Improving Case Cooling

[somebody]

Hi

I have recently bought a NZXT Phantom 530 case, which came pre-installed with 200mm fan at the front (intake) and 140mm fan at the back of the case (which I repositioned to the top so that I could install the Corsair H80i cooler). I'm looking to improve the airflow in my case. The case supports the following:

Front: 1 * 200mm fan
Rear: 1 * 140mm fan
Top: 2 * 200mm/140mm or 3 * 120mm fans
Side: 1 * 140mm
Bottom: 2* 120mm

Can anyone provide recommendations on what fans would provide good cooling performance without being too loud and where they should be installed in the case?

I was looking at a few websites and one of the recommendations was the Antec TwoCool fans. Has anyone used these fans before or could anyone provide any other recommendations?

[Listy2021]

Leave things as they currently are but;
Install 1x or 2x 120mm at the bottom (in) * Depending on how comfortable your current temps are under load, if they're alright just one will suffice *
Make sure PSU fan is facing down

The TwoCool's are sleeve bearings, and can't be used horizontally. The Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition's are quite well thought of, alas I've never used them tho

[somebody]

Leave things as they currently are but;
Install 1x or 2x 120mm at the bottom (in) * Depending on how comfortable your current temps are under load, if they're alright just one will suffice *
Make sure PSU fan is facing down

The TwoCool's are sleeve bearings, and can't be used horizontally. The Corsair AF120 Quiet Edition's are quite well thought of, alas I've never used them tho

CPU temps are approximately 71 degrees under load (Prime95). I will check out the Corsair fans.

So you don't recommend installing any fans at the top/side of the case then?

[somebody]

Any other recommendations/comments would be welcome.

[minicale]

Depends how much you want to spend because the Arctic F12 are great and around £3-4 then you have got the fractal design r2 120mm fans for £6 which again are a great choice then for £10 you have got the corsair af120 or sp120s (id get the quiet edition versions) which are good and are customizable.

[ik9000]

I use Bitfenix spectre 120mm and 200mm they're quiet, but i think other fans might give more air flow. They meet my needs just fine.

The cpu has a huge cooler and 120mm Akasa Apache PWM fans to do the hard work. Highly recommend them

[dfour]

I would put them in the top and side as the side will help cool your GPU and hot air rises so a top fan or 2 is essential IMHO. From the quality of the corsair sp performance fans I have the silent ones should also be good but they are not cheap.
I also use the bitfenix spectre series. The cheaper regular ones and not the pros as i dont rate the pros much better than the stock £5 ones and I have owned and used both.

[somebody]

Depends how much you want to spend because the Arctic F12 are great and around £3-4 then you have got the fractal design r2 120mm fans for £6 which again are a great choice then for £10 you have got the corsair af120 or sp120s (id get the quiet edition versions) which are good and are customizable.

Thanks for the response mincale. Where in your opinion would you install these fans? At the bottom of the case?

I have just had a look at the Corsair fans, wouldn't it be better to get the performance edition as you would then have the flexibility to run them quietly or have the option to run them with more noise if required, as I believe the AF120 quiet and performance editions are the same fan except for having higher RPM?

[somebody]

I use Bitfenix spectre 120mm and 200mm they're quiet, but i think other fans might give more air flow. They meet my needs just fine.

The cpu has a huge cooler and 120mm Akasa Apache PWM fans to do the hard work. Highly recommend them

Thanks ik9000, do you (or anyone for that matter) know if its better in terms of cooling to have 1 * 200m or 2 * 140mm or 3 * 120mm fans at the top of the case. As I have the flexibility to install fans in either of those configurations.

[somebody]

I would put them in the top and side as the side will help cool your GPU and hot air rises so a top fan or 2 is essential IMHO. From the quality of the corsair sp performance fans I have the silent ones should also be good but they are not cheap.
I also use the bitfenix spectre series. The cheaper regular ones and not the pros as i dont rate the pros much better than the stock £5 ones and I have owned and used both.

Thanks dfour, I was under the impression that the Corsair SP fans were only to be used for heatsinks? Have I got that wrong? I'm a bit confused what the difference is between the Corsair AF and SP series now..

[ik9000]

you can use PWM (ie Heatsink) fans for case cooling, but most case fan headers are 3-pin not 4-pin so you don't get the PWM functionality. This can lead to the PWM fans running max all the time, which may not be their sweet-spot noise-wise. It depends which one you choose.

All you can do is look at the air flow vs noise charts and decide. I'd rather have a spread of air being sucked out than one small fan. Whether that's one big fan or several small ones is up to you. Generally the bigger the better, as same flow for less rotation speed, therefore quieter and better on the bearings. I'd go 200mm as that's what I have, but it really is up to you.

[dfour]

My case is water cooled and I have a rad at the top of the case using corsair SP fans but every other fan in my case are bitfenix spectres. The PS are really for heatsinks etc where the af are for case fans.

As you already have 1*140mm at the top why not just pair it with another??

[somebody]

you can use PWM (ie Heatsink) fans for case cooling, but most case fan headers are 3-pin not 4-pin so you don't get the PWM functionality. This can lead to the PWM fans running max all the time, which may not be their sweet-spot noise-wise. It depends which one you choose.

All you can do is look at the air flow vs noise charts and decide. I'd rather have a spread of air being sucked out than one small fan. Whether that's one big fan or several small ones is up to you. Generally the bigger the better, as same flow for less rotation speed, therefore quieter and better on the bearings. I'd go 200mm as that's what I have, but it really is up to you.

I was looking at some reviews (http://www.silentpcreview.com/article1346-page6.html) and Silent PC review seems to think that the Antec TwoCool 140 are the ones to go for, but no-one seems to recommend them though.

[somebody]

My case is water cooled and I have a rad at the top of the case using corsair SP fans but every other fan in my case are bitfenix spectres. The PS are really for heatsinks etc where the af are for case fans.

As you already have 1*140mm at the top why not just pair it with another??

Makes sense. Yup, I could install another 140mm fan at the top or just go with 200mm instead, don't really mind either way.

If I was to install a side fan, should that be as a intake?

[dfour]

side ones should always be intakes as they help cool the graphics cards etc.

2*140 should move more air than a 200mm depending upon what fans your talking about.

I used to use the older tri-cool fans but in silent mode they hardly move any air.

What motherboard are you using??

[somebody]

Thanks for the info. I've got the Asus Z87 Pro motherboard.