[SOLVED] Fans and rad setup for a Phanteks P400a D-rgb case

[davidbenpark]

I'm not very well versed on push/pull/intake/exhaust/fans/aio etc. so I'm looking for a simple setup for my new build.

The front of the case has mesh with no dust filter, and three stock 120mm rgb fans that I think are set to intake. I'll stick with these.

Other than that there is room for one 120mm rear and two 120 or 140mm top fans (covered with dust filter) that I need to choose and buy.

Due to having nice looking rgb ram and wanting to experiment with overclocking my 3700x, I think I want to go with a 240mm AIO. Can I mount the rad at the front behind the three intake fans that are pulling in air so the rgb is still visible? Or will that block much needed airflow? I could then have two exhausts up top and one at the rear. But would the top exhausts be weird under a dust filler?

Would a 120mm rad to the rear with two exhausts up top work better so air intake at the front is clearer? Or does the 120mm rad limit overclocking potential too much?

Could I put a 240mm rad at the top under two exhausts with a third at the rear? Would I need to remove the dust filter if I did this?

I'm so far from an answer my head hurts 😵

 

[tennis2]

Yes you can mount the rad behind the fans. Any rad will limit fan airflow to about half, but since you'd have an unobstructed front intake still, you'll be fine. If you go that route, a single 120mm fan in the back is probably fine. You'd have the equivalent of 2 fans in, and 1 fan out. Taking into consideration that the 2 fans in front of the rad will probably be controlled by the CPU fan header and slowed down if temps are decent, it might be more like 1.5 fans in and 1 fan out.

 

[gamerbrehdy]

Just leave the front three fans on intake, and put the two top fans on intake. Mounting the radiator on the top will leave the three front fans for pushing in fresh air for your GPU or other heatsinks on your motherboard 'n stuff.

Putting one fan in the back as exhaustfan will help pushing out the warm air in your case, and I definetly recommend using it.


I'm running a front mounted 240ml rad as well. Performance isn't bad, but im switching to a different case with place for a top mounted rad 'n fans, because my GPU is running a tad hotter than before.

 

[tennis2]

I think you meant top rad as exhaust?

3 front intake, 2 top on rad exhaust, 1 rear exhaust is a good setup also. Yes

 

[davidbenpark]

Thanks a lot @tennis2 and @gamerbrehdy.

I've had to edit this post as I just discovered the case doesn't support radiators on top. Only front and rear. I don't think I have much choice other than to go with a 240mm or 360mm radiator at the front as intake with push pull.

In this case, would I need two or three exhaust fans? Does push pull with a radiator (5 or 6 fans) have more airflow coming in than just three front fans pulling in?

This probably means I'll need to get my head around using splitters to accommodate all these fans. I wish I'd just got a custom build at this point.

 

[tennis2]

You don't NEED push-pull, but it does help pass more air through. I wouldn't say push-pull achieves quite a full single unobstructed fan.

Number of exhaust fans depends on their speed/CFM relative to the front intakes (at 1/2 their CFM as I said earlier)

Custom build? Is this a pre-built? What is the make/model of your motherboard?

 

[davidbenpark]

You don't NEED push-pull, but it does help pass more air through. I wouldn't say push-pull achieves quite a full single unobstructed fan.

Number of exhaust fans depends on their speed/CFM relative to the front intakes (at 1/2 their CFM as I said earlier)

Custom build? Is this a pre-built? What is the make/model of your motherboard?

Ok thanks again, that helps. It's a custom build and the motherboard is Asus Tuf Gaming x570-Plus (Wifi).

What would your thoughts be on going for a fan cooler instead that doesn't sit over the ram slots (I have Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB), provides enough cooling to OC the 3700x and doesn't look really ugly? Is there no such thing? I tried looking at the mobo specs and couldn't find details for how wide a fan cooler could be without sitting over the ram.

Sorry for asking so many questions! I'm just properly stuck on what to do next to maximise the potential of my components without giving myself a really difficult build.

 

[tennis2]

For "big air" coolers, I personally like the Scythe Fuma 2 or Mugen 5 Rev.B ($50 typically) right now.

 

[davidbenpark]

For "big air" coolers, I personally like the Scythe Fuma 2 or Mugen 5 Rev.B ($50 typically) right now.

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll look into these and see if I can get them in the case without covering the ram slots. I'll just manually measure the width across the socket to the ram slots to see if it will fit as I can't seem to find measurements on the ASUS mobo specs.

If not I'll bite the bullet and go for a 240mm AIO mounted at the front.

 

[tennis2]

With a 240mm AIO (single side fans) + 1 unobstructed front intake, and the rear 120mm exhaust, that should give you what you need. (Basically what I said in my first post)

 

[RodroX]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCZ5iP5cu8g

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNAMxZgvves