VirtualMirage
Limp Gawd
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2011
- Messages
- 470
So, I am not sure if this thread is better served here or under cases.
As the title states, I am still flip flopping back and forth if I should go for the RTX 3080, which will offer no challenges what-so-ever in getting it to fit my Fractal Design Node 804 case, or if I can go with the RTX 3090 in the same case but with a few potential challenges.
Background:
I am building a new PC. In a nutshell, the main hardware is:
For those unaware, this is a cuboid style case broken into two chambers, the motherboard side and the power supply side. The radiators are going in the top of the case, one in each chamber, and the pump/reservoir will be in the power supply chamber. Initially, I was going to have 4 120mm intake fans on the front of the case, two in each chamber, but this has changed as I was able to start piecing it together. Cable management might force me to remove one intake fan from the power supply chamber and the way Fractal Design offsets the radiators in the top prevents me from putting two 120mm intake fans in the motherboard chamber, leaving me with just one. Both chambers will have rear 120mm exhaust fans. There is quite a bit of filter ventilation on the bottom of the case too for air to be pulled in through, but no fans at the moment.
The case can accept graphics cards up to 290mm in length while retaining a 25mm thick intake fan. If you are able to make do without the intake fan, you can fit a graphics card up to 320mm in length. So this is where the dilemma comes into play. If I stick with the RTX 3080, there are absolutely no issues with installation since the FE model is listed as being 285mm in length. This should let me keep the one intake case fan in the motherboard chamber in place, blowing cool air directly onto the graphics card. If I decide to go the RTX 3090 route, I will have to remove that one intake case fan since the FE graphics card is listed as being 313mm in length.
With having two 120mm fans on the radiator in the top of that chamber pushing air through the radiator and out the case and having a single 120mm exhaust case fan in the rear, will I have sufficient airflow for the RTX 3090? My initial thought is that the fans on the graphics card look to be pretty large and may help contribute to some of the pulling of air into the case from both the front as well as the vents at the bottom of the case. But is it enough to actually draw fresh air in? If I go the RTX 3090 route, should I try and fit some fans at the bottom of the case to pull air through the vents and have it blow over the graphics card? From the looks of it, I can fit some 120mm fans on the bottom but there is no native way to mount them. Looking at a Legit Reviews article on the case, it appears that the bottom does have mounting points for two 80mm fans (which the Noctua NF-A8 PWM Chromax may be a good choice), which would keep me from having to modify the case.
Throwing cost aside and focusing just on whether it is an option that will work while not creating a negative impact on airflow/sound/heat/performance, is it something that is doable or even recommended?
Is not having that one 120mm case fan in the front going to make enough of a difference in fresh airflow working its way into the case? Will adding two 80mm fans at the bottom to pull in air from there instead be a good alternative to the single front 120mm case fan?
The Noctua's specs for the 80mm fans list them as being pretty quiet, but a small fan at higher RPM will always have a higher likelihood of being louder than a larger fan running at a lower RPM. For comparison, the front case fan is a BeQuiet Silent Wings 3 120mm HS.
While I am not expecting a completely silent PC, I would like a quiet one. My current build (see signature) is pretty quiet with day to day activities but does start to get loud when playing GPU intensive games. My hope is the new build will be quieter or at least have a sound perception that doesn't get annoying.
As the title states, I am still flip flopping back and forth if I should go for the RTX 3080, which will offer no challenges what-so-ever in getting it to fit my Fractal Design Node 804 case, or if I can go with the RTX 3090 in the same case but with a few potential challenges.
Background:
I am building a new PC. In a nutshell, the main hardware is:
- Fractal Design Node 804 mATX case
- Ryzen 9 3900 XT (a placeholder until Zen 3 comes out)
- Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Impact X570 mDTX motherboard
- 32GB G.Skill Trident Neo DDR4 3600 CL16 RAM
- Corsair AX1000 PSU
- Custom water loop
- 2x Corsair XR7 240mm x 54mm radiators
- 4x BeQuiet SilentWings 3 120mm HS fans
- EK-Quantum Kinetic TBE D5 reservoir/pump combo
- Optimus Foundation CPU Block for AMD
For those unaware, this is a cuboid style case broken into two chambers, the motherboard side and the power supply side. The radiators are going in the top of the case, one in each chamber, and the pump/reservoir will be in the power supply chamber. Initially, I was going to have 4 120mm intake fans on the front of the case, two in each chamber, but this has changed as I was able to start piecing it together. Cable management might force me to remove one intake fan from the power supply chamber and the way Fractal Design offsets the radiators in the top prevents me from putting two 120mm intake fans in the motherboard chamber, leaving me with just one. Both chambers will have rear 120mm exhaust fans. There is quite a bit of filter ventilation on the bottom of the case too for air to be pulled in through, but no fans at the moment.
The case can accept graphics cards up to 290mm in length while retaining a 25mm thick intake fan. If you are able to make do without the intake fan, you can fit a graphics card up to 320mm in length. So this is where the dilemma comes into play. If I stick with the RTX 3080, there are absolutely no issues with installation since the FE model is listed as being 285mm in length. This should let me keep the one intake case fan in the motherboard chamber in place, blowing cool air directly onto the graphics card. If I decide to go the RTX 3090 route, I will have to remove that one intake case fan since the FE graphics card is listed as being 313mm in length.
With having two 120mm fans on the radiator in the top of that chamber pushing air through the radiator and out the case and having a single 120mm exhaust case fan in the rear, will I have sufficient airflow for the RTX 3090? My initial thought is that the fans on the graphics card look to be pretty large and may help contribute to some of the pulling of air into the case from both the front as well as the vents at the bottom of the case. But is it enough to actually draw fresh air in? If I go the RTX 3090 route, should I try and fit some fans at the bottom of the case to pull air through the vents and have it blow over the graphics card? From the looks of it, I can fit some 120mm fans on the bottom but there is no native way to mount them. Looking at a Legit Reviews article on the case, it appears that the bottom does have mounting points for two 80mm fans (which the Noctua NF-A8 PWM Chromax may be a good choice), which would keep me from having to modify the case.
Throwing cost aside and focusing just on whether it is an option that will work while not creating a negative impact on airflow/sound/heat/performance, is it something that is doable or even recommended?
Is not having that one 120mm case fan in the front going to make enough of a difference in fresh airflow working its way into the case? Will adding two 80mm fans at the bottom to pull in air from there instead be a good alternative to the single front 120mm case fan?
The Noctua's specs for the 80mm fans list them as being pretty quiet, but a small fan at higher RPM will always have a higher likelihood of being louder than a larger fan running at a lower RPM. For comparison, the front case fan is a BeQuiet Silent Wings 3 120mm HS.
While I am not expecting a completely silent PC, I would like a quiet one. My current build (see signature) is pretty quiet with day to day activities but does start to get loud when playing GPU intensive games. My hope is the new build will be quieter or at least have a sound perception that doesn't get annoying.