Intake fan options for 7000D?

[Hendrix89]

Hi,

I'm running an H170i AIO inside a 7000D Airflow. I have a spare H170i so yesterday I decided to replace the two stock 140mm intake case fans with the 3 fans from the spare H170. I figured those static pressure fans would still do a good job as intake, and I wanted the extra RGB to brighten up my case some more.

However, I noticed I'm now getting slightly worse CB23 temps. On my 12900K, with stock case intakes, my temps (package) peaked at 80C after 30min. Now with those 3 AIO fans (guessing they are ML140s?) on the front, it hits 80C in less than 10mins.. All fans at 100% for both tests.

Is it worth replacing those fans? Thought they would perform better (as it's 3 intake fans vs 2 stock AND they are higher RPM) but I was wrong. Any good alternatives? They need to be RGB.

This is my system setup btw:

 

Edited January 25, 2022 by Hendrix89

[c-attack]

You're probably chasing shadows here.  The CPU only R23 loop is enough to see substantial differences in case ambient temperature and most of the heat would be at the top of the MB or out through top CPU radiator.  The front fans won't have much impact on this at all, so any differences in peak or average CPU temp are likely down to overall environment temp when the test was run.  I think you could turn off the front fans and still get a similar result.  If you want a more meaningful fan test you need to do something that creates more internal heat and the GPU is the obvious choice for that role.  

 

Knocking internal case temp down by 2C by changing fans is pretty tough unless the prior model is completely inappropriate or there is a large amount of restriction coupled with the former.  There is not going to much difference between a SP-Elite 140mm and a ML-Elite 140mm (OEM).  It's a very similar 7 blade design and the specifications differences are the result of the ML-E's higher max speed (2000 rpm) where the measurements are taken.  If you are not running the front fans at those substantially higher speeds, then you won't see a difference.  Of note, the recently released ML-Elite retail adopted the vane design used for the SP-Elite, so perhaps that does have some value.  Most of the time swapping front fans is very hardware location specific with the exact angle of the blade pushing air across a specific motherboard component you are concerned about (m.2 drive, PCH, etc).  This is a hard place to make gains unless you are willing to run ultra high fan speeds and most users likely don't think minus 2-3C is worth that.  

[Hendrix89]

51 minutes ago, c-attack said:

You're probably chasing shadows here.  The CPU only R23 loop is enough to see substantial differences in case ambient temperature and most of the heat would be at the top of the MB or out through top CPU radiator.  The front fans won't have much impact on this at all, so any differences in peak or average CPU temp are likely down to overall environment temp when the test was run.  I think you could turn off the front fans and still get a similar result.  If you want a more meaningful fan test you need to do something that creates more internal heat and the GPU is the obvious choice for that role.  

 

Knocking internal case temp down by 2C by changing fans is pretty tough unless the prior model is completely inappropriate or there is a large amount of restriction coupled with the former.  There is not going to much difference between a SP-Elite 140mm and a ML-Elite 140mm (OEM).  It's a very similar 7 blade design and the specifications differences are the result of the ML-E's higher max speed (2000 rpm) where the measurements are taken.  If you are not running the front fans at those substantially higher speeds, then you won't see a difference.  Of note, the recently released ML-Elite retail adopted the vane design used for the SP-Elite, so perhaps that does have some value.  Most of the time swapping front fans is very hardware location specific with the exact angle of the blade pushing air across a specific motherboard component you are concerned about (m.2 drive, PCH, etc).  This is a hard place to make gains unless you are willing to run ultra high fan speeds and most users likely don't think minus 2-3C is worth that.  

Thanks for the detailed reply. My room actually felt like it was colder than it was during the time of the stock fan R23 run, which is what made me wonder. I haven't installed any games yet and they would have been a better indication of overall case temp it seems, so what you're saying does make sense.

You mention a fan, the 'ML-Elite 140mm' (OEM version). I was trying to find out the exact model of my H170i radiator fans and I'm guessing that is the model?

Would there be any benefit in switching to an AF fan for the intakes or would there be no point? I take it static pressure are fine for intake?

[LeDoyen]

with no radiator to overcome, they would all perform pretty much the same with slight differences in RGB or noise signature, if any.

your GPU activity, and room temperature will influence the CPU temp much more since the AIO is set as case exhaust.

[Hendrix89]

1 hour ago, LeDoyen said:

with no radiator to overcome, they would all perform pretty much the same with slight differences in RGB or noise signature, if any.

your GPU activity, and room temperature will influence the CPU temp much more since the AIO is set as case exhaust.

Good to know, thanks. Noise is of no real concern to me anyway, as they are quiet at idle and I wear headphones while playing games.

[c-attack]

6 hours ago, Hendrix89 said:

You mention a fan, the 'ML-Elite 140mm' (OEM version). I was trying to find out the exact model of my H170i radiator fans and I'm guessing that is the model?

We had been calling the fans that come with the Elite series coolers "ML Elite" for obvious reasons and they were the radiator version to go along with the SP-Elite case fan version with those vanes.  However, Corsair recently released the "ML Elite" as a retail version but changed up a few visual elements.  The frame design is different and it got the airflow vanes from the SP-Elite.  So now I have started calling the original AIO version (OEM) to distinguish between the retail version. Both 120 and 140mm retail versions have their max RPM toned down a bit to match more mainstream speeds (2400 vs 2000 and 2000 vs 1600 rpm).  I have not seen a professional review of them yet so it's hard to say if the vanes have a positive/negative effect on radiator or case fan use.  

 

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Fans/Magnetic-Levitation-Fans/iCUE-ML-RGB-ELITE-Premium-PWM-Magnetic-Levitation-Fan/p/CO-9050114-WW

 

It's hard to keep a perfect baseline for comparing runs, but aside from different temp conditions the fans themselves could factor in.  The ML OEM may have been more effective at pushing air across the motherboard and as a result more heat is released into the CPU radiator above.  It's also possible to negatively impact the fan mechanics of the near top fan(s) when using a very strong front intake fan.  I am speculating, but I was only half kidding when I suggested running it with the front fans set to 0 rpm.  It makes for a valid comparison point and may shed some light on what really is happening inside the case.  However, unless you run CPU renders/encoding or something similar to the R23 dog track loop, I think its better to test and set-up for what you really do.  GPU rendering/games is undoubtedly the big heat and something like GPU top plate temperature can clearly be influenced by front intake speed/performance.  Without a thermal gun, using GPU RAM temp might be the most indicative.

 

However, as LeDoyen pointed about above, this is all small potatoes and most users will be chasing 1-2C here or there.  For some people that is part of the fun, but these days compatible RGB functionality is much higher up on the list.  None of your fans are weak, so I don't see much place to make improvement except in the case of specific blade angle vs specific hardware improvements.  That's not something you can guess at and have to try to see if there is a tangible benefit.  I would not expect to see much difference between any of the SP-Elite, ML-Elite retail, or ML-Elite OEM except when run at different speeds.