witsend07 Posted May 18, 2012 Share Posted May 18, 2012 Hey everyone! Been a long time since my last post here, but everyone was so helpful last time I needed info that now that I'm planning on researching for a new build, I thought I'd stop by and see if I could get a question or two answered ;) I've done some searching already to try and find answers for the below (both here and elsewhere), but have not been able to find a straightforward answer that definitively explains things, so here goes! I'm considering getting the 550D, which seems like a great case for both silent operation and cooling potential (from everything I've read, with the exception of some possible rattling issues), but I was wondering about the setup is mentioned in the title of this thread: can anyone who has the 550D with a Noctua NH-D14 tell me if I can install a 200mm fan on the side at the same time? With the NH-D14 being 161mm tall, and average 200mm fans being 30mm thick, will there be enough clearance? Any tips on how this can be safely done? Anyone have better success with with the NH-C14, and how's the noise level with it in the 550D (read it's louder than the D14, but not by much, especially with ULNA)? Also, I saw a thread where RAM GUY (one of my personal heroes here lol) mentioned that the case can be used with the fans and the fan covers on at the same time... anyone who's tried willing to comment on how much of an impact that has on the airflow performance? Thanks guys and gals! :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rem451 Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 Hey everyone! Been a long time since my last post here, but everyone was so helpful last time I needed info that now that I'm planning on researching for a new build, I thought I'd stop by and see if I could get a question or two answered ;) I've done some searching already to try and find answers for the below (both here and elsewhere), but have not been able to find a straightforward answer that definitively explains things, so here goes! I'm considering getting the 550D, which seems like a great case for both silent operation and cooling potential (from everything I've read, with the exception of some possible rattling issues), but I was wondering about the setup is mentioned in the title of this thread: can anyone who has the 550D with a Noctua NH-D14 tell me if I can install a 200mm fan on the side at the same time? With the NH-D14 being 161mm tall, and average 200mm fans being 30mm thick, will there be enough clearance? Any tips on how this can be safely done? Anyone have better success with with the NH-C14, and how's the noise level with it in the 550D (read it's louder than the D14, but not by much, especially with ULNA)? Also, I saw a thread where RAM GUY (one of my personal heroes here lol) mentioned that the case can be used with the fans and the fan covers on at the same time... anyone who's tried willing to comment on how much of an impact that has on the airflow performance? Thanks guys and gals! :biggrin: i dont understand , whats the point to buy a silent case and take off the panels and add noisy fans... it's like you buying a porche and going off road.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witsend07 Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Hey rem451, Appreciate your input! I assure you that I'm not looking to add noisy fans to a silent case, just looking to build a balanced system. If you can answer any of my questions, I'd really appreciate hearing back from you (and everyone else on here, as I'm sure I'm not the only one who's every considered doing this). Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rem451 Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Hey rem451, Appreciate your input! I assure you that I'm not looking to add noisy fans to a silent case, just looking to build a balanced system. If you can answer any of my questions, I'd really appreciate hearing back from you (and everyone else on here, as I'm sure I'm not the only one who's every considered doing this). Thanks! hi pal, i havent buy this case yet, so i m not able to answer to your question, once i get it i ll answer you, have a nice day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witsend07 Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Sounds good, thanks rem451! :) In the meantime, if there's anyone else who can answer the above questions, and provide any further insight, it would be greatly appreciated! Hope everyone's having a great weekend! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rem451 Posted May 20, 2012 Share Posted May 20, 2012 Sounds good, thanks rem451! :) In the meantime, if there's anyone else who can answer the above questions, and provide any further insight, it would be greatly appreciated! Hope everyone's having a great weekend! ;) i hope so too cause i have the same question :) but not only about a side 200mm fan but also with the ability of installing one or two120mm on of the top in the case where a cpu coler like noctua's d14 or u12p se is installed. i m thinking to install some extra fans and enable them with a fan controller only when silence is coming second and perfomarce first ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witsend07 Posted May 20, 2012 Author Share Posted May 20, 2012 Exactly, would be great to hear from someone who's already tested with some of these setups so that we know what to buy ahead of time :) Let's hope someone can enlighten us with that info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stratosrally Posted May 21, 2012 Share Posted May 21, 2012 In this thread I posted every review link I could find for the 550D. Maybe there's enough info in one of those to help out: http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=107073 This page of this review specifically mentions clearances in the text and images: http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages/corsair_550d_review,8.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witsend07 Posted May 21, 2012 Author Share Posted May 21, 2012 Hey stratosrally, Thank you so much for the info! I just looked through all the articles you linked to (very interesting info in them, I know I've done research for the case using at least 5 of those links already), and unfortunately, none of them mention using both a tall cooler and the 200mm fan (or even the top slot on the side). In fact, while most (not all even catch on to the fact that you can add a 200mm fan) mention the fans that can be used, and the height of the coolers, they don't actually end up installing a side fan at all (I'm guessing to keep maximum silence). I also checked out the vortex review you linked to here (and your first post in the other thread), and while they touch on the clearances, they don't really get into using a tall cooler and a side fan. Thanks again for the info, and really looking forward to hearing from someone here on the forums that may have a build that includes both a side fan (either 200mm or the top 120/140mm slot) and a tall cooler like the NH-D14. