WebMaximus Posted April 29, 2013 Share Posted April 29, 2013 Hi guys! I have a 650D case fitted with an H100i. Now I'm thinking of getting new fans both for the H100i but also a new exhaust fan for the back of my case. In the front of my case I'm already running a 200mm fan for intake. My plan at the moment is to get 2 SP120 Performance Edition fans for my H100i to be used in a push configuration and then 1 AF120 Performance Edition to be used as an exhaust fan at the back of the case. Does that sound like a good plan to you? What I'm mainly wondering is if the AF120 to be used at the back of the case is the best choice or if I should go for a SP120 there as well considering it moves more air as I've understood it? Yet on the other side the AF series is designed to be the better choice for open environments such as a case...hmm...? Thanks in advance for any input! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus Posted April 29, 2013 Author Share Posted April 29, 2013 And to further add to my thinking about this, maybe if I would use the AF120 as intake it would be better to spread out the cold air inside the case but in my case where I will use it as an exhaust fan how the air is spread doesn't matter since that will be outside the case and then again maybe a SP120 would be better again since it moves more air in my case hot air out of the case...double hmm...;-) Would really appreciate if someone knowledgeable could comment on this since I will soon go to my local computer store to pick the fans up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speed Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 See this previous post on exactly that: http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=117122 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus Posted April 30, 2013 Author Share Posted April 30, 2013 So as I understand it a SP fan would be the best option whenever there is an obstacle blocking the fan pretty much regardless what the obstacle is...a radiator, a filter and so on meaning I should go for a SP series fan if there will be a fan filter between the fan and the case - correct? Sorry for appearing a bit confused asking pretty much the same things in different places etc but fact is I am pretty confused having read through numerous reviews and forums trying to figure out what would be the best fan setup. This sure is a science of its own! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speed Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 An SP fan is designed to work best when there is pressure that needs to be applied on the output side. When a standard fan has to apply pressure, the blades stall and the throughput suffers. SP fan blades are designed to not stall as easily under these conditions. If you are going to put a filter directly ON the input side, no fan will work as well as it would if the filter were pulled away from the fan blades, because the blades will starve from the direct obstruction. An SP fan will not overcome a filter that is restricting it. To get an idea of how much you will be restricting the fan throughput by placing a filter across the opening, look through it. Your diminished ability to see objects on the other side of it is roughly the amount that the airflow will be blocked. So, what do you do? You make more ways for the light (air) to get through by making the filter larger and it won't throttle the fan throughput. If you want good cooling and a clean case, design and build a good filter. Don't try to overpower it with a bigger, faster fan. It'll just spin faster and make more noise, without doing any more work, because it doesn't have enough air to move. No free lunch. To test this, take a piece of cardboard and block off the fan input completely, so that you have 100% restriction. What does the fan do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus Posted April 30, 2013 Author Share Posted April 30, 2013 Thanks you so much for your very easy to understand explanation, what you say really makes sense! Since a couples of degrees doesn't really matter that much to me I decided to take the easy way for the time being and bought an Akasa filter. It will mount directly on the intake side of the fan and thus obstructing the airflow the way you described but I thought I will start like this and if the result will be really bad I will consider what you suggest building some kind of homemade solution. Thanks again for all your help so far!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Speed Posted April 30, 2013 Share Posted April 30, 2013 Let's put it this way; the results won't be "really bad" but they could be so much better. When it comes to heat soak, preventing it starting in the first place is where you want to be. Everything has heat inertia; water cooling even more so. Keeping the case as cool as it can be by providing unrestricted airflow to positively pressure the case and assist the radiator heat transfer mounted as exhaust, delays the water cooling fan RPM increase. The fans can be set to run at a lower RPM and still keep the CPU cool because there is thermal headroom. A simple test to gauge the amount of restriction a filter is causing is to support its weight with your fingers under the bottom edge and see if the fan will suck it to the case. The quicker and harder it slaps against the case, the worse the restriction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 Fact is I ended up using the rear fan as exhaust instead since using it as intake didn't work out that well in my case with increased temps as a result. I guess the reason for this is how my computer desk is built where my computer has it's own "department" sort of speak where it's confined with very little room both on the sides at the top and at it's back so the air that would be forced into the computer by the fan at the back was very hot air. So...I'm now back with the 200mm fan as intake in the front, the 120mm Corsair AF120 at the back as exhaust and 2 SP120 in a push config pushing air through the H100i out of the box upwards. Tried running Prime95 for about 1 hours @ 4.8 GHz @ 1.38V and the temp of the CPU maxed out at approx 85 C which I think is pretty OK. During normal workload like when playing games the CPU most of the times stays under 70C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryman Posted May 2, 2013 Share Posted May 2, 2013 not bad temps for such a high speed and high voltage...at 1.4 volts even running 4.2ghz shuts off in 1 second (goes above 105C) lol yes...im replacing the thermal paste soon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WebMaximus Posted May 2, 2013 Author Share Posted May 2, 2013 Yes, sounds like a plan ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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