Static pressure or airflow for this build?

[H4X0R46]

Hey guys, need some quick advice here. So I have an iBuyPower WA563R7 I got from here: https://goo.gl/gZ22HB Since buying this PC, I changed the power supply, GPU, and Front intake fan as well as added a 5TB internal HDD. It runs great but heat seems high now and I wanted to know if the I should use static pressure or high airflow fans for the top of my PC. Here's pics of the top of the PC to get an idea of what I'm looking at. There's 2 open 120mm fan slots on the top of the case. Thanks guys!

https://imgur.com/a/urnTlfO

https://imgur.com/a/iIaOvRm

 

[aldan]

first off post your computers specs and the temps you are experiencing.this will go a long way to determining any recommendations on fans and airflow.

 

[InvalidError]

"Pressure" fans are for fans that will be used in front of a radiator and/or air filter and/or other sort of fine mesh that will impede airflow. "Airflow" fans are for moving air across a mostly unobstructed path such as the coarse steel mesh or grille on exhaust fan mounting spots.

 

[H4X0R46]

first off post your computers specs and the temps you are experiencing.this will go a long way to determining any recommendations on fans and airflow.

Righto!
Specs are:
AMD FX-6300 (Temps about 55-60 under load)
XFX GTR RX 480 8GB Black Edition (Biggest worry, 80C under load in CERTAIN games.)
8GB of RAM (Probably some generic run of the mill RAM, nothing fancy.)
1TB Internal Drive with Windows 10 Professional
5TB Toshiba Internal Drive
Enermax TB Vegas red LED front intake fan
Crappy generic red LED exhaust fan (came with PC)
Did I forget anything?

 

[H4X0R46]

"Pressure" fans are for fans that will be used in front of a radiator and/or air filter and/or other sort of fine mesh that will impede airflow. "Airflow" fans are for moving air across a mostly unobstructed path such as the coarse steel mesh or grille on exhaust fan mounting spots.

Would the small air slots in this case merit a static pressure fan? Or would an airflow fan push out air just fine? Only reason I thought about static pressure was because this case has some narrow ventilation, such an odd design choice.

 

[aldan]

i happen to be running one of those overclocked to 4.6ghz and 55-60 degrees under load is nothing to worry about.80c is getting pretty high tho.does your cpu throttle ie slow down when the temp is this high?have you overclocked and what is your cpu cooler?also what program are you using to monitor temps?

 

[H4X0R46]

i happen to be running one of those overclocked to 4.6ghz and 55-60 degrees under load is nothing to worry about.80c is getting pretty high tho.does your cpu throttle ie slow down when the temp is this high?have you overclocked and what is your cpu cooler?also what program are you using to monitor temps?

All great questions. So here goes.
My FX 6300 is not overclocked, runs great for me! My cooler is some generic looking cooler, it came with the PC, I think it even has some generic brand on it lol Simple heatsink and small fan. I don't think it throttles, performance is nice for an old CPU like this one. I use CPU TEMP to monitor it. For the GPU, I use GPU-Z. GPU temp rises high in certain games, The Forest, Far Cry 3 (Not 5 oddly enough) etc.

 

[aldan]

hmm,no throttling or perfmance loss?i would try hw monitor to monitor your temps and see what it says.this just doesnt sound like overheating to me.i have a noctua nh-d14 cooler and under a stress test at 100% cpu utilization hit 65c.i know these chips have a bad rep for running hot,but ive just not found that to be true.see what hw monitor says.if you are still experiencing temp spikes under hard game play i would look at a different cooler.i used to use a hyper 212 evo on mine before i overclocked and it was just fine.you can have it if you pay shipping.you gotta be pretty close tho as they only go for about 30-40$.lol

 

[H4X0R46]

hmm,no throttling or perfmance loss?i would try hw monitor to monitor your temps and see what it says.this just doesnt sound like overheating to me.i have a noctua nh-d14 cooler and under a stress test at 100% cpu utilization hit 65c.i know these chips have a bad rep for running hot,but ive just not found that to be true.see what hw monitor says.if you are still experiencing temp spikes under hard game play i would look at a different cooler.i used to use a hyper 212 evo on mine before i overclocked and it was just fine.you can have it if you pay shipping.you gotta be pretty close tho as they only go for about 30-40$.lol

It's mostly the high GPU temp that worries me, I think the CPU temps are fine for the most part. Thanks for the offer though man! But yeah, the GPU alone heats my whole PC up a lot!

