Question Unsure how to setup 3 case fans

[LordMikeus]

Hi all,

I had a bit of a hassle this weekend changing my GPU thermal paste and pads. I did this as the GPU kept hitting 80 degrees and then the fan went apeshit. It was really loud, I couldn't play a game without it going crazy every 30 seconds. I'm still worried I've done this incorrectly actually since my gpu is hitting 54 degress when I'm barely doing anything. So that's the backstory part.

Due to the heating problem, I also decided to add a third fan to my PC to help with cooling. My pump fan slot on mobo controls the exhaust fan at the back. Cpu fan 3 and 4 control the two fans at front. All 3 fans are Noctua NF-S12B redux-1200. It seems the pump fan at back is running at 1250 rpm or so, around the max. The 2 front ones are at 750 or so. All this is according to bios. I'm completely unsure how to set these and if I need a fan curve. What rpm should I aim for, should they all be max and so on? Any help is appreciated. Bonus points if you can tell me if I've screwed up the GPU paste and pads change

 

[Phaaze88]

Hello!
We'll need to know what the case, cpu cooler and gpu(there's different types of gpu coolers) are.

GPU thermal paste and pads

This can be a very expensive endeavor if you only look at pad thickness. That alone is not enough to go on, as you can end up with worse core thermals, worse, memory thermals, or even worse, a dead gpu(cracked PCB).
Thermal pad swaps should be saved as a last resort, such as torn pads or out of box memory thermals are bad.

 

[LordMikeus]

Hello!
We'll need to know what the case, cpu cooler and gpu(there's different types of gpu coolers) are.


This can be a very expensive endeavor if you only look at pad thickness. That alone is not enough to go on, as you can end up with worse core thermals, worse, memory thermals, or even worse, a dead gpu(cracked PCB).
Thermal pad swaps should be saved as a last resort, such as torn pads or out of box memory thermals are bad.

Thanks for the help! I have a Corsair Carbide Series SPEC-01. I use the stock Ryzen 5 3600x cpu cooler I believe. GPU is a Gigabyte RTX 2080.

As for the thermal pads, it was due to them being torn up when I opened the GPU that I realised I needed to replace them. I did that over the weekend for the ones that tore which were just the 0.5mm ones around the gpu itself. I replaced them with Gelid Solutions GP-Ultimate. It seems to be idling now at around 50 degrees. I'm about to try it in a game to see if a bit of load freaks it out or not.

 

[Phaaze88]

NF-F12B are airflow fans and will be more effective as case exhausts.
Rear exhaust and top exhaust(the slot further from the rear fan). As for the front intake, experiment with the upper and lower slots - see how hot the storage drive(s) run in both positions.

As for the thermal pads, it was due to them being torn up when I opened the GPU that I realised I needed to replace them. I did that over the weekend for the ones that tore which were just the 0.5mm ones around the gpu itself. I replaced them with Gelid Solutions GP-Ultimate. It seems to be idling now at around 50 degrees. I'm about to try it in a game to see if a bit of load freaks it out or not.

Ok. Will wait to hear back how this goes.

 

[LordMikeus]

NF-F12B are airflow fans and will be more effective as case exhausts.
Rear exhaust and top exhaust(the slot further from the rear fan). As for the front intake, experiment with the upper and lower slots - see how hot the storage drive(s) run in both positions.


Ok. Will wait to hear back how this goes.

It looks like the front can only fit two fans. At the bottom and middle so I've put two there. The top spot doesn't seem to have screw slots and space for a third fan. As for the exhaust at back, I've put that at the top of the back panel, like you've mentioned. So that;s all 3 fans. Are the speeds they;re running now okay or should I set any curves or anything?

It seems in a game of CS:GO which isn't too intense I believe, I'm hitting around 70-75 degrees. This is with MSI open though and the fan speed set to Auto. Not sure if I should uncheck that toggle or not to see what it's like without Auto or User Defined? Will that set it to fan speed minimum or the PC bios defined speeds, if that makes sense?

EDIT

I may be misunderstanding actually. Do you mean to have two fans as exhaust? One on the back panel near the top and then one on the top directly in the middle? I have 3 fans in right now but I have a 4th if 2 intake and 2 exhaust is best.

