[SOLVED] Which Case Fans for my be quiet! Pure base 500 ?

[Fox2k]

Hey there everyone,

So I recently built my first rig by myself and these are the specs of it:


Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core (3.6GHz-4.4GHz) 36MB AM4 (includes stock Wraith Prism stock CPU cooler)

GPU: MSI GeForce® RTX 2070 SUPER GAMING X TRIO 8G

PSU: BitFenix Whisper M 550W 80+ Gold

RAM: G.Skill Kit 16GB (2 X 8GB) DDR4 3600MHz Ripjaws V Red CL19

SSD: Western Digital Black SN750 NVMe 500GB SSD M.2 PCI Express 3.0

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm 256MB SATA III

Case: be quiet! Pure Base 500 (with tinted side window)


Now the case comes with 2 be quiet! Pure Wings 2 case fans. Currently they are configured in the following way: 1 x attached to extract at the rear and one in the front for intake (mounted in the middle, as it arrived from the delivery)

Here are the questions and things that I am not sure about:

1.) I have heard that this case as got poor airflow due to the design of the front. Is this true?

2.) To improve airflow I wanted to move the pure wings 2 from the front to the top and change it to exhaust fan. Instead I would like to buy 2 new intake case fans. They should be quiet and have decent airflow and pressure.

3.) What CFM and air pressure values are ideal? I mean the higher the better but the louder the fan gets. So how much CFM and air pressure should fans have at minimum? I guess case design also plays a factor here.

4.) I was leaning more towards more intake than exhaust CFM and pressure. Is this good for this case?

5.) I've heard that the difference between the different fans should not be too high. While the CFM difference could be around 40 CFM (depending which intake fans I'd pick), the air pressure is a big difference 0.7 mmH20 for the pure wings compared to other fans that I was looking at of 1,2. Is that difference still ok?

6.) Which case fans would you recommend for this case? I would like to keep the two pure wings 2 fans and have them working as exhaust fans (one on top and one at the rear), with 2 x 140mm fans in the front as intake fans.

Candidates that I considered so far were mainly:

6.1) be quiet! Silent Wings 3
6.2) Noctua NF-P14S Redux PWM 1500rpm 140mm

What has me concerned about the Noctua fans are two things: noise (which is a lot higher than the current pure wings) and the grey colour (which is something I could live with if need be). The silent wings 3 are much more expensive and have lower stats (CFM and air pressure). So two of them would create more pressure than the two pure wings but would have a lower CFM. this would cause negative pressure correct?

7.) I am planning to upgrade my CPU cooler someday in the future to either a be quiet Dark Rock Pro 4 or just the Dark Rock. But I will post about that in a separate thread. My question is: Does the direction and speed of the CPU cooler fan affect the CFM and air pressure in the case? I would believe that it does. If that is the case, the current stock cooler would work against trying to get better airflow right?

8.) What about 3 GPU fans? since they are pulling air from the bottom of the case they shouldnt effect the airflow too much especially if there is an exhaust fan at the top right?

9.) Do all Y splitters work with all fans irrespective of brand? (bearing in mind 3 or 4 pin fans ofc) Because I only have 2 SYS fan headers on the motherboard but 4 fans ergo I'd need two Y Splitters as well. Any recommendations in that regard?


My apologies for the super long post but I would like to buy the right stuff from the get go for the fans. At least to improve the Airflow etc in the case to cool the components. I do beliebe the choice of case was not the best but at the time of buying I was not as well informed as I am now in terms of how important the case selection is for such high performance parts.

I'd appreciate any feedback that you might have and sorry for the wall of text!

 

[Fox2k]

See, this is why I don't really care for the 'special badge' below my avatar and username.
This thing really does drive some people away or keep them from posting; people who may have more knowledge and insight on a subject than I do.
I most dabble in hardware - I hate dealing with software related subjects. They are a real headache to me. I try where I can though.

Yeah I can imagine, although I'm sure you didn't get all those badges overnight and just like that either

 

[FoxVoxDK]

@Phaaze88 Alrighty then!

I honestly neither use Newegg or Amazon, I'm Danish, so mostly I just drive the EXTREMELY long distance of 2 miles to my local Hardware Pusher.

 

[Phaaze88]

Yeah I can imagine, although I'm sure you didn't get all those badges overnight and just like that either

I was referring to the yellow Ambassador thing. It used to say Herald a few months ago.

It does not appear to come with a splitter:

Spoiler

Box contents in the bottom right corner of the image.

 

[Fox2k]

Ok so then it is falsely advertised on the website that I posted earlier?

And I totally missed the yellow badge I straight away looked at all the badges below ^^

 

[Fox2k]

Ok so from the online website that I took here (which is in Portuguese), I translated this important part:

"The connection is via a 4-pin PWM connector. In addition, this version of the P14 supports PWM sharing technology (PST), so the fan speed can be synchronized with other fans via a 4-pin PWM connector."

