A few questions about fans, case and mobo.

[Faye]

Hi,

I have a Fractal Design Define R4 case and will soon buy an Asus x79-Deluxe mobo. I have some questions regarding fan control and case cooling.

Mobo's fan specs:
1 x CPU Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin)
1 x CPU OPT Fan connector(s) (1 x 4 -pin)
4 x Chassis Fan connector(s) (4 x 4 -pin)

Questions:

1) Firstly, I have to make sure: My heatsink Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 has the two PWM fans that came with the package. Does the x79-Deluxe (with latest bios) support PWM for two CPU fans? Or rather, does the CPU_OPT support it? It should, right? The fan is 4-pin and the connector is 4-pin = PWM works?

2) I will have 4 chassis fans connected to the mobo. Currently I have 2 x Noctua NF-F12 120mm which I'm perhaps having as intakes. I have the option to either have both in the front panel, or one front and one bottom. Which would be better?

3) If these two 120mm fans are intakes, can I have two 140mm exhausts? One rear and one top. Or should I buy another two 120mm so that I have 4 x 120mm? I was thinking of buying two Noctua's A14 140mm PWMs.

Ok, this post probably has more question marks that should be allowed.

Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I would just fill up the case with fans, one in each slot.
Front/side intake, top/rear exhaust.

The CPU and CPU_OPT should both run PWM simultaneously just fine.

 

[Faye]

Hmm, is over four 120-140mm fans really necessary? It just feels like a bit overkill, but that's just me. I do not have SLI and will only oc the cpu (4930k) slightly to ~4Ghz, so I'm wondering if the extra noise from two fans is worth the small temp decrease?

Thanks for the info about the PWMs!

 

[ATMINSIDE]

If you have quiet fans (Noctua is amazingly quiet) then adding one or two more fans won't really increase the sound coming from your system.

Especially in the 140mm fan size, they push a lot of air at low RPMs.

 

[Faye]

Ah, right. Ok, I will think about that. It would be nice to finally see my GTX580 Matrix stay under 60'C during gaming... *wishful thinking*

How about the order of the fans? Will the case have too high negative pressure if I have, say, three 120mm intakes and three 140mm exhausts? Or respectively two 120mm intakes and two 140mm exhausts. I'm all for negative pressure (dust...), but how to know when it's too much?

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Its hard to get perfectly neutral, or slightly negative/positive pressure. If you want to keep dust out, use three intakes with filters and two exhausts.

Just make sure to close up any empty fan slots if you're going for as little dust as possible.

Personally I say heck with it and just dust every now and then

 

[Faye]

Thanks! I think I'll go with 3 x 120mm intakes and 2 x 140mm exhausts.

However, this means that one of the fans has to be connected to the case's fan controller instead of the mobo. The controller seems to have three levels (4, 7 and 12 V). I assume that having it on 12V makes the fan run at full speed at all times. Probably have to go with 4-7V then; it must be irritating to listen to a 100% fan even when idle.

Well, this wasn't really a question any more, just babbling out loud.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

My fans on 100% don't bother me one bit. If you have a good quiet fan you'll barely hear it.
That said, if they're running pretty high RPMs then it could get annoying.