[SOLVED] Would replacing stock fans for Corsair SPEC-02 case be any better?

[Tigerhawk30]

Howdy!

So, in the neverending quest for a little better cooling, I have a bit of an "in the weeds" question.

So, I have a Corsair SPEC-02 mid-tower case. It has three stock fans on it, two on the front for intake and one for exhaust. I've recently installed a new Arctic eSports 33 cooler, but that necessitated the removal of the two additional Riing 12 fans that used to be providing exhaust on top...these can no longer fit due to the space the Arctic takes up with its own Push/Pull dual fan setup. I still have one Riing fan on the bottom of the case as exhaust to even out the intake/exhaust number.

I've tried looking all over for any specs on the SPEC-02 case fan cfm rating and can find nothing on them. I don't even see a model number or other identification on the fans themselves. The Riing 12 fans I have in reserve shows an airflow rating of 40.6 cfm. I've no clue what the stock Corsair fan rating is.

I have (potentially) two options that I've thought of: Removing one of the Arctic fans from the CPU cooler and making it either simply push or pull, which would provide room to reinstall one of the Riing fans on the top as an exhaust. Or, attempting to replace all three of the Corsair fans with the three Riing fans, assuming they might provide more air movement through the case.

Not knowing anything about the stock fans...would I gain any benefit in terms of better temps from either option? Or, if it would be better at all, would it be any improvement of consequence where the CPU and VRMs are concerned? Average temps on the 3950X are around 77C for the most part under almost continual F@H CPU only loads.

Hopefully this isn't too far out there. Thanks in advance!

 

[CountMike]

Howdy!

So, in the neverending quest for a little better cooling, I have a bit of an "in the weeds" question.

So, I have a Corsair SPEC-02 mid-tower case. It has three stock fans on it, two on the front for intake and one for exhaust. I've recently installed a new Arctic eSports 33 cooler, but that necessitated the removal of the two additional Riing 12 fans that used to be providing exhaust on top...these can no longer fit due to the space the Arctic takes up with its own Push/Pull dual fan setup. I still have one Riing fan on the bottom of the case as exhaust to even out the intake/exhaust number.

I've tried looking all over for any specs on the SPEC-02 case fan cfm rating and can find nothing on them. I don't even see a model number or other identification on the fans themselves. The Riing 12 fans I have in reserve shows an airflow rating of 40.6 cfm. I've no clue what the stock Corsair fan rating is.

I have (potentially) two options that I've thought of: Removing one of the Arctic fans from the CPU cooler and making it either simply push or pull, which would provide room to reinstall one of the Riing fans on the top as an exhaust. Or, attempting to replace all three of the Corsair fans with the three Riing fans, assuming they might provide more air movement through the case.

Not knowing anything about the stock fans...would I gain any benefit in terms of better temps from either option? Or, if it would be better at all, would it be any improvement of consequence where the CPU and VRMs are concerned? Average temps on the 3950X are around 77C for the most part under almost continual F@H CPU only loads.

Hopefully this isn't too far out there. Thanks in advance!

Most modern fans differ only in sound they make. efficiency is just about same no matter how much manufacturers push performance. Looks and lights seem to be largest selling point.
There is another problem though, that cooler is just not enough for 3950x, for proper cooling of that beast you need good 280 or 360 AIO cooler at least and as a minimum Noctua NH-D15 as air cooler.

 

[Tigerhawk30]

Thanks much for your answers.

Seeing different things where people have replaced case fans with, say, Noctua fans to get better airflow and cooling was the part that got me wondering on all this, but if replacing really doesn't do anything then there's no need to go to the effort. Thank you on that.

On the CPU cooler...several factors went into that decision. First and foremost is my case. Corsair says it tops out at 152mm for CPU cooler height, which knocked out all of the major brands and favorite models to sit atop of it. The Arctic has a good deal of positive reviews, including several towards the 3950X and one on the Threadripper (Arctic Freezer 34 TR, which is ultimately the same design). The other factor is that my case will not fit anything more than a 120mm AIO and from what seems to be a consensus (including my own discussions with several others on the matter), air cooling does a better job than any 120mm AIO (many have terms those as "useless"). I'd even tried looking to see if there were some sort of way to split two 120mm fans of one AIO for positioning in one on top and one on rear, but that didn't seem to be a thing.

Yes, I've thought of a bigger (full tower) case but only those with a 5.25" drive slot (because I'm old school and actually use an optical drive) to stick my BD Writer in, but those are very few indeed. Those that do usually have space specified for a 240mm AIO/two 120mm air fans at most. I'd been hesitant to do that because...well, that's essentially committing to a new build and any potential problems that might arise in doing that. So, in went the Arctic. When I do F@H, 74C-77C is the average depending on the day. Anything less is more like in the 50s. I know it certainly could be better, but I'm not overly concerned as of yet either.

But then I guess that brings me to range and fan size...I usually always see specifications on cases where the fan sizes go 120/240/360. None ever say 280, even as I know 280mm AIOs exist. What would be the difference between a 240mm AIO and a 280mm AIO where fan slots usually always seem to specify 240? I guess I should ask, are 240mm and 280mm on an AIO interchangeable somehow with what the case mounting specifications are? If I end up taking the "rebuild" plunge, grab one of those few cases that has 5.25" drive slots and it only says 240mm AIO vice 280mm...is there any difference or problem in mounting those fans?

