What fans do I need?

Donny84

Donny84

Donny84

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Hi guys,
I'm going to be buying the BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-019-BX
I've done a bit of research. I think I need strong fans for intake at front and bottom and the outtake fans dont need to be as strong?
I've checked out quite a few fans but people are complaining they are too noisy or not powerful enough.
I'm still pretty clueless on what to get so was hoping someone could help.

- I need 2x140 for the top, 1x120 for the bottom and 2x120 for the front. 1x120 for the back is supplied with the case.
- Don't really want to spend more than £30
- I want to keep my system as cool as possible without being overly loud.
- I don't need any LED fans as the case isn't windowed.
- Do I need a fan controller or is that not too important?

Thanks in advance
 
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have a look at the corsair fans,the ones you need are the af range and not the sp range.

Buy a fan controller at the same time and it will be up to you how loud the fans are.
 
You may need a fan controller as you're looking at 6 fans. My motherboard only has 3 fan ports (not including CPU).

I have the same case, and because i like things to match, i went with the bitfenix spectra pros with their Recon controller (does 5 but you can add more than 1 fan per channel, as with the motherboard i suppose).

My only gripe is the fans are rated at 500rpm-1800 but the minimum i can do with this controller is 800rpm.

I have 2 x 140mm at the top, 3 x 120mm at the front/bottom. i haven't placed a 120mm at the rear as that is where i'm intending on replacing my CPU heatsink with some form of water option. although limited space in these Shinobi cases :)

I think I need strong fans for intake at front and bottom and the outtake fans dont need to be as strong?
Click to expand...
depends if you want positive or negative pressure :)
 
archerz said:
depends if you want positive or negative pressure :)
Click to expand...

Say what?

Well... maybe I don't even need all those fans?... this is going to be my build.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x XFX Pro Series 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £84.98
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £49.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
1 x Akasa USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Memory Card Reader - (AK-ICR-13) £13.99
1 x BitFenix 5.25" to 3.5" External Drive Bay Adapter with SoftTouch - Black £4.99
Total : £802.39 (includes shipping : £13.75).






I was hoping to spend no more than £30 on fans... but I guess if i must spend more.... ?
 
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In desktop computers


Illustration of the airflow of the cooling air in a computer case during computer cooling
Desktop computers typically use one or more fans for cooling. Almost all desktop power supplies have at least one fan to exhaust air from the case. Most manufacturers recommend bringing cool, fresh air in at the bottom front of the case, and exhausting warm air from the top rear[citation needed].
If fans are fitted to force air into the case more effectively than it is removed, the pressure inside becomes higher than outside, referred to as a "positive" airflow (the opposite case is called "negative" airflow). There are some claims that positive airflow results in less dust in the case.[5] To solve the dust problem, some models are fitted with dust filters but these must be periodically cleaned.
The air flow inside the typical desktop case is usually not strong enough for a passive CPU heatsink. Most desktop heat sinks are active including one or even multiple directly attached fans or blowers.
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_cooling
 
Does that cooler fit in that case?
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99

If it does I will assume it is going to be tight.
 
allnamestaken84 said:
Say what?
Click to expand...


If your supply air volume is greater than the extract air volume, your case will be positively pressurised.

If your supply air volume is less than the extract air volume, your case will be negatively pressurised.

However i note most cases are leaky and the pressurisation is negligible. ie if its negative it will just suck the air from all the holes and gaps to achieve balance. If positive it will just leak out the same holes. Unless you seal everything up of course.

In HVAC design its all about air changes (ac/h). The more air changes the better. Thus we take a balanced approach to match the supply to the extract, plus we take account of air leakage and infiltration. An air change is just the volume of your case. If its is 1m3 and your fans supply and extract 3m3/h then you will get 3ac/h. For a mechanically ventilated building with no air conditioning 3 to 4 is usually okay for controlling normal heat gains. I'd guess this could be true for maintaining temps in a normal pc.

Note i used arbitrary volumes just for illustration.
 
Ummm... I still have no idea what any of that means.
Ok, what would you guys do? Treat me like a child:P
Probably best if you just tell me what fans to get and where to place them and facing which direction.

I thought that cooler would fit? I could be wrong though, I'm first time builder and pretty clueless. If it won't fit, what's a good replacement?
 
