"Best" setup for FD Define R4?

Hardware Cooling
#1

I'm looking for advice from those who know the R4 and have experience with case fans/ cpu cooling etc. 

My current cooling setup is as follows:

140mm Stock FD case fan pulling air in the front (for those who know the R4 it's in the top of the dual fan bracket) with the top hard drive cage removed for better airflow. 

120mm (I believe) Stock FD case fan exhausting air out the back.

Side vent/ fan area and top rad mount/ fan areas still covered by the R4 Moduvent foam.

CPU Cooler is the Noctua NH-U14S.

Currently, I have a twin pack of the Corsair SP 120mm High Performance series on order that should be in any day now, and I plan to put them in the front of the case since there's a door and apparently the high static pressure helps with pulling in cool air in a case like the R4. 

So basically what I'm wondering is what do you guys think the best step forward for airflow/ cooling my CPU would be? What I'm thinking about are a couple different things, and I'm just going to list them because some of them don't work with each other and I'd love it if you guys could tell me what the best options together are.

1: Replacing the back 120mm fan with a 140mm Corsair AF series. (Trying to stick with corsair for uniformity).

2: (Given 1) moving the stock back 120mm fan to the left door vent/ opening and removing foam.

3: Replacing Noctua NH-U14S with an AIO like the Corsair H100i or CoolerMaster Glacier 240L.

4: (Given 3) Using the two SP 120mm I have on order for the AIO/ rad thing.

5: (Given 3 and 4) ordering another twin pack of the SP High Performance (or quiet, don't care really) and using for front intake.

6: (Disregarding 3, 4, and 5) ordering a twin pack of the Corsair AF 120's and using as exhaust on the top rad mount opening.

7: (Given 6 although 6 isn't required) I would use the SP 120's on have on order for the front intake.

So I guess what I'm looking for as a response is something like "You don't need a rad, and you should use two AF's in the top for exhaust, but you don't need to replace the stock FD case fan in the back". 

Thanks a ton.

#2

Moar fans is moar power. Let's assume you want to stick with what you have at the moment.

You will have: 1 stock 140, 1 stock 120, two Corsair SP 120s.

Stick the Corsair SP 120s in the front of the case to intake cold air. Set the Noctua fan to push air through the heat sink (that's a badass one by the way) toward the back of the case and have the stock 140 exhaust air out the back of the case. For the last 120 either intake on the side vent to blow cool air straight over your graphics card or set at the top rear to exhaust hot air out the top of the case. Given the amount of passive airflow the R4 allows I would be siding more towards the top rear as the exhaust.

If you don't care too much for the cost I'd pick up two extra fans (air flow ones) so that you can fill both the exhaust at the top and the intake on the side over your GPU.

#3

I think this might be what I end up doing. Fortunately for my stupid ass the R4 actually comes with two 140's, not a 120 and a 140, so that's good :D. Hopefully I get in my 120's soon so I can see how they affect my CPU temps, but unfortunately according to FedEx tracking they left the state just south of me at 4AM yesterday morning and there's still been no update for it, more than 42 hours later. I'm hoping it will just show up on the doorstep tomorrow. As for price it isn't an issue, as I had budgeted enough to buy an h100i on top of the two 120's I already bought, so if the 120's bring down the temps enough for me to justify buying two more of the AF series for exhaust I will. 

#4

Vent out top and back.

From my understanding you want a bit more exhaust than intake to avoid pulling in random crap.

#5

You always want positive pressure in the case which means more intake than exhaust.

#6

This is what I'd heard.

 

#7

I think you can also intake through the bottom blowing on the GPU.

#8

Whoops...I said the exact opposit.

Brain fart.