[cmdub]

So a couple questions here I guess. I plan on finishing up my build towards the end of next week and I was planing on picking up 3 NF-A14 PWM's to go along with the other 2 stock fans in the case. The plan was to stick 2 of them up top and 1 more alongside the stock 1 up front. Now what would be the best way to connect all these to the mobo? Would a splitter be the best? Is the fan setup I plan on doing optimal? Here's the build as it stands now and thanks in advance:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (Purchased For $254.38)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($78.50 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Maximus VI Hero ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($199.79 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (Purchased For $135.99)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Disk (Purchased For $144.90)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $80.98)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($329.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $89.99)
Power Supply: Antec TruePower Classic 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (Purchased For $59.99)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor (Purchased For $231.99)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus USB-N53 802.11a/b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($27.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.38 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.38 @ NCIX US)
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.38 @ NCIX US)
Keyboard: Microsoft SIDEWINDER X4 Wired Gaming Keyboard (Purchased For $39.99)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse (Purchased For $51.99)
Total: $1787.61
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-22 19:58 EDT-0400)

 

[doyll]

Define R4 is a nice case. Built a few. Have an R2 modified with 140mm fan. My sig rig.

Good fans. I would put all 3 as intakes in front and bottom.and use PWM signal from motherboard CPU fan header and maybe GPU fan header. Use a PWM splitter with PSU power.

I'm not sure. Does your NH-D14 have PWM fans? If the are not and you are using CPU fan header to control them than can't use header for PWM. Header is one or the other.

There's more info on case cooling and PWM control in sig links below.

 

[cmdub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doyll

Define R4 is a nice case. Built a few. Have an R2 modified with 140mm fan. My sig rig.

Good fans. I would put all 3 as intakes in front and bottom.and use PWM signal from motherboard CPU fan header and maybe GPU fan header. Use a PWM splitter with PSU power.

I'm not sure. Does your NH-D14 have PWM fans? If the are not and you are using CPU fan header to control them than can't use header for PWM. Header is one or the other.

There's more info on case cooling and PWM control in sig links below.

yea the NH-D14 has you plug both the fans into the top 2 headers CPU_FAN and CPU_OPT(they're right next to each other).

Here's the setup for the motherboard I plan on buying:
As you can see the top 2 (A and B) have PWM and the rest don't. So because I have 2 fans on the heatsink would I Y split them into CPU_FAN and then buy a splitter/controller as described in ur sig and then plug the split/cont into CPU_OPT with all my other case fans plugged into the split/cont ?

 

[doyll]

Only if NH-D14 fans are PWM
All fans must be PWM using PWM control

 

[cmdub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doyll

Only if NH-D14 fans are PWM
All fans must be PWM using PWM control

The Nh-d14 fans are 3 pin apparently so..

 

[doyll]

Could you replace them with a couple more NF-A14 fans?

or consider getting a different fan that is not quite as expensive as NF-A14.

Like
Thermalright TY-147 $15.99 (Would require modifying round sides to be flat to fit in front)
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/thermalright-case-fan-ty147
Phanteks PH-F140XP $17.99
http://pcpartpicker.com/search/?cc=us&q=ph-f140xp
PH-F140HP $14.99 (be sure they are the PWM ones. Some are not)
http://pcpartpicker.com/search/?cc=us&q=ph-f140hp

PH-F14oHP-WT would look good and you could get 4 of them for the price of 3 NF-A14 fans.

Or get a different cooler
Phanteks PH-TC14PE-WT $84.99 compared to NH-D14 $78.50. Again, be sure the fans are PH-F14oHP PWM. The first coolers with PH-F140HP fans were not PWM. They used a PWM adapter and do not perform the same as real PWM fans.

 

[cmdub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doyll

Could you replace them with a couple more NF-A14 fans?

or consider getting a different fan that is not quite as expensive as NF-A14.

Like
Thermalright TY-147 $15.99 (Would require modifying round sides to be flat to fit in front)
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/thermalright-case-fan-ty147
Phanteks PH-F140XP $17.99
http://pcpartpicker.com/search/?cc=us&q=ph-f140xp
PH-F140HP $14.99 (be sure they are the PWM ones. Some are not)
http://pcpartpicker.com/search/?cc=us&q=ph-f140hp

PH-F14oHP-WT would look good and you could get 4 of them for the price of 3 NF-A14 fans.

Or get a different cooler
Phanteks PH-TC14PE-WT $84.99 compared to NH-D14 $78.50. Again, be sure the fans are PH-F14oHP PWM. The first coolers with PH-F140HP fans were not PWM. They used a PWM adapter and do not perform the same as real PWM fans.

well I haven't purchased the NF-A14's or the NH-D14 yet those were just the ones I was leaning towards based on price/quality/reviews. The NF-A14's dont really match anything color wise but I wouldn't really care as long as they work really well. It just seemed like the NF-A14's were the best to buy from what I saw on pcpartpicker based on their airflow/RPM

 

[doyll]

That is why I was suggesting other options.

I don't buy fans based on airflow and rpm. I base their performance on how well they perform on coolers and radiators as well as their noise.
Published specs often mean very little.
CFM reading is taken with no resistance, but everything we use fans for has resistance; filter, grill, HDD cage, etc.
RPM is really means very little. Noise and airflow through cooler / radiator / grill & filter are what I'm interested in... and temperature and noise readings taken with fan on a cooler / radiator give us a far better gauge of fan performance.

 

[cmdub]

Ok thanks for that. I actually just realised after more reading that the fans on the current NH-D14 aren't PWM and are 3 pin which is just stupid if you ask me for a heatsink like that but regardless I would imagine that it would be smart to replace the 2 fans on it or just leave them on and have them run at 100% ? Obviously if I left them on there I should just Y split them and plug them into CPU_FAN. That still leaves me with what to do to fill out the case fans. I wanted to purchase 3 to start off with and then maybe in a few weeks/month maybe pickup another 1-2 more to fill it out. So I mean should I stick with the Noctua 140 PWM case fans or get something else

 

[doyll]

Have you considered getting a different cooler? New Phanteks PH-TC14PE has PH-F140HP PWM fans and you can buy extras for about $15.00. Just make sure they are new PWM F140HP and not the older non-PWM F140HP that use PWM adapter

I thought I had posted a long reply but guess not.

 

[cmdub]

Quote:

Originally Posted by doyll

Have you considered getting a different cooler? New Phanteks PH-TC14PE has PH-F140HP PWM fans and you can buy extras for about $15.00. Just make sure they are new PWM F140HP and not the older non-PWM F140HP that use PWM adapter

I thought I had posted a long reply but guess not.

My mistake, that collet actually looks really good and it has PWM fans so yeah id have no problem getting that instead. Back to the original question I guess would I Y split the heatsink fans and then just plug a controller into the cpu_opt port?

 

[doyll]

Shouldn't make any difference. AFAIK both CPU fan and CPU opt have the same PWM signal. The CPU fan and CPU opt are basically a Y splitter built into the motherboard PCB.