Fractal R4 Fan Layout

EssexBoy · 23 Jun 2013 at 07:49

Got a R4 case and have 3x140mm fans

Should i have

2x inlets
1x exhaust

or

1x inlet fan
2x exhaust

Will be using the noctua d-14 if that makes the 1xinlet work better.

smilertoo · 23 Jun 2013 at 08:18

I have 2 intake on front and 1 exhaust on back. Also got same fan layout on the phantek, i had 3 fans on for a few days but the 3rd one seemed to cause a pulsating drone from being so close to the back exhaust fan.

doyll · 23 Jun 2013 at 11:53

My suggestion is:
2x front intake
1x rear exhaust

I run:
2x front intake
1x bottom intake
1x rear exhaust
unused PCI slot covers removed

Image you posted has all 3 fan intake?

EssexBoy · 26 Jun 2013 at 08:34

Thanks a lot guys 2 intakes seem to be working well.

Image you posted has all 3 fan intake?

The pic was a google image

doyll · 26 Jun 2013 at 11:28

Glad it's all working out for you.

Okay, that makes more sense.

casual_eze · 26 Jun 2013 at 15:21

Essexboy, what GC are you using in your define R4?

I have the R4 configured with:
2xfront intake
1xbottom intake
1xside exhaust
1xrear exhaust

I went for this since i have a GB 7950 3X which fires hot air from the GC straight into the side panel hence the side exhaust. Since doing this my system temp and PCH have remained cool. During intense gaming, my GC hovers around 60C, my CPU @ 40C my system temp @ 28 and PCH @ 37C.
Before this, all my temps were higher.

Optimis0r · 26 Jun 2013 at 15:49

Read this article from Bit tech which explores 1 - 5+ fan configurations in an R3 Define.
basically the conclusion is that 2 front intake with 1 rear exhaust is not very efficient with a three fan setup.

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/02/10/the-big-cooling-investigation/

doyll · 26 Jun 2013 at 18:24

It's an interesting read. Read it long ago and again now.
Different arrangements of 3 fans show CPU temps with 4c spread and GPU with 5c spread.. not a huge amount. Noticed they did not test front (U), front (L), bottom as intakes and did not remove PCI slot covers.
I found the stock fans barely able to do the job. Opening the front used to increase cooling by 4c with stock fans, now with TY-140 fans it makes 1c difference and fans spin slower. That's 100% load.

havenrl · 26 Jun 2013 at 18:59

I have 2 intake front, 1 exhaust rear.

With 2nd gtx 660ti coming for sli.

I will be moving to 1 intake rear, 2 exhaust top, 2 intake front

EssexBoy · 27 Jun 2013 at 18:49

casual_eze said:
Essexboy, what GC are you using in your define R4?

Not GC at the mo but am a bit worried for space as i have a dh-14 cooler and there is not much room on the pci 16 slot next to it.

Will probably get a 770

havenrl · 28 Jun 2013 at 22:35

Just changed the fan setup, with a bit of reading, i need to change the rear intake to exhaust again.

i have atm, 2 intake front
1 intake rear (conflicting with nh-d14 i think)
2 exhaust top

so i need to do;
2 intake front, (140mm akasa viper)
2 exhaust top, (120mm fractal case fans)
1 exhaust rear (140mm akasa viper)

is this the best setup for my fans?
some ideas please

EssexBoy · 29 Jun 2013 at 13:51

havenrl said:
Just changed the fan setup, with a bit of reading, i need to change the rear intake to exhaust again.

i have atm, 2 intake front
1 intake rear (conflicting with nh-d14 i think)
2 exhaust top

so i need to do;
2 intake front, (140mm akasa viper)
2 exhaust top, (120mm fractal case fans)
1 exhaust rear (140mm akasa viper)

is this the best setup for my fans?
some ideas please

Got the same cooler working well with 2 at front and 1 at rear.70c max stressed and 60c max while gaming