 

[LordMikeus]

NF-F12B are airflow fans and will be more effective as case exhausts.
Rear exhaust and top exhaust(the slot further from the rear fan). As for the front intake, experiment with the upper and lower slots - see how hot the storage drive(s) run in both positions.


Ok. Will wait to hear back how this goes.

Also, how should I go about checking the storage drive temperatures? Can't seem to see that displayed in MSI so wondering if there is a more suitable tool to check temperatures throughout the PC with?

 

[SkyNetRising]

Also, how should I go about checking the storage drive temperatures? Can't seem to see that displayed in MSI so wondering if there is a more suitable tool to check temperatures throughout the PC with?

You can check HDD temperatures with HDtune and SpeedFan.

 

[Phaaze88]

Also, how should I go about checking the storage drive temperatures? Can't seem to see that displayed in MSI so wondering if there is a more suitable tool to check temperatures throughout the PC with?

Oh right! Crystal Disk Info(not Mark) works, but HWINFO is best for M.2 drives.

It looks like the front can only fit two fans. At the bottom and middle so I've put two there. The top spot doesn't seem to have screw slots and space for a third fan. As for the exhaust at back, I've put that at the top of the back panel, like you've mentioned. So that;s all 3 fans. Are the speeds they;re running now okay or should I set any curves or anything?

The top doesn't fit a fan? Is something blocking the way?
The speeds depend entirely on you. You have to find your balance of performance to noise that the ears can tolerate. I've personally set high fan curves, because I'm ok with it(and like the steady profile too).

I may be misunderstanding actually. Do you mean to have two fans as exhaust? One on the back panel near the top and then one on the top directly in the middle? I have 3 fans in right now but I have a 4th if 2 intake and 2 exhaust is best.

You have a 4th fan? Then do:
Rear exhaust: NF-S12B
Top exhaust: Another NF-S12B in the upper right-most slot... but you said you couldn't fit one up there for some reason... IDK about that at the moment.
Front intake middle: NF-S12B.
Front intake lower: the 4th fan.

 

[LordMikeus]

Oh right! Crystal Disk Info(not Mark) works, but HWINFO is best for M.2 drives.

I have an M.2 and some normal drives so I guess I'll try HWINFO and see what temps I get.

The top doesn't fit a fan? Is something blocking the way?

I may have misunderstood. I thought you meant put 3 intakes at the front. I can do 2 at front, 1 on top and 1 at back though like you've mentioned above. I'll set that up.

Top exhaust: Another NF-S12B in the upper right-most slot... but you said you couldn't fit one up there for some reason... IDK about that at the moment.

So do you mean at the top of the case, pointing to the ceiling? Upper right most being on the top, as close to the front as possible? Also, all 4 fans are the same, for better or worse

The speeds depend entirely on you. You have to find your balance of performance to noise that the ears can tolerate. I've personally set high fan curves, because I'm ok with it(and like the steady profile too).

Gotchya. I'm still unsure on how to decide as in the bios for the b450 tomahwak max, it seems the temps can be based on 4 different things. One of which being CPU it seems. And the curve can be set for each fan but the pump fan currently goes at max power at all times I think. I've currently got the back exhaust in the pump fan slot on mobo.

 

[Phaaze88]

So do you mean at the top of the case, pointing to the ceiling? Upper right most being on the top, as close to the front as possible?

1)Yes.
2)Yes, because if installed in the space next to the rear fan, it'll just fight with the rear fan for air; it's less effective that way, so the fans should be further apart.
IF you change the stock cooler for a tower air cooler, this suggestion will change, by the way.

 

[LordMikeus]

1)Yes.
2)Yes, because if installed in the space next to the rear fan, it'll just fight with the rear fan for air; it's less effective that way, so the fans should be further apart.
IF you change the stock cooler for a tower air cooler, this suggestion will change, by the way.

Perfect, I'll put those 4 fans in and then I'll check temperatures for other components with HWINFO. If eveything seems okay at Idle, I'll set a fan curve for the CPU temps for all the fans to cover for load. I don't plan to change cooler anytime soon as the CPU seems to be fine, this all began from the GPU going loud every 30 seconds. All seems okay so far with MSI running, bit worried to run things without MSI going but I'll do that with HWINFO to see how things run.