I'm going to try and find space for the tower on my desk and swap the cards around and see if that helps

 

[1kca]

Swapped the cards around, cleaned the front filter again, put the tower on the desk and ran the same benchmark:

GPU 1: 94C
GPU 2: 75C

 

[Arksun]

Are your two graphics card tightly packed against each other? If so its always going to be tricky keeping the first one cool. It's a shame you dont have the side panel that has side fan.

I have a question for i7baby. You say you're only using a single inlet and single exhaust fan with your R4. Just wanted to ask, have you set them the same speed / CFM, or is one stronger than the other for positive or negative pressure?. Also, did you patch up any other air holes in the R4 with this arrangement (like for example closing the 2nd front fan opening, or putting tape over that air slit thats above the first few pci slots).

 

[1kca]

No they have a one slot gap in between them

Pics of the layout here

 

[i7Baby]

Are your two graphics card tightly packed against each other? If so its always going to be tricky keeping the first one cool. It's a shame you dont have the side panel that has side fan.

I have a question for i7baby. You say you're only using a single inlet and single exhaust fan with your R4. Just wanted to ask, have you set them the same speed / CFM, or is one stronger than the other for positive or negative pressure?. Also, did you patch up any other air holes in the R4 with this arrangement (like for example closing the 2nd front fan opening, or putting tape over that air slit thats above the first few pci slots).

I have a CM 690II not an R4. Same speed fans (1000 rpm). Holes left open

 

[i7Baby]

So no matter what you do, the top gpu is getting to 94C. So its' not the gpu's. Is it a temp measurement problem. These temps from Afterburner?

Can you try other temp measurement software too eg HWInfo - Sensors?

 

[1kca]

I was using both GPU-Z and Afterburner to monitor the temps. The readings are identical. I downloaded HWInfo anyway though and the readings were the same.

So now, I've elevated the tower, switched the GPU's back around because for some reason there was a 20C gap between them when I switched them the first time, and I just removed the dust filter for the front intakes.

Temps still rose to 94C and 88C for the top and bottom card respectively but it took much longer for them to reach those temps. During the same Arkham City benchmark, the top card maxed out at 80C but continued to climb after the benchmark finished

 

[i7Baby]

What speed are the gpu fans on?