HAF 912 Fan Configuration For Gaming Build

[t3nn1spr3p]

I have:
CoolerMaster HAF 912
Hyper 212 Evo
Two GTX 670's (both blower types)
PCIe Sound Card
One SSD (that's it, and it's not even in the main drive bay)

Looking for advice on case fans, here's the available slots:

Front: two 120mm or one 200mm
Side: one 120mm or one 140mm
Top: two 120mm or one 200mm
Back: one 120mm

I didn't realize that it doesn't have a bottom intake, which I'm disappointed about.

Obviously the back will stay as 120mm, and the side will be 140mm.
Since there's little resistance in the front, air flow type fans should be better.
So for both front and top, two 120mm or one 200mm?

It seems like I can buy higher quality 120mm fans that would give equal or more CFM. And the options for 200mm just don't seem great. CoolerMaster and NZXT are mentioned, but where's the corsair or noctua competition?

Thanks

 

[M0j0jojo]

I have a HAF 912 and i put a 200mm Fan in front, and also 120mm fan since i had enough space where you insert the DVD drive. I also have a 200mm fan on top. and put 140mm on side, and 120mm fan at back.

 

[Shneiky]

200 mm fans are rare. Cooler Master, Antec, BitFenix and NZXT are the 4 most common 200 mm fan producers. And most of them are sleeve bearing - meaning only vertical mount. As 200mm go, I find the Cooler Master MegaFlow the best fan by acoustics and airflow. Although there is a tradeoff - those degrade and become quite noisy after 2-3 years. You have to decide which is your priority - silence or airflow.

The idea of the case fans are to move enough air so that the CPU cooler and GPU cooler spin at lowest possible and more importantly to cool the motherboard components such as the capacitors, mosfets, south bridge and etc. If I was you, I would get 2 120mm front intakes, 1 120mm back exhaust and a 140mm side, since you have blower style video cards. This will create positive pressure inside the case, keeping dust out. But I would advise for you to take silent edition fans. Rated for 15 db or less. Such as be quiet! Silent Wings (low or mid speed) or the Corsair AF 120mm Quiet edition High Airflow.

If you are pursuing ultimate performance - 3 120mm exhausts (2 top, 1 rear) and 200mm front. Combined with your blower style video cards - this will create negative pressure inside the case - optimal for cooling, but things will get dustier faster requiring regular maintenance. Corsair AF performance series with a Cooler Master MegaFlow 200mm should fit in nicely.

As a HAF 912 owner, I am using 2 front 120 mm intakes and 1 120mm back exhaust (all of them are be quiet! riffle bearing 23 CFM 9 db rated) and I find that optimal after trying many different configurations including a massive 200mm front, 2 120mm top exhaust, 120mm back exhaust. I settled for 3 case fans since I am a quiet freak. Since I have an axial cooler video card - side fans hurts than helps, but you have blowers - so it will most likely help your case. I have to say, I considered putting 2 more Silent Wings on top to cool down the power delivery components even further, but since I am not running maximum overclock and my motherboard is not under extreme conditions - I deemed that unnecessary. I hope this information helped you decide what fits you best - cheers.

 

[M0j0jojo]

Bitfenix also makes 200mm fans

 

[M0j0jojo]

I have 3 intake fans, http://cdn.overclock.net/d/d1/d1abd3b6_IMG_4004.jpeg

and 2 exhaust fans http://cdn.overclock.net/9/96/96df349c_IMG_4011.jpeg

 

[Shneiky]

Is that dust or?

 

[M0j0jojo]

Is that dust or?

No, its a filter i put inside

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_2758.html

 

[Shneiky]

@M0j0

How did you put the front 120mm in the HDD bays? What kind of bracket did you use? I was looking at the Scythe Bay Rafter 3,5 to place vertically, but I was wondering will it fit, because of the toolless design of the bay cage (and the little slide-in canals for the 5.25).

 

[M0j0jojo]

@M0j0

How did you put the front 120mm in the HDD bays? What kind of bracket did you use? I was looking at the Scythe Bay Rafter 3,5 to place vertically, but I was wondering will it fit, because of the toolless design of the bay cage (and the little slide-in canals for the 5.25).

I used zip ties to tie the fan on to the metal chassis, just a little handy work is all you need

 

[blue_smoke]

I have:
CoolerMaster HAF 912
Hyper 212 Evo
Two GTX 670's (both blower types)
PCIe Sound Card
One SSD (that's it, and it's not even in the main drive bay)

Looking for advice on case fans, here's the available slots:

Front: two 120mm or one 200mm
Side: one 120mm or one 140mm
Top: two 120mm or one 200mm
Back: one 120mm

I didn't realize that it doesn't have a bottom intake, which I'm disappointed about.

Obviously the back will stay as 120mm, and the side will be 140mm.
Since there's little resistance in the front, air flow type fans should be better.
So for both front and top, two 120mm or one 200mm?

It seems like I can buy higher quality 120mm fans that would give equal or more CFM. And the options for 200mm just don't seem great. CoolerMaster and NZXT are mentioned, but where's the corsair or noctua competition?

Thanks

Bigger the better. 200mm front, 140mm side, 200mm top and 120mm back.