Will I have a good case and fan set-up?

LukeMurtagh1995 · 26 Sep 2018 at 09:11

Hello all,

I am thinking of having this build as my first proper gaming rig:

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-F GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
GPU: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive & Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
PSU: Corsair - RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C Dark TG ATX Mid Tower Case
Fans: Noctua - NF-A14 industrialPPC-3000 PWM 158.5 CFM 140mm Fan (x4) & Noctua - NF-S12A PWM chromax.black.swap 63.3 CFM 120mm Fan (x2).
Wireless Network Adaptor: Asus - PCE-AC68 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter

What do you all think of my case and fan set-up? Should it keep everything at a reasonable temperature? I've seen good reviews for the NH-D15S and the NF-A14 fans, as well as for the Fractal Meshify case. I have also heard that you can have too many fans, because if there are too many dust can also enter when it shouldn't. Could this be an issue with my set-up? Thanks!

Here is my case:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/frac...se-black-tempered-glass-window-ca-07f-fd.html
And here are my fans:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/noct...-high-performance-fan-fg-027-nc.html#comments

Unseul · 26 Sep 2018 at 09:24

Where are you putting the fans?

Two 140mm at the front is fine, but 2 on top would be making a mess of having smooth front to back flow.

Unless I've got mine wrong, the fan space at the bottom is at the front where the hdd bay is, so also pretty pointless in my mind.

I've got a meshify c, have 2x 140mm at the front, one 120 at the back to help flow from cpu. Have put papers etc on top since i don't need it and it would just disturb the flow more i believe.

If sound and cost don't matter those fans are probably the best you can easily get i think. If it is a consideration then there are other good alternatives.

LukeMurtagh1995 · 26 Sep 2018 at 09:36

I was thinking of having two 140mm at the front, two 140mm at the top, one 120mm at the bottom and one 120mm at the back. Sorry, I should have included that in my original post. Sound shouldn't be an issue as I use a headset now and cost isn't a massive issue either, as I'm trying to future-proof my PC so I can just upgrade my GPU or CPU in the future without having to buy a load of other things as well.

Air flow is something I don't understand properly. I thought the front and bottom fans would draw air in, and the top and rear fans would expel it. Have I misunderstood air flow?

Unseul · 26 Sep 2018 at 09:52

You haven't misunderstood, but perhaps haven't thought things through fully. I'll use my amazing paint skills in a moment to try and mock up how it may work.

Unseul · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:04

So from what I understand, your fans will be as shown above on the left. The thing is, at the top right, that extractor fan is just sucking out cold air that hasn't cooled anything (and is making a mess of the flow). Top left is a bit more sensible, but you have a tower cooler that will be blowing right to left, towards the left extractor fan, so again, the top won't be doing much, it may help, but it may be very little. Bottom fan is just going to be opening up the bottom section to fit it, and causing a big mess of flow, rather than smooth flow, which should head to the GPU (which will cause it's own airflow mess anyway).

The right hand side is what I have setup, trying to get smooth flow right to left, ensuring there's as little hot air getting mixed back in, and as little cold air getting removed before it's actually done anything.

LukeMurtagh1995 · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:13

Ah okay, I understand now. It makes sense now why I would only want three fans instead of six. I guess because I'm a noob at building I presumed more fans is better, but I can see otherwise now. So I will have two 140mm fans at the front, and one 120mm fan at the rear. These three fans, plus my CPU fan, should give me great air flow I take it? And what about the case itself? I've heard good things about the case.

Unseul · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:18

LukeMurtagh1995 said:
Ah okay, I understand now. It makes sense now why I would only want three fans instead of six. I guess because I'm a noob at building I presumed more fans is better, but I can see otherwise now. So I will have two 140mm fans at the front, and one 120mm fan at the rear. These three fans, plus my CPU fan, should give me great air flow I take it? And what about the case itself? I've heard good things about the case.

I'm a newbie too, thankfully got some very good advice here before buying. Was thinking the same as you before starting

.

