[SOLVED] What should I look for when choosing PC fans?

[darkknightrasil]

My Tower can hold up to 7-9 fans at 120mm (3 top, 3 front, 1 back,2 bottom). I am looking to put at least 4-7 depending on how much space I will have after i install the CPU cooling device. What should I look for when picking them? I am interested in RBG fans for cosmetic look as well.

 

[Eximo]

There are 5V and 12V RGB standards out there, so make sure what you get matches your motherboard if that is what you want to use for control, otherwise pick a product that comes with its own controller.

In terms of performance, a lot depends on the case and airflow layout. If these are all to be airflow fans, no radiators, then you'll probably want to aim for silence. If you have radiators, then static pressure fans make more sense to push/pull through the extra restriction.

You can use static pressure fans as case fans if you want to, just for appearances sake, but they are less efficient at moving air over a distance. Trading pressure for velocity.

And lastly, cost, you can easily spend $100 on that many RGB fans.

 

[Phaaze88]

AirFLOW > AirBLOW.
Just filling all the slots with fans is more detrimental to airflow, and you're just doing it for looks at that point.
I'm willing to bet some of those slots are really intended for liquid coolers - especially the top. If you're planning to use a tower air cooler, fans at the top will just get in the way, and so will the rear fan, if it is weaker than the fan(s) on the air cooler.

 

[darkknightrasil]

AirFLOW > AirBLOW.
Just filling all the slots with fans is more detrimental to airflow, and you're just doing it for looks at that point.
I'm willing to bet some of those slots are really intended for liquid coolers - especially the top. If you're planning to use a tower air cooler, fans at the top will just get in the way, and so will the rear fan, if it is weaker than the fan(s) on the air cooler.

I'm assuming the liquid cooler will take the top 2 slots which might leave 1 available, the 3 front, 1 rear and i do not care about the bottom. I don't know much about fans the ones on my current PC(1 fan rear, 1 fan top, and 1 liquid cooler) are all used push air out of my unit.

 

[Phaaze88]

What is the chassis anyway?

 

[darkknightrasil]

What is the chassis anyway?

What is the chassis anyway?

It's a Thermaltake VIEW 71 TG. (Full Tower case type)

 

[Phaaze88]

Thermaltake VIEW 71 TG

That chassis is bit different from most others as it has big gaps everywhere:
"The View 71 doesn’t have the airflow of a normal case. Air does generally come in the front and go out the back, but it’s also free to flow through the open edges of the case and equalize pressure -- the gaps on the sides allow air to draft in and out based on pressure, and that’s harder to predict than a closed off in/out setup."

So what works best in this chassis isn't as straightforward as it looks. Positive and negative pressure don't apply either, due to large gaps.
Looks like you could fill all the fans slots if you wanted without much of a penalty.

 

[darkknightrasil]

That chassis is bit different from most others as it has big gaps everywhere:
"The View 71 doesn’t have the airflow of a normal case. Air does generally come in the front and go out the back, but it’s also free to flow through the open edges of the case and equalize pressure -- the gaps on the sides allow air to draft in and out based on pressure, and that’s harder to predict than a closed off in/out setup."

So what works best in this chassis isn't as straightforward as it looks. Positive and negative pressure don't apply either, due to large gaps.
Looks like you could fill all the fans slots if you wanted without much of a penalty.

what would be a prefered brand?

 

[Phaaze88]

Noctua
be quiet!
Scythe
Corsair
Arctic
Cooler Master
That's most of the big players - at least in the US.

 

[darkknightrasil]

Noctua
be quiet!
Scythe
Corsair
Arctic
Cooler Master
That's most of the big players - at least in the US.

Thanks. I have all the parts except for the CPU liquid cooling unit. Once I get that I am going to try building it for my first time.