 

[aldan]

from what ive read,those gpus run hot.it couldnt hurt to add 1 120mm exhaust fan to the top of the case tho.do you have a fan exhaust port in the back of the case?

 

[H4X0R46]

from what ive read,those gpus run hot.it couldnt hurt to add 1 120mm exhaust fan to the top of the case tho.do you have a fan exhaust port in the back of the case?

I do have an exhaust fan in back, also have 2 120mm slots on top, original question was should I use static pressure fans or airflow fans for the top? The pics in the OP show the narrow ventilation this case has. What do you think? Also, yeah this GPU is AWESOME! But could fry an egg haha

 

[aldan]

just put a 120mm airflow fan in.dont overthink it.all you really want is a fan that will move a lot of air.

 

[InvalidError]

just put a 120mm airflow fan in.dont overthink it.all you really want is a fan that will move a lot of air.

'Airflow' fans don't move much air if they are butting against a significant obstruction (ex.: air filter) which causes them to stall - they're whipping mostly the same air that is already there. If you use an incense stick to map out the airflow of a fan in this condition, you'll see that most of the airflow is from the middle to the perimeter of the fan on the exhaust side instead of new air from the intake side.

 

[fredfinks]

Concur on not using airflow fans who's paths are obstructed. I go so far as to remove rear exhaust grill with a dremel.

Puget systems did a test on how much grills inhibit airflow AND create noise.
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Effects-of-Grill-Patterns-on-Fan-Performance-Noise-107/

For intake (dont we all have filters these days) and heatsink/radiator use, use static pressure type fans.

Current best 120mm static pressure fan money can buy is the Noctua A12x25. Costly but very good. Got 3 to replace 2x A14 (140mm) at front of case (intake). They move way more air, through restrictive intake grill and filter, silently. The A14s while quiet, were audible.

 

[H4X0R46]

Concur on not using airflow fans who's paths are obstructed. I go so far as to remove rear exhaust grill with a dremel.

Puget systems did a test on how much grills inhibit airflow AND create noise.
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Effects-of-Grill-Patterns-on-Fan-Performance-Noise-107/

For intake (dont we all have filters these days) and heatsink/radiator use, use static pressure type fans.

Current best 120mm static pressure fan money can buy is the Noctua A12x25. Costly but very good. Got 3 to replace 2x A14 (140mm) at front of case (intake). They move way more air, through restrictive intake grill and filter, silently. The A14s while quiet, were audible.

Static pressure it is! Thanks guys for all your feedback, I'm gonna do some searching for some good static pressure exhaust fans for the top of my case, might even just spend the extra cash and get those noctua fans. Thanks again!

 

[InvalidError]

Static pressure it is! Thanks guys for all your feedback, I'm gonna do some searching for some good static pressure exhaust fans for the top of my case

There isn't that much of a need to overthink fan selection so much. Unless you are aiming for extreme overclocking where every degree can spell the difference between a stable OC and an unstable one, almost any fan is going to be good enough so long as the airflow within the case doesn't form pockets of stagnant hot air.

My case (Antec 300v2) has only three case fans (two front filtered intake on medium speed, one rear exhaust on low, side panels and top have been taped shut) and that gives me enough airflow through the CPU area to use a fan-less 212+ on my i5-3470.

 

[Karadjgne]

The important thing about airflow is that it moves well. It doesn't have to be fast or hard, it just has to move.

A fan with balanced sp/cfm would be far more affective than high cfm/low sp or high sp/low cfm.