And for that matter, what is your opinion on AIO vs Air?

Thank you very much!

 

[CountMike]

Thanks much for your answers.

Seeing different things where people have replaced case fans with, say, Noctua fans to get better airflow and cooling was the part that got me wondering on all this, but if replacing really doesn't do anything then there's no need to go to the effort. Thank you on that.

On the CPU cooler...several factors went into that decision. First and foremost is my case. Corsair says it tops out at 152mm for CPU cooler height, which knocked out all of the major brands and favorite models to sit atop of it. The Arctic has a good deal of positive reviews, including several towards the 3950X and one on the Threadripper (Arctic Freezer 34 TR, which is ultimately the same design). The other factor is that my case will not fit anything more than a 120mm AIO and from what seems to be a consensus (including my own discussions with several others on the matter), air cooling does a better job than any 120mm AIO (many have terms those as "useless"). I'd even tried looking to see if there were some sort of way to split two 120mm fans of one AIO for positioning in one on top and one on rear, but that didn't seem to be a thing.

Yes, I've thought of a bigger (full tower) case but only those with a 5.25" drive slot (because I'm old school and actually use an optical drive) to stick my BD Writer in, but those are very few indeed. Those that do usually have space specified for a 240mm AIO/two 120mm air fans at most. I'd been hesitant to do that because...well, that's essentially committing to a new build and any potential problems that might arise in doing that. So, in went the Arctic. When I do F@H, 74C-77C is the average depending on the day. Anything less is more like in the 50s. I know it certainly could be better, but I'm not overly concerned as of yet either.

But then I guess that brings me to range and fan size...I usually always see specifications on cases where the fan sizes go 120/240/360. None ever say 280, even as I know 280mm AIOs exist. What would be the difference between a 240mm AIO and a 280mm AIO where fan slots usually always seem to specify 240? I guess I should ask, are 240mm and 280mm on an AIO interchangeable somehow with what the case mounting specifications are? If I end up taking the "rebuild" plunge, grab one of those few cases that has 5.25" drive slots and it only says 240mm AIO vice 280mm...is there any difference or problem in mounting those fans?

And for that matter, what is your opinion on AIO vs Air?

Thank you very much!

You might want to consider larger case as you are packing a lot of heat. Even in my system 4pipe air cooler barely any better than OEM cooler. Also used CM Nepton 140 xl AIO that has double thickness radiator with push-pull 140mm fans and now 240 Arctic AIO which in this heat is barelly keeping temps at 72c which is too high to get full CPU frequency and performance wasting some (10-20%) of potential performance. Ryzen needs to stay under 70c, best up to 62-65c for best automatic boost. 3950x has twice cores of 3700x and will use almost twice the power, can boost higher (4.7GHz) so power and amount of heat will be much higher. If because of heat you loose so much performance you would have thrown out a lot of money for nothing.
As for air vs AIO cooling. 120mm AIO is at par with mediocre air coolers, 140-240 at par or just above best air coolers (NH-D14/15 for instance) and only good 360 AIOs are above those. Going further than that, only custom liquid coolers with powerful cold blocks, pumps, large radiators and liquid capacities.
AIO radiator sizes are same as their descriptions, 120 have one 120mm fan, 140 one 140mm fan, 240 2x 120mm fans, 280 have 2x140mm fans 360 have 3x120mm fans with options to have another like number of fans for other side of radiator in push-pull configuration but that helps only in limited number of cases.
Radiator sizes are width of fan they use and length 1-2" more than number of consecutive fans.
Cases can usually take radiators of sizes according to number of case fan spaces. For instance, a case with space in front for 3x120mm fans can use 120, 240 and 360 AIOs. For 140 and 240 AIOs, case needs to have front space for 1x140mm or 2x140mm fans for a 280AIO.

 

[Tigerhawk30]

So then, forgive me for being dense...but what I hear you saying on the fan sizes is, a 280mm AIO will be able to fit into a space that's designated for 240mm...?

 

[Karadjgne]

Actually, the 3950x does surprisingly well for heat. In stock configuration you are looking at somewhere around 150w with all cores loaded. The Arctic Duo is rated at 200w. So there is room to breathe. AMD sticks like glue to its power limits, so it'd take a manual overclock to really push the heat, or using something like PBO Level 1 or Level 2 boosts, which isn't an option on many more mid-grade or lower mobo's.

My personal choice would have been the beQuiet Darkrock TF, it's a downdraft cooler similar to the stock cooler, but seriously more powerful. It'll give added bonus cooling to VRM's area that'll be lacking with the Arctic.

There's 3 basic size fans, and some odd balls. 92mm, 120mm and 140mm. Aio rads come mostly in 120mm or 140mm variants. The fans are adjacent, so 120/240/360 or 140/280. Many cases come with the ability to mount a 280mm AIO as a maximum width (1x140mm) or 360mm as a maximum length (3x120mm). And they'll include mounting holes for both. So if the case will fit a 280mm, it'll by default fit a 140mm or 120mm or 240mm. If the case will fit a 360mm that means only 360/240/120. If it fits 360/280, it'll fit anything. So it all depends on what the case actually fits, width or length or both.