I've just done a bit of research. I need to make sure I get the correct pins for my mobo, and check how many fans it can take.
But I can't find this info :S
 
Oh wow thanks archerz! I'd never have found that stuff :P

So basically I can only add an additional 2 case fans since the case comes with one built in at the back?
I intend to do a little overclocking on the CPU and GPU. Not much, just as much as I can without adjusting the voltages.
So 4.2GHz(?) for the CPU and it'll be my first time messing with the GPU, so I dont know yet.
But I'm not gonna push them to their limits.
So will an extra 2 case fans be enough for this?
 
allnamestaken84 said:
Oh wow thanks archerz! I'd never have found that stuff :P

So basically I can only add an additional 2 case fans since the case comes with one built in at the back?
I intend to do a little overclocking on the CPU and GPU. Not much, just as much as I can without adjusting the voltages.
So 4.2GHz(?) for the CPU and it'll be my first time messing with the GPU, so I dont know yet.
But I'm not gonna push them to their limits.
So will an extra 2 case fans be enough for this?
Click to expand...

You will probably want to get a decent CPU cooler if you're going to overclock. I've got a Corsair A50 and it was only £20 and it does wonders. Had to replace the stock fan though as it was quite noisy.

You can also very easily replace the stock fans if you want to keep them all the same, sometimes stock fans have nothing on after market ones.

Edit: sorry I didn't notice you already mentioned a cooler above.
 
allnamestaken84 said:
Say what?

Well... maybe I don't even need all those fans?... this is going to be my build.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 7950 Windforce 3X 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with Crysis 3 & Bioshock PC Games £239.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x XFX Pro Series 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £84.98
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £82.99
1 x Alpenföhn K2 Mount Doom CPU Cooler (Socket 775 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / AM2 / AM2+ / AM3 / FM1 / FM2) £59.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi USB3.0 Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £49.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £18.98
1 x Akasa USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Memory Card Reader - (AK-ICR-13) £13.99
1 x BitFenix 5.25" to 3.5" External Drive Bay Adapter with SoftTouch - Black £4.99
Total : £802.39 (includes shipping : £13.75).



I was hoping to spend no more than £30 on fans... but I guess if i must spend more.... ?
Click to expand...

Negative pressure means there is more airflow getting out than getting in (exhaust fans are more powerful than intake fans). Positive pressure is the opposite, your pushing air into the case harder than sucking it out. Basically, compare the CFM of the intake fans and the exhaust fans to determine positive / negative pressure.

That case comes with two fans. I'd say, see how it goes first, then you can always replace the fans later if you are running into temperature issues. You shouldn't have to spend a whole lot tbh, or even anything at all. If you need more airflow, I'd say move the front fan directly towards the graphics card, unobstructed by hard drives. My case has no positive pressure (no intake fans at all), and my temps are just fine.

There is an argument for positive pressure if you have good fan filters. It means that the air will be sucked through the intake fans, while negative pressure could potentially suck air through unfitered gaps in the case, bringing more dust in. TBH, I have not noticed that at all. Either way, you need some form of airflow decent to dissipate the heat to the outside. That case is OK, but could probably be helped more or better fans.
 
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That case only comes with one stock fan, the exhaust at the back.
So should I just go ahead and the get the parts and wait to see if I need an intake fan and a few more fans? Or would you recommend getting an intake fan straight away and see how it goes?
 
Or would you recommend a different case?
I chose this one coz I didn't really want a side window with a load of LEDs flashing about. And it's a pretty decent looking case.
 
allnamestaken84 said:
Or would you recommend a different case?
I chose this one coz I didn't really want a side window with a load of LEDs flashing about. And it's a pretty decent looking case.
Click to expand...

YOUR BASKET
1 x Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi Tower - Black £149.99
1 x Corsair Graphite 600T Midi Tower Case - Limited Edition White £145.99
1 x CM Storm Trooper Full Tower Gaming Case - Black £119.99
1 x BitFenix Shinobi XL Full Tower Gaming Windowed Case - Black £114.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance C70 Midi Tower Gaming Case - GunMetal Black £109.99
1 x Antec P280 Super Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Black £99.98
1 x Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black £64.99
1 x Cooler Master CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £62.99
1 x Corsair Carbide 200R Compact ATX Case - Black £49.99
Total : £984.06 (includes shipping : £54.30).



The range of what I'd consider otherwise.

Storm Trooper for sheer value. It's big though.
 
I personally would change the case since there isnt much room if you ever decide to put an AIO loop cooler or any radiators.

I think your also getting a bit to hung up over case fans, the cooler you have chosen is very good and so is the wind force cooler on the GPU, so your case fans will have little effect on your temperature considering those things. If you get a Corsair case (recommend the carbide 300R) the stock fans will easily be sufficient, adding or replacing them with a couple of AF120's might knock off a degree or two but not enough to change performance. 300R has built in dust filters too, which are always a plus!

Edit: dont know if the K2 fits in the 300R though, best check to be sure!
 
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