This would coincide with the image that they have posted there. However, this might just be marketing talk wanting to sell the fan on false features?

 

[FoxVoxDK]

PST comes with a PWM signal splitter, so that you can use more fans on one PWM signal, yes.

https://www.arctic.ac/eu_en/p14-pwm-pst.html

Spoiler: PWM PST Cable

 

[Fox2k]

So that means then that I could have 2 of these Arctic fans connected to each other and then only have one 4 pin connection going to the motherboard (onto SYS_FAN1 for example), correct?

 

[FoxVoxDK]

That is correct.

 

[FoxVoxDK]

See, this is why I don't really care for the 'special badge' below my avatar and username.
This thing really does drive some people away or keep them from posting; people who may have more knowledge and insight on a subject than I do.
I mostly dabble in hardware - I hate dealing with software related subjects. They are a real headache to me. I try where I can though.

I feel you, honestly I would like to be able to hide those badges and only have them visible via mousing over, or directly by viewing my profile.

 

[Phaaze88]

Oh, FoxVoxDK is correct! The PST model specifically comes with a splitter.

Spoiler

Geez, some sites can be so VAGUE about packaging...

 

[Phaaze88]

And I totally missed the yellow badge I straight away looked at all the badges below ^^

I hardly notice the small ones, because I view the site in Dark Mode XD
But that yellow thing really stands out.

 

[Fox2k]

Thank you very much! That solves one problem (about saving the money on buying splitters) but creates another problem, FoxVoxDK, I'm not sure if you read my inital few posts regarding the choice of case fans and their placement.

With these fans being so much more potent than the pure wings 2 that came with the case, does it make sense to have two of the arctic in front as intakes and then the two pure wings 2 at the rear and top as exhaust fans respectively? Because looking at the numbers, the artic fans outperform them by a lot.

 

[Fox2k]

I hardly notice the small ones, because I view the site in Dark Mode XD
But that yellow thing really stands out.

Oh I need to set it to dark mode too, I'm sure it is so much better that way

 

[FoxVoxDK]

With these fans being so much more potent than the pure wings 2 that came with the case, does it make sense to have two of the arctic in front as intakes and then the two pure wings 2 at the rear and top as exhaust fans respectively? Because looking at the numbers, the artic fans outperform them by a lot.

Well, your case is a Dark Base, they are notorious for restrictive front intakes.
So, yes, I'd place the fans with the highest static pressure on the front intake, which is the Arctics.
The PW2's I'd place as rear and one rear-top or mid-top(the goal here is to place the top fan above the VRM's if possible, to create airflow there). You will be getting positive air pressure in this scenario, this means that the pressure in the case is higher than outside.
It also means that 90% of all dust will accumulate at your 2 front fans.

 

[Fox2k]

Well it's better to accumulate there than at the back no (as would be the case with negative pressure right? Plus with negative pressure it would "suck in" the air from all the different cracks which are unfiltered too right?)

Yes the Pure Base 500 is sadly known for poor airflow

Sorry what does VRM stand for again?

 

[FoxVoxDK]

Voltage Regulator Module:

Spoiler: VRM Pic

https://imgur.com/8evApkA

View: https://imgur.com/8evApkA

And, yes negative means that you're basically using every available opening to suck in fresh air.

 

[Fox2k]

Well, your case is a Dark Base, they are notorious for restrictive front intakes.
So, yes, I'd place the fans with the highest static pressure on the front intake, which is the Arctics.
The PW2's I'd place as rear and one rear-top or mid-top(the goal here is to place the top fan above the VRM's if possible, to create airflow there). You will be getting positive air pressure in this scenario, this means that the pressure in the case is higher than outside.
It also means that 90% of all dust will accumulate at your 2 front fans.

Yes the Pure Base 500 is sadly known for poor airflow

Well it's better to accumulate there at the front 2 fans than at the back no (as would be the case with negative pressure right? Plus with negative pressure it would "suck in" the air from all the different cracks which are unfiltered too right?) ?

Just purely looking at the numbers, the pure wings 2 has

• a CFM or m3/h of 61.2 and 104 respectively.
• dB(A): 19.8 dB(A)
• a static pressure of 0.76

vs

Arctic P14 (not specifically listed as the PWM version) but

Air Flow: 72.8 CFM (123.76 m³/h)

Noise Level: 0.3 Sone (@ 1 700 RPM)

Static Pressure: 2.4 mm H2O

Now, even when you multiply these values by 2 (because there would 2 fans for each type of fan), then the arctics are still way ahead in performance.

I've heard that one ideally should go for neutral pressure or slightly positive pressure. But this is not the case in this particular case.

Should I then rather replace the two pure wings with arctics as well or rather only get 2 for the front as we discussed previously?

 

[Fox2k]

I'd place as rear and one rear-top or mid-top(the goal here is to place the top fan above the VRM's if possible, to create airflow there).

