I have the Fractal Design R4, no windows. It comes with a removable section that holds 5 bays for storage drives. I don't need it, so I assume there's no benefit of leaving it in there as it will only block air flow, correct?

I have added an extra 140mm fan to the front case of my Fractal Design R4. In addition the R4 comes with two case fans, one front, one back. I plan to try this simple configuration as a starting point. Sound good, or should I begin with a different fan arrangement?

The Fractal has a switch on the front regulating speeds (voltage) for the fans. Should I try to utilize this or just ignore it and rely on the fan system from the bios or other fan software? If I DO decide to use the fan controls build in to the case, there are only two ports. Should I just do the two front fans or get a splitter and try to hook up all three?

Thanks.

I personally would leave the stock fans connected to the fan controller for manual control. Meanwhile the fan you added would be connected to the Motherboard to be controlled by software

That sounds good. The mobo has three fan inputs plus a CPU fan input. I'll use one input for the non-stock front case fan (antec), then that leaves me two other fans inputs. I don't actually have the vid card in my possession yet, but expect it in the mail soon. I suppose I could use the second fan input for the GPU fan. If I do, I'll still have one extra fan input. If I don't use it for the GPU, then I'll have two extra. In that case, might it be better to put the fans into the mobo instead of using the Fractal Case fan 3 speed control?

As you say, I'll plug the Antec TrueQuiet 140 into the motherboard. This fan has its own two speed control:

800 rpm @ 0.10 A
500 rpm @ 0.04 A

Is it fair to say I should set the fan to the higher 800 rpm setting and then control it with the mobo bios or other software?

Also, is there an opinion on whether or not I should keep the extra 5-bay frame in place? Seems to me I should just remove it.

I have an SSD which I expect to mount in one of the lower 3 bays. I'll put the HDD on top (for best exposure to the fan), then next install the SSD and then leave the last bank empty. The R4 also has an option for installing the SSD behind the mother board. I can do either, so I guess I'll just use the bay. Not sure if SSDs get warm, but it would seem behind the mobo is a great place to overheat.

Read through the build thread in my signature for analysis of the R4 and Truequiet fans and settings.

Remove the middle cage if you don't need it.

I wouldn't mount the SSD behind the motherboard as it will run hotter back there.

Good, your answers were what I expected.

I checked your build again. I think I need to study up on some of the terminology you used but I too would rather have as little s/w run as possible, although I'm not quite ready to deal with that yet. My mobo was about $40 less than yours and I expect my fan controls are dumbed down as a result but Gigabytle still has some options not to mention whatever I'll find in the CMOS. Got my vid card today. It doesn't look like I have a ready option to monitor the GPU fan without hacking into it and that's probably just as well. That leaves me with two fan inputs after I plug the Antec into the mobo. I could actually monitor all three via the mobo and just not use the Fractal case-front controls. I guess I'll have to experiment.

I guess I should just set the Antec mechanical fan speed to full and let the mobo regulated the voltage.

Truly - it's all about experimentation. See what works for you as everyones perception of noise is different.

Thanks Steve.