800D airflow qstns

stevetuk

stevetuk

stevetuk

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I'm building up my air cooling set up in the 800D case I have. I've got two stock fans to replace and one additional fan to buy.

Top three case fans: exhaust.
2x 120mm GT 1850, will be buying a third.

Main exhaust fan (back of case): currently set up as exhaust but will be moving this to intake.
1x 140mm Corsair stock fan. Planning on buying a GT 3000 (or should I go all out with a 5400?) as the bracket will take 140mm or 120mm so the 120mm GTs will fit.

Main intake fan (bottom of case): intake (no plans to change this)
1x 140mm Corsair stock fan. This is where I'm after advice.


The 140mm intake fan at the base of the case will only mount a 140mm fan so 120mm GTs are out which is irritating. Does anyone know of an adapter or something which would allow me to fit a 120mm fan onto 140mm mounting holes?

And, for the main exhaust, which I'm planning on turning into an intake, is a GT 3000 enough for intake or should I go all out with a 5400?

TIA :) This forum has been an amazing source of help the last few weeks as I've got to grips with my new system.
 
3 top exhaust, rear intake, bottom intake drill new holes if you want a 120 but 140 will be quieter and a good one will shift more air, id have 2 intake on the hdd cages for better airflow behind the motherboard and fit another intake in the cd drive area blowing on the motherboard you should get a 140 in there.

The case has never been a great air cooler imo.
 
Ah I've read only good things about GTs. Didn't think they were only for watercooling setups. What would you recommend for the 140mm intake - how about this noiseblocker?

Am I better with two 140mm intakes that are non-GT, or 1x 120mm GT (in the 120/140 slot at the rear) and 1x 140mm (e.g the noiseblocker) at the bottom of the case?

Noise doesn't bother me and neither do LEDs. I'm more interested in temps. Thanks for the tips in advance again! :D

Carl-Brit said:
3 top exhaust, rear intake, bottom intake drill new holes if you want a 120 but 140 will be quieter and a good one will shift more air, id have 2 intake on the hdd cages for better airflow behind the motherboard and fit another intake in the cd drive area blowing on the motherboard you should get a 140 in there.

The case has never been a great air cooler imo.
Click to expand...

My idle temps on an OC 3930K (to 4.5) are ~44, with the Thermalright Silver Arrow SB-E. On load it goes up to ~60c. I'm just wanting to improve where I can.

I can replace the stock Corsair HDD bay fan which is a 140mm, no problem with that, and can add a 120mm intake for the lower drive bays - is that what you mean?

Not following with the CD drive area 140mm though, but it's Sunday morn and I'm half asleep! Do you mean to use a 5.25" drive bay somehow to put an intake? Any recommendations for that?

Here's an image of the case cooling options just for info for people:
corsair_obsidian_airflow2.jpg


So a breakdown:

Fan 1 - Current 140mm Corsair stock fan
Planned: either 140mm fan (awaiting advice) or 120mm GT 3000 in adapter somehow

Fan 2 - Current 140mm Corsair stock fan
Planned: wasn't planning but will change based on advice

Fan 3 - No fan at present
Planned: 120mm GT of some sort?

Fan 4 - PSU intake fan

Fan 5 - Current 140mm Corsair stock fan (exhaust)
Planned: either 120mm GT 3000 (intake) or a 140mm recommended (intake)

Fans 6, 7, 8 - Current 120mm GT 1850 in 6 and 7
Planned: 1 additional 120mm GT 1850 in 8
 
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http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-045-BX&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=1816
I would swap out all your 140mm fans for these personally (come in white black or LED lit) thats what im going to do for max air flow and pressure (important if there is obstructions like HD cages or fan grills) at a decent sound level if you can put up with there will be better fans at around 2-3k rpm but produce too much noise for me.

If you want them to look good i suggest going for the Corsair who also do quieter versions or bigger airflow there just not as good as the bitfenix http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-006-CS&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=1816

It just depends what you want out of your fans the best performance, quiet fans, visually pleasing, all rounders there too much choice ; )

What i meant by the dvd drive bay area is to just sit a 120/140mm fan in there above that plastic hd hot swap connection cover so it can draw air from the front of the case and push it onto the motherboard you'd need to find a way to secure it that's all.
 
Since you're using the Silver Arrow it might make sense to flip the top front fan to intake (helps feed the cooler) and lose the top middle exhaust since it's not really doing much directly above the centre of the cooler.

It may or may not make a huge difference, but as it stands, your silver arrow will be competing with that top front exhaust.
Also consider a drive bay fan like this (You may want to replace the actual fan though)
Might want to lose the pci slot covers too.

