Fractal define 7 in server mode - best fan config?

[Dirt Chip]

I have the case in solid black, will use it with a growing number of HDD as the time goes by.
I`m thinking about adding\replacing the stock fans with better 14mm, probably from Noctua (haven't bought them yet).
I preferer using the solid top cover of the case.
No water cooling whatsoever.
CPU cooler is NA-U12A, GPU is Gigabyte 970mini (single fan)

Anyone has suggestions or better- experience with such setup?

What about 3 intake from the front and one out in the back (as new Noctua 14mm fans) plus using the 2 of the 3 stock fan as intake from the bottom?
I emphasis on low noise level, so my thought are that many slow fans are better than few fast. Make sense?

 

[Pictus]

Looks like a good scheme.
Check the Arctic P14 ARGB/rgb performance.

 

[claes]

I’m not even sure you need the bottom intakes unless you’re putting that 970 to work. Even then the Define doesn’t have bottom ventilation — not sure they’ll help with much anything.

 

[Dirt Chip]

I’m not even sure you need the bottom intakes unless you’re putting that 970 to work. Even then the Define doesn’t have bottom ventilation — not sure they’ll help with much anything.

The 970 will work it's cuda quite alot and I'm also doing some (light) gaming.

The case dose have place for 3 140mm fans in the button plus easily removable dust filter.

 

[claes]

It’s worth trying, but I meant that there are no side vents at the bottom, like say with the new Lancool series. With the Define you have to pull air through the bottom punched steel, bottom filter, past the PSU cables, and then another layer of punched steel. You’ll need a lot of pressure to pull air through the bottom.

 

[Dirt Chip]

It’s worth trying, but I meant that there are no side vents at the bottom, like say with the new Lancool series. With the Define you have to pull air through the bottom punched steel, bottom filter, past the PSU cables, and then another layer of punched steel. You’ll need a lot of pressure to pull air through the bottom.

I sorted it out: removing the panels between the psu chamber and the main area, all the cables are routed sideways and along the back. I`m also building a customized platform for the case to stand on-more height just for the legs- so air can flow more easily.
Hope this will do and anyway, everything that come from the bottom is a bonus.

 

[claes]

Fair enough! The legs are a great idea. I'd try for rubber or even a dense foam to reduce HDD noise.

The real issue with this case is the front door and the filters. I might consider removing one or the other from the front of the case. Sure, you'll have a little more cleaning to do, but you'll lower temperatures/fan speeds significantly, as gamersnexus showed in their review.

I'm glad we're moving away from HDDs but also annoyed that the consumer market offers so little for people need them, like for a custom-built server. The Define series are one of the few options out there if you want 8+ HDDs and good build quality. I wonder what the sales are like on them... They make a lot of sense for a workstation, where you can swing open the door and go grab a coffee, but otherwise they're still competing with the P18x.

 

[Dirt Chip]

The barebone case on an oke, selfe made base, with the new 3d printed spacers. The pin in the middle prevent the case from slipping.
It add 2 cm hight for (I hope) better air flow from the bottom.

btw, green is not intentional, it's what I have

 

[Wasteland]

Honestly I just do two front intakes on each of my two Fractal R5s. No muss, no fuss, positive pressure and no dust. This works on my "main" gaming rig, which only has one HDD, but it also has a fairly high-wattage CPU (air cooled) and a somewhat beefy GPU (see system specs). This scheme also works on my secondary rig (R5 3600x, GTX 1060), which has extra storage to serve as a live backup for my file server (that's three HDDs in a BTRFS pool for the backups, plus another I had lying around for miscellaneous stuff). I'm compulsive about watching temperatures; everything remains plenty cool and quiet.

My file server is using a full tower case that I bought way back in 2001, lol. Even with just three 80mm fans at minimum speed, it's very cool--i5-4590, 6 HDDs and 1 SATA SSD (no GPU necessary). Again, I have monitoring configured to alert me of any problems with the drives, including temperature (smartd, ZFS tools). Obviously your use case may vary, but if your concern is keeping the drives cool, and/or that the HDD cages will restrict airflow from the front intakes, I don't think you have much cause to worry.

This is a late reply, but I wanted to throw it out there. Fractal's Define cases may not put up great scores in thermal benchmarks, but in practice I've found they're not very hard to keep cool, as long as you aren't using super high-end hardware. Personally I don't agree with Gamersnexus' apparent bias against fan filters, but I'm also OCD about dust.

(I do keep the front door open on my "main" rig, but other than that no concessions. The secondary rig, on the other hand, is a family computer that is right in the killzone for maximum dust/abuse, placed where everyone in the household, including several dogs and cats, walk by it three dozen times a day. That one stays closed full time. The filters on both remain in place.)

I'm glad we're moving away from HDDs but also annoyed that the consumer market offers so little for people need them, like for a custom-built server. The Define series are one of the few options out there if you want 8+ HDDs and good build quality. I wonder what the sales are like on them... They make a lot of sense for a workstation, where you can swing open the door and go grab a coffee, but otherwise they're still competing with the P18x.

Big pet peeve of mine too. I have two R5s in large part because there's nothing obviously better on the market, if you want space to expand storage capacity--which is very very useful if you plan to keep a case for multiple builds. 8 years after it launched, and at ~$40 more than its original MSRP, the R5 has virtually no competitors.

(The R7 is nice too, of course, but it's more expensive and IIRC it doesn't come with a full complement of HDD sleds. You have to buy them as extras.)

 

[Dirt Chip]

Thanks for the input
I'm starting with the stock 3*140 fans and will see if any more are necessary. It works good for me because if I will buy and fans than it will be the new, still un-lunched, 140mm fans.

 

[Dirt Chip]

So the build is set.
For now I used 3 fans from my old setup- 1*80mm, 2*120mm.
I kept the stock fans setup, added one intake 120mm at the lowest front, another intake 120mm in the bottom and a nice "MacGyver style attached" 80mm outtake on the free expansion slots- install inside the case just below the GPU. I used Noctua rubber pads on that 80mm fan to cancel any rattle noise as it only hang by 2 screws I 'gently' forced through the expansion slots groves

It is doing good so far, the weak point is the CPU exhaust that make all the upper case area and surrounding quite worm during load (the top is solid, no vent from noise concerns)
That's way I insisted on the small exhaust 80mm fan to help with removing GPU heat load.

I'm sure that better 140mm exhaust fan than the stock will fix that issues.