- Joined
- Nov 14, 2006
- Location
- Warsaw/Poland
As per title. Phanteks Enthoo Pro most preferably, but not necessarily.
Personally, I'm becoming a little skeptical about 200mm fans compared to smaller diameters. And I've had some strong but inaudible 12cm fans, not necessarily from the most expensive range. I'll need to be replacing the default 20cm fan in my Phanteks case anyway, only not sure about 1x20mm vs 2x14mm.
I'm leaning 2x14 because there are more to choose from, and some can be quite strong while being quite silent — no such variety or competition in the 20 range, comparatively. Plus, the 20 is a bit too large for the air duct anyway (the solid metal frame on the HDD section of the case is not removable); it seems to me 14 would be more focused. Some of the most advanced 14's seem to go up to 100 CFM or beyond while staying under 20 dbA on paper. Perhaps not going to be equally impressive in real applications but still. By contrast, anything 200mm I can buy looks like your typical stock fan from a reliable manufacturer, so not bad but likely not that much better than the Phanteks.
I'll be replacing rear exhaust too, so that could make 3x14 from the same vendor in a single purchase. Or more. Not decided about bottom intake and/or top exhaust yet. I could also theoretically go for a larger number of weaker/slower, quieter fans to reduce the woosh, but I don't have much experience with that sort of config yet — so far I've only ever run fewer but stronger fans.
Thoughts?
On a different note, I have a hot M2 drive under my graphics card. Typical VRAM heatsinks would be too tall for the remaining clearance, unfortunately, at least halfway through the surface. Are there any reasonable alternatives? Should I consider taking a RAM heatsink and cutting it to size instead? What else could I do?
Personally, I'm becoming a little skeptical about 200mm fans compared to smaller diameters. And I've had some strong but inaudible 12cm fans, not necessarily from the most expensive range. I'll need to be replacing the default 20cm fan in my Phanteks case anyway, only not sure about 1x20mm vs 2x14mm.
I'm leaning 2x14 because there are more to choose from, and some can be quite strong while being quite silent — no such variety or competition in the 20 range, comparatively. Plus, the 20 is a bit too large for the air duct anyway (the solid metal frame on the HDD section of the case is not removable); it seems to me 14 would be more focused. Some of the most advanced 14's seem to go up to 100 CFM or beyond while staying under 20 dbA on paper. Perhaps not going to be equally impressive in real applications but still. By contrast, anything 200mm I can buy looks like your typical stock fan from a reliable manufacturer, so not bad but likely not that much better than the Phanteks.
I'll be replacing rear exhaust too, so that could make 3x14 from the same vendor in a single purchase. Or more. Not decided about bottom intake and/or top exhaust yet. I could also theoretically go for a larger number of weaker/slower, quieter fans to reduce the woosh, but I don't have much experience with that sort of config yet — so far I've only ever run fewer but stronger fans.
Thoughts?
On a different note, I have a hot M2 drive under my graphics card. Typical VRAM heatsinks would be too tall for the remaining clearance, unfortunately, at least halfway through the surface. Are there any reasonable alternatives? Should I consider taking a RAM heatsink and cutting it to size instead? What else could I do?