Air Cooling -- Myths and setup tips for the novice performance / gaming builder

[Udyr]

I don't think I will do this, why is another intake needed when you already have 400mm of it?

I'm thinking just 2x200mm intake, then 1x rear exhaust and 1x top exhaust nearest to the rear one, and leave the other exhaust blank... just to give it a directional diagonal flow at least? Cause the heat from the gpu will be pumping into the case as well.

I added the extra fans because I had no other use for them. The bottom one was directly below the GPU, redirecting fresh air to it, and the top fan was exhausting from the CPU and VRMs. None of the parts were running particularly hot or anything, but the added fans helped reduce about 3-5C from the GPU and about 2-4C from the CPU... a "feels good" result.

 

[Space Lynx]

I added the extra fans because I had no other use for them. The bottom one was directly below the GPU, redirecting fresh air to it, and the top fan was exhausting from the CPU and VRMs. None of the parts were running particularly hot or anything, but the added fans helped reduce about 3-5C from the GPU and about 2-4C from the CPU... a "feels good" result.

care to share a picture of your fans setup? if not its cool. just curious what is actually looks like, don't need any picture of other parts of the case or the 200mm intake, just your top/bottom fan setup would do.

again if you don't want to go through the hassle its fine. just curious is all

 

[dirtyferret]

I'm not opposed to switching it around. My case is the Montech Air X.

Any suggestions welcome.

How about 1x extra fan attached to the NH-D15S + 2 top exhaust and no rear exhaust?

and this case has dust filters everywhere, the PSU draws from the bottom of the case fan down

I think I have that case sitting in an unopened box in my basement. Regardless, I would personally remove the top front fan as all it's doing is taking cool air coming in from the front panel away from your noctua cooler. See link

 

[Udyr]

care to share a picture of your fans setup? if not its cool. just curious what is actually looks like, don't need any picture of other parts of the case or the 200mm intake, just your top/bottom fan setup would do.

again if you don't want to go through the hassle its fine. just curious is all

Not a hassle at all.

Dark room. Didn't turn on the light, but my radioactive light shows the way. The fans don't match the "all black" theme cause they're gray, but I didn't care much.

 

[Space Lynx]

Not a hassle at all.

Dark room. Didn't turn on the light, but my radioactive light shows the way. The fans don't match the "all black" theme cause they're gray, but I didn't care much.


View attachment 269357

so you have 1x intake at top, blowing down into cpu cooler, 1x rear exhaust right next to it (wont that just suck out the cool air thats being blown in right next to it?) and 2x200mm intakes?

then the fan at bottom is blowing air on to your psu, sucking it away from the gpu

have to say i have never seen anything like this before. hmm

 

[claes]

Generally speaking, the open side of the fan is intake and the side with strator vanes (is this the right term? I forget) is exhaust, so top/rear exhaust and bottom fan blowing at the GPU.

 

[Space Lynx]

ah ok, I understand now. this is not a bad idea. I do have a couple spare fans too. I might do this.

 

[JustBenching]

I don't think I will do this, why is another intake needed when you already have 400mm of it?

Might sound weird but having more intake fans means you have more air exhausting. See the fractal torrent, it only has intake fans, they build positive pressure in the case and so the air moves out naturally without any exhaust fans needed

 

[Udyr]

ah ok, I understand now. this is not a bad idea. I do have a couple spare fans too. I might do this.

Like @claes said, top/rear are exhaust and front/bottom are intake.

For the bottom fan you need two of the long radiator screws to hold the front (the glass side) of the fan, and nothing plugged on that part of the motherboard (for ATX). If your board is mATX, then the fan should fit easily.

 

[Mussels]

That is a few billionths of a second; a CPU can't go from "cool to overheated" on that time scale.

Zen3 runs on the 1ms scale, so they can go from max power to idle in that time, 1/1000th of a second.

