Fractal Design Define R5 - Placement of Fans?

[Daseark]

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!

 

[jaskolukas]

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!

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!

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?

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

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!

Hi guys,
I'm going to buy 99% of the same build with 1080 by Asus, Strix version that has two connectors for fan control. Thatswhy I thinking to connect second front fan(added) and bottom fan to supply fresh air to GPU. But I have a dilemma whether the overcloced CPU will have enough fresh air with one front Fan (controlled by mobo). Would be this enough? Im also interested in your choice of mobo. How about The ASUS ROG Maximus VIII hero or ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming?
Thanks

 

[laststop311]

I have not read all the comments but I keep seeing people suggesting placing another fan on the bottom of the case this is WRONG. Tests have been done extensively. Adding a fan to the bottom of the case makes an imperceptable difference in cooling and noise.

You add the third fan directly below the front fan in the front of the case and remove the HDD cage. This not only increases the cold air circulation for all the components it also allows the gpu to run at a slightly reduced speed and maintain the same temp as the faster speed which lowers the noisiest component in the system.

Also it is not worth buying any different brand of fans. The Fractal Dynamic GP-14 fans that come with this system are actually near the top of the list in terms of acoustics and air output. Also the noise spectrum that they do put out is a non obtrusive pitch. It is a top choice fan and does not need to be replaced with another brand. They are even quieter than some of noctua's 140mm fans like their new a15 fan that also has a more obtrusive pitch.

If you want a truly quiet PC you need to skip the HDD and ODD entirely they are noisy and vibrate a lot. You then remove all the cages for the 5.25 and 3.5 drives. For storage the best thing to do is get a 256 (or 512GB if budget allows) Samsung pro 950 and install in m2 slot. This drive you will boot from and install your operating system and most needed applications for example steam, skype, winrar, vlc media player, chrome etc all the main backbone programs. You can also install your most frequently used games (this is where the 512GB version comes in handy.) Now for your bulk storage you either go with 1x 1TB SSD 1x 2TB SSD or 2x 2TB SSD or if you really need max space 2x 4TB SSD. The reason to go with 2 drives for 4TB instead of 1 is it's 1200 to buy 2x 2TB drives while it's 1500 to buy 1 4TB drive. And it doesn't have to cost a ton you can get 1x 1TB SSD for 300 dollars which is really a stone's throw from a 4TB HDD the speed and noise savings is well worth the capacity trade off. Doing this solves the problem of removing the cages for unrestricted airflow allowing you to keep your fans at the lowest speed setting which is 500 rpm while having great cold air coverage and also solved the problem of noisy vibrating hard drives with moving parts and makes even your bulk data storage super fast to access. Never will you have to look at the spinny icon when you pull up a rarely used folder off bulk storage. With the way the SSD's are placed on the back and no HDD or ODD this also makes cable routing neater and less restrictive to airflow whole decreasing the PSU's power output allowing it to run its fan slower or maybe even not at all every little bit helps.


TLDR. The case comes with 2 TOP tier fans a third fan is really not needed but a third fan can be placed on the FRONT of the case directly below the fan that comes with it for a couple degree improvement in cooling and a possible 0.5-1db noise improvement depending on how loud your gpu fans are and at what speed they run and how they respond to the additional cool air.

 

[Mordecai Walfish]

I agree with the sentiment of adding a 2nd fan to the front if you really need/want to add airflow to your case. That is the most efficient placement for an additional intake.


SSD placement in the Fractal R5:

It is very important to point out that when mounting an SSD (or multiple ones), you will get *significantly* cooler operating temperatures from them if you mount them in the HDD cages instead of behind the motherboard. I would only use the behind-the-motherboard mounts if you absolutely have no other place to mount the SSD drive(s). I got a 6-10 (depending on if system idle or load) degree (Celsius) improvement in temps on my 1tb Sandisk Ultra II Pro SSD mounted in the HDD cage instead of behind the motherboard. With SSD's costing as much as they do, I believe it is absolutely imperative to keep them cooled as much as possible in your case, as tests have shown that lower temps=longer life for SSD drives.

This result was also recorded in a link that was shared on the previous page:

"1. The SSD mounted behind the motherboard in the R5 ran hotter: 5°C during video encoding, and 11°C hotter during maximum CPU load. It's easy to see why. The SSD received airflow mounted in the front of the R4, and ran cooler under the higher load because the CPU cooler fan provided a bit more peripheral airflow. In contrast, when mounted behind the motherboard, the SSD is isolated from airflow and affected somewhat only by the temperature of the CPU."

Link: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1422-page4.html

 

[106Nilsson]

I agree with the sentiment of adding a 2nd fan to the front if you really need/want to add airflow to your case. That is the most efficient placement for an additional intake.


SSD placement in the Fractal R5:

It is very important to point out that when mounting an SSD (or multiple ones), you will get *significantly* cooler operating temperatures from them if you mount them in the HDD cages instead of behind the motherboard. I would only use the behind-the-motherboard mounts if you absolutely have no other place to mount the SSD drive(s). I got a 6-10 (depending on if system idle or load) degree (Celsius) improvement in temps on my 1tb Sandisk Ultra II Pro SSD mounted in the HDD cage instead of behind the motherboard. With SSD's costing as much as they do, I believe it is absolutely imperative to keep them cooled as much as possible in your case, as tests have shown that lower temps=longer life for SSD drives.

