Cooling - What Do I Need?

[Chronogear]

Hello community, i just have 1 question. Based on my following spec bellow, which fans do i need? Yup, my english is bad and im new when it comes to using fans.

Motherboard: ASUS P8P67-M Pro
Processor: Core i5 2500k (prolly not gonna do OC on it)
VGA: Sapphire Radeon HD 6850 1GB
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 1333mhz 9-9-9-24 (2x4GB)
Case: Cooler Master Gladiator 600
CPU Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus (do i really need it? already bought it tho)
Power Supply: Corsair TX 650W
System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bits

My case has like 2 fans, 120mm (1 in front / 1 back). They are generic and noisy, but they work just fine. Should i be replacing them? I dont know much about fan brands. But something like Corsair, OCZ, Cooler Master and Thermaltake should do the work right? Any insight would help me a lot. Thanks .

 

[Nizzzlle]

For case cooling the ans should always be positioned to blow air IN from the bottom front, up pasted the PSU/ Video Card then out the top in the rear. Its all about getting the right pressures to force cool air to travel passed the components the generally suck air in.

The PSU sucks air in to cool off. I would recommend grabbing a dust filter and flipping it upside down in that case so it can suck fresh air from the floor. This helps the air from the front fan travel up the video card better.

The GPU sucks air in as well and expels through the back of the case, this and the CPU are generally what get the hottest, definitely want fresh cool air getting here.

So in all you want a powerful 120mm fan sucking in, in the front. Then a 140mm on top and possible an extra fan in the top rear. If you add a side fan it most likely should be an intake fan to get fresh are to the GPU. That should do it.

Also if you aren't going to overclock theres no need for the 212+, the standard cooler will do the job. Always good to have on hand though!

Good luck man!

 

[lehtv]

Your English is totally fine.

You don't need to replace the fans to improve cooling; 6850 doesn't get particularly hot and neither does a stock clocked 2500K on a 212+. But if you want them to make less noise, that's another thing.

The most important factor in fan noise is RPM. Things like bearing type, blade shape, brand etc are secondary. This means that by downvolting, you can lower RPM which in turn decreases noise and airflow. If you want the same overall airflow at a lower RPM, you need more fans.

Downvolting can be achieved with a fan controller unit, a cable adapter - or directly via the motherboard. Your motherboard comes with the Asus Fan Xpert feature which allows you to control fans connected to the chassis fan headers. Try that?

 

[Chronogear]

Damn, thanks that was pretty clear to me actually. Ill might just grab a decent 120mm front fan and rear one. Is the top one needed?

Do you recommend any brand specific? Scythe Gentle is just too expensive, haha. Thanks for your help, really appreciated.

 

[lehtv]

Ill might just grab a decent 120mm front fan and rear one. Is the top one needed?

The top one isn't needed. Observing idle and load temperatures with HWMonitor should tell you whether you need better cooling.

If you're going to replace the fans to quiet them down, make sure you buy fans that are lower RPM than what you currently have... otherwise it won't make a big difference

 

[Chronogear]

Your English is totally fine.

You don't need to replace the fans to improve cooling; 6850 doesn't get particularly hot and neither does a stock clocked 2500K on a 212+. But if you want them to make less noise, that's another thing.

The most important factor in fan noise is RPM. Things like bearing type, blade shape, brand etc are secondary. This means that by downvolting, you can lower RPM which in turn decreases noise and airflow. If you want the same overall airflow at a lower RPM, you need more fans.

Downvolting can be achieved with a fan controller unit, a cable adapter - or directly via the motherboard. Your motherboard comes with the Asus Fan Xpert feature which allows you to control fans connected to the chassis fan headers. Try that?

Correct, my mobo does have that feature. So it jsut auto-adapts? I did see a few "Fan controllers" once i went to buy my processor, was totally clueless about it, and i kinda still am, haha. But as u said, my machine isnt that "Strong" and since im not OCing, i just need decent 120mm fans (2 mostly)?

 

[lehtv]

You said your current fans work fine albeit being a bit noisy, so if you can get Fan Xpert to work its magic on them, I don't see any reason to replace them