Question Need help choosing the right type of fans for my build.

[Wik1]

Hello, I'm building a pc and I'm confused as to what type of fans I should use as intake for optimal cooling. what I'm doing is that I'm going with an NZXT H7 Flow (2022) and I'm going to be installing an Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 on the top of the case and I intend to buy 3 140mm fans for the front intake. I'm debating whether to get 3 F140P fans with a CFM of 93.20 and a static pressure of 4.45 mm-H₂O for the intake or 3 F140Q fans with a CFM of 102.90 and a static pressure of 1.77 mm-H₂O. I've heard that Airflow fans are better for directing airflow and pressure fans are better for getting through things and cant direct airflow as well as airflow fans, so I'm not sure which to get. if it helps I will be putting a Gigabyte 4070 Super windforce in there and ill be using the standard F120Q included with the case as the exhaust along with the Liquid Freezer's fans.

Thanks.

 

[logainofhades]

For intake, yes, you want high static pressure fans, to help pull air through the mesh and or filter. With 3 fans up front, I wouldn't worry any about airflow direction, in that case.

 

[Wik1]

For intake, yes, you want high static pressure fans, to help pull air through the mesh and or filter. With 3 fans up front, I wouldn't worry any about airflow direction, in that case.

Alright so for the H7 flow (2022) I should use the F140P fans? It wouldnt affect airflow direction? The pci slot covers don’t have mesh on it. would the air still go upwards to be exhausted by the Liquid Freezer III? These F140P fans have a static pressure of 4.45mm H2O and I’ll have 3 of them, the Arctic P12 fans on the rad only have a static pressure of 2.20mm H2O, is that alright? or will the pressure be too high that the liquid freezer won’t be able to catch the air to exhaust it?

 

[logainofhades]

Your rear fan and AIO exhaust fans will be able to handle exhausting air. Positive air pressure in a case is not a bad thing, it helps with keeping the inside clean.

 

[Wik1]

Your rear fan and AIO exhaust fans will be able to handle exhausting air. Positive air pressure in a case is not a bad thing, it helps with keeping the inside clean.

well yeah positive pressure is good but, here's what I was wondering. the pressure of the 3 intake fans is 4.45mm-h2o and the exhaust fans will be 2.20mm-h20. the fans have to direct air from the front to the top of the case. will the pressure be too high to allow the air to be sucked in from the top 3 2.20mm-h2o fans or is it fine. I am aware the bottom fan will bring air in to the GPU.

sorry I'm new to this whole AIO and fans and stuff.

 

[Lafong]

Any "answer" you arrive at today will be over-ridden by what you learn when you put the parts together and observe what actually happens through experimentation.

Of course, you could always refuse to experiment and go with your best guess today.

 

[Paperdoc]

Normally I would advise that a fan with a max pressure rating of 1.77 mm water is suitable for working with an intake dust filter - that is not considered a high backpressure (airflow restriction) item. To review, the specs of those two fans are:

F140Q max airflow 102.9 CFM at backpressure zero; Min airflow zero at backpressure 1.77 mm water

F140P max airflow 93.2 CFM at backpressure zero; Min airflow zero at backpressure 4.45 mm water

HOWEVER, when I sketch out the likely (nearly linear) two performance lines of actual airflow versus backpressure for those two fans , I see that the Q model's actual airflow delivered is reduced to LESS that the P model's performance at only about 0.2 mm water backpressure and higher. So in this case you will get better airflow from the P model.

When you install, the three fans on the AIO radiator mounted in the TOP of the case will be set up to blow air from inside the case OUT of the top. They are EXHAUST fans, just as the single rear fan is. In terms of overall airflow POTENTIAL, the front three intakes with small airflow resistance from the dust filter can produce more flow that the combination of three smaller fans blowing out through the radiator fins, plus the unhindered rear exhaust fan. So you will have a small positive pressure inside your case to prevent air leakage that could carry dust from outside to in. The ACTUAL intake versus exhaust airflows will be EQUAL - what goes in MUST come out.

To help maximize airflow out of the rad at the top, consider NOT installing the included dust filter over it. Since air is blowing up and out there, dust will not be carried in.

