[SOLVED] NZXT H710 case fan airflow question

[jorendebruyne]

Hi All

My girlfriend and I will be moving recently. Because my PC is in our living room in our new house, i had to buy a new case which was decent. I bought the NZXT H710. I really like the looks of it.

What I want to do now, is go way over the top with RGB. My girlfriend didn't say anything about that, so

The H710 case has 3 120mm fans in front and 1 140 mm in the back. The case has a closed front panel, so i guess airflow is already limited.
I didn't want to splash all my cash on some expensive fans and controller, so I first got some budget stuff to test things out. I bought 'Aigo Darkflash C7' fans and 2 led strips. The fans, controller, leds and remote cost me about 50 euro, which is ok.

The looks of those fans are great, certainly for the money. But: the airflow isn't that great. The fans have a reported CFM of 38.5. I placed 3 of those fans in the front of my case (I can only see them from the inside), and 3 more on top (which I can't see at all). Do the 3 fans on top even matter?

3 front fans: intake
3 top fans: exhaust
Stock NZXT Aer F 140mm in back: exhaust.

My temperatures when playing Overwatch yesterday (my room was quite hot, around 25-26 degrees):

• CPU: Ryzen 2700X with stock Prism cooler +/- 65-68 degrees
• GPU: GTX 1070 +/- 75-78 degrees
• Motherboard Asus X470 Prime pro has 6 different temperatures in Open Hardware Monitor, first one (highest) was 68 degrees

When I feel in the back of the case, where the stock NZXT fan is, the air and case feel quite hot.

My worry now is that the airflow in my case is too low. Should I be worried at all or are these fans enough?
I've been looking at other fans with RGB I like but they will cost me alot of money. My motherboard doesn't have a 5V header, only 12V. My current options, what do you think is best?

- Buy new fans, and a new controller. For example Thermaltake Riing fans, which have higher cfm. If I replace all my current fans and led strips, i'm looking at +/- 120 euro. What kind of fans would you buy? I do like the looks of the thermaltake, corsair LL and Cooler Master MF120 Halo.
I do wonder: Thermaltake Riing Plus 12 LED RGB Radiator Fan TT Premium Edition have 48 cfm. Is this such a big difference with the 38.5 of the fans I have now? A 5 pack + controller is about 130 euro + ledstrips.

• Buy 3 fans to mount on top. I can't see these fans, since the top panel is closed. I could put 3x Noctua fans in there. They move alot of air but are really ugly (in my opinion). In this case I wouldn't mind, since I wouldn't see them. Would this improve my airflow?
• Buy a new motherboard with 5v header(s), so I can buy single fans and use Aura for example.

Anything I'm missing / forgetting?
(Buying a new case isn't an option, my girlfriend would kill me).

I really appreciate your help and advice. Thank you!!

 

[madmatt30]

3 exhausts in the top will be removing air from the front intakes before it even has a chance to get near to cooling components.

The 3 intakes are fine, exhaust wise you should only a rear exhaust and a top rear exhaust (closest top mount to the back of the case)

Those 3 top fan mounts are designed primarily for an aio exhaust, not for standard exhaust fans.

 

[jorendebruyne]

3 exhausts in the top will be removing air from the front intakes before it even has a chance to get near to cooling components.

The 3 intakes are fine, exhaust wise you should only a rear exhaust and a top rear exhaust (closest top mount to the back of the case)

Those 3 top fan mounts are designed primarily for an aio exhaust, not for standard exhaust fans.

Thanks for your fast and clear answer.
I didn't really think about that. I will only put 1 fan in top rear of the case. I could use a NZXT aer f stock 120 mm fan for that, or should I get a 140mm ? Both fit in the top.

 

[madmatt30]

The stock nzxt fan is fine, a 140mm would be quiter but wouldn't be much difference performance wise.

I'd think when you're running 5 fans the difference sonically would be negligible anyway to be honest.

You'll never get amazing thermal results in any nzxt h series case, they don't have great airflow, they're all about the aesthetics.

 

[jorendebruyne]

The stock nzxt fan is fine, a 140mm would be quiter but wouldn't be much difference performance wise.

I'd think when you're running 5 fans the difference sonically would be negligible anyway to be honest.

You'll never get amazing thermal results in any nzxt h series case, they don't have great airflow, they're all about the aesthetics.

Thank you for your clear answers! You helped me out alot.

 

[jorendebruyne]

3 exhausts in the top will be removing air from the front intakes before it even has a chance to get near to cooling components.

The 3 intakes are fine, exhaust wise you should only a rear exhaust and a top rear exhaust (closest top mount to the back of the case)

Those 3 top fan mounts are designed primarily for an aio exhaust, not for standard exhaust fans.

Temperatures in the room have dropped past few days, don't have any issues now. I did remove the 2 top fans like you said, it seems to help!

If I ever wanted to install an aio, I assume i'd best mount it on top? Should I use the fans as intake or exhaust?
Would it be strange to set these as intake and use the 3rd top (in the back) as exhaust and the fan in the back as exhaust? (would give 3 in front as intake, 2 top aio as intake, 3rd top exhaust, back exhaust)

If I understand correctly using the aio as exhaust would give me the same problem again with the aio pushing air out before it gets to my GPU or doesn't that really matter if i don't have an air CPU cooler anymore?

 

[madmatt30]

Temperatures in the room have dropped past few days, don't have any issues now. I did remove the 2 top fans like you said, it seems to help!

If I ever wanted to install an aio, I assume i'd best mount it on top? Should I use the fans as intake or exhaust?
Would it be strange to set these as intake and use the 3rd top (in the back) as exhaust and the fan in the back as exhaust? (would give 3 in front as intake, 2 top aio as intake, 3rd top exhaust, back exhaust)

If I understand correctly using the aio as exhaust would give me the same problem again with the aio pushing air out before it gets to my GPU or doesn't that really matter if i don't have an air CPU cooler anymore?

Doesn't matter as much, the reason I said remove those fans is because they were taking air from the cpu tower cooler.

With an aio this is completely negated, aio in the top should always be exhaust.