How many Case Fans do i need?

[Szeki845]

Hi i want make my PC very quiet. I would love if someone can suggest what components to get to silence my PC. I use NZXT Source 210 case and i have 2 Noctua NFF12 fans. One as intake in the front and one as exhaust in the back. I have I5 3470 CPU with a stock cooler. I put a Low noise adapter on the CPU fan because before it was like a jet. Do i need more fans in the case? If so which ones? I have Corsair RM750W PSU, the fan dont work if the PC is at idel. When i game the PSU is not loud at all. I also gave GTX 770 ACX 2.0 cooler. Its loud. Maybe i need to change cases? Help me

 

[SherbetAddict]

Some PC parts stores stock PC foam matting kits. They go inside you case to dampen the sounds. You can also replace the CPU cooler with a large heatsink and no fan. Your CPU will run kinda hot though. There are also fanless PSUs if you're into that.
Your fans are top notch, no need to do anything there.

 

[Szeki845]

Some PC parts stores stock PC foam matting kits. They go inside you case to dampen the sounds. You can also replace the CPU cooler with a large heatsink and no fan. Your CPU will run kinda hot though. There are also fanless PSUs if you're into that.
Your fans are top notch, no need to do anything there.

Should i add i more Noctua fan? I can buy 140mm one and put it on exhaust and the 120mm that was there before put as second intake? What CPU cooler can run with no fan? Keep in mind that my Case dont have much clearance for tall cooler.

 

[Shneiky]

Adding more case fans will not help you as much as changing that CPU cooler. Depending on where you live - the prices are different, so there are many different options for a very quiet CPU cooler. Than low noise adapter is a very bad idea - if the fan was speeding up that much - it means things are hot.

If you want to run a fanless CPU cooler - then you need a very large cooler that will not easily fit in your case and you need to equip it with top exhausts - which in the end will increase the noise, then actually have a low noise cooler with its own fan.

What case fans are where should you put them depends on your video card design. Blower style coolers and axial style coolers change the airflow in the case.

So what is your video card? Model and brand? Where do you live?

 

[martinch]

Personally, I have 2 Fractal Design Define R4 cases at home - one with Noctua A14 FLX fans, and one with Fractal Design's 140mm fans - both PCs have 2 intakes, and all fans are connected to the fan controller. With the fan controller set to 7V, I can only just hear the fans from either, and with them set to 5V I cannot hear them (in a quiet room, at 7am, with no ambient noise detectable) - in either case, the HDD doing a seek drowns them out.

From the sounds of it, your issue is with the CPU fan, so I would have thought the solution was to replace it with something quieter..? Noctua's NH-U12S is stupidly quiet, and the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 is supposed to be good ...

++EDIT: Just seen you've said you've got a narrow case ... in that case, something like the Cryorig C7 (or Noctua C-series) might be worth a look?

 

[Szeki845]

Adding more case fans will not help you as much as changing that CPU cooler. Depending on where you live - the prices are different, so there are many different options for a very quiet CPU cooler. Than low noise adapter is a very bad idea - if the fan was speeding up that much - it means things are hot.

What case fans are where should you put them depends on your video card design. Blower style coolers and axial style coolers change the airflow in the case.

So what is your video card? Model and brand? Where do you live?

I live in the UK so i can order from amazon. i Have EVGA GTX 770 with ACX 2.0 cooler.

 

[Szeki845]

Personally, I have 2 Fractal Design Define R4 cases at home - one with Noctua A14 FLX fans, and one with Fractal Design's 140mm fans - both PCs have 2 intakes, and all fans are connected to the fan controller. With the fan controller set to 7V, I can only just hear the fans from either, and with them set to 5V I cannot hear them (in a quiet room, at 7am, with no ambient noise detectable) - in either case, the HDD doing a seek drowns them out.

From the sounds of it, your issue is with the CPU fan, so I would have thought the solution was to replace it with something quieter..? Noctua's NH-U12S is stupidly quiet, and the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 is supposed to be good ...

++EDIT: Just seen you've said you've got a narrow case ... in that case, something like the Cryorig C7 (or Noctua C-series) might be worth a look?

I think i might go with the NH-U12S. And keep two fans in the system. One as Intake and one as exhaust. or Should i have 3 fans 2 intakes and 1 exhaust? Is there a cheap quiet optimized case outhere?

 

[Shneiky]

No cheap cases with sound absorbing foam. But you don't need one. Sound absorbing materials are not magic. They absorb very little and are the final step towards ultra quiet PCs. That foam can not make a load PC quiet. If your PC is very quiet and only audible at low ambient sound levels (like during the night) then adding foam will help.

The Noctua you have chosen is too tall for your case. The 212 Evo is good. I have one in the closet that I used for half an year before getting the Cryorig R1 Ultimate. But for most silence - I would not go with Cryorig. Sure they are silent - but they opt for more performance than extreme silence. While the 212 Evo is good in US due to its lower prices of the heatsink itself - in Europe we have better alternatives.

What I would get is this:
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/be-quiet!-pure-rock-bk009-cpu-4x-heat-pipe-cooler-with-120mm-silent-pwm-fan-for-all-intel-amd

And throwing a 140 mm exhaust and moving the 120 mm to 2nd front intake will help with overall air temperature in the case, but will induce a bit higher noise. But as long as your CPU and GPU fans don't rev up - it will be quiet.

P.S Just checked - scan.co.uk had wrong numbers for the dimensions of NH-U12S. That one will also fit in your case since it is 158 mm tall.