Fractal Design Define R5 - Placement of Fans?

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the Tom's Hardware community: where nearly two million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.
Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
D

Daseark

Reputable
Dec 21, 2014
52
0
4,640
Hi, I am a bit confused on setting up a good airflow in my case, the Fractal R5. I have a Cooler Master Hyper 212 evo for the CPU cooler, and a Corsair RM650 as the PSU.

I'm only going to do light overclocking, so is getting additional case fans even necessary?
If so, can you give me any recommendations on what fans should I get and where to place them. And maybe also how I should mount the CPU Cooler and the PSU.
Thanks!
 
Sort by date Sort by votes
I too thought a bit about how to place fans on my R5, i had like one 140mm and four or five 120mm fans available to use, but when I first tested the case with just the stock fans I saw that the airflow in the case was good already and kept the system cool easily, so unless you're running multi gpu's it doesn't need much fans (which I'm glad about, since I don't wanna have to remove the top covers to put fans there). I decided to just put one extra 120mm fan at the bottom next to the PSU, to get some positive pressure.
Although about the PSU, I installed that with the intake fan facing up, but could that cause negative pressure in the case? Perhaps I should flip the PSU, just like the second guy who posted said. BTW, if the PSU gets hot, where does the heat go, it rises up to the GPU right? Or does it depend on which side it's on, and the fan next to it?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


on a case with a bottom mounted psu mate,always use the fan vent with the psu upside downe ,psu fan facing out of the bottom fan vent.
It isolates the psu completely that way,having it facing inwards pulls air away from the gpu fans which is the opposite of what you want+it will make the psu run a fair bit hotter.

psu fans are intakes,they drag air into the psu & exhaust it out of the back.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Yeah I flipped it now, you're right a top facing intake would be very bad indeed. I think this is my first ever case to have the PSU mounted at the bottom like that, my previous cases had them in really weird places lol.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Doesn't facing PSU downwards mean the intake will be through mesh grill - meaning it will have more obstruction in intake causing more noise and requiring more power to effectively cool - so in turn work harder and hotter.

PSU facing up in such a case might be quieter
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
^ no mate - the whole idea of a bottom mounted PSU with a grill in the case is to completely isolate it from the rest of the system.
The PSU will be sucking cool air from the outside of the case.
If you had the fan mounted inside its drawing warm case air in & running hotter - if the PSU fan is temp controlled then it will run faster & noisier.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Ok, thanks for that. I recently bought an r5 fractal case and a superflower leadex 650w psu and was unsure which way to mount it. But i will take the advice of most experts on here including yourself and mount it with the intake fan on the bottom, see how it goes.

The psu has eco and auto feature so most of the time the fan should only kick in when psu gets hot
 
Upvote 1 Downvote


I am doing my first build, it's taken me an entirety and a half, but it's pretty much done and I've learned a lot about case fans from this thread. I have an define r5 black as well, and I have been googling around looking for wire management pics and case fan choices and stuff, and there is a lot of good info in this thread, thank you.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Which Noctua NF-A14 do you suggest for an extra front intake fan? These are all the A14 fans I can buy from my usual shop.

Noctua 140mm NF-A14 FLX 1200RPM Fan
Noctua 140mm NF-A14 industrialPPC IP52 2000RPM Fan
Noctua 140mm NF-A14 industrialPPC IP52 PWM Fan (Max 2000RPM)
Noctua 140mm NF-A14 industrialPPC IP52 PWM Fan (Max 3000RPM)
Noctua 140mm NF-A14 industrialPPC IP67 PWM Fan (Max 2000RPM)
Noctua 140mm NF-A14 PWM 1500RPM Fan
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
I would add a 140mm fan on the bottom of the case and that would be enough in my opinion. The front intake would give fresh air to the Hyper 212 and the 140mm on the bottom would give fresh air to the GTX970. The rear fan will handle the exhaust and the system would run cool and quiet. If you want to go overkill, then add a 140mm on the front, and two 120mm on the bottom, but then I would think about the poor fan on the rear, having to handle to much air.

Go with the first option, you cannot go wrong. And if you are not satisfied with the cooling performance, you can add a 140 on the front anytime. Better to add, than to have more.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hi, i stumbled upon this discussion as im having the same dillema as OP and im running GTX970 strix, with GPU fan blowing downwards if it utilized.

I would get 1 extra noctua p14 for flow, should i put it in front-below case? so it blows directly to the gpu also (i removed my below HDD bay), this would serve the same as blowing from bottom right?

If i add that noctua fan, there would be 2 intake, i got noctua U12s cooler, will the stock rear exhaust able to suck all of these? or i need to replace the rear to higher rpm fan?



