How Can I Setup Case Airflow?

[Scorge120]

Hey folks,

Looking for a bit of input as to how I should setup my cooling in my tower. I haven’t ran any load or thermal tests of components yet.

Components:
- CPU Intel i7-5930K w/ Noctua NH-D15 cooler
- PSU Seasonic X750
- GPU ASUS GeForce GTX 970
- SSD Samsung Extreme Pro
- HDD 4TB 7200RPM

Goals:
- Extremely quiet system.
- Ability of overclocking the CPU (up to 4.5GHz hopefully...)
- Keep components cool.
- Keep case as dust free as posible.

Here are links to my cooling scenarios with a description of what I think are the pros/cons of each setup.

Scenario 1 (current setup):

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2RDo7wE3zU4TnMxb1R1T2NYRk0/view?usp=sharing

- Quiet .
- Balanced airflow.
- Not enough airflow?

Scenario 2:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2RDo7wE3zU4c3BPZFhEbEE1UXc/view?usp=sharing

- Same as scenario 1 except another fan on the Noctua CPU cooler.
- RAM blocks part of the fan so it would jut out a bit over the top of the CPU cooler.

Scenario 3:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2RDo7wE3zU4bk9fZWZsODFNTGM/view?usp=sharing

- Slightly positive pressure inside case to help keep dust out.
- SSD/HDD have direct fan cooling.
- Maybe bad airflow.

Scenario 4:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2RDo7wE3zU4WWVVbHgzS09obVk/view?usp=sharing

- Best airflow.
- Negative pressure inside case attracts dust.
- Noisest setup.

I can acquire additional fans if you think the setup can benefit from a few extra fans. I’m going to leave it as scenario 1 for now and run some tests to see if it needs any more cooling. Though I’m interested in hearing some feedback from you guys as to how you would have it set up.

Thanks for your time,

Zach

 

[porterjw]

Holy over-thinking, Batman!

So long as front air intake and rear air exhaust, you'll be fine. Seriously, don't sweat the exceptionally minor details.

 

[Scorge120]

Haha Jay, you're probably right. Second day with the system and the front/rear fans are keeping the system cool under partial load. I'll probably just use the third fan to keep myself cool as my room doesn't get much AC.

 

[beers]

I haven’t ran any load or thermal tests of components yet.

Wouldn't you want to do this before considering modifying your fans? How could you justify re-engineering the setup if you don't even know what the baseline temps are

 

[tylerjrb]

you ideally want air throught the front,sides and bottom and exhaust through the rear and top. Try to keep more air going in than out as that will create a positive pressure and force the dust out.

id keep the second fan on the noctua aswell that will make more sense as you will get a lot of heat from the gpu. Other than that possibly another fan on the front so you have 2 there and 2 above the noctua cooler to effectively pull the rising heat away.

 

[Scorge120]

Is having positive pressure inside the case better than having negative? I always thought that having more fans sucking out air did a much better job at cooling than having more fans blowing in. I mean if the difference in airflow effectiveness isn't huge, then I'd rather go for more positive pressure to keep the system cleaner.

Tyler, my RAM blocks the second Noctua fan from sitting on the cooler nicely, I'm going to see if I can swap it out for lower profile RAM... actually I don't even think the case will close with the second fan installed :|

 

[Jiniix]

I read a very detailed report once, that just barely having positive air pressure (almost equal negative and positive) was the best setup in terms of cooling. Plus it will help with the dust.
Personally I just make sure that the pressure is positive. It's positive to be positive.

 

[Geoff]

In a negative pressure environment, because more fans are sucking air out, air will partially come from the openings in the case such as between the drive bays, where panels come together, empty fan slots, etc. It's much more likely for dust to enter through these non-filtered areas. IMO that is worth the slight trade off if there is a difference in cooling.

 

[Scorge120]

I've ordered four Aerocool DS 140mm fans, gonna put two up front and two in the back. I may take one out of the back if it gets too noisy and make the setup more positive hehe.

Thanks guys.

 

[C4C]

I can't really filter dust in my setup considering the whole side panel of the case has 2 fan openings (now covered with black construction paper from the inside).

I run 1 fan in front, two out on back/top. About to swap for 4 of the same red led fans for looks and to have the same speeds/air movement.