cooling fans to go with this setup

mdaw · 10 Apr 2014 at 16:01

Hi all, Im buying a new motherboard (Z87 MSI GD65 gaming series)and cpu (I7 4770k) to go with all my other parts as I have now sold the q9650 and my ddr2 ram for a nice little sum. I wanted a bit more cooling in my case so I was wondering which would fit in my case and which fans I should buy?

My case is an xclio 3060. You will need to search for this as its quite old now. I know most of you will probably say chuck it and get something decent but Im really not looking to get another case just want some extra air cooling. Also a new motor for the giant fan on the side is needed as it packed up about 2 years ago.

Im looking at adding this Enermax T.B.Silence UCTB12 120mm Fan £6.98 to my heatsink as it is able to have another fan on the other side of the heatsink and i think this is the same as whats on the other side unless others can make a good aguement for buying something better that will fit.

Thanks for any advice.

ttaskmaster · 10 Apr 2014 at 16:53

I have a pair of the TB Silences front-intaking through my HDD cages.
Good for push, as I have them set up, but perhaps not so good for pull - They draw air in through the vented sides as well, which is what helps them push in restricted spaces... but if there's something restrictive behind them they compensate, meaning the amount they'll pull through a rad/heatsink is less than other fans.

I got better pull results from a Noctua NF-P12 and I'm about to start playing with some Corsair SP120s.

mdaw · 16 Apr 2014 at 17:06

Hi ttaskmaster,

How did you get on with the corsair fans in comparison to the noctua?

Reading around it does seem noctua seem to be the best but do appear to be rather more expensive than the enermax or corsair.

Is the extra performance worth the money over the enermax or corsair?

dfour · 17 Apr 2014 at 13:17

Xclio 3060

Cooling System Front: 4PCS 80mm or 1PC 120mm or 1PC 140mm (optional)
Side: 360mm (with VR fan speed control & ON/OFF Switch)
Rear: 2PCS 80mm or 1PC 120mm or 1PC 140mm (optional)
Physical Dimensions 430mm x 240mm x 445mm (H x W x D)

Maybe switch the tb silence to a intake postion and use 2 sp 120's on the cooler. I have them on my radiator and they are great fans if a little load at full speed.

You may have to get an automotive fan to replace the side one as 360mm fans seem a bit rare.

doyll · 17 Apr 2014 at 13:32

Getting your case to flow enough air is problematic. We need 1.2-1.5 times as much air flowing through case as components use. For a CPU cooler with a 60cfm 120mm fan and GPU with 2x 40cfm 90mm fans we would want 170-210cfm intake fan volume.

You might find this case cooling guide helpful
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/sh...ight=case+cooling+username_doyll#post26159770

ttaskmaster · 17 Apr 2014 at 15:33

mdaw said:
How did you get on with the corsair fans in comparison to the noctua?

The stock Corsair fans that came with my case were a bit naff and pretty noisy.
The stock Corsair fans that came with my H100 radiator do a *wicked* job of ramming high volumes of air through the radiator and keeping everything chilled... but were about as noisy as my motorcycle!!

The Corsair SP120 Performance Editions are quite disappointing in my opinion - They start up with a massive burst of rpm, which is pretty loud, but as they spin up there is quite a bit of noise from vibration too. I loaded them under Quiet, Balanced and Performance mode and found they tend to be a bit squeaky. They also don't perform as well as the Noctuas.

I hope to be doing some more extensive testing this weekend on both the Noctuas in Pull and with the Enermaxes on Push, but so far the Noctuas have actually given the better performance.

mdaw said:
Is the extra performance worth the money over the enermax or corsair?

Based purely on my experiences - Depends what you're looking for.
All three will cool well enough, so it's down to each fan's features and characteristics...

Putting an Enermax intaking on the 'outside' of the heatsink should be fine and a second one in the middle (if yours has such a space) will be great, but I'd think it'll be naff if you have one pulling air through from the back. However, they do very well pushing air and really are barely audible until you push them up past about 1200rpm... even on full chat, they're rather pleasant. In the middle of a case, they'll be even quieter.
Also, the Enermax fan blade pops off the spindle for easier cleaning!!

Noctua fans are expensive for a reason, part of which is the very high quality accessories. The cables and extensions are sleeved in a pretty durable rubbery coating rather than the usual braided type and even the packaging makes it feel like something special.
I actually found these slightly noisier than the Enermaxes, but I suspect a lot of that was the higher volume of airflow roaring through my case meshes and the performance is worth the slightly noisier result.

I'll report back once I've had a chance to do some more testing and playing around, but I am very likely to chuck the SP120s.

ttaskmaster · 18 Apr 2014 at 02:26

Yep, definitely chucking the SP120s. Better cooling and quieter performance with the Noctuas in push!!

mdaw · 18 Apr 2014 at 07:23

Sounds like i will probably be adding some noctuas over time then. I will add one to pull on my heatsink. Maybe one more in the case itself for now. Add more later.

Where would you put the extra fan in the case. Front first?

Also just got my new motherboard and cpu working and at stock speeds (in bios) it seems to be running at 38 degrees is that hot for the 4770k when not under load? I noticed immediately after fitting the cpu and mobo that my system is suddenly really quiet compared to the last setup. Is this because my fans are not running at such high rpm?

ttaskmaster · 18 Apr 2014 at 18:12

mdaw said:
Sounds like i will probably be adding some noctuas over time then. I will add one to pull on my heatsink. Maybe one more in the case itself for now. Add more later.Where would you put the extra fan in the case. Front first?

Yep, get some nice cool airflow going in!
If you can, space your hard drives out, so they're still getting cooled but allow as much airflow as possible into the case.

mdaw said:
Also just got my new motherboard and cpu working and at stock speeds (in bios) it seems to be running at 38 degrees is that hot for the 4770k when not under load?

Intel recommended CPU Temps - Haswell Core i7-4770K:

Idle Temperature - 34 to 39°C
Normal Temperature - 55 to 65°C
Max Temperature - 67°C

So yeah, could perhaps do with dropping a couple of degrees, but doing OK by Intel. A Noctua fan enhanced cooler should do that nicely! :cool:

mdaw said:
I noticed immediately after fitting the cpu and mobo that my system is suddenly really quiet compared to the last setup. Is this because my fans are not running at such high rpm?

If you're using the same heatsink as before, then yes. If the cooler is new too, then it's just that more awesome than your previous model!

mdaw · 19 Apr 2014 at 07:37

Thats helpful. Thank you for that.

Im still using the same heatsink as before. I was just suprised as it ran my old q9650 at about 28-30 degrees. I know the paste can make upto 5 degrees difference and before i was using the standard enermax stuff but thats run out so i used some stuff from a local shop called titan. Not sure how good it is or which one of theirs it is?

The extra fan from noctua i will definately look into soon enough. Probably in the next few weeks.

ttaskmaster · 19 Apr 2014 at 12:05

Not sure about the paste. I use Arctic Silver myself, which works well enough.

Mads1 · 19 Apr 2014 at 15:26

i use artic mx4, working well so far on my h100i, and the enermax fans are cooling the h100i and are very quiet, and keep temps low.