Computer Case Fans

MacLeod

Right, with proper cooling there is no heat issues because your CPU or GPU will be in their intended temps for working conditions so you wont have the wear and tear either. Well you'll have a little extra due to the extra voltage but this will be slight and your processor will long be out of date and ready for replacement before the little extra wear takes its toll.

I also agree you don't need 40 different fans especially for stock clocks but I do think a good intake fan on the front is a good idea even at stock settings. So I think the advice to Audiobliss would be to just leave the stocker fans in there and at low speed. If you leave everything at stock clocks, don't worry about it. If you do some overclocking, keep an eye on temps and add or upgrade fans as needed.

WilliamM2

MacLeod wrote: »

I also agree you don't need 40 different fans especially for stock clocks but I do think a good intake fan on the front is a good idea even at stock settings.

That was my point about using a case with rear exhaust, and front intake only. My case is sealed, except for the front, any air going out the back has to enter the front, and flow all the way through the case, adding a fan won't increase the airflow. I've tried it with all three intake fans on my case, and with no intake fans. The difference in the temp was 0.

The difference in the noise level was quite a bit though. When I took them out a couple years ago, I realized I had been putting up with all that noise for years, for nothing. Even with a large case like this, there is less than 2 cubic feet inside, I figure there is at least 30-35 cfm exhaust, changing the air in the case 15 times a minute should be sufficient.

audiobliss

Haha, man, this has turned out to be quite the interesting thread.

To clear some things up that I haven't mentioned as of yet...
I'm currently running a Q6600 CPU. Awesome little chip, I've certainly loved having it, but its days are numbered. A HUGE part of my desire to get a new case is so I can have adequate cooling to overclock the crap out of this thing. I mean, I purposely got one with G0 stepping so I could, I've just been waiting for a better case before I start putting it through the grinder. I foresee upgrading MOBO/CPU/RAM (likely to the i5-2500k) within the next year or so, but until then, I get a new case and I'm OC'ing the stew out of this thing.

Syndil

Ah, well then that counts me out of this thread. Enjoy the noise!

audiobliss

I appreciate the info, Syndil! I'll definitely have a different approach to this build, but maybe with another system down the line I'll be able to incorporate some of your philosophy!

MacLeod

Alrighty then! Now we're talking. Those Q6600's OC pretty decent so you should be able to get some decent clocks. Of course you'll need a fairly beefy motherboard as well as a good aftermarket CPU cooler. The Cooler Master Hyper 212+ (or Evolution for $5 more) are about the best on the market dollar for dollar and can usually be picked up for <$30.

audiobliss

I totally skimped on the case when I built this computer, but my mobo, cooler, and ram were selected to support this endeavor. The only thing holding me back is a case with better airflow!

EndersShadow

audiobliss wrote: »

Haha, man, this has turned out to be quite the interesting thread.

To clear some things up that I haven't mentioned as of yet...
I'm currently running a Q6600 CPU. Awesome little chip, I've certainly loved having it, but its days are numbered. A HUGE part of my desire to get a new case is so I can have adequate cooling to overclock the crap out of this thing. I mean, I purposely got one with G0 stepping so I could, I've just been waiting for a better case before I start putting it through the grinder. I foresee upgrading MOBO/CPU/RAM (likely to the i5-2500k) within the next year or so, but until then, I get a new case and I'm OC'ing the stew out of this thing.

Look at one of the Corsair watercooling CPU heatsinks. Low Noise, great heat dissipation as well. I would go with the H70 personally.

**edit** I see there is a H100 that is a dual 120mm rad... I would go with that if you can.....

WilliamM2

EndersShadow wrote: »

Look at one of the Corsair watercooling CPU heatsinks. Low Noise, great heat dissipation as well. I would go with the H70 personally.

**edit** I see there is a H100 that is a dual 120mm rad... I would go with that if you can.....

A new case and $115 cooler for a 5 year old chip? For a couple bucks more he could buy a new MB and CPU that would outperform it easily at stock speeds. Kinda defeats the purpose of overclocking.

EndersShadow

WilliamM2 wrote: »

A new case and $115 cooler for a 5 year old chip? For a couple bucks more he could buy a new MB and CPU that would outperform it easily at stock speeds. Kinda defeats the purpose of overclocking.

And? My Q9650 is about that old but I cant justify purchasing a new mobo and/or cpu to get more horsepower than I can overclocking.

Also noise was an issue, with that CPU cooler he can use lower rpm fans and have little to no noise....

WilliamM2

EndersShadow wrote: »

And? My Q9650 is about that old but I cant justify purchasing a new mobo and/or cpu to get more horsepower than I can overclocking.

Also noise was an issue, with that CPU cooler he can use lower rpm fans and have little to no noise....

I agree, if you already own everything. But if you are spending the same amount as a new CPU and MB, on a case and cooler to overclock, it makes no sense. A a newer chip will outperform it easily. And there is no noise with a 2500K, which will beat it even at stock speeds, or easily reach 4.5Ghz with a $30 hyper 212 Evo.

audiobliss

Ok, another thing. My current case, remember that? Cooler Master Centurion. It's a crap case. And I'm upgrading, regardless of anything else. OC'ing isn't the only reason for upgrading it. I want a case I actually don't mind looking at, has enough bays for all my HD's, and is large enough to work in inside. So, the case cost isn't really contributing to the cost of this build and taking away from my next mobo/cpu combo, because I'm upgrading cases regardless.

