Fan orientation

xcvtop · 29 Oct 2015 at 20:28

Hi

I currently Have a Define R5 and my current fan layout is 2 front intake fans and 1 rear exhaust fan. I am replacing my NH-D15 with a Swiftech H240-X and that will sit in the top of my case.

how would you orient the fans?

My thought was the have the 2 front fans as an intake, rear as an exhaust and the 2 top fans as intake. Any input would be appreciated.

system specs if needed

ASUS X79-Deluxe Mobo
32Gb of RAM
Xonar Essence STX
290x windforce

mickyflinn · 29 Oct 2015 at 21:00

Are you able to put a fan on the case side as an intake ?

doyll · 29 Oct 2015 at 21:02

Front and bottom intakes, back nothing or maybe exhaust. and top exhaust.

Raise case with blocks under the feet so there is 40mm of clearance. This gives airflow area to bottom fans similar to what fan airflow area is.

The reason I say maybe about the back vent is because we want the front and bottom intake fans with filters move slightly more air in then exhaust fans move out. This way the little extra air leaks out vent/s with no fans and and holes and keeps the dust out.

xcvtop · 29 Oct 2015 at 22:25

mickyflinn said:
Are you able to put a fan on the case side as an intake ?

I would rather not put one on the side if i don't have to, only time I've ever done that is when running crossfire.

doyll said:
Front and bottom intakes, back nothing or maybe exhaust. and top exhaust.

Raise case with blocks under the feet so there is 40mm of clearance. This gives airflow area to bottom fans similar to what fan airflow area is.

The reason I say maybe about the back vent is because we want the front and bottom intake fans with filters move slightly more air in then exhaust fans move out. This way the little extra air leaks out vent/s with no fans and and holes and keeps the dust out.

so you are saying keep the front 2 as intakes, move the rear exhaust fan to the bottom of the case as an intake and exhaust out the top with the 240x?

doyll · 29 Oct 2015 at 22:49

xcvtop said:
so you are saying keep the front 2 as intakes, move the rear exhaust fan to the bottom of the case as an intake and exhaust out the top with the 240x?

Yes. I would remove unused PCIe back slot covers too for more exhaust flow area. I would also have case intake fans on same speed control as radiator and GPU fans .. probably front intake on radiator and bottom intake on GPU.

xcvtop · 29 Oct 2015 at 22:56

doyll said:
Yes. I would remove unused PCIe back slot covers too for more exhaust flow area. I would also have case intake fans on same speed control as radiator and GPU fans .. probably front intake on radiator and bottom intake on GPU.

what do you mean by front intake on radiator and bottom intake on gpu?

Evil-I · 30 Oct 2015 at 14:14

As mentioned by others its preferable to have positive pressure inside the case and any intake fans filtered, other than that you can do pretty much what you want. Just bear in mind that there is a definite airflow loss when going through a rad, so factor any fans attached to a radiator moving maybe 25-50% less air than one not on a rad.

I've also found a joss stick a great way or seeing whether you have positive pressure in your case or not. If the smoke is pulled into small crack and gaps in the case you haven't :-)

E-I

smilertoo · 30 Oct 2015 at 14:17

Is the R5 soundproofing sufficient to block out pump noise?

xcvtop · 30 Oct 2015 at 14:19

Evil-I said:
As mentioned by others its preferable to have positive pressure inside the case and any intake fans filtered, other than that you can do pretty much what you want. Just bear in mind that there is a definite airflow loss when going through a rad, so factor any fans attached to a radiator moving maybe 25-50% less air than one not on a rad.

I've also found a joss stick a great way or seeing whether you have positive pressure in your case or not. If the smoke is pulled into small crack and gaps in the case you haven't

E-I

OK i will see how it goes with the suggested above and if i need to make changes

thanks guys

Evil-I · 30 Oct 2015 at 14:24

Personally with your setup I'd do front 2 x fans as intake, top 2 x fans on 240x as outlet.

The rear fan I'd try initially as an exhaust, as it might be with the flow lost from your two top fans going through the rad that you'd still maintain positive pressure. Again, the Joss stick test will confirm this.

I have a similar setup in the top half of my build (my case has a separate lower compartment with more rads etc). I have 3 x 120mm fans in the front as intake with the rear as an outlet and 4 x 120mm outlet on the 480 rad in the top. So although I have 3 x 120mm fans as inlets and 5 x outlet, due to the airflow loss going through the 480 rad I still maintain positive pressure (just).

E-I

xcvtop · 30 Oct 2015 at 14:31

Evil-I said:
Personally with your setup I'd do front 2 x fans as intake, top 2 x fans on 240x as outlet.

The rear fan I'd try initially as an exhaust, as it might be with the flow lost from your two top fans going through the rad that you'd still maintain positive pressure. Again, the Joss stick test will confirm this.

I have a similar setup in the top half of my build (my case has a separate lower compartment with more rads etc). I have 3 x 120mm fans in the front as intake with the rear as an outlet and 4 x 120mm outlet on the 480 rad in the top. So although I have 3 x 120mm fans as inlets and 5 x outlet, due to the airflow loss going through the rad I still maintain positive pressure (just).

E-I

actually ill keep it as i have it as i have ordered a set of fan filters from demcifilter and that will also have an impact on the amount of air that gets through, i will buy a joss stick to test.

Evil-I · 30 Oct 2015 at 14:39

Understood, to be honest whatever works out for you is best ;-)

I spent a fair amount of time planning my fan layout and ended up changing it all once I'd put it together anyway. Real world testing works best, so bung them in and play with the smoke :-)

E-I