Help Choosing Case Cooling Fan

[mEduzaLTu]

Hello, summer just around the corner, it's already getting hot and I don't like seeing my GPU temperatures hitting 85 degrees on max load, I've got the Corsair Carbide Series 300R case, with the stock front fan that comes with it, and the Corsair Hydro Series H60 2013 cooling for my CPU which blows out through the back of the case. That's all I currently have for cooling including the little GPU fan and PSU fan.

I'm not into fans and don't know much about them, but I'm thinking about getting a 140mm and sticking it to the top of the case. The questions I have, which way should I get the fan to blow? In or out of the case. Would like someone to recommend me some and is there anything I need to look out when buying a fan like the connectors if they will fit my motherboard, as I'm not a system builder I don't know much about these things.

Looking at similar threads and using Google I have chosen these 3, what do you think, and is there a better choice for the same price?

Corsair AF140-LED White - 24 dB - 67.8CFM - £9.98
Be Quiet Pure Wings 2 - 18.8dB - 61.2CFM - £8.15
NZXT FX-140LB - 37 dB - 98.3CFM - £7.37

Thank you.

 

[Danbuscus25]

well, you usually have more exhaust than intake, so because it sounds like you have 1 intake and thats it, i would buy 1 or 2 more fans for exhaust. i voted for the fan from Be Quiet, because it offers the best price/performance/noise ratio.

 

[mEduzaLTu]

well, you usually have more exhaust than intake, so because it sounds like you have 1 intake and thats it, i would buy 1 or 2 more fans for exhaust. i voted for the fan from Be Quiet, because it offers the best price/performance/noise ratio.

Thank you for the reply, I will buy 1 for the top panel, if I don't see much of a difference or feel like getting one more I will just get a second of the same fan and stick it to the side panel.

Waiting for more replies.

 

[Adroid]

You want more intake than exhaust. More fresh air over the hot parts provides best results. If you have more exhaust than intake, then sometimes you run into situations where the intake goes straight out the exhaust and doesn't reach areas of your case.

I recommend you have 2x 140MM intake fans coming in the front, and 1x120mm exhausting out the back, then mount the H60 blowing out the top. 85° is really pushing it for a GPU in my opinion, I would also make sure your cable management is decent to where air is constantly flowing over the GPU.

 

[mEduzaLTu]

You want more intake than exhaust. More fresh air over the hot parts provides best results. If you have more exhaust than intake, then sometimes you run into situations where the intake goes straight out the exhaust and doesn't reach areas of your case.

I recommend you have 2x 140MM intake fans coming in the front, and 1x120mm exhausting out the back, then mount the H60 blowing out the top. 85° is really pushing it for a GPU in my opinion, I would also make sure your cable management is decent to where air is constantly flowing over the GPU.

Thank you for replying, I'm not really willing to buy more than two fans though, the GPU is a GTX 780Ti (Zotac) if it matters, also the cable management in my case is absolutely perfect, all the cables are under a panel on which the motherboard is, so all the wiring is not visible at all. I don't really want to move the CPU cooler fan from the back, I prefer it there. Still sticking to the idea of getting one for the top, and maybe one more for the side. I guess both for exhaust, or maybe the side one should be an intake.

 

[Danbuscus25]

always have atleast 1 intake and 1 exhaust, and use some common sense with the airflow, have it come in your pc one way, over your parts, and out the pc the other way.

 

[mEduzaLTu]

always have atleast 1 intake and 1 exhaust, and use some common sense with the airflow, have it come in your pc one way, over your parts, and out the pc the other way.

If I have 3 fans, 2 of them should be intakes or exhausts? I'm currently thinking of 2 intakes (front, side) and 1 exhaust (top).

 

[Adroid]

2 intakes on the front, 1 exhaust out the rear would be typical. I would put the fan for the H60 on the top.

 

[Adroid]

That way more air is being pushed across the graphcis card.. If you just have a fan exhausting on the top, it will tend to suck more air in the front upwards, and possibly bypassing the GPU more..

Not saying for sure you would really have to test it, but in theory if your main exhaust fan is on the top the most air flow would be front to top instead of front to back... and your GPU is closer to the back than it is to the top. Does that make sense?

 

[mEduzaLTu]

Makes sense, but if I put one on the side panel, that could directly intake towards the GPU, like literally the fan and the GPU would be next to eachother. The problem with the back is that it only supports 120mm, that's why I just want to keep the H60 there, and have 140mm where it's supported.

 

[Adroid]

Well I have suspicion adding a second 140 to the front may be your best bet. You might actually benefit from an exhaust fan over the GPU more than an intake - the hot air needs somewhere to go - not just be pushed back down into the case.

If I were you I would buy a couple fans and do it right. Spending an extra 20-30$ on fans is better than having your GPU overheat and running into issues down the road.

Whatever you decide, get an extra fan or two and expirament a little. Every case is different, but good airflow is important, and you always want more intake than exhaust.

 

[mEduzaLTu]

If I add another fan on the front, it will just blow air into the hard drive bay, which I think is kind of useless as it will just get blocked there and won't even get to the GPU.

I will order a pair of the Be Quiet Pure Wings 2, and will do as you said, experiment around see which combination gets me to the lowest temperatures.

 

[Adroid]

If I add another fan on the front, it will just blow air into the hard drive bay, which I think is kind of useless as it will just get blocked there and won't even get to the GPU.

I will order a pair of the Be Quiet Pure Wings 2, and will do as you said, experiment around see which combination gets me to the lowest temperatures.

Sounds cool (sorry yes pun intended), and I wouldn't worry about the hard drive.

Take a look at corsair's higher end of cases. The 450D for example (comparable to your case) comes with 2x 140mm intakes in the front, and 1x 120mm in the back. Not saying that's the best scenario for everyone, but I am saying that the people designing cases probably know more about air flow and cooling that I do 😉

I'm sure you will figure it out. Good luck!

 

[mEduzaLTu]

Good thing I checked before I ordered the fans, turns out my motherboard (Gigabyte Z87-HD3) only has 3 fan connectors + 1 CPU fan connector. The front fan takes 1, and the H60 takes the CPU fan connector and a fan connector, so I'm left with only 1 spare one.

So if I just buy one, top or side?

 

[Adroid]

Well, you have a couple options. Either buy a fan controller (if you are worried about it), or buy fans with the speeds you want, and plug them directly into the power supply.

If you plug them directly into the power supply, you can't adjust the speed, they just go full blast when the computer on. If you go that route, further consideration should be given to if you want a faster, louder fan, or a slower, quieter one. To me since I overclock, I prefer more fans and medium/slower speeds, as opposed to 1-2 running really fast and noisy.

Not all fans are created equal in regards to the decibel rating, static pressure, and CFM... Case cooling isn't something you should take lightly - especially since your system is running hot.

 

[mEduzaLTu]

The Be Quite Pure Wings 2 are really quite from some videos I've seen, I don't think I will have a problem with them running at max power/speed all the time. Thanks for the advice.