Sorry about taking the thread OT, but that jellyfish thing looks awesome @Mussels

Birthday present, it is in fact awesome. I modded it to run off USB power instead of 3xAA.
It's one of those things that cameras have issue seeing the same way the human eye does, but they dance around and the bubbles (literally detergent) catch the RGB lights

You always want more fans in than out, or if not possible more airflow via setting the fan speeds

I tried a rear intake into my top radiator to see if it would help, and it simply clogged its dust filter in about 48 hours - and then started sucking dust around the filter in all the gaps and cracks and clogged the rad too



You simply want air in, air out in a straight as line as possible, as close to the hot components as possible (Through their heatsinks, preferably)

Having air in/out in multiple locations with obstructions just leads to eddies, whirlpools and dead spots. You can visualise it like how water works because airs technically a fluid too - imagine a hose in a bathtub, get it going down the drain directlyand its gone, but get it splashing to the side and you get a whirlpool happening that while it still leaves, it takes longer


There is always exceptions, or times it matters only the tiniest amount - but dust is always a long term problem for everyone, and parts are only getting higher wattage so it's critical people adjust their thinking

 

[Bill_Bright]

montech air x case

I would start with the default setup from the factory. Then use a real-time temperature monitor like Core Temp to monitor CPU temps. If my temps are maintained comfortably within normal operating ranges, I would leave it alone.

Having air in/out in multiple locations with obstructions just leads to eddies, whirlpools and dead spots

I have seen so many times where the use of a side panel fan actually degrades cooling because it disrupts that desired "front-to-back" flow of air. I always recommend removing (or unplugging) any side panel fan for that reason.

There is one exception and that is "IF" the side panel fan blows directly into a tube that channels the air directly on to a downward firing CPU or GPU cooler. That sometimes helps with the processor cooler but may still adversely affect over all cooling. So use a real-time temp monitor and, through trial and error, determine the best setup.

 

[Space Lynx]

I would start with the default setup from the factory. Then use a real-time temperature monitor like Core Temp to monitor CPU temps. If my temps are maintained comfortably within normal operating ranges, I would leave it alone.


I have seen so many times where the use of a side panel fan actually degrades cooling because it disrupts that desired "front-to-back" flow of air. I always recommend removing (or unplugging) any side panel fan for that reason.

There is one exception and that is "IF" the side panel fan blows directly into a tube that channels the air directly on to a downward firing CPU or GPU cooler. That sometimes helps with the processor cooler but may still adversely affect over all cooling. So use a real-time temp monitor and, through trial and error, determine the best setup.

your right, it isn't that hard to add fans later on. I could even do some of my own testing. I think I will do this, thanks

 

[freeagent]

I could even do some of my own testing.

This is honestly the best way to do things. Everyone has their own ideas on how things should be, but by testing on your own, you will know for certain what works best with your components. I've tried all kinds of crazy and not so crazy stuff just to see what differences would come of it. You won't be disappointed.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I could even do some of my own testing. I think I will do this, thanks

You should. And don't forget cable management is very important too - not just for aesthetic (neatness looks more professional) but good cable management makes the best (as in least) impact on air flow too. And does not collect as much dust, and the dust it does collect is easier to clean.

 

[Vario]

This is honestly the best way to do things. Everyone has their own ideas on how things should be, but by testing on your own, you will know for certain what works best with your components. I've tried all kinds of crazy and not so crazy stuff just to see what differences would come of it. You won't be disappointed.

I've found in my testing that, beyond a certain point, additional case fans can raise temperatures and noise in a lot instances, and that adding additional fans to large high end aircoolers (example: NHD15S, PHTC14PE) often makes no difference on real world temperatures. Also filling every fan opening with a fan doesn't always generate an optimal result. As we are custom computer enthusiasts, every case and set up is slightly different.

I also don't bother with filters, my room is fairly dust free as the case sits elevated on a desk surface and I have no pets or carpet. Filters increase noise and temperatures by adding obstruction. After a year, there was no appreciable visible dust. Even so, I open it up about once every 6 months to a year and use a metro datavac to blast any dust out.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Filters increase noise and temperatures by adding obstruction.

I have never had a problem with increased noise. If anything, they help suppress fan noise. If they obstruct the flow that much, they are lousy filters, dirty filters or both.

As for temperatures, not there either. In fact, when I see my temps start to rise, that is their signal to me to clean them!

