About fans and cooling

[Signify]

Hi everyone

I'm going to build a hackintosh for audio/video editing and gaming with the following:


Intel Core i7 4790K CPU
Gigabyte Z97X-UD3H MoBo
Kingston HyperX Savage DDR3 1866 PC3-14900 16GB 2x8GB CL9 RAM Memory
Gigabyte GTX 970 Gaming G1 Windforce OC 4GB GDDR5 GPU
Samsung 850 Pro 256GB SSD
Seagate Barracuda 7200 3TB 64MB HDD
Corsair RM850 850W 80 Plus Gold Modular PSU
Noctua NH-U12S HSF
Corsair Carbide 330R Case

Those last two elements are what this thread is about, but any comment on the rest of the components is welcome too.

I'd like my machine to be as silent as possible (well, as silent as a gaming system can be). Maybe I'm wrong, but I guess noise is mainly caused by RPM and that, at equal temps, a big fan can keep lower RPM than a small one. Is that right? With that in mind I choose a pretty big HFS with good reviews. I was going for the D14, but it would touch the side of the case. I'm keeping the case's stock fans, but I'd like to know if it would be a good idea to add more fans to it: http://www.corsair.com/es-es/carbide-series-330r-titanium-edition-silent-mid-tower-case

Maybe more fans means less RPM/fan and less noise. What do you think?

 

[Kazbah]

at equal temps, a big fan can keep lower RPM than a small one. Is that right?

Yes or you could word it like this : because of the longer blades a bigger fan will pull in more air at the same rpm compared to a smaller fan

I'm keeping the case's stock fans, but I'd like to know if it would be a good idea to add more fans to it: http://www.corsair.com/es-es/carbide-series-330r-titanium-edition-silent-mid-tower-case

Maybe more fans means less RPM/fan and less noise. What do you think?

Not necessarilty , because there is no solution where you could say .. hey I got six fans so spin them at 100rpm instead of spinning a single fan at 600 rpm. And also, more fans = more moving parts, moving parts =noise. The goal is to maximize airflow. The Noctua can keep the CPU cool and the Winforce cooler on the GTX will keep it cool too. All that is needed is to keep the air flowing from the front of the case towards the back ... the stock fans should be sufficient for that.

BTW looking at the manual for the case it states that max cpu cooler height is 170mm so you should be able to put in a D14 in it

Alternate case : Fractal Design Define S , if you don't need the optical drive bay ..

 

[Signify]

You're right about the max height according to the manual, I saw that later. However, the website states there's only 160mm of space. I think the right height is the one in the manual, because I saw a review and they said there's enough room for the NH-D14. Sadly, I had already bought the components because I was running out of time, so no D14 and no Define S.

I also bought an additional Noctua NF-A14 ULN for the front panel, but if you say there's enough airflow with the stock cooling, maybe I won't end up using it. I could replace one of the stock fans instead of adding one, avoiding adding more moving parts.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[o0Ampy0o]

...there is no solution where you could say .. hey I got six fans so spin them at 100rpm instead of spinning a single fan at 600 rpm....

I don't see how that is true.

A room with 6 fans moving at a slower rpm efficiently distributed so there is a coordinated flow of air will have better ventilation than a room with one fan at a higher rpm. Cannot see how it would be different with fans and a case. People add fans so they can run everything at a slower rpm to keep the noise in check among other things. There will be a point where you lose the noise advantage of low rpm vs. number of moving parts but a single fan at a higher rpm could produce more noise than several fans at a lower rpm.

There is also the design quality of a fan to consider. A superiorly designed fan could be more effective at a lower rpm than other fans. A superiorly designed fan could be quieter than another fan. Using multiple well designed fans could be superior in every way over using a smaller quantity of another fan design.