 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hey guys! I am planning to upgrade in the winter to the define R5, and I have 3 sp-120s. It it worth it getting two extra 140mm fans? Should I get nochuta or the sp140s?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Re : Fractal R5,

I'm waiting for the components, and I've been thinking where to place the fans.

I have read that, whilst quiet, the Fractal fans aren't very good at shifting air.

I have several Noctua NF-P12, and a couple of Akasa Apaches, in my bits&pieces drawer

So, would it be a good idea putting the two Noctua fans on the front, and maybe leaving the rear Fractal fan where it is.

Would this give me positive pressure in the case?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
If be more inclined to put both included 140mm FD fans in the front as intakes mate & use a single noctua on the rear exhaust.
If you're running a fairly standard single GPU system that will absolutely be enough cooling wise with a good positive pressure result.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
@madmatt30

Thanks for your reply. I'm using a Be Quiet Pure Rock Single Tower, on the CPU, with a Be Quiet Silent 120mm PWM fan.

Presumably, I will also have the Fractal 140's mounted as shown in the case literature. One at back, and one at front.

Should I leave it as it is, or supplement it with one of the Noctua's or Apache's.

I would assume that the Be Quiet"s fan will be a pusher, I could put a noctua on as a puller?

Alternatively, I could supplement the front intake with a 120mm.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
If you want to add extra fans then I would honestly ensure your front intakes are matched.

Meaning when you get the case , remove the included rear fan & fit it next to the other included fan as an additional front intake.

2x low rpm 140mm fans are what I would personally consider to be close to the ideal for case front intakes.
You can keep them full speed & at 1000rpm they'll still be very quiet & will bring significant airflow into the case.

Single 120mm rear exhaust (I would have said a 140mm but if you already own the fans use them) - I know the noctua are high pressure fans but they still do a great job as exhausts.

With most components that setup will do a good job , if you're unhappy with results then you have an additional 2 exhaust top fan mounts you can use. - I'll warn you removing the top fan cover plates spoils both the aesthetics & silencing of the case though - If you can get away with the single rear exhaust in use then don't use them is my advice.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
@madmatt30

Yup, that sounds good. I'll go for that. The two, included 140s at the front and a single 120 Noctua exhaust out of the rear.

I certainly want to avoid opening the top vents, that seems to defeat the object of the exercise, low noise.

I'll report back when it's done. Thanks very much for your input 🙂
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Hi! I learnt a lot from this thread! +1!

I am on my way buying a Fractal Design Define R5 case, and was thinking of adding one additional FD Dynamic GP-14 fan at the front (same as the two included, you can buy them now) and using a Noctua NH-D15 CPU cooler. Should be sufficient airflow from that. Planning on a Gigabyte GTX 980ti GPU (with fans that stops at low temps) as well as a EVGA SuperNOVA 750W PSU with eco mode that stops fans at low loads.

Since silent gaming is my goal, this should be fairly good? Will be first PC build ever, and so far I've spent days reading up on everything! Haha.
Aiming for 3440 by 1440p gaming with G-Sync.

Great community!
 
Upvote 1 Downvote


 
Upvote 1 Downvote


Hey, I am building almost the exact same setup, with NH-D15 cooler.

How did you orient the cpu cooler?
Are you happy with the overall setup?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote


Hi!
I am afraid that I've not yet purchased the new build 😛 Decided to wait for the Nvidia GTX 1080 GPU, which has yet to arrive in stock at the stores I have access to here in Sweden. Should be within a couple of weeks now. However, since I am going away for most of the summer for vacation, the PC will be bought in late august/early september. So I can't say from personal experience how it will perform :)

The plus side is that I've had a lot of time to finalize the PC parts list and I am very confident of the system I've got planned :)

About the NH-D15 Cooler, I would/will orient it so that the two fans exhaust to the back exhaust fan (basically turning the D15 into a push/pull/pull with the exhaust fan) I will not remove the Moduvents since silent operation is a main concern.

Hope it helps! Good luck with your build! When you finish it, I would be happy if you would share any experiences with the build here! Cheers!

My parts list (quite finalized) http://pcpartpicker.com/list/Mj4vKZ

 
Upvote 0 Downvote





Hello fellow Scandinavian! I am from Norway!

I'm amazed at how similar our builds are. Just ordered mine yesterday with the 1080...
Was going to go for the Asus version, but since the G1 model was in stock I ordered that instead.

Thanks BTW.. I think I'll orient the cpu cooler the way you described :)

I'll definitely share my experience of the build. Maybe i'll post some pictures too..

SCANDINAVIAN POWER! :)

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom