is this cooler going to create a vortex of doom?

[Macenstein]

Ok, so I am putting together the stuff I ordered for this build (thanks again for all your help in choosing components) and I have run into a possible issue I want your opinion on.

I am installing this impressive Thermaltake c5 cooler, and while it fits, I am wondering about it's placement in relation to the rear fan of my case.

This cooler has a fan on either side, pulling air IN to it, and then about 1.5 inches away will be the case fan pulling air OUT of the rear of the case.

http://imgur.com/IfjfXDp



Will the two fans compete?

will this cause heat/noise issues? (I am not over clocking or anything)

Can I turn one of the cooler's fans backwards so it blows air out, creating a fluid air path through the case or does each side of the radiator really need to have air blown ON it?

I like this case

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/corsair-case-air540

because there are 2 fans up front blowing air in, and one pulling out in the back, so this whole compartment should be pretty cool, except for, ironically, the cooler getting in the way.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

- Mike

 

[techgeek]

Well the fans on your cooler should be in a push - pull configuration. So the fan the faces the front of the case should be pulling air into the cooler, and the one facing the back of the case should be pushing the air out of the cooler. Then the case fan at the back should be blowing air out of the case. Therefore the airflow complements one another. The hot air is expelled from the back of the cooler and then expelled from the back of your case.

 

[Macenstein]

ahhhhh.... i see.
so it should be set up like that by default? I don't need to swap anything?

both fans looks like they would pull air in, unless one is designed to spin the opposite way..

how can i tell which direction to point it (do I ned to power it up?)

 

[techgeek]

Were the fans installled in the cooler, or did you have to mount them?

 

[Macenstein]

well, they were installed in it but I had to remove them during installation (as per the manual).

I am putting them in so they look like the picture eon the box, as far as labels go...

hopefully in the right way...

 

[Macenstein]

GAH! Another problem.

The case comes with 3 fans.

3 THREE pin fans. I only see 1 of the SYS Fans on the motherboard as a 3 pin, the other 2 are 4 pin.


the connector on the motherboard marked CPU FAN also is 4 pin. The cooler is 3 pin.

Do I need to order a bunch of adapters?
Crap.

 

[techgeek]

This is how the air flow is for a fan:

As for fan connectors, all 4 pin fan connectors on motherboards can operate with DC (3 pin) fans as well as PWM (4 pin fans) fans. You can see from the way the connector guide is cut on the 4 pin connectors that the 3 pin connectors will also fit on them, just one pin is left not covered.

To use the fan in DC mode, you usually have to go into the BIOS and tell what type of fan you have connected to each connector.

 

[Macenstein]

This is how the air flow is for a fan:

As for fan connectors, all 4 pin fan connectors on motherboards can operate with DC (3 pin) fans as well as PWM (4 pin fans) fans. You can see from the way the connector guide is cut on the 4 pin connectors that the 3 pin connectors will also fit on them, just one pin is left not covered.

To use the fan in DC mode, you usually have to go into the BIOS and tell what type of fan you have connected to each connector.

thanks tech geek

every image i see for the c5 shows what LOOKS like the fans BOTH blowing in

https://www.google.com/search?q=thermaltake+c5&client=safari&rls=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjpktmiqPDKAhXGtxQKHdRDBuEQsAQIQg&biw=1305&bih=998

assuming i want the Tt sticker facing outwards on both fans...


and crap. Obviously I am a bit of a newb, I don't want to go into bios to set up fans, especially the cpu fan...

are there 4 pin adapters that will let these things work, or do you need to go into bios?

 

[Macenstein]

UPDATE: OK
I plugged in the power to the motherboard, and did a test, and you are right, I must have switched the direction of the fans when I removed them. I figured out which way I want the air to go and I think I am good to go.
Thanks for your quick reply (and visual aids!)

 

[techgeek]

Ok the only image I could find that show both fans at the same time is this one:

As you can see one is facing to draw air in and the other blows it out. You would never want two fans pushing against each other, this would create static air and defeat the purpose. The idea is air should flow like water, in this case the ATX specs specify that fresh cool air is drawn in the front (lower) part of your case and the hot air is exhausted out the back (top) of the case. Your tower cooler should be set up to complement this airflow design.

As for setting up the fan, it's very simple. I will have a look at your motherboard manual and tell you what pages to reference. Give me a few minutes.

Edit: Whoops, guess you didn't say what motherboard you have. What motherboard do you have?

 

[Macenstein]

Ok the only image I could find that show both fans at the same time is this one:

As you can see one is facing to draw air in and the other blows it out. You would never want two fans pushing against each other, this would create static air and defeat the purpose. The idea is air should flow like water, in this case the ATX specs specify that fresh cool air is drawn in the front (lower) part of your case and the hot air is exhausted out the back (top) of the case. Your tower cooler should be set up to complement this airflow design.

As for setting up the fan, it's very simple. I will have a look at your motherboard manual and tell you what pages to reference. Give me a few minutes.

Edit: Whoops, guess you didn't say what motherboard you have. What motherboard do you have?

oh thanks so much!
Gigabyte z170-hd3p running an i5-6600k lag 1151

 

[Macenstein]

My RAM and copy of Windows have not shown up yet (damn!) but I have successfully installed everything else. I powered it up, and the fans all seem to run, so unless you are saying something in the BIOS should be changed in order to make the fans run better, I think I am ok Tech Geek.

Thanks for your help.
- Mike

 

[techgeek]

DC fans will work if left in PWM mode, except they will run at 100% all the time. With DC fans you adjust the voltage supplied to them to control the speed of the fan. With PWM fans, you supply full power (12V) to the fan, but control the fans speed with the duty cycle of the PWM signal. The three pins that are shared between PWM and DC pins have the same pin assignments (PWR, GND, Tach), the fourth pin that doesn't get covered when you use a DC fan is the PWM signal. So on the PWR pin you are going to have 12V all of the time which will result in the fan running full speed.