This result was also recorded in a link that was shared on the previous page:

"1. The SSD mounted behind the motherboard in the R5 ran hotter: 5°C during video encoding, and 11°C hotter during maximum CPU load. It's easy to see why. The SSD received airflow mounted in the front of the R4, and ran cooler under the higher load because the CPU cooler fan provided a bit more peripheral airflow. In contrast, when mounted behind the motherboard, the SSD is isolated from airflow and affected somewhat only by the temperature of the CPU."

Link: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1422-page4.html

I agree with everything said. I was planning on adding the one extra GP-14 in Front Lower slot and removing the big HDD cage and ODD cage, then mounting the small HDD cage at the top where the ODD cage previously was. Should be a lot cooler in the main compartment, but out of the way for blocking airflow (my guess is that the airflow is just minimally obstructed by the HDD cages at all, but...)

 

[carlese]

Hi guys, I'm planning on buying a Fractal Define R5 too, I come from an Aerocool Sixth Element which runs great but the USB ports are broken 🙁

I know that this case has two 140mm fans that are really great, and now on my case I have these fans:

- 1 Aerocool Dead Silence 140mm
- 1 Noctua NF A14 FLX
- 1 Noiseblocker Black Silent 120mm

My CPU cooler is a Xigmatek Gaia with a 120mm fan

I can get rid of the Noiseblocker 120mm fan, but I want to keep the two 140mm fans and put them on the R5.. Which disposition do you suggest? I thought to put the two Fractal on the front, Noctua on the bottom (these 3 fans linked to the fan controller, so I can put them at 7v or 5v) and Aerocool on the back (just because it hase a nice white led and it seems to have the highest cfm, but I'm not sure yet if I'm buying the non windowed version). I don't want to remove the moduvents, I want a really quiet system.. If this airflow is not good I can do without one 140mm fan, you tell me!

Thanks in advance,

Carlo

 

[106Nilsson]

Hi guys, I'm planning on buying a Fractal Define R5 too, I come from an Aerocool Sixth Element which runs great but the USB ports are broken 🙁

I know that this case has two 140mm fans that are really great, and now on my case I have these fans:

- 1 Aerocool Dead Silence 140mm
- 1 Noctua NF A14 FLX
- 1 Noiseblocker Black Silent 120mm

My CPU cooler is a Xigmatek Gaia with a 120mm fan

I can get rid of the Noiseblocker 120mm fan, but I want to keep the two 140mm fans and put them on the R5.. Which disposition do you suggest? I thought to put the two Fractal on the front, Noctua on the bottom (these 3 fans linked to the fan controller, so I can put them at 7v or 5v) and Aerocool on the back (just because it hase a nice white led and it seems to have the highest cfm, but I'm not sure yet if I'm buying the non windowed version). I don't want to remove the moduvents, I want a really quiet system.. If this airflow is not good I can do without one 140mm fan, you tell me!

Thanks in advance,

Carlo

Your plan sounds good! The FD GP-14 fans included are said to be great, on par with Noctuas offerings. Use them as front intake. Then use one of the 140mm fans as exhaust. For the last one, it's really up for you. If you want silence you should keep the vents. If you want an extra intake at the bottom for your GPU, keep in mind that HDD cages and PSU might interfere with the 140 mm fan mounts (a PSU lenght at about 165mm is what's needed for middle bottom fan, I think...)

I am actually about to start building in my R5, components should arrive tomorrow. I bought an extra GP-14 fan to add to the front and wont use any bottom ones. Airflow should be sufficient

Good luck!

 

[carlese]

Hi guys, I'm planning on buying a Fractal Define R5 too, I come from an Aerocool Sixth Element which runs great but the USB ports are broken 🙁

I know that this case has two 140mm fans that are really great, and now on my case I have these fans:

- 1 Aerocool Dead Silence 140mm
- 1 Noctua NF A14 FLX
- 1 Noiseblocker Black Silent 120mm

My CPU cooler is a Xigmatek Gaia with a 120mm fan

I can get rid of the Noiseblocker 120mm fan, but I want to keep the two 140mm fans and put them on the R5.. Which disposition do you suggest? I thought to put the two Fractal on the front, Noctua on the bottom (these 3 fans linked to the fan controller, so I can put them at 7v or 5v) and Aerocool on the back (just because it hase a nice white led and it seems to have the highest cfm, but I'm not sure yet if I'm buying the non windowed version). I don't want to remove the moduvents, I want a really quiet system.. If this airflow is not good I can do without one 140mm fan, you tell me!

Thanks in advance,

Carlo

Your plan sounds good! The FD GP-14 fans included are said to be great, on par with Noctuas offerings. Use them as front intake. Then use one of the 140mm fans as exhaust. For the last one, it's really up for you. If you want silence you should keep the vents. If you want an extra intake at the bottom for your GPU, keep in mind that HDD cages and PSU might interfere with the 140 mm fan mounts (a PSU lenght at about 165mm is what's needed for middle bottom fan, I think...)

I am actually about to start building in my R5, components should arrive tomorrow. I bought an extra GP-14 fan to add to the front and wont use any bottom ones. Airflow should be sufficient

Good luck!

Thanks for your answer.. I know, 3 fans should be enough, but since I have four at no cost.. 😉 For the HDD cages, I'm going to remove both 3,5 and 5,5 cages since I only have 1 SSD that I'm going to mound on the back of the motherboard.. Let's see how it goes 😉