How many fans for fractal design define C case?

[oliver.rantalainen]

Hello everyone!

I have a year old system inside Fractal Design Define C case. When I built my rig I bought a third fractal fan so I've had 2 in front and 1 in the back. I used the stock CPU cooler till now but as I have started to OC my Ryzen 5 1600 I decided to invest in an Corsair 240mm AIO. I installed in the front to give cool air to the CPU and because it was easier to get the hoses in the front (The radiator would be so close to the CPU on top that the hoses aren't easy to bend. So at the moment I have the rad in front with two fans and one fan in the back and two in the top. This probably means I get negative pressure.

So the question is how should I configure my fans? Should I remove the two on top and just go with rad and one in the back? Or is it ok to have the 3 exhaust fans? Or maybe I should ditch the HDD rack and put on from the top to the bottom to have positive airflow? Or just try to fight the AIO to the top and use the original fan configuration? What are your thoughts?

 

[feelinfroggy777]

Typically, it is best to have your intake fans come from the front and bottom of your case and the exhaust fans at the top and rear. Since heat rises, you dont want to fight physics. I would also try and have some balance in your fans. So you don't want 4 intake and 1 exhaust. But it does not have to be exact either, so 2 intake and 3 exhaust will be fine.

If it were my rig, I would run two fans in front with the rad and have one on back and 2 on top for exhaust. Different configurations may net you a 1C temperature difference, I don't know if it is worth too much thought.