So placing one pure wings 2 at the rear and one at the top and rear should be ok, considering the performance of the two arctics at the front of the case right? I am considering to upgrade my CPU air cooler from the stock air cooler (Wraith Prism) to a different air cooler. That should help with the airflow around the VRM as well, right?

My apologies for all the questions.

 

[Fox2k]

The PW2's I'd place as rear and one rear-top or mid-top(the goal here is to place the top fan above the VRM's if possible, to create airflow there).

I just saw the picture that you included. Is it the round module or the square one above it?

Definetly placing an exhaust fan on top above it should help with airflow. The VRM usually is the temp sensor on the motherboard which usually runs the highest/hottest correct?

 

[FoxVoxDK]

I'd wait, depending on restriction of flow, you can't say for sure how much overpressure we're creating, the only way to get an idea of that is by turning off the rear fans and feel how much air is exiting up top.
If there's little or none, then the PW2's will be adequate, if there is significant air coming out, it might be worth having 2 more Arctics, or the overpressure will cause an airflow stall, like blowing into a balloon.

That should help with the airflow around the VRM as well, right?

Yes, Air coolers (towers specifically) tend increase the movement of air around them, necessitated by the often directional flow through heatsinks.

I just saw the picture that you included. Is it the round module or the square one above it?

Consider, for intents and purposes, the metal cover above and to the side of the CPU socket, the VRM heatsink and below it are the VRM mosfets. Those are what we want to help.

The VRM usually is the temp sensor on the motherboard which usually runs the highest/hottest correct?

Depends on workload, but typically yes.

 

[Fox2k]

I'd wait, depending on restriction of flow, you can't say for sure how much overpressure we're creating, the only way to get an idea of that is by turning off the rear fans and feel how much air is exiting up top.
If there's little or none, then the PW2's will be adequate, if there is significant air coming out, it might be worth having 2 more Arctics, or the overpressure will cause an airflow stall, like blowing into a balloon.

Your message had me a little stumped. Well at the moment (with the mesh cover installed on top and putting the other more solid top cover over it (thus the mesh cover acts to catch the dust that would otherwise just enter the pc (as it is atm)). I did notice however that there is some dust build up on the mesh cover (from the outside towards the back of the top cover (where the holes are of the solid top cover piece). This indicates that there is air being sucked in through the top (most likely because not enough is being pulled in by the front fan).

Does this information tell you anything / what do you make of this? To me, it sounds like I need to add the two arctics in front and have the two pure wings (one in the rear and one on top).

 

[Fox2k]

Oh and just to clarify the VRM are the circular and rectangular shaped mosfets correct? (basically to the left and above the CPU right? they also have the two heatsinks, one with the AORUS writing on it (to the left of the CPU) and the other above the CPU without any writing on it, correct?

 

[FoxVoxDK]

Does this information tell you anything / what do you make of this? To me, it sounds like I need to add the two arctics in front and have the two pure wings (one in the rear and one on top).

I can see I confused you. I meant buying 2 more Arctics in excess of the 2 we were discussing putting in the front, to start with.

Your message had me a little stumped. Well at the moment (with the mesh cover installed on top and putting the other more solid top cover over it (thus the mesh cover acts to catch the dust that would otherwise just enter the pc (as it is atm)). I did notice however that there is some dust build up on the mesh cover (from the outside towards the back of the top cover (where the holes are of the solid top cover piece). This indicates that there is air being sucked in through the top (most likely because not enough is being pulled in by the front fan).

Yeap, what you're seeing is negative pressure getting air from a point of the least resistance.

Oh and just to clarify the VRM are the circular and rectangular shaped mosfets correct? (basically to the left and above the CPU right? they also have the two heatsinks, one with the AORUS writing on it (to the left of the CPU) and the other above the CPU without any writing on it, correct?

No, but I'm glad you're curious: Mosfet/transistor of the VRM is hidden by the heatsink. They look like little chiplets and depending on type/load/configuration can get very hot.
The square box you're seeing? That's called a choke.
The cylindrical shapes are capacitors, for even steady volt/current.
In conjunctions with a controller chip, that entity is called a VRM.

 

[Fox2k]

Ah ok thank you. That would explain the slow build up of dust in the case. Well dust will always be around it is just the nature of the beast. But negative pressure is gonna make it worse / has made it worse that is for sure. So definetly 2 artics in the front is a must, no question. The question should be if I should get 1-2 extra arctics just in case I might need them? The problem that I just realized is that I still need a splitter for the fans in the back and I definetly don't trust the seller on newegg when looking at the reviews of them.

 

[FoxVoxDK]

Where do you hail from? If you feel like getting them ahead of time, sure go for it, they aren't that expensive.

If you have pricerunner in your country, they usually direct to individual shops as well.

I have an Akasa one and a Phantek one.

AK-CBFA04-15
PH-CB-Y4P

Extender cable: AK-CBFA01-30

Lol, and apparently a crap ton of Noctua ones as well.