[SOLVED] Fan Plan for PC Case

[windowskm]

I have a Phanteks p400a and MSI b450 gaming pro carbon max wifi, but till now I've just been running the stock 3 fans in the front of the case. I've done a bit of research and am aiming for 1 rear 120mm fan (140mm won't fit) and 2 top 140mm fans and setting these three to exhaust.

I've just bought 2 ARCTIC P14 PWMs, 1 ARCTIC P12 PWM and 2 Rabi PWM Fan Hubs (which can take 1 cpu fan and 3 system fans)

Right now my three front case fans are connected to sys_fan headers 2-4 (

https://imgur.com/CsEzOpw

View: https://imgur.com/CsEzOpw
). I was initially thinking I'll hook these 3 to one hub and my 3 new fans up to the other hub then just use 2 sys fan headers for the two hubs.

The thing I'm worried about is hearing horror stories about overloading hubs with fans and causing damage. I've had a hard time confirming the power draw on the both the case fans and the Arctics so I'm not 100% sure I'll be overloading the hubs I've gotten. I was thinking I could do 2 front fans to one hub, 2 top fans to one hub, remaining front fan direct to mobo header and back fan direct to a mobo header too if I really wanted to play it safe (assuming my cabling all reaches) but this seems like a hassle/overkill?

Secondly, as far as I understand it is desirable to have slightly more intake than exhaust pressure to avoid dust build up. I'm wondering if I'll have to adjust my front fans curve slightly as I assume the larger Arctics as exhaust will be more efficient at pulling air out. Would this be a correct assumption? I could return the fan hubs I've gotten and instead pick up a SATA power hub that'll take all 6 fans but then I'll have no differenciation between input and output fans and won't be able to adjust them. Am I overthinking the intake/exhaust stuff and should I just use one hub or is it worthwhile figuring out?

Apologies I'm new to figuring this stuff out!

 

[Aeacus]

I've had a hard time confirming the power draw on the both the case fans and the Arctics

ARCTIC P14 PWM

Max power draw 0.12 A, specs: https://www.arctic.de/en/P14-PWM/ACFAN00124A#specs

ARCTIC P12 PWM

Max power draw 0.08 A, specs: https://www.arctic.de/en/P12-PWM/ACFAN00119A

Phanteks doesn't list their fan power draw.

I was thinking I could do 2 front fans to one hub, 2 top fans to one hub, remaining front fan direct to mobo header and back fan direct to a mobo header too if I really wanted to play it safe (assuming my cabling all reaches) but this seems like a hassle/overkill?

Having max 2 fans per one MoBo fan header is solid choice without risk of overloading MoBo fan header, which is rated for 1A @ 12 V. Also, this conf gives you the most flexibility when it comes to controlling the fan speeds.

2 Rabi PWM Fan Hubs

Btw, you don't need that sketchy fan hub that allows you to connect up to 4 fans on single header, especially when you're connecting only 2 fans on single MoBo fan header. Here, Noctua Y-splitter is more than enough,
2x in the box + 6 years of warranty, amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NA-SYC1-Accessory-4-pin-Y-Cables/dp/B00KG8K5CY

Secondly, as far as I understand it is desirable to have slightly more intake than exhaust pressure to avoid dust build up.

While it is true that positive pressure gives you less dust buildup in your PC than neutral or negative pressure, it also has the poorest cooling performance of the three, while negative pressure has best cooling performance.
Further reading: https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq...-fans-and-keeping-your-computer-cool.1542215/

Am I overthinking the intake/exhaust stuff and should I just use one hub or is it worthwhile figuring out?

This depends what kind of person you are. E.g if you don't care much about fiddling with your PC, to fine tune it, you can go with SATA fan hub for 6/8 fans. But if you like to fine tune your PC, having the most control over your fans is preferable.

For example, i'm so dedicated to the cooling of my PCs (yes, all 3, full specs with pics in my sig), that i've bought dedicated fan controllers for all of them and i can control the speed of individual fan to my likening.
While connecting 2 fans with Y-splitter to the MoBo does give control over the fan speed, you can do that only in BIOS and the two fans will be running in sync. While with fan controller, i can control individual fans any time i desire. Oh, i also have high-end case fans and all 3 PCs of mine run negative pressure (for optimal cooling).

Spoiler: My fan controllers (click here to view)

From left to right:
Skylake build - Thermaltake Commander F6 RGB
Haswell build - NZXT Sentry 3
AMD build - Aerocool X-Vision