Fractal Design Define R5 case - fans / ventilation question

[Bellzemos]

Hi,

I've built a new system, it's an i7 7700K CPU on a Asus Z270-A MOBO with 32 GB RAM, GTX1080 GPU and a nVME SSD installed on the lower part of the MOBO.

The Fractal Design Define R5 case came with 2 chassis fans, a front one and a back one. I've taken out all the HDD cointainers as I won't be needing any.

The question: should I place the front case fan on the upper or the lower position in the front? If I place it on the upper one, it will blow on the GPU, which itself has 2 fans. If I place in on the lower position, it will blow over the nVME drive and below the GPU.

The PSU is placed on the floor of the case and has it's own airflow. For now I won't be getting more fans...

So, should I place the front case fan on the upper or the lower position at the front side?

Thank you.

 

[nitinvaid20]

well at front fan should be intake so as the sidefans and the bottom fans
the rear and top fan should be exhaust
as you have 2 fans one should be on the front and one should be on the rear and the stock fans that comes with the case are not good

 

[Dunlop0078]

I doubt it will really matter much whether you place the front intake towards the top or bottom of the front panel. I would probably use the bottom slot to give the m.2 SSD some airflow, they can get warm if you do a lot of writing and reading from it. I have heard the fractel fans that come with the R5 are decent

 

[SinxarKnights]

In the bottom slot. That way in theory it should get more airflow over the gpu before being pulled up and out the rear. In reality though it doesn't matter much. The fans are actually good in contrast to what nitinvaid20 claimed but they are quiet fans. Meaning they just move less air to stay quiet.

You can a buy more of those fans if you want to keep them matched up so i recommend getting at least one more and filling up the front. You can also switch them out to something that provides more airflow but keep in mind it will also raise the noise it produces but the R5 does a good job at damping fan noise.

 

[Bellzemos]

Thank you all. The fan is in the upper slot now and I'll move it to the bottom. 2nd question: should I get another fan like that so I'll have 2 14mm fans in the front and one in the back (3 alltogether)?

I have a huge CPU fan - Dark Rock Pro 3 and will maybe do some (minor) CPU overclocking. No GPU overclocking and RAM will be run on XMP profile but no additional OC.

The Define R5 is a silent/dampened case, so I guess it could get hot inside.

So, will 2 fans (one in the front-bottom and one in the rear-up) suffice or should I get another one in the front for my setup?

Thank you.

 

[nitinvaid20]

well 2 on the front either 120MM or 140mm and 2 onthe Top will be enofgh if you dont want to buy many fans

 

[SinxarKnights]

Yeah the nice thing about the R5 is there are options. You should watch temps with something like Open Hardware Monitor. If they get out of control then you can do more like add fans or change the config.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Thank you all. The fan is in the upper slot now and I'll move it to the bottom. 2nd question: should I get another fan like that so I'll have 2 14mm fans in the front and one in the back (3 alltogether)?

I have a huge CPU fan - Dark Rock Pro 3 and will maybe do some (minor) CPU overclocking. No GPU overclocking and RAM will be run on XMP profile but no additional OC.

The Define R5 is a silent/dampened case, so I guess it could get hot inside.

So, will 2 fans (one in the front-bottom and one in the rear-up) suffice or should I get another one in the front for my setup?

Thank you.

Yeah it should be enough in terms of airflow, most 140mm fans can move quite a bit of air when they get up to speed. I would add another 140mm intake to the front just for the sake of dust control. Having more air going in than you are exhausting creates a positive pressure environment inside the case. This will stop air from being sucked in through vents or cracks in the case thus reducing dust buildup.

 

[rkl122]

well 2 on the front either 120MM or 140mm and 2 onthe Top will be enofgh if you dont want to buy many fans

FWIW, there are no 120 mm fan mounting holes in the front of the R5. I just found this out, after having purchased a Fractal 120mm fan 🙁 I'm a noob - I thought all these cases have the option to mount either size.

BTW, in addition to the two (140mm) stock fans on the R5, mine came with an extra set of four fan mounting screws.

 

[SinxarKnights]

FWIW, there are no 120 mm fan mounting holes in the front of the R5.

There is though. I have one myself and can confirm it does in fact have 120mm mounts in the spots shown.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2829336/fractal-design-120mm-intake.html

 

[Kasper Jorgensen]

Where you place the fans in the front wont matter much. If you removed all the drive bays, why didn't you save a bit of money and got the Define S instead, same case just without the drive bays.
Anyway the R5 should be able to use 120mm fans at the front, at least that is what Fractal Design tells on the product page.

 

[rkl122]

FWIW, there are no 120 mm fan mounting holes in the front of the R5.

There is though. I have one myself and can confirm it does in fact have 120mm mounts in the spots shown.

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2829336/fractal-design-120mm-intake.html

Thanks for the quick response. My case does not have mounting screw holes 120mm apart where you've indicated - only 140. It does have the slotted cutouts. Is that what you mean? They are each wider than the fan screw diameter, and there were no corresponding nuts included with my R5. Even if there were, the screws are just barely long enough to expose maybe one or two thread turns. The xtra fan that I bought came with rubberized screw like thingies, but I don't see how they'd be used either. I'm starting my first build here, so maybe I'm missing something. Could use a little help about how to mount this 120mm fan.

 

[SinxarKnights]

My case does not have mounting screw holes 120mm apart where you've indicated - only 140. It does have the slotted cutouts. Is that what you mean? They are each wider than the fan screw diameter, and there were no corresponding nuts included with my R5. Even if there were, the screws are just barely long enough to expose maybe one or two thread turns. The xtra fan that I bought came with rubberized screw like thingies, but I don't see how they'd be used either. I'm starting my first build here, so maybe I'm missing something. Could use a little help about how to mount this 120mm fan.

You use the fan screws. Those slots fit a 120mm pattern exactly like the 140mm on the rear of the case (note how it also has a 120mm spot). Look at the rear of the case. That is how you mount them to the front, with the screw through the rear of the slot into the fan hole.

 

[rkl122]

My case does not have mounting screw holes 120mm apart where you've indicated - only 140. It does have the slotted cutouts. Is that what you mean? They are each wider than the fan screw diameter, and there were no corresponding nuts included with my R5. Even if there were, the screws are just barely long enough to expose maybe one or two thread turns. The xtra fan that I bought came with rubberized screw like thingies, but I don't see how they'd be used either. I'm starting my first build here, so maybe I'm missing something. Could use a little help about how to mount this 120mm fan.

You use the fan screws. Those slots fit a 120mm pattern exactly like the 140mm on the rear of the case (note how it also has a 120mm spot). Look at the rear of the case. That is how you mount them to the front, with the screw through the rear of the slot into the fan hole.

Oh man, how did I miss that. Thank you so much. Been watching DIY videos all summer, but didn't think to look at the rear fan for a clue. Doh! Apologies to the forum for posting incorrect info. Thx again.