New gaming PC - need advice on fan setup and which fans at all !

2248 Views 13 Replies 4 Participants Last post by doyll, Aug 14, 2013

Lukas026

Discussion Starter · Aug 12, 2013

Hey guys

I am building new system for one of my friends and we have decided I will build almost the same RIG as I have. That means:

Intel Core i5 3570k
Noctua NH-D 14
MSI Z77 Mpower (Maybe Z87)
some 8 GB DDR3 Ram 1600 Mhz
some GTX 780 / GTX 770
WD 1 TB Caviar Black + some SSD
Fractal Design Define R4
and peripherals.

Now to my main concern. My friend wants his biuld as silent as possible but also as cool as possible. So now I am thinking which fans I should include in Define R4 (also in which positions for best airflow) and what fans to include on NH-D 14 it self.

I have made this picture to show what I think now:

BLUE fans (case): Noctua NF-A14 ULN x6
GREEN fans (NH-D14): Noctua NF-SA12 ULN x2

These are just my favorites, so be free to post any other ideas

Thanks

PS: Yeah I have the picture like in 2 minutes

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Swolern

· #2 · Aug 12, 2013

If you want "silent and as cool as possible" you need a water loop. The Noctua D14 is very quiet & pretty cool, but the GPU will be loud when fans reved for full load.

Air flow design looks good also. You could put the HDD in the path of the bottom frontal fans so they can get some air across them, as they get a little warm after extended use.

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fedrosishere

· #3 · Aug 12, 2013

I think you need more intake. By having 3 fans as intake and 3 as exaust, that will not have sufficient air in the case(especially if you have air cooling for CPU and your GPU is a blower..). Those fans are nice but i dont know if they are that silend. Also go for the GTX 780. Great card and future proof as it can be Sli'ed in a year or so.

Now as for what fans to use, i really cant tell becaause i use 6 AF120 and some additional other 6 aerocool fans so.... bye bye silence ! haha

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Lukas026

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 12, 2013

well i was worried about that GPU sound but I will try and find some gtx 780 / 770 which would be also very quite (DCUII / ACX / WF3 / TF4)...

what about my fan choices ?

would that be enough ? I mean I dont know how will NH-D 14 work with these low noise fans

anyone got some experience or some nice links ? on noctua site they say that NF-SA 12s are not ideal for heatsink cooling but I can't find any low noise versions of NF-P 12s or NF-F 12s

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fedrosishere

· #5 · Aug 12, 2013

Is really noise that much of a problem? becasue if its for gaming that your friend wants the PC then you have to GIVE UP SOMETHING

I dont know any fans that perform well and are silend. Go with Swolens idea . get a loop instead.

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Lukas026

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 12, 2013

i am not much a watrcooling expert atm so I would like to stay in the air cooling for a little bit more

also if there is no need for so many fans, tell me guys

atm I am thinking more (even low noise / rpm fans) = more airflow = better temps

but i might be worng and I might need only like 3 fans at all

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fedrosishere

· #7 · Aug 12, 2013

lol. no the more fans /higher rpm the coller it is . its only logical. with 3 fans you will have your self an oven that can connect to the internet

there are closed loops and really easy to install with no servies needed. like the ro series (H50 H 60 H70 H80 OR EVEN A H100) from corsair from example...

I tryed to have just 6 fans in my full tower case (GRone)and i got 5 C more than before so i totaly did not care if at having a silend rig or not. not that now it's noisy but you can hear it.

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doyll

· #8 · Aug 12, 2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lukas026

Hey guys

I am building new system for one of my friends and we have decided I will build almost the same RIG as I have. That means:

Intel Core i5 3570k
Noctua NH-D 14
MSI Z77 Mpower (Maybe Z87)
some 8 GB DDR3 Ram 1600 Mhz
some GTX 780 / GTX 770
WD 1 TB Caviar Black + some SSD
Fractal Design Define R4
and peripherals.

Now to my main concern. My friend wants his biuld as silent as possible but also as cool as possible. So now I am thinking which fans I should include in Define R4 (also in which positions for best airflow) and what fans to include on NH-D 14 it self.

I have made this picture to show what I think now:

BLUE fans (case): Noctua NF-A14 ULN x6
GREEN fans (NH-D14): Noctua NF-SA12 ULN x2

These are just my favorites, so be free to post any other ideas

Thanks

PS: Yeah I have the picture like in 2 minutes

We need to know where you live to be able to select fans available in your area.

