Fractal Design R4 or XL R2 for this build? And Fan set up. Quiet and cool PC

[-Mav-]

Hi all

Which Fractal Design case of R4 or XL R2 should I use for a quiet pc that I will want to overclock (CPU and GPU) a bit but nothing hardcore?

Cost and space it not imporant in this situation so I can go for a bigger case. That should give better air flow and lower temperatures anyways right?

Build:
Motherboard: Asus Z97 Deluxe
CPU: i7 4790K
GPU: Asus GTX 780 Ti, 3GB
PSU: Corsair RM850
RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum, 16GB (2x8GB), 2133MHZ, CL9
Drives: 2 x SSD
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110 (Fans replaced with 2x Noctua NF-A14 PWM)
Other fans: Replaced with Noctua NF-A14 PWM


If I choose the XL R2 then I will change all fans with Noctua NF-A14 PWM and adding extra. Basically 2 front intake, 1 bottom intake, 1 rear intake (need to buy extra dust filter) and 2 top exhaust (via Corsair H110 CPU cooler/radiator). I am thinking about connecting the 2 top exhaust fans to CPU Fan header with Y splitter. Unsure how to connect the remaining 4 intake fans, either all on CPU_OPT with 2 Y Splitters in serial (is this possible?), Rear and Bottom on CPU_OPT and remaining on CHA_Fan1/2 or all 4 on CHA_Fan1/2/3/4? Any ideas? Will run silent profile in Asus Bios or Asus software and only want it all to ramp up automatically if temperatures get (too) high.
Also, should I use the LNA adapters that come with the fans to reduse max speed to 1200 RPM in addition to auto control via BIOS/Software? I know some will advise that it is no point in case intake fans being PWM, but they should give better air flow and be better at auto adjusting than a 3 pin connected to the motherboard?

Not sure on how fan set up will be in a potential R4 case.

A lot of questions here, hopefully not too many.

Thanks.

 

[-Mav-]

Also, forgot to add that I will want to run SLI at a later stage. Will that build fit into r4? Assume xl r2 is big enough or can the height of Ram, length of GPU or anything else be a problem in any case?

 

[-Mav-]

Bump, any insights guys?

 

[ej13]

There should be no problem with the SLI setup in a R4. I have been asking the same questions as you and have no answer yet in regards to which case to get. I am going ahead and ordering the R4 today as it is a daily special on Newegg Canada version today. I don't really need the extra room the xl R2 gives.

 

[volcanoscout]

Bump, any insights guys?

Don't know if you're still looking for input or if you've got everything figured out - didn't see this thread until this morning. I've had the R4 for a while now with a build pretty much identical to what you're describing, minus the water cooling (I use a NH-D14). I've got Noctuas all around and GTX770 SLI. I just switched my build to an Arc Midi R2 because I needed the R4 for another project, but if you still have questions on it or on fan configuration let me know. I think I've tried just about every configuration and control setup possible.