PC Peripherals Fan Placement Advice Need For An ITX Build

Z

zero_cool

Disciple
I am building an ITX system and I feel achieving good airflow is very tricky. Here is the setup I have in mind along with other case details.

Case: Corsair 250D
CPU Cooler: Noctua C14S Top fan Pushing Down and Bottom fan Pulling Down the air (yet to purchase all the components)
Front Intake: 140mm fan (stock) or 200mm fan (yet to purchase)
Side Intake: Two 120mm fans (1 yet to purchase)
Rear Exhaust: Two 80mm fans (yet to purchase)
Motherboard: MSI B460 ITX (ordered but can be cancelled in the favour of a different MB)
Processor: Intel 10400
GPU: GTX 1060 Single Fan
PSU: Antec 650W
Fan Controller: Yet to figure and purchase

I am also not sure how to go about setting up the fan control for these as my motherboard has only one system fan control header. My components are in transit thus I want to know if I should or should not shop for any fans.
 
I couldn't figure out the airflow for the CPU cooler . Are you putting in a chimney orientation i.e. the CPU cooler fan rotation axis is horizontal?

If thats the case then I would say the lower fan should pull and the upper fan should push as it falls in line with the usual convection law where heat rises upwards.

As for the fan header usually a mobo 4 pin PWM header can supply 1 Amp. If the cumulative power draw of fans do not exceed that you can go with this which I use in my Node 304 case.

If the current draw of fans on a single header exceeds 1 A you need a power fan hub like this which pull power through SATA/Molex.
 
Thanks for the Molex Fan controller. I think I need it as my system will have 5 case fans + 1 (or 2) CPU fans. I will check out the length of the fan cables to determine the apt position of the fan header.
 
Instead of MOLEX powered ones I would suggest SATA powered hub which is in stock here.

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The reason is that with ITX cases space is at a premium and you alomost always will have a free SATA power connector as the usual SATA PSU cables have 2-3 SATA connectors on them. For MOLEX you will have to use a MOLEX cable just for the controller.

However if the PSU is non-modular then MOLEX would do as well.

I just noticed that the C14s is a flat type low profile cooler so ignore my chimney airflow recommendation which is valid for tower coolers only.
 
Marcus Fenix said:
Instead of MOLEX powered ones I would suggest SATA powered hub which is in stock here.

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The reason is that with ITX cases space is at a premium and you alomost always will have a free SATA power connector as the usual SATA PSU cables have 2-3 SATA connectors on them. For MOLEX you will have to use a MOLEX cable just for the controller.

However if the PSU is non-modular then MOLEX would do as well.

I just noticed that the C14s is a flat type low profile cooler so ignore my chimney airflow recommendation which is valid for tower coolers only.
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My PSU is semi modular so both I have free SATA and MOLEX cables which I can put to better use with this. I only need to determine the length of the fan cables and if adding 5 fans is a good idea. Lastly, thanks for the link. the Amazon one is a bit cheaper and I have some credits to use as well.
 
zero_cool said:
My PSU is semi modular so both I have free SATA and MOLEX cables which I can put to better use with this. I only need to determine the length of the fan cables and if adding 5 fans is a good idea. Lastly, thanks for the link. the Amazon one is a bit cheaper and I have some credits to use as well.
Click to expand...
TBH 5 fans is overkill for the build you have.
 
zero_cool said:
Is there a way to determine the adequate number of fans. I am not too keen with too many fans either as they are cleaning nightmare not the mention the dust they attract.
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There's no sureshot way to figure it out beforehand. I would suggest a positive pressure setup where you have more intake than exhaust.
The advantage of this setup is that you can set up dust filters on your intake fans leading to lesser dust buildup.

If you have more exhaust flow compared to intake i.e. a negative pressure setup then dust will creep in through any nook and cranny along with the air.

I would suggest keeping a 200 mm intake, one 80 mm exhaust and a 120 mm fan for directly cooling your GPU. You can scale up later in case you need more cooling but I doubt that.
 
Marcus Fenix said:
There's no sureshot way to figure it out beforehand. I would suggest a positive pressure setup where you have more intake than exhaust.
The advantage of this setup is that you can set up dust filters on your intake fans leading to lesser dust buildup.

If you have more exhaust flow compared to intake i.e. a negative pressure setup then dust will creep in through any nook and cranny along with the air.

I would suggest keeping a 200 mm intake, one 80 mm exhaust and a 120 mm fan for directly cooling your GPU. You can scale up later in case you need more cooling but I doubt that.
Click to expand...
I had been researching as well and I am planning to go to a 3D Printer and print a replica of my case front panel. Now, instead of a flat piece of plastic, I will get one with some ventilation like this or this with a nice layer of filters. Once that is in place, I can decide if I want to go for a 200mm or keep the 140mm fan. Sadly, I cannot mount a fan in front of GPU due to case limitations. Lastly, I will keep one 80mm exhaust as you suggested as well. I also plan to put a 120mm on the CPU cooler in pull configuration so I can offer some ventilation to the VRMs. I still haven't thought about how I will figure the dimensions of the front panel but I think I will pay a visit to the 3D printer guy for a solution.
 
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