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rem451 Posted May 22, 2012 Share Posted May 22, 2012 Hey stratosrally, Thank you so much for the info! I just looked through all the articles you linked to (very interesting info in them, I know I've done research for the case using at least 5 of those links already), and unfortunately, none of them mention using both a tall cooler and the 200mm fan (or even the top slot on the side). In fact, while most (not all even catch on to the fact that you can add a 200mm fan) mention the fans that can be used, and the height of the coolers, they don't actually end up installing a side fan at all (I'm guessing to keep maximum silence). I also checked out the vortex review you linked to here (and your first post in the other thread), and while they touch on the clearances, they don't really get into using a tall cooler and a side fan. Thanks again for the info, and really looking forward to hearing from someone here on the forums that may have a build that includes both a side fan (either 200mm or the top 120/140mm slot) and a tall cooler like the NH-D14. hello pal, your answer is here: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1038753368&posted=1#post1038753368 as you can see only one side fan panel fits, the lower of the 2 120mm or 140mm, and also not the 200mm . take care Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witsend07 Posted May 22, 2012 Author Share Posted May 22, 2012 Hey rem451, Thanks for the info!! That was actually the next forum I was going to post on if we couldn't find an answer here, so I appreciate you posting there and providing the info here! Shame about the 200mm, but guess I can live with a 140 on the bottom. Still interested to hear from anyone with experience using the fans with the covers on, and how much of a performance (or even a silence) impact there is... I know from experience that putting your hand over the cover of a fan slot that has a fan running will cause more noise, so I'm wondering if the same is caused by having a cover on... Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madwursd Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 hey. i have the 550D since 3 weeks. i did´nt testet it with side- or topfans cause the 3 original fans (2 infront @750rpm and 1 back @1200rpm) are more than enough to hold the temps inside down to 35°C (at 25°C room temperature). it´s my first quiet-case and in my eyes (ears) it is really quiet. maybe you should buy and test it, before you will put in so much fans and will get a higher background noise. your other question about the sidefan and the noctua d14 is answered. in the specs of the case is a max. hight of 170mm for cpu-coolers. 160mm is the noctua´s hight. so you can´t install a sidefan with more than 10mm thickness in the upper holder ;) maybe it will work together with a 120mm in the lower sidefanholder. greets, mad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rem451 Posted May 23, 2012 Share Posted May 23, 2012 yes i agree with the friend above, but if you want some more perfomance and better cooling you can add some fans as i ll do by removing of course the covers and simply enable/disable those fans with a fan controller when you prefer silence.. it's simple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witsend07 Posted May 23, 2012 Author Share Posted May 23, 2012 Totally hear ya, madwursd, and I'm definitely watching out for noise as well (have been doing my research on high end quiet fans that can move good amounts of air), and while silence is my first priority, heat is also a killer, and I'd like to have this new build last a good amount of time (especially since I'm planning on spending more on quality parts). After reading some of the posts in the thread that rem451 posted above, it's also clear from those who have had the case for a while now that sometimes the stock cooling is not adequate, either because of the fans being used (which I'm now subscribed to rem451's other thread about their specs, and have been doing research myself to find more info about them - fruitlessly so far lol) or their arrangment - not to mention that I've read on more than one review and testing site that having a side and either back or top combo of fans is much more effective (especially with fewer fans) than the traditional front to back. Either way, I completely agree with you that I'll have to wait and test myself... and I may need to change configs between the summer and the winter (where my room is the hottest in the house lol). It was funny, though, cause I had the same thought this morning before I left the house (i.e. to test with stock settings before doing anything), and I have plenty of quiet 120mm fans if I decide to maybe experiment with the bottom slot instead if I need better cooling... or even to get an aftermarket gpu cooler to compliment the NH-D14 quietness... guess I should rethink the budget, eh? lol rem451, that's a good point too about a fan controller, and turning on/adjusting fans when needed (i.e. gaming, heavy loads, etc.). And even though I'm going to test this myself when I do get the case (cause I'm just curious like that), it's important to note that Redbeard, one of the Corsair reps on the other forum, specifically mentioned that running the fans with the covers on would be "useless", so in case anyone was curious, that's the official word ;) The only real worry I have now is about the rattling issue, and I guess they'll either come out with a fix or a different revision of the case by the time I'm ready to buy :P Thanks everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rem451 Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 Hello my friend finally i bought the case and i can say that the fan controller is a must, now i have the most silent case in the world and i can adjust every fan's power etc, i have about 32C at idle with 5 fans [noctua's nf-p12, 2 infront 1 back (14mm), 2 of cpu cooler] all running at 50%! Now the only problem is the noise that comes from the hdd, i 'm planning to mod it with some ... elastic suspenions. So my next move is to buy a silent ups, unfortunatelly corsair doesn't make ups :( :P if you have any suggestion let me know, thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
witsend07 Posted May 29, 2012 Author Share Posted May 29, 2012 Congrats rem451!! Glad to hear it, and I'll let you know if I find any further info to help you make your build even more silent ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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