New case, what fans and direction?

[Hulari]

I'm looking to get an Arcti Cooling Freezer i30 after looking around at coolers. I'm looking to overclock my i5-2500k to 4.0-4.2GHz and have been told a number of times that it would be more than sufficient and much better than my current stock cooler. I was hoping to spend around £50 on fans but if it costs more then so bet it.

I've chosen the Corsair 500R case but I'd like to replace the fans on the case and the CPU cooler. What fans and size would be best suited? The case is able to have 10 fans in total, but I'd be looking at two front 120s, one rear 120 and then 2 top 140s with a 140 at the bottom to look like this:

Uber Paint Skills:


The CPU cooler can be mounted to blow air in any direction. I presume it to be best to exhaust upwards?
I haven't looked at side fans and I was going to remove the 200 fan on the side and leave it off, or should I add another two 120s to the side?

The 500R has a small fan controller on the front of the case but it only supports 3 fans in total. I was looking at getting a splitter to help control all fans instead of just 3: Splitter which will save my money on buying an external controller, I'm not a fan of all the flashy touch screen LED things shining away.

TL.DR: What fans should I get at 120 and 140? Will the pictured air flow work?

[n0cturnal]

Why are you looking to replace the fans? The stock fans will be more than sufficient to keep your system cool with a moderate overclock like that.

[Hulari]

Why are you looking to replace the fans? The stock fans will be more than sufficient to keep your system cool with a moderate overclock like that.

More of an "I want to" thing. The money isn't an issue and I've been reading that replacing the fans will be quieter under load.

[n0cturnal]

More of an "I want to" thing. The money isn't an issue and I've been reading that replacing the fans will be quieter under load.

If money isn't an issue and you are looking for a cool and quite build why are you looking at getting a Freezer i30 and not a top level CPU cooler like Noctua NH-D14, Phanteks PH-TC14PE, Thermalright Silver Arrow?

[yurano]

Are you sure you want the bottom fan to be drawing air in from ground level? There's usually dust on the ground.

[Hulari]

If money isn't an issue and you are looking for a cool and quite build why are you looking at getting a Freezer i30 and not a top level CPU cooler like Noctua NH-D14, Phanteks PH-TC14PE, Thermalright Silver Arrow?

I was originally looking at D14 and H80/H100 but I've been told numerous times that an i30 would be more than suitable for my moderate overclock. Looking at comparisons the D14 seems to be 5~ cooler than the i30 at load and the i30 matches an H80 at medium speeds by 2~ degrees. I also find the D14 to be too big for my tastes.

Are you sure you want the bottom fan to be drawing air in from ground level? There's usually dust on the ground.

I have no idea :P
This is why I wanted to post to double check what people's opinions were.

[yurano]

I have no idea :P
This is why I wanted to post to double check what people's opinions were.

If you wanted to balance the intake with the exhaust, most cases have a fan mount on the side panel.

[Deleted]

Its good to pull air from the ground, there is a lot of dust there but most cold air is at the ground. I recon your new case will have good dust filters, just pull them out and clean them every few weeks.
You should exhaust your CPU cooler to the back and not up since heat goes up already, so if you let it exhaust to the back it will have more room. Your top mounted fans will pull away a lot of warm air from the CPU to so its more effective like that since it rises.
Side mounted fans can help dragging in cold air on your GPU's, especially GPU's who aren't reference designs can benefit from this as they dissapate their heat into the case.

[Hulari]

If you wanted to balance the intake with the exhaust, most cases have a fan mount on the side panel.

They do. The 500R has a 200 on the side panel but I want to remove that. Should I put the 140 there instead of the bottom?

Its good to pull air from the ground, there is a lot of dust there but most cold air is at the ground. I recon your new case will have good dust filters, just pull them out and clean them every few weeks.
You should exhaust your CPU cooler to the back and not up since heat goes up already, so if you let it exhaust to the back it will have more room. Your top mounted fans will pull away a lot of warm air from the CPU to so its more effective like that since it rises.
Side mounted fans can help dragging in cold air on your GPU's, especially GPU's who aren't reference designs can benefit from this as they dissapate their heat into the case.

I have a 670 Windforce

Would you say adding another two 140 or 120s to the side panel as well keeping a 140 at the bottom would be a good idea?

[yurano]

They do. The 500R has a 200 on the side panel but I want to remove that. Should I put the 140 there instead of the bottom?

Would you say adding another two 140 or 120s to the side panel as well keeping a 140 at the bottom would be a good idea?

Depends on whether your case has a dust fan. Mine doesn't so I would avoid bottom fans.

Logically speaking, I would try to maximize air flow near the motherboard especially since the side fan blows onto the graphics card. Bottom fans seem to blow into that empty space between the drives and the motherboard.

[Deleted]

They do. The 500R has a 200 on the side panel but I want to remove that. Should I put the 140 there instead of the bottom?



I have a 670 Windforce

Would you say adding another two 140 or 120s to the side panel as well keeping a 140 at the bottom would be a good idea?

It is a good idea yes, more cold air on your card is a good thing, your card isn't known for generating a lot of heat tho, so 1 x 140mm is enough, add a second if you are ever going to SLI. Best case would be to keep the 200mm tho, the bigger, the better and the more quiet at side of a case. And yes you should take them both, the good thing from the one at the bottom is that it helps with making a nice path for your airflow to follow, the airflow it creates basicly pulls the warm and cold air from your side fan and GPU in its stream and then pushes it up.

The 500R has dust covers by the way so you are good :-).

[Maruka]

I say anything 4.4 and under a 212+ is the best cooler there is for its price