EDIT, with regards to the above post: I have three of those Spectre pro PWM fans, and I wouldn't recommend them on the case. They push a decent amount of air, but they're not very quiet about it at all when they have to deal with obstructions like grills. I cut my grills out not long after I got them ;)

Re-Edit: Sorry, I have the 120mm versions, so hey...
 
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Thanks for the replies :)

Noise isn't a huge deal - don't want a plane in my room having said that, but I've never been too bothered by fan noise. Temps/performance is most important to me.
Those BitFenix have a very high CFM which sounds good. You'd recommend over the Noiseblocker Black Silent? So many to choose from :(

The Silver Arrow is fitted vertically if that makes sense: it has two fans and the top one is nearest the top of the case and pushes air out through the top of the case. Those vents in the top of the 800D were passive exhaust before, and then I added the two GT 1850s above to increase exhaust flow, but is that actually going to prevent the Silver Arrow doing it's thing then? That definitely wasn't my plan...I was planning on adding a third GT1850 to the top as well to complete a row of three exhaust fans once I've added more powerful intake fans.

Definitely like the look of that Lian Li bay...will have my eye on that later on.

Sorry with all the questions!
 
If you're keeping it vertical, then carry on as you are :)

Some prefer to mount the cooler that way because the top exhausts are larger than the rear.
I like the horizontal way combined with top and front bay intakes as it creates a 'straight through' effect (probably not the best description lol) which directly feeds the cooler with fresh(er) air.

You'll be fine either way.
 
You may want to leave fan no5 as an exhaust. Having it as an intake will draw air in which will then go straight out the top of the case. Leaving it as an exhaust will pull more air through the case from the bottom. Anyway its something thats easy to test.
 
Uncle Petey said:
If you're keeping it vertical, then carry on as you are :)

Some prefer to mount the cooler that way because the top exhausts are larger than the rear.
I like the horizontal way combined with top and front bay intakes as it creates a 'straight through' effect (probably not the best description lol) which directly feeds the cooler with fresh(er) air.

You'll be fine either way.
Click to expand...

Ok great stuff - had me panicking there for a minute! Those GTs were starting to make me paranoid :(
So, I'll definitely add a third to complete the top panel as a trio of exhaust fans.


Kaapstad said:
You may want to leave fan no5 as an exhaust. Having it as an intake will draw air in which will then go straight out the top of the case. Leaving it as an exhaust will pull more air through the case from the bottom. Anyway its something thats easy to test.
Click to expand...

Hmm...I was aiming for something like this:
800D%20Negative.jpg
 
same setup ill be doing when i get round to swapping all the fans ends up around £60 for a case worth of fans without any radiator ones.
 
Word of warning having the rear as intake on the 800D...depending on the fan it may scream pulling air through the grill, had that problem with an AP121 that is now exhausting.
 
If it makes it any clearer, With the Silver Arrow mounted horizontally (fans at front+middle), I'd play it like this:

Fan:
1: intake 140mm
2: intake 140mm
3: N/A
4: PSU intake
5: Exhaust 140mm
6: Exhaust 140/120mm
7: N/A
8: Intake 140mm

Plus a drive bay cooler like the Lian Li mounted in the lower three 5.25" bays.
 
Thanks for the replies and tips. I decided to go with an additional GT1850 for the final third exhaust at the top of the case, and with two of the BitFenix Spectre Pro 140mm (black) for intake: both to replace the Corsair stock fans (one at the rear and one at the bottom of the case.

Added a fan filter for the rear intake to limit dust getting in. Will get them sorted, take some readings and will post back with the outcome later on.
 
Wish I'd seen those Bitfenix before I ordered my Corsair AF140's... they 140's move the same air as the 120's I have but at a much quieter level.

122CFM? Really? :D
 
BrianB said:
Wish I'd seen those Bitfenix before I ordered my Corsair AF140's... they 140's move the same air as the 120's I have but at a much quieter level.

122CFM? Really? :D
Click to expand...

BitFenix say it's "86.73 CFM ±10%". Always depends on voltage etc though, and the mfctr claims are usually overstated. If it pushes at 80 I'd be happy :)
 
stevetuk said:
800D%20Negative.jpg
Click to expand...

So I received the two 140mm BitFenix Spectre Pros and the final third GT 1850 in the post yesterday, got them fitted in the set up above so the Spectres are intake (one at rear, one at bottom) and the three GTs are exhaust up top.

The Spectres are massively louder than the GTs, wasn't expecting that must admit. They're shifting a lot of air though. My temps have gone down a few degrees, idling on around 38-40.

coretemp20120825.jpg


Definitely happy with the purchase. Need a FC to control the noise now though...! :(
 
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