Overclocking in a fractal R4 case

smilertoo · 29 May 2013 at 23:12

Hi,

I'm about to upgrade to a haswell 4770k and im wondering if switching from my phantek to a 240mm AIO watercooler would allow for better overclocks without increasing case noise in my fractal r4 case, which has pretty poor airflow. My thinking is having the cooler against the top of the case vents would be more effective then the air blowing from front...into phantek...then out the back. Ive also considered ducting to direct airflow from front -> phantek on cpu -> back exhaust.

doyll · 30 May 2013 at 12:12

R4 is no problem for airflow. They work very well. The stock front fans don't push as much air as I think they should and removing unused HDD cages helps a lot too. I set my old R2 up with PWM fans w/ higher static pressure and controlled by CPU PWM signal and helped a mate setup using PWM signal from mobo CPU and GPU PWM signals in his R4. (Thanks Tealc for making the GPU PWM adapter) On my own case the Phanteks exhaust is ducted out back and am using TY-143 2500rpm / 130cfm fans. There are a few other tricks that improved cooling and noise levels. Can explain them if you are interested.

smilertoo · 30 May 2013 at 12:59

Hi,
Any tips would be great, I assumed the fans supplied with the R4 would be good ones.

doyll · 30 May 2013 at 13:40

I prefer PWM fans controlled by motherboard CPU_fan and hooked up with Gelid PWM splitter. Case fans run the same speed as CPU fans.

Reason is fan speed varies with CPU heat. I idle 660rpm (totally silent) @ 22-26c and ramp up as CPU load/heat increases. Running CPU at 100% is 1100rpm @ 52c.

With a PWM fan splitter you could control all fans with motherboard CPU fan PWM socket based on CPU temp. PWM splitter with molex power uses PSU for power so no load on motherboard.

Use something like a Akasa PWM splitter
http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?tp...model=AK-CB002
Is available for 2, 3, 4 & 5 fan splits

The master fan is one of your CPU cooler fans plugged into splitter CPU fan socket. Splitter plugs into motherboard CPU fan PWM socket and molex from PSU to power fans. All fans run on the same PWM signal... The PWM signal that is controlling the rpm of the master fan. As long as other fans are similar rpm range they will run at about the same rpm.

Here's few links to other threads
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18488044&highlight=pwm+case+username_doyll

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18444724&highlight=pwm+case+username_doyll