Having an R2 myself (all fans (TY-140 & TY-143) are PWM controlled) and been involved in building several R3 and R4 systems I might be able to help.
My suggestions:
* Use all PWM fans and control them with motherboard PWM signal from CPU fan header. This means all fans speed up and slow down dependent on the aiflow demanded by CPU PWM to stay cool.
* Use higher pressure fans at least on all intakes and cooler because of resistance.(filters and grills restrict airflow similar to cooler)
* No top fans of vents open. Keeps things quieter.
* Remove all unused PCI slot covers for added airflow.
* Raise case (45mm clearance) for better airflow to bottom intakes. Also makes it quieter.

Here's a pic of last R4 build. HDD cage is now removed. Silver Arrow SB-E Extreme cooler (TY-143 fans 130cfm/2500rpm) 4x TY-147 case fans (front 2 modified by cutting round side to 140mm). Front intakes and back exhaust fans are CPU PWM signal control and bottom intake is GPU PWM signal controlled. Reason for TY-147 fans is they are very good fans and here are only £6.00 each. System is silent unless under 100% load and even than only loud enough to know it's running.

GPU = VTX3D Radeon HD 7950 X-Edition V3 with cover removed and 2x Arctic F12 TC case fans (temp prob is between PCB & cooler).
Was running 70c, now 50-60c, ultra settings, 60fps unless particularly detailed cut scenes. Silent except when serious gaming and even than not at all loud.

CREATOR: gd-jpeg v1.0 (using IJG JPEG v62), default quality

SupahSpankah just built a Corsair 540 with PWM control
http://www.overclock.net/t/1411425/help-me-cool-my-corsair-540/20_20#post_20570297

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Lukas026

Discussion Starter · #9 · Aug 12, 2013

I live in czech repbulic in central europe. our best eshops are:

http://www.czc.cz/

http://www.alza.cz/EN/default.aspx

and http://www.alfacomp.cz/php/index.php

hmm PWM sound good but I am not entirely sure how that works. I saw that all my fan headers on Z77 Mpower are 4 pin, but fan controller in Define R4 has 3x 3 pins only

Anyway if I decide to go with PWMs, how should I set the BIOS fan's control ? I have something like CPU Smart fan target option and than SYSfan 1 - 4 which can be set on AUTO or 50/60/70/80/90/100 %.

Does that mean that if plug all my fans to my motherboard / set CPU smart fan taget to like 70* / set SYSfan's 1-4 to the AUTO setting it will be whisper quiet and only after my CPU reaches more than 70*, fans will start to rotate at higher RPM's ?

Thanks

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doyll

· #10 · Aug 12, 2013

The R4 fan controller is not used. A PWM splitter with molex power plugged to CPU fan header and PSU. With this kind of splitter the motherboard only supplies the PWM signal and 12v power to the fans comes directly from PSU. I don't know how your motherboard works but most can be setup so fans spin slow at low heat and increase in speed as heat increases.

The first is Swiftech 8-way PWM splitter and second is GeLid 4-way PWM. You can plug a second PWM splitter into first if needed.

I don not recomment Akasa braided PWM splitters because they run 5 leads to single pin in connector and heatshrink back of pin on wires... all the flex is between heatshrink and pin and this results is metal fatigue and wires breaking off of pins.

Good low priced fan is Arctic F14 PWM
http://www.alza.cz/arctic-f14-pwm-140mm-d393518.htm

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Lukas026

Discussion Starter · #11 · Aug 12, 2013

ok will take a look at these...

btw my Mpower has total of 5x 4pin headers so if that you be the case, which 5 fans would you include in my setup incl. ones on CPU cooler ?

I was thinking 2 front intakes, 1 rear exhaust and 2 on the NH-D 14 ?

Any other ideas ?

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doyll

· #12 · Aug 12, 2013

Just because the fans headers on motherboard are 4pin does not mean they are PWM. It is common for motherboards to have 4pin fan headers that are not PWM.

CPU is only part of heat in your system. GPU produces as much or more heat so needs cooling as well. That is why I suggest 2x front and 1x bottom intakes.

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Lukas026

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 14, 2013

this is how MY setup looks now:

I will try to make something like that for my friend but I will use PWM fans for him as advised

thanks for help guys

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doyll

· #14 · Aug 14, 2013

Nice clean build.

No GPU?

Assume you are using your GTX 690.

Might want to re-read my suggestions in post 8. Your top front fan is pulling cool air right out the top and possibly stealing it from D14 intake.

With today's high powered hot GPUs we no longer want to move cool air from bottom/fron to top/back because that moves the heat from GPU up to CPU. It is better to move front to back by using PCI slots as exhaust. Often a side fan as intake or exhaust... can't say which will work best for you... helps too.

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