I love the case, love the look and love the effectiveness of the mesh/foam at the front in keeping dust out. It does mean you need good fans to overcome the resistance, but the industrial noctuas will handle it fine. It's very compact, so that can make it a little harder to work in, but cable management is pretty simple (mine is a mess in the back, because I'm not picky with looks) and the angled front looks cool in my mind. Also got the white one here for £65 on offer, so can't complain.

I've taken out the bottom slots under the graphics card to allow easier flow there, definitely helps things, and prevents hot air getting mixed in a bit.

Unseul · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:19

Oh, and if you get the case, the bottom filter slides out easily from just under the front panel, the front panel doesn't need to be removed, you can just pop out the black angled mesh with the foam, by taking out the bottom filter, putting your fingers up behind it, and pushing it out the front.

LukeMurtagh1995 · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:27

Great news! I will probably be getting someone else to actually build my P.C. as I have no building experience at all and I really don't want to risk me doing anything stupid to damage anything. I too am not really fussed about looks because I can't see my P.C. from where I sit as it's under a desk. Could you recommend any fans? Since I'm only getting three I don't mind spending a little bit more on them. You've said the industrial Noctua's are good; what 120mm fan would you recommend?

Unseul · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:31

I'm just using the 120 that came with the case, it's right behind the cooler, so basically I'm just using it to try and smoothen the flow a bit, rather than having to overcome any real resistance itself. I'm sure there are quieter fans though, as to what, no idea

.

The 140mm, the noctuas are some of the best, and can produce some serious power. I have the phanteks 140MPs, you can get a two pack at ocuk at an amazing price. They better the noctuas upto their max RPM (which should really be enough), with slightly better noise, flow and pressure ratings (not much), but the noctuas can keep going all the way to 3000rpm which produces insane amounts of flow/pressure etc.

Is the case going to be in a small section of a desk? Is it going to have much access to fresh air there? Space to exhaust too?

LukeMurtagh1995 · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:41

Here's a picture of where my current P.C. is and where my new one will also go:

LukeMurtagh1995 · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:43

https://ibb.co/mmDpCU

I don't think the first link worked, so here's a second one.

Unseul · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:48

Looks like it's got some room to breath to me.

LukeMurtagh1995 · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:50

Yeah. I've only just finished studying so I'm living with my parents until I have enough money to move out, in case my current set-up looks a bit amateurish. Thanks for your help, by the way. It's made things make much more sense to me, and saved me around £50 to boot!

Unseul · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:53

Is that going to be in a common room? Because when those fans spin up, whilst you'll be fine with headphones, your parents may kill you before long...

LukeMurtagh1995 · 26 Sep 2018 at 10:57

Hah, actually it's in my bedroom. I think my current fans are quite noisy anyway, so I don't think it'll be an issue. At the moment I have two 80mm fans and three 120mm fans which came with my Zalman Z11 Plus case. From what I've heard the 80mm fans are some of the noisiest around, so I imagine even the 3000RPM 140mm fans can't be that much louder.

LukeMurtagh1995 · 26 Sep 2018 at 11:00

Also, do I need any splitters for my three fans and my one CPU fan? The motherboard I'm thinking of using is this one:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...cket-1151-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-6al-as.html

Unseul · 26 Sep 2018 at 11:03

Good, I'm in a sort of similar situation, though through choice, living with my mum (and wife and son). Waiting on sorting out an office space to move into, and at the moment in the lounge, and when the fans spin up they're very audible, the noctuas will be twice as loud at max revs I believe, so very very audible

.

From a quick check, it appears you have 6 fan headers, so even with using some for the cpu cooler, you should be fine I think.

LukeMurtagh1995 · 26 Sep 2018 at 11:08

Okay then. If I were to go with quieter 140mm fans, what would you recommend? I quite like the Noctua's, but the more I think about it, the more I realise just how loud they will be. You mentioned the Phanteks.

Unseul · 26 Sep 2018 at 11:12

Phanteks are very good: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/two-...140mm-fan-radiator-performance-bu-003-pt.html

Good price for 2 good fans. Capable of producing good airflow through the mesh.