Optimal airflow for Pure Base 500

Richdog said:
Just found and watched this video and it was very interesting how the different fan configs affected temps with the 500DX/ I just configured mine with the 2x intake and 1x rear exhaust.

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Are you going to run yours with or without the removable dust filter at front for better airflow? Seems as the stock fans don't have great static pressure performance they could benefit from it. In my standard 500 it makes a slight difference
 
southernorth said:
Are you going to run yours with or without the removable dust filter at front for better airflow? Seems as the stock fans don't have great static pressure performance they could benefit from it. In my standard 500 it makes a slight difference
Click to expand...
In the video it shows that the temps with the stock fan config will be using are fine so I will stick with that for now, especially as I am only running a 3300x and a 1660 Super. When I upgrade to AMD 4000 and Nidia Ampere then I will revisit the cooling and see if things need upgrading. :)
 
To anyone who has had a similar issue to me (temps) I've found you can just purchase just the mesh front panel from the 500DX seperately. Costs ~£20 delivered from Germany. I noticed a change from the swap, and can now run all fans at 500rpm for the same temps (inaudible).
 
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southernorth said:
To anyone who has had a similar issue to me (temps) you can purchase just the mesh front panel from the 500DX from manufacturer direct. Costs ~£20 delivered from Germany. I noticed a change from the swap, and can now run all fans at 500rpm for the same temps (inaudible).
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And the 500DX mesh panel fits fine?
 
I also have the 500DX and came across this thread and @doyll 's posts (thank you for the information).

I tried to follow your advice and this is my summary of what I've done so far.

I have 4 types of fan available to me:
3x Pure Wings 2 that came with my case
1x Noctua NF S12B that I've had since 2009
1x Noctua NF P12 that came with my CPU cooler (also owned since 2009)
1x Akasa Apache 120mm (AK-FN-057) (also owned since 2009)

Since the Akasa has the highest pressure rating at 2.64mm H2O I left it on my Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 as a push fan.
Then looking at the other fans, I put the 2 highest pressure rated ones as intakes which were the Noctua NF S12B (1.31mm H2O) and NF P12 (1.68mm H2O).
I took off the top mounted fans (although one Pure Wing is still there just disconnected).
I left the rear fan as an exhaust fan.

The original configuration was as follow: 1 Pure Wing rear exhaust, 1 Pure Wing + 1 Noctua NF S12B as top exhausts and 1 Pure Wing + 1 Noctua NF P12 as front intakes.

I ran Cinebench R20 and 3D Mark Timespy and monitored CPU temps for both and GPU only during timespy (peaks reported).

Cinebench: Temps went from 79.0°C to 73.8°C so a drop of around 5°C.
3D Mark: For the CPU temps went from 75.8°C down to 68.0°C so a drop of around 8°C. For the GPU temps raised from 76°C to 85°C.

Conclusion: CPU temperatures dropped whilst GPU temperatures raised.
Next steps: I will connect the 1 Pure Wing fan that I did not remove completely back as an exhaust and monitor again. I realise these fans are not the greatest, but with current shortages not much I can do. I will be purchasing some fans in future either the Phantecs that were recommended or some Arctic P14, which also seem to be held in high regard.
 
M1k3H said:
I also have the 500DX and came across this thread and @doyll 's posts (thank you for the information).

I tried to follow your advice and this is my summary of what I've done so far.

I have 4 types of fan available to me:
3x Pure Wings 2 that came with my case
1x Noctua NF S12B that I've had since 2009
1x Noctua NF P12 that came with my CPU cooler (also owned since 2009)
1x Akasa Apache 120mm (AK-FN-057) (also owned since 2009)

Since the Akasa has the highest pressure rating at 2.64mm H2O I left it on my Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 as a push fan.
Then looking at the other fans, I put the 2 highest pressure rated ones as intakes which were the Noctua NF S12B (1.31mm H2O) and NF P12 (1.68mm H2O).
I took off the top mounted fans (although one Pure Wing is still there just disconnected).
I left the rear fan as an exhaust fan.