Here's a suggestion. There is a potential issue in the top front corner of your case in this arrangement, and this is common in these layouts. Air brought in by the top front intake fan goes almost immediately to the front-most rad fan and gets exhausted with little chance to flow down and through the rest of the case. IF you can, consider arranging a small air diversion panel just behind the top front fan to push its air down a bit before it swings back up. That actually will impact the intake flow path of all the front fans and may move more air through the middle and lower part of your case to help cool the entire mobo and other components.

 

[LordVile]

Ultimately any fans you get, assuming they’re not bargain bins, will do fine and you should get the ones you like the look of most. Personally like be quiet because they’re quiet, black and perform well. You can also get Noctua redux model fans for cheap which are probably the best value fans on the market.

 

[Wik1]

Normally I would advise that a fan with a max pressure rating of 1.77 mm water is suitable for working with an intake dust filter - that is not considered a high backpressure (airflow restriction) item. To review, the specs of those two fans are:

F140Q max airflow 102.9 CFM at backpressure zero; Min airflow zero at backpressure 1.77 mm water

F140P max airflow 93.2 CFM at backpressure zero; Min airflow zero at backpressure 4.45 mm water

HOWEVER, when I sketch out the likely (nearly linear) two performance lines of actual airflow versus backpressure for those two fans , I see that the Q model's actual airflow delivered is reduced to LESS that the P model's performance at only about 0.2 mm water backpressure and higher. So in this case you will get better airflow from the P model.

When you install, the three fans on the AIO radiator mounted in the TOP of the case will be set up to blow air from inside the case OUT of the top. They are EXHAUST fans, just as the single rear fan is. In terms of overall airflow POTENTIAL, the front three intakes with small airflow resistance from the dust filter can produce more flow that the combination of three smaller fans blowing out through the radiator fins, plus the unhindered rear exhaust fan. So you will have a small positive pressure inside your case to prevent air leakage that could carry dust from outside to in. The ACTUAL intake versus exhaust airflows will be EQUAL - what goes in MUST come out.

To help maximize airflow out of the rad at the top, consider NOT installing the included dust filter over it. Since air is blowing up and out there, dust will not be carried in.

Here's a suggestion. There is a potential issue in the top front corner of your case in this arrangement, and this is common in these layouts. Air brought in by the top front intake fan goes almost immediately to the front-most rad fan and gets exhausted with little chance to flow down and through the rest of the case. IF you can, consider arranging a small air diversion panel just behind the top front fan to push its air down a bit before it swings back up. That actually will impact the intake flow path of all the front fans and may move more air through the middle and lower part of your case to help cool the entire mobo and other components.

So, what I got from this was: 3 F140P fans are actually better than the 3 F140Q fans as case intake fans for my H7 flow because it delivers more Airflow and the added pressure wont effect how the airflow is directed around the case regardless of its way higher pressure than the 2.20mm-h2o exhaust fans of the Arctic P12 on the Liquid Freezer III 360 because all it needs to do is suck out the air from the rad and the F140P wont overpower my Arctic P12's, correct?

 

[Paperdoc]

Correct. To be a little more detailed, BOTH the three F140P front fans and the three rad fans will be blowing air in the SAME direction - one set in at front, one set out at top. So they do not oppose each other. BUT because the rad fans are smaller and pushing through tighter spaces, they cannot move air OUT as fast as the front fans can pull air in. That is, POTENTIALLY. So what really will happen is that the front fans will not pull in air at their max rate because it cannot be exhausted that fast. The result is a small air pressure inside the case compared to outside, which is good. In terms of total overall air flow, though, this arrangement will give you LOTS of cooling for both the CPU (via the AIO system and rad) and the other case components (via in-case air circulation) - mobo, drives, video card, etc.

There are some hints and tricks to how to connect that Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 AIO system to your mobo and configure its fan headers. Some of these depend on which mobo you have. So when you have that all settled and are ready to build, post back here OR start a new thread for detailed directions. Be sure to tell us what mobo you have, confirm whether or not you got THAT AIO system, and maybe tell us what CPU chip you have.