I'm trying to improve cooling inside my Define R5, specifically to cool my GPU to reduce its fan noise.
I currently have an H100i in the front as intake and the default 14mm in the back as exhaust. I've removed all drive bays and use 2x SSD's for storage (behind motherboard).
The H100i has the 2 included fans in pull configuration and I have a single 14mm fan set to push through the radiator also.
My PSU intakes from the bottom of the case. It's extra long and extends over the more usefully placed bottom fan slot.
I currently have my 6600K oc'ed at 4.8GHz 24/7 (it's stable at 4.9) and temps max in the mid 50s, so happy with that. PSU is isolated, so it's only the GPU's air that I'm concerned with.
GPU's a Strix 980 Ti OC, and it gets noisy once the fans go north of 50%, unbearably so, fan noise is like fingernails on chalkboards to me for some reason :( It's currently idling at 46C (ambient around 25C) with the fans off, sits at ~80C while gaming and I can hear it through headphones which is going to grind my teeth to stumps.
I'm hoping to provide it some direct airflow either via the less well-positioned floor intake (the one partly under the H100i), or even directly through the side door intake. I'm concerned however that i'll end up with too much positive pressure and defeat the purpose. The bottom intake would be preferred but also not sure if that'll disrupt the pull fans on the radiator, since it'll essentially be pushing air directly at them side-on from a centimeter away.
Anyone had a positive or negative experience with adding fans, specifically with double radiator as front intake, to the Define R5? I just don't feel like there's enough air coming through the radiator to provide sufficient air to the GPU, and I really don't want to move it to a top exhaust. Be interested if anyone's using a side-door fan and had success. Ideally I could use the fan slot closest to the PSU but, like I said, it's partly blocked and unusable :(
ok whats your budget? assuming limitless and the info on the site is correct "Front: 2 – 120/140 mm fans (included is 1 Fractal Design Dynamic GP14 fan, 1000 RPM speed) Rear: 1 – 120/140 mm fan (included is 1 Fractal Design Dynamic GP14 fan, 1000 RPM speed) Top: 3 - 120/140 mm fan (not included) Bottom: 2 – 120/140 mm fan (not included) Side: 1 – 120/140 mm fan (not included)"
i would use all noctua 140mm enterprise grade fans keeping positive air pressure so more fans blowing in the out. the entire top and side intake with the back and bottom outake. i'd replace the fractale design fan with a noctua as max 2000rpm + way quieter. have them all run on silent and they'll ramp up when needed and stay quiet the rest of the time unless you start having heat problems. the noctuas will always be quieter then then gpu fan even on max.
If you could actually remove the radiator from the front and place it on the top of the case and make those two fans as an outtake currently im really surprised of the EK Vardar fans quiet and push lots of air. And in place of the radiator put some case fans on it and it should start cooling that gpu for you. Thats is my set up and I get below 80c under load with my 960.
You can give the GPU more air and hence reduce the need to ramp up the fans, but it won't make much of a difference. Maybe 5% or so fan speed, and you really won't notice that.
If you don't want to mount the radiator in the top, I'd keep it in the front and add an intake fan in the side. Exhaust-wise, a 140mm in the back should be enough, the R5 has plenty of holes in the rear and front top, so overly positive pressure isn't an issue. If that doesn't do enough, consider making a custom bracket to have a fan inside the case blowing directly onto the card. As for which fans, it's true that the industrial Noctuas move a lot of air. However they make way too much noise compared to the amount of air they move. I'd go with the regular NF-14A FLX or even the Fractal fans (they're more than good enough)
But as I said in the first sentence, it probably won't be enough. Air cooled graphics cards tend to get noisy when they heat up, so you'll either need to look into stuff like the Arctic Accelero coolers or go for full-on liquid cooling.
Yes, move the radiator to the top as an outtake. If you want better fans on the radiator, the Nidec Servo make the best there is (Gentle Typhoon). Dazmode has the PWM variants for sale:
There have been comparisons made with he EK Vardar and the latter does not impress really. Sure Nidec is expensive, you get what you pay for. Double ball bearing fans that are designed to run 24/7, buy a pair and move them to the next radiator when the pump is busted.
The newer Fractal fans are good enough for intake fans, I would fill the front and probably bottom with them. A fan on the side panel would help the GPU, but would also make it easier to hear it.
Another fan test that others has confirmed is pretty accurate:
Thanks guys, yeah I think I just need to get the 980Ti on water. My case is running almost completely silent asides from the GPU so really didn't want to open the top vents for the CPU radiator, and I agree that the side fan isn't going to have the effect I need to reduce noise levels to something bearable. I have a fan coming tomorrow, so I'll test it out on the side and bottom, but it'll just be to keep me occupied until I can get it on water.
Good to see EK make a Strix specific waterblock, was kinda beating myself up for not getting the Nano tbh. The Strix advertised itself as quiet this and cool that, but it's significantly louder than the R9 290 it replaced which was unexpected :( Now I'm regretting getting the H100i since I could have used a combined water loop... part of the fun of PCs :) Always something on the wish-list.