The original configuration was as follow: 1 Pure Wing rear exhaust, 1 Pure Wing + 1 Noctua NF S12B as top exhausts and 1 Pure Wing + 1 Noctua NF P12 as front intakes.

I ran Cinebench R20 and 3D Mark Timespy and monitored CPU temps for both and GPU only during timespy (peaks reported).

Cinebench: Temps went from 79.0°C to 73.8°C so a drop of around 5°C.
3D Mark: For the CPU temps went from 75.8°C down to 68.0°C so a drop of around 8°C. For the GPU temps raised from 76°C to 85°C.

Conclusion: CPU temperatures dropped whilst GPU temperatures raised.
Next steps: I will connect the 1 Pure Wing fan that I did not remove completely back as an exhaust and monitor again. I realise these fans are not the greatest, but with current shortages not much I can do. I will be purchasing some fans in future either the Phantecs that were recommended or some Arctic P14, which also seem to be held in high regard.
Click to expand...

Intersting. did you remove PCIe back slot covers? And block of any openings not covered by front intake fans so the air they push into case can't leak around through hole and go in circles? Either one or both might help move heated air coming off of GPU back and out instead of being re-used by GPU. At least that's my guess why GPU got hotter nad CPU is cooler.
 
doyll said:
Intersting. did you remove PCIe back slot covers? And block of any openings not covered by front intake fans so the air they push into case can't leak around through hole and go in circles? Either one or both might help move heated air coming off of GPU back and out instead of being re-used by GPU. At least that's my guess why GPU got hotter nad CPU is cooler.
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The front is covered by the fans and then the drive cubby under them, so relatively covered (there's maybe a small gap under the lowest fan to the drive cubby/psu shroud).

I did run one more test with the top fan now working in exhaust and that was somewhat in the middle of the two configs with CPU slightly increasing and GPU slightly decreasing.

I actually ordered a couple of Antec P14 140mm fans as I noticed there were 3 in stock. I will carry on modifying and trying more configs when they arrive as I'll take all fans out and re-position then. I will definitely be putting these two at the front as intakes and perhaps leave the stock fans as exhaust as a starting point. I will not be installing a second exhaust fan as you were right, any top exhaust at the front of the cooler is probably not doing much as it is probably getting cool air out, whereas the top exhaust fan that is positioned towards the rear of the CPU cooler is extracting warm air.

CPU during C20 was 74.4°C (reduction of 3.5°C from original and increase of 0.6°C from previous)
CPU during 3D Mark Timespy was 72.8°C (reduction of 3.0°C from original and increase of 4.8°C from previous)
GPU during 3D Mark Timespy was 80°C (increase of 4.0°C from original and reduction of 5°C from previous)
 
doyll said:
To use the fans you have they will need to be running full speed whenever system is in use. Removing PCIe covers will help give better front to back airflow, but exhaust fans in top from about middle of CPU cooler forward will hurt case airflow and cooling, not help it. Key to a cool and quiet system is smooth airflow moving cool air flowing to component coolers, then their heated exhaust flowing smoothing back and out of case. Tower CPU coolers make it easy to do for CPU, but GPU cooler dump heat air in all directions except their fan side, so the better case flows air from front to back, the less heated air coming off of GPU will move up and mix with cool air flowing to CPU cooler.

For all practical purposes case airflow is neutral pressure. Fans make less than 2mm H2O static pressure differential from room ambient pressure. 2mm H2O pressure differential is the same as the difference between the air pressure on your feet and the pressure on your chest when standing at sea level .. almost no pressure difference at all, but enough to move a little air.
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For the record, I have been running these fans in a system controlled mode and my temps are fine. Ok, my rig is not super hot with only a 3300x and 1660 Super, but these fans do their job of creating some modest airflow without getting on my nerves.

