How many fans?

AlexSaff

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Feb 22, 2015
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I am building an x99 build in a fractal R5 and am looking to find out what kind and how many fans I should get. This build will be under extreme pressure for 5-24 hours at a time rendering 3D animations so I need the best cooling performance that exists in the world. I will be using an H100i as the cpu cooler which will be acting as an exhaust (a 240mm exhaust). I was also thinking about having 4 140mm intake fans on the front and bottom. I'm not the best cooling expert so I wanted to ask someone that knew what they were doing. So will 560mm of intake and 240mm of exhaust be too much positive (or negative no really sure) pressure and will it get the job done?
 
Solution
Hello,

I would go for an H110i (280mm) mounted on top in push configuration (exhaust) as a minimum (the performance difference between H90 and H100 is minimal), leave the 2x 140mm front + 2x 140mm bottom fans as intake and add an 140-mm fan at the back as exhaust.
Just keep in mind that if this thing has to be in the same room as humans, you'll need to factor in noise.

If you have a side fan blowing right on the the video cards, that should provide enough air for the video card intakes. See if you can find video cards that exhaust hot air out the back- that'll reduce heat inside the machine itself.

The H100i should carry heat away from the CPU to the radiator and then on out of the case.

if you can do this, then you have accomplished moving the heat from the main sources of heat out of the box. everything else should only require relatively minimal cooling capability- PSU, southbridges, stuff like that. You're aiming for close to even air pressure to keep the air moving. too much positive pressure and air gets stuck in the case but does keep dust out. too much negative pressure tries to suck hot air from inside out, but can't do a good job since not enough air is being pulled in to the case to replace the air that is being exhasuted, plus it sucks dust in. Aim for even air pressure.

Ideally, if this is mainly a rendering box, you'd colocate it and run really high speed fans which are super noisy but will keep things cool. If you're keeping it in your room or office, you can't really do that- it gets too noisy to concentrate.
 
Hello,

I would go for an H110i (280mm) mounted on top in push configuration (exhaust) as a minimum (the performance difference between H90 and H100 is minimal), leave the 2x 140mm front + 2x 140mm bottom fans as intake and add an 140-mm fan at the back as exhaust.
 
Solution


How noisy is it going to be though. I will be using Noctua silent fans but 7 fans seems like a lot.
 


5x Noctua fans (Noctua NF-P14 FLX or Noctua NF-P14s redux-1200), cannot match the noise generated by the cooler and the GPU; the Corsair fans will be loudest (especially the H110i fans), followed by the GTX980 fans.

If you also want a quiet sytem, you should consider a custom water loop:

http://www.ekwb.com/shop/kits-cases/kits/ek-kit-x360.html
http://www.alphacool.com/product_info.php/info/p1365_Alphacool-NexXxoS-Cool-Answer-360-D5-XT---Set.html
 


I don't really want an H110 because then I can't use Dominator Platinum RAM sticks because of how thick the radiator is. I was thinking about having two front intakes and another intake on the bottom and then the H100i as the exhaust. If that is too much positive pressure I can add another 120mm or 140mm exhaust in the rear.
 


You will have plenty of space, as the H110i has the same thickness as the H100i radiator (27mm), so together with the fans it will take 52mm, while the case can allow a max. 55mm fan + radiator setup.

Don't worry about too much positive pressure, the air will have plenty of escaping routes.