FEATURED FANS 101: Going Scientific.

[ivanlabrie]

Yeah, the price is not bad, and I want to be able to spin it slower whilst keeping decent CFM too, hence the 140mm fan as opposed to 120mm.

 

[bluezero5]

I guess it would be okay to use a high pressure fan at the intake where hard drive cages are located then?

depends on your HD-cage, I have seen pretty tight boxes with small gaps, for those, higher Static pressure preferred yes. But for general HD cages, the gaps are wide enough for you to just focus on a high CFM/low noise fan without worrying too much.

High static pressure always a huge BONUS to have as chassis fan. But the word 'high pressure' is actually relative. If you Chassis is net positive, the pressure inside is high, and adding a low pressure fan, actually doesn't do too much more. If your chassis is net negative, than even a low pressure fan can blow in good force CFM...

but since net positive never hurts.
therefore net high pressure never hurts much either.
just be sure you don't sacrifice too much CFM or Noise there

 

[AdvisableOwl]

depends on your HD-cage, I have seen pretty tight boxes with small gaps, for those, higher Static pressure preferred yes. But for general HD cages, the gaps are wide enough for you to just focus on a high CFM/low noise fan without worrying too much.

High static pressure always a huge BONUS to have as chassis fan. But the word 'high pressure' is actually relative. If you Chassis is net positive, the pressure inside is high, and adding a low pressure fan, actually doesn't do too much more. If your chassis is net negative, than even a low pressure fan can blow in good force CFM...

but since net positive never hurts.
therefore net high pressure never hurts much either.
just be sure you don't sacrifice too much CFM or Noise there

From what I've seen in reviews and pics, the Phantom 410 seems relatively dense on the front intake, although I don't have one in my hands to actually test this. It'd probably be more beneficial performance wise to run two 120s instead of the 140. I guess I'll do more research.

 

[bluezero5]

In General, I prefer 120mm fans anytime of the day too.
basically everything at 140.. I can kinda find a 120mm fan that does the same if not better... with the exception of Prolimatech's Aluminum Vortex.

 

[AdvisableOwl]

In General, I prefer 120mm fans anytime of the day too.
basically everything at 140.. I can kinda find a 120mm fan that does the same if not better... with the exception of Prolimatech's Aluminum Vortex.

From what I've seen in my limited research, your opinion is pretty common. Either 120 or 200. There also does seem to be a lot more 120s on the market as others have related to.

 

[bluezero5]

for more specific request for suggestions, I think it will be important to see your setup, any pics you can show us?

otherwise, yes, without seeing details, suggesting might be generic.
and the fan market is dominated by 120mm fans, so the suggestion to look into that area almost never fails. So you know, I don't use 200mm fans myself, I find most of them to have 'terrible' static pressure.

 

[AdvisableOwl]

No rig yet. Building it this summer in a Phantom 410. So that's why I was asking.

 

[bluezero5]

reason I ask, is cause when intake/outlet fans for the case is taken into consider, I would like to know what other fans are in the loops, etc, I can give you an EXACT recommendation on the name of the fan that I feel is best in the situation, but probably best I know everything.. else I just be making poor assumptions.

You can take a look at my fan recommendations on post #2 on this thread.
those are all generally good fans to start with.

 

[AdvisableOwl]

Well for startup there are 2 120mm NZXT fans and 1 140mm. One 120 in the front for intake, one in the rear for exhaust and one 140 in the roof for exhaust.

 

[bluezero5]

In general, I will recommend replacing all those stock fans with something more functionally fitting. Let us know when you have additional specs, we can help. Those fans will work while you are looking for better ones, so you got time to choose and order for sure.

 

[ivanlabrie]

I would switch the top one as an intake (in case you have a dust filter up there) and move it to the position closest to the front, if not, fit it with velcro stripes.
(all this assuming you have a tower style cpu cooler)
I've seen that setup work best countless times.

As for the fans, this guy up here is a guru! Listen to him

 

[MongGrel]

Nice post !

I still like my Noctua's on the CPU and rear lower static version's on the two back spots on the case and Artic Cool PWM's on the front drive cages here and they are quiet and work well for me I guess.

Good write up

I use a couple of these myself on the TRUE myself.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608004

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=sso_bearing&lng=en

And a couple of these on the rear I still have the big Antec fan on the roof.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608009

I think these are what I have on the front of the drive cages, I ripped the stock ones out a long time again and daisy chained em.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186015

And one Gentle Typhoon on the side of the case.

Just thought I'd through my two cents in there

If you're going for massive air movement, damned the torpedo's full speed ahead, or aesthetics I guess Noctua's aren't the fan for you, but I like em myself i guess .

 

[TehYoyo]

Great post! Very informative!