I still have one Riing fan on the bottom of the case as exhaust to even out the intake/exhaust number.

That's counter productive. Amount of fans balance is a useless factor to consider. The only thing that really matters is what the fans are doing. With aircoolers, airflow is highly important and what you want is an uninterrupted stream of air going in the front/low and out the back/top. So you'll place and orient fans accordingly. Which can suck for many rgb/argb fans as their pretty rings are now facing the wrong direction.

 

[CountMike]

So then, forgive me for being dense...but what I hear you saying on the fan sizes is, a 280mm AIO will be able to fit into a space that's designated for 240mm...?

No, a 280 radiator and it's fans require space of 2x140mm fans next to each other.

 

[CountMike]

Actually, the 3950x does surprisingly well for heat. In stock configuration you are looking at somewhere around 150w with all cores loaded. The Arctic Duo is rated at 200w. So there is room to breathe. AMD sticks like glue to its power limits, so it'd take a manual overclock to really push the heat, or using something like PBO Level 1 or Level 2 boosts, which isn't an option on many more mid-grade or lower mobo's.

My personal choice would have been the beQuiet Darkrock TF, it's a downdraft cooler similar to the stock cooler, but seriously more powerful. It'll give added bonus cooling to VRM's area that'll be lacking with the Arctic.

There's 3 basic size fans, and some odd balls. 92mm, 120mm and 140mm. Aio rads come mostly in 120mm or 140mm variants. The fans are adjacent, so 120/240/360 or 140/280. Many cases come with the ability to mount a 280mm AIO as a maximum width (1x140mm) or 360mm as a maximum length (3x120mm). And they'll include mounting holes for both. So if the case will fit a 280mm, it'll by default fit a 140mm or 120mm or 240mm. If the case will fit a 360mm that means only 360/240/120. If it fits 360/280, it'll fit anything. So it all depends on what the case actually fits, width or length or both.

That's counter productive. Amount of fans balance is a useless factor to consider. The only thing that really matters is what the fans are doing. With aircoolers, airflow is highly important and what you want is an uninterrupted stream of air going in the front/low and out the back/top. So you'll place and orient fans accordingly. Which can suck for many rgb/argb fans as their pretty rings are now facing the wrong direction.

It may be surprisingly low TDP for a 16 core CPU but it's still far more than 8core. You can't go by declared TDP either, they are based on ideal conditions and up to maximal temperatures allowed which can cut deeply into performance. Yes, you can let Ryzen run at 80c+ safely but you will loose 200-300MHz or more at auto settings. You need to keep it down to max 62-65c and no air or small AIO can do that.
Of all AIOs I would choose Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 which also incorporates fan for VRM cooling. AIO coolers also replace same number of intake or exhaust case fans depending where and how radiator is placed cutting down on number of case fans and noise to say nothing about space large air coolers take in the middle of system, interference with RAM and eventually GPU or top PCIe slot.
Just some of recommendations

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[Karadjgne]

It's worse that 200-300MHz. AMD sticks like glue to its Power limits, and does so even at higher cost. It'll only hit @ 150w and stay there. Power per core goes from @ 17w for 1-2 cores to @ 6w for all cores. You have to enable PBO Level 1 or Level 2 or manual OC to get past that set limit
https://www.anandtech.com/show/15043/the-amd-ryzen-9-3950x-review-16-cores-on-7nm-with-pcie-40/2

You'd be kosher at default with a 200w cooler, but enable PBO 1/2 and put those cores back up closer to 17w and even a 280mm AIO won't save you.

 

[Tigerhawk30]

All this discussion has given me a literal out of the box thought...

Is it possible to go all Frankenstein with this kind of setup...?

Top-mounted 240mm AIO
One fan on one vent for push (the other internal fan can't be used to due permanently affixed drive mount)
Two fans mounted for pull externally on top of the top vents

I've read that it's possible to do a single fan on the AIO for a 240mm kit but the cooling is only effective for the single 120mm, which would kind of be a waste of money. Would two external ones help? Any way to rig external ones for power draw? (Edit: I see external USB to both Molex and 3-pin adapters, so power looks to be a non-issue).

Yeah, it'd look weird...but I'm weird too.

 

[Karadjgne]

Who says the drive mounts are permanently attached? If you don't need/use them, remove them. Rivets are nothing more than a screw that requires drilling out. Remove the rivets, remove the cage, screw the frame back together if needed.

The top of that case has a vent opening large enough to fit a 240mm /2x120mm fans. Even if the aio is only held by 4 factory screws, there's a metal mesh with holes and metal top piece that can be drilled to make new mounting points.

When it comes to 'out of the box' thinking, and case mods, the only real limits are your imagination and desire to accomplish the task.

Who needs drive bays? An SSD will velcro anywhere, and even the bottom of the case behind the psu is a great place to add a hdd or 3.