Question 280mm rad fan spacing

[CU]

Is there a standard 280mm rad fan spacing. I am modding a case and I am putting two 140mm in the front. Should the spacing be 15mm or 20mm? What does the NZXT Kraken x62 or the Corsair 280mm AIO units use? I may never install an AIO, but I would like to do it right in case I do add one in the future.

 

[CU]

From what I can tell so far some have 15mm and some have 20mm spacing. Seems like there are two standards, with most AIO units not even listing what their spacing is.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

My Corsair 280 Pro uses two 140mm Corsair magnetic levitation fans, there is nearly no room between the two fans. Pretty sure I could put a piece of paper between them.
I’m going to guess they are about 1mm apart.
Why not get the cooler first then mark on the case where you need to cut?

 

[CU]

Not sure I will ever use a AIO. I just plan to use it with fans for now. More of a just in case.

No room sounds like 15mm spacing. The template I got from mnpctech is for 20mm spacing. 20mm leaves a few mm between the fans.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Not sure I will ever use a AIO. I just plan to use it with fans for now. More of a just in case.

No room sounds like 15mm spacing. The template I got from mnpctech is for 20mm spacing. 20mm leaves a few mm between the fans.

Assuming this 15mm spacing is the space between the fans, that is more than 1/2 an inch to me. No way are the fans that far apart. The basically touch each other on the radiator.

 

[CU]

The 15mm or 20mm is the spacing between the center of the two adjacent fan screw holes.

 

[aigomorla]

20cm spacing i am assuming, and this is between fan holes.

Going back to geometry

a^2+b^2=c^2 where is the long leg in the right tri.

So a and b both = 140mm fan as he is going 280mm radiator.

So fan has a hypoth. of 198mm ~ 20cm which means mnpctech gave you proper spacing.


for a 120mm setup, or a 240 360 480
You need 15mm spacing.

 

[CU]

15mm vs 20mm spacing has nothing to do with the hypoth. of a 140mm fan. The spacing is the distance between the two adjacent fan's adjacent screw holes. So, if the fans are pretty much touching it is 15mm. If there is some space it is 20mm. The spacing controls have far apart the fans are. Seems most newer cases allow both and AIO's vary and rarely publish this measurement. NZXT appears to use 15mm while newer Corsair's use 20mm. Older Corsair's used 15mm.

 

[aigomorla]

So, if the fans are pretty much touching it is 15mm. If there is some space it is 20mm.

no this is wrong because your ignoring the diameter of the fan itself.

140mm fan has the fan opening of 140mm
That means its 140mm on each side facing.
The corners opposite to each other is 198mm +/-, hence why mnptech gave you a 20cm spacing for 140mm fan.

Had the fan been 120mm, you would need to do a 15 cm spacing.

And the cases you listed have DEDICATED MULTI MOUNTS, for 120mm and 140mm fan.
They are not sharing the same hole, and again those holes are probably spaced out 15cm for 120mm AIO's 20cm for the 140's.

What your (im guessing implying) is the wider spacing Thermochill PA120.3's used to have which were i believe 18cm.
This gave you a gap between the fans, but no one uses this spacing layout anymore, and would require you to source old PA120.3's

Also i don't think your implying 15mm of spacing between each fan housing, because there is no radiator in existence which has spacing like that, and you'd be at the mercy of using only 120mm radiators.

 

[CU]

Mnptech's template has 20mm for 140mm fans not 20cm. We are not talking about the same spacing. I am talking about the 15mm or 20mm from fan 1's right most screw hole to fan 2's left most screw hole measured from the center of each hole. Fans almost touching the spacing is 15mm the holes are closer together. Fans a little more apart the holes are 20mm apart.

 

[aigomorla]

For radiator support the fans need to be closer together to the point of touching to almost touching.
20mm between the holes you listed is a huge gap between fans, and would make mounting any radiator larger then a 120x1 extremely difficult.

However on 140mm its a bit more difficult, so it best practice to make that hole your talking about extended to an oval so u have some flex room like this:

Cooler Fan inside Desktop Computer Case PC on white background Stock Photo - Alamy

Download this stock image: Cooler Fan inside Desktop Computer Case PC on white background - MMJR1G from Alamy's library of millions of high resolution stock photos, illustrations and vectors.

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The fans mounted are 120mm.
The holes on the outside are the 140mm.
The case can take 3x120 or 2x140.

You see how they made the fan holes oval to give flex.

I would honestly go with that route, unless you have the actual AIO which you wish to install, which then you would just put the fan on top and punch holes.

 

[CU]

20mm is not that different from 15mm. The fans are only 5mm further apart using 20mm spacing vs the closer 15mm spacing. Corsair uses 20mm on their 280mm AIO's from the reading on other forums I have done.

 

[aigomorla]

20mm is not that different from 15mm. The fans are only 5mm further apart using 20mm spacing vs the closer 15mm spacing. Corsair uses 20mm on their 280mm AIO's from the reading on other forums I have done.

looking at corsairs, unless im lost, they use the oval design i showed in the picture above for the fan1->fan2 transition.
Unless you can show me a case which has spot on holes.

 

[tracerbullet]

I have a Corsair case, w/ only holes. Takes their AIO coolers (I have one of those too). It's a few years old, slots are probably the current version of the holes, an improvement made over time.

2 x 120 cooler, H100i, uses holes you'd call 15mm apart. The holes for the 2 x 140 cooler are 20mm apart.

I do agree you should get a cooler first, then drill after marking form it.

15mm / vs. 20mm is a funny way to look at it but yeah it's valid and no huge gaps. I guess everyone figured that part out by now.

 

[CU]

2 x 120mm AIO's seem to always use 15mm. No question there. But, 2 x 140mm AIO's can use 15mm or 20mm. Your Corsair 2 x 140mm being 20mm matches what I have read. The kraken x62 (2 x 140mm) uses 15mm though. The lack of standard is why the 2 x 140mm holes on cases are ovals now.

I may never install an AIO that is why I don't plan to buy it first. I was just trying to put the holes in the correct spot for possible future plans. If I want to be full proof I will cut ovals or just pick one and make it my standard.

 

[aigomorla]

yeah i completely agree that is why i said it gets very messy over at the 140mm.