EndersShadow wrote: »

Look at one of the Corsair watercooling CPU heatsinks. Low Noise, great heat dissipation as well. I would go with the H70 personally.

**edit** I see there is a H100 that is a dual 120mm rad... I would go with that if you can.....

Yeah, those were mentioned earlier on the first page, and I've definitely been considering them. Haven't really made up my mind on anything yet.

EndersShadow

What size case you looking for? Full Tower, Mid Tower, HTPC? And what kinda mobo we looking at? ATX, E-ATX, etc....

audiobliss

I don't want an incredibly huge case, but mid to full tower is fine. I've previously looked at the CM Haf 932, and that's sized fine, too. Regular ATX mobo is what I have now and what I envision upgrading to later on.

I'm currently throwing around a few ideas for the install. I'm thinking of maybe a water cooling loop for the CPU, though I'm not decided yet. I'm also thinking about a color scheme, maybe painting it, maybe sleeving all the cables (not the groups of cables, but removing them from the connectors, sleeving them, and then reinstalling the connectors), and possible lit fans. Never been a fan of fans with lights, but if I could come up with a theme I really like and an led fan went well with it, I wouldn't be opposed to it.

audiobliss

My must have list for a case is:
bottom mount power supply
painted interior
at least 6 HD bays, the more the merrier
HD bays that run transversely so the power/sata connectors are on the mobo side of the case
great opportunities for cable management
huge cpu heatsink cutout (not a requirement, but desirable)

EndersShadow

audiobliss wrote: »

My must have list for a case is:
bottom mount power supply
painted interior
at least 6 HD bays, the more the merrier
HD bays that run transversely so the power/sata connectors are on the mobo side of the case
great opportunities for cable management
huge cpu heatsink cutout (not a requirement, but desirable)

Check out HardForum.com. Its got MORE than enough research and threads there for ya on this.

Case recommendation: Corsair 800D, Corsair 650D

decal

Computer Case Fans

I'm a huge fan of Computer Case, great band. Much better than Computer Chip,IMHO.

WilliamM2

audiobliss wrote: »

My must have list for a case is:
bottom mount power supply
painted interior
at least 6 HD bays, the more the merrier
HD bays that run transversely so the power/sata connectors are on the mobo side of the case
great opportunities for cable management
huge cpu heatsink cutout (not a requirement, but desirable)

Just out of curiosity, why a bottom mount PS? Every motherboard I have seen has the power connections near, if not at, the very top. Also, the power supply helps exhaust air from the case when it's at the top, at the bottom they usually don't, as with the Corsair cases mentioned above, not to mention all the dust going into the power supply off the floor.

Syndil

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, why a bottom mount PS?

This is done for silence. Bottom mount PSU intakes fresh air instead of warm case air, meaning the fan on the PSU doesn't have to spin very fast at all. I have a bottom-mount PSU on my machine. 99% of the time it's dead silent. But when it does occasionally get warm and the fan spins up, it's the loudest fan in my case, so I want to keep it cool as much as possible. There is plenty of proper ventilation throughout the rest of the case that I don't need the PSU sucking on warm air.

bigaudiofanatic

I am a big fan of antec fans!

WilliamM2

Syndil wrote: »

This is done for silence. Bottom mount PSU intakes fresh air instead of warm case air, meaning the fan on the PSU doesn't have to spin very fast at all. I have a bottom-mount PSU on my machine. 99% of the time it's dead silent. But when it does occasionally get warm and the fan spins up, it's the loudest fan in my case, so I want to keep it cool as much as possible. There is plenty of proper ventilation throughout the rest of the case that I don't need the PSU sucking on warm air.

I suppose that makes sense, although he said he wasn't really concerned with noise. Also, with proper ventilation, case temps shouldn't be warm, mine run about 2-3f above room temperature.

Syndil

Concerned about noise or not, if you've got enough ventilation in the rest of the case, there's really no reason to not have the PSU bottom mounted. If nothing else it will potentially save wear on the PSU and its fan. Fans don't go bad very often, but in my experience I have had two die on me, both of which were PSU fans.

audiobliss

EndersShadow wrote: »

Check out HardForum.com. Its got MORE than enough research and threads there for ya on this.

Case recommendation: Corsair 800D, Corsair 650D

Thanks for the link! I'll visit there and check it out. And those are both good cases that I've looked at. I'm not sure if they use the same 20mm thick 200mm case fans that the Corsair 600T does, though. If they do, then they share the ONLY problem I have with the 600T.

WilliamM2 wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, why a bottom mount PS? Every motherboard I have seen has the power connections near, if not at, the very top. Also, the power supply helps exhaust air from the case when it's at the top, at the bottom they usually don't, as with the Corsair cases mentioned above, not to mention all the dust going into the power supply off the floor.

Three reasons, really. I like the look of the layout inside, I'd rather have the PSU sucking on cool air to increase its longevity versus cycling through warmer air, and just to keep more weight at the bottom of the case to make it more stable.