I agree if your computer sits a bit off the floor, and you don't have shedding pets or a bunch of kids running around stirring up dust, the filters will not be of much use. Still, I do not enjoy breaking down my computers to lug them outside to blast them clean. So all my cases will always have filters.

 

[Vario]

I have never had a problem with increased noise. If anything, they help suppress fan noise. If they obstruct the flow that much, they are lousy filters, dirty filters or both.

As for temperatures, not there either. In fact, when I see my temps start to rise, that is their signal to me to clean them!

I agree if your computer sits a bit off the floor, and you don't have shedding pets or a bunch of kids running around stirring up dust, the filters will not be of much use. Still, I do not enjoy breaking down my computers to lug them outside to blast them clean. So all my cases will always have filters.

For my O11 Air Mini, the feet don't raise very far above the desk surface and the bottom intake filter has a thick plastic frame that decreases the desk top clearance. In this instance, removal of the filter helps, not because the filter has poor flow but because it decreases the intake volume due to its thick plastic framing. If I recall correctly, Gamer's Nexus's main complaint with this model was high videocard temperatures due to the limited bottom intake. I don't have any issues with card temperatures but I removed this filter from day one.

The other intake region is the front, which doesn't have a filter, just a steel mesh. The mesh face does filter some dust but its minimal, I just don't have much dust in this room.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Ah, so it is not the filter material itself, but the location and mounting frame. That makes sense. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[claes]

I have never had a problem with increased noise. If anything, they help suppress fan noise. If they obstruct the flow that much, they are lousy filters, dirty filters or both.

As for temperatures, not there either. In fact, when I see my temps start to rise, that is their signal to me to clean them!

With all respect, this is simply untrue. Filters significantly reduce CFM and, while they (mostly) don’t increase noise in a noticeable way in and of themselves, the increase in CFM in their absence allows lower fan speeds, which does reduce noise (and dust, incidentally, though a filter obviously wins in that regard).

 

[Bill_Bright]

With all respect, this is simply untrue. Filters significantly reduce CFM

"Significantly"? With all respect - no they don't. Not good filters and not unless they are dirty.

Now for sure, there are cheap air filters - cheap as in poorly designed that do restrict more than others. But please note, I never said or implied they don't restrict some - of course they do. Even the steel mesh covering filter-less fan vents offer some resistance - and a significant amount when clogged with dirt.

But quality and clean filters only impose a very small bit of resistance that any quality fan can handle with aplomb.

 

[claes]

I mean, GN has demonstrated 10* differences in CPU temps but for your review:

Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM: The most fine-tuned fan of its kind - Page 13 of 43 - HWCooling.net

Results: Airlow w/o obstaclesAll the glory and respect of the Noctua NF-A12x25 “sterrox” fan is well deserved. We waited a long time to release its tests, mainly because it was necessary to analyze more seemingly similar designs first. This is necessary to understand why Noctua’s most popular...

www.hwcooling.net

 

[freeagent]

Big fans, big heatsinks, big air, big noise, that's the way to really fly

Maybe a big AIO I guess if you're into that

Anything less than that and you are going to be complaining about hot temps

Especially in the summer

 

[Space Lynx]

Big fans, big heatsinks, big air, big noise, that's the way to really fly

Maybe a big AIO I guess if you're into that

Anything less than that and you are going to be complaining about hot temps

Especially in the summer

Or just two top of the line fans and a smallish heatsink like the U12A. That sucker apparently can cool better than a D15, I have seen some say its a couple behind, others say it wins.

Who knows

 

[bobbybluz]

I have several of these in use. As far as I know they push the most cfm of any 120x120x25mm 12 volt fan. 150 cfm at full speed. The price can't be beat either. 1PC for Delta 12cm 12V 1.74A wind speed high speed supercharger fan FFB1212EH | eBay

For 140mm fans I use the SilverStone FHP-141 V2 (173 cfm). Currently $23 on Amazon. I don't care about the noise when it comes to cooling. 140x140x38mm.

 

[Mussels]

fans with higher static pressure and a good seal against the case/radiator etc are less affected by a filter

Obviously a poor design will block a lot more airflow, i've got a bottom intake at a whopping 800RPM through a filter because it doesnt need to shave a cat, it's just there to guide the airflow up towards those top and rear exhausts