When I upgrade to a Zen3 / Ampere 3800 combo then I will have another think about airflow, but for the moment I am satisfied. :)

M1k3H said:
I actually ordered a couple of Antec P14 140mm fans as I noticed there were 3 in stock. I will carry on modifying and trying more configs when they arrive as I'll take all fans out and re-position then. I will definitely be putting these two at the front as intakes and perhaps leave the stock fans as exhaust as a starting point. I will not be installing a second exhaust fan as you were right, any top exhaust at the front of the cooler is probably not doing much as it is probably getting cool air out, whereas the top exhaust fan that is positioned towards the rear of the CPU cooler is extracting warm air.

CPU during C20 was 74.4°C (reduction of 3.5°C from original and increase of 0.6°C from previous)
CPU during 3D Mark Timespy was 72.8°C (reduction of 3.0°C from original and increase of 4.8°C from previous)
GPU during 3D Mark Timespy was 80°C (increase of 4.0°C from original and reduction of 5°C from previous)
Click to expand...

Make sure to report back with the P14 results, I will be looking at a few of those later down the line (2 or 3 intake 1 exhaust most likely). :)
 
Richdog said:
Make sure to report back with the P14 results, I will be looking at a few of those later down the line (2 or 3 intake 1 exhaust most likely). :)
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Will do. Apparently they were shipped today, so with Royal Mail 2nd Class best case Saturday, worst case next week they should arrive.
I also realised one of my fans is on the way out as I can hear a low humming noise once every 5 to 10 seconds, with none of them changing their rpm. Good timing! I have had all of my old fans for 11 years, so can’t complain.
 
Can't say I have no. The fan mounting metal is very thin indeed, was afraid it would snap mounting some 120mm fans, not so bad with 140mm fans though.

So, today the Arctic P14s arrived.

I hooked them in the front as intakes, leaving the 2 stock fans on the rear and top as exhausts. With the fan curves of the previous fans, they were quite loud, and on 12V are louder than my Noctuas. However, I adjusted the fan curves to try and match the noise to before, at least for anything that doesn't result in the CPU to go over 60°C.

Another change that I did was flash the latest bios for my motherboard. That resulted in me having to re-overclock, which I did and managed to take my CPU from 4.2GHz to 4.3GHz, albeit at 1.335V instead of 1.325V previously. Comparatively this change in OC resulted in a temperature change for the CPU (running Cinebench R20) of +1.5°C, so the results are not directly comparable to the previous results.
Results:
CPU during C20 was 75.5°C (reduction of 5.5°C from original and increase of 1.1°C from noctua intakes)
CPU during 3D Mark Timespy was 71.9°C (reduction of 3.8°C from original and reduction of 0.8°C from noctua intakes)
GPU during 3D Mark Timespy was 75.0°C (reduction of 1.0°C from original and reduction of 5.0°C from noctua intakes)

Conclusion:
Even though a slight increase in the CPU temperature was experienced, when the increase delta as a result of the amended overclock is removed, the CPU temperatures have continued on a downwards trend between 0.4°C and 2.3°C. The CPU temperatures could be lowered a bit more still (circa 3-4°C), but at the expense of the GPU temperature rising about 5°. As the GPU is usually more loaded than the CPU in gaming scenarios, I will leave it as is to maintain a more balanced temperature across both components.
The GPU temperatures have dropped by 5°C.
 
southernorth said:
To anyone who has had a similar issue to me (temps) I've found you can just purchase just the mesh front panel from the 500DX seperately. Costs ~£20 delivered from Germany. I noticed a change from the swap, and can now run all fans at 500rpm for the same temps (inaudible).
Click to expand...
@southernorth
Hello, sorry for digging this post up, but i just recently built my new rig based on Pure Base 500, and i'm also struggling with temperatures a little bit. I wanted to know where did you bought 500DX mesh front panel. Thanks in advice!
 
Well, I have to say... the stock fans that come with the case are doing a fine job and I really think are not as bad at providing airflow as bad as was indicated earlier in the thread. Of course, I am running the mesh 500DX and not the Purebase 500.
 
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