 

[momobear]

My case is corsair 650d I have replaced the front intake with a 200mm Bitfenix Spectre Pro. The CFM is 148. I have a Corsair h100 and I want to replace the included stock fans as well as the rear 120mm stock exhaust fan. While maintaining positive air pressure in the case. Do you have any fan suggestions?

 

[bluezero5]

My case is corsair 650d I have replaced the front intake with a 200mm Bitfenix Spectre Pro. The CFM is 148. I have a Corsair h100 and I want to replace the included stock fans as well as the rear 120mm stock exhaust fan. While maintaining positive air pressure in the case. Do you have any fan suggestions?

for the H100, the radiator is just 240 long, so for good cooling solution, the Gentle-Typhoon AP-15 might not offer enough CFM. You can consider the Scythe SlipStream 1900, and put them in Push/pull config, that fan capable of pushing a LARGE amount of air, but it NEEDS push/pull to overcome its low static pressure weakness. In Push/Pull though, they do GREAT.

noise wise it is ok. Doubt you will mind.

If you want more quiet fans of similar calibur:
Reeven 2k RPM.

If you want a bit more performance and don't mind noise
Cooljag 2400 RPM.

all of these will work for you.

and as always.. if you are not really looking to MASSIVELY overclock. a set of Enermax Duo (the 1700 RPM at 85 CFM) or the CoolerMaster 1900 RPM at 90CFM fans will also do quite well. But all of these fans will likely require a push/pull config to get enough performance for you.

and regardless, ANY of the above, will be an upgrade from the corsair stock fans.

 

[momobear]

for the H100, the radiator is just 240 long, so for good cooling solution, the Gentle-Typhoon AP-15 might not offer enough CFM. You can consider the Scythe SlipStream 1900, and put them in Push/pull config, that fan capable of pushing a LARGE amount of air, but it NEEDS push/pull to overcome its low static pressure weakness. In Push/Pull though, they do GREAT.

noise wise it is ok. Doubt you will mind.

If you want more quiet fans of similar calibur:
Reeven 2k RPM.

If you want a bit more performance and don't mind noise
Cooljag 2400 RPM.

all of these will work for you.

and as always.. if you are not really looking to MASSIVELY overclock. a set of Enermax Duo (the 1700 RPM at 85 CFM) or the CoolerMaster 1900 RPM at 90CFM fans will also do quite well. But all of these fans will likely require a push/pull config to get enough performance for you.

and regardless, ANY of the above, will be an upgrade from the corsair stock fans.

Thank you for answering. My question now, I'm a bit confussed after reading your initial post because you talked about having positive pressire. My intake is 148 CFM, wouldn't adding those high CFM fans create negative pressure in the case.

 

[Conumdrum]

Probably not. The radiator restricts a LOT of airflow, thus the high static pressure fans or push/pull for good airflow.

Try this: Run the stock H100 fan in free air and feel the flow. Now put it on the rad and feel how much the flow has been reduced. It's quite a bit. When you run a high static pressure fan, the blade design doesn't let the air 'leak' through the blades as much when it's restricted. Look at the Scythe GT AP15 fans. Look how little space is between the blades. Look at a Delta 38mm thick 3000 RPM fan and the blades are really different, but they overlap a lot. Then look at a standard cheapo case fan and how much air space between blades.

That is why some fans are better for pressure, and usually cost more too, better engineering, better bearings etc.

 

[momobear]

How much of a efficiency loss will a fan with static pressure of 3 mm/h20 or of 2 mm/h20 have? is there a table or chart I can reference?

 

[bluezero5]

How much of a efficiency loss will a fan with static pressure of 3 mm/h20 or of 2 mm/h20 have? is there a table or chart I can reference?

that really depends on the radiator. each radiator is different with their different FPI. The denser the FPI, the higher the pressure drop. The width of the radiator also matters, the thicker it is, the higher the pressure drop too.

so choosing fan to match radiator for best effectiveness is very important.
I will say "in general" if you rad has FPI over 20, you will definitely want to make it push/pull.

 

[bluezero5]

Thank you for answering. My question now, I'm a bit confussed after reading your initial post because you talked about having positive pressire. My intake is 148 CFM, wouldn't adding those high CFM fans create negative pressure in the case.

Conundrum already answered this correctly.

in short, if your in take and outlet fans are at same numbers, and your fans are the same, you will result in positive pressure, cause the outlet fans need to go through the radiators, and even in push/pull, you will not get 100% effectiveness outta it.

however do take note, you DO want good intakes too, if you are using some of the weaker stock fans for intakes, and VERY GOOD fans as push/pull for your rad, you CAN end up with negative pressure. Which is not ideal. take note.