Fractal Design Define R4 with H100i or NH-D14

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designsilent
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Joined: Tue Dec 03, 2013 8:34 am

Fractal Design Define R4 with H100i or NH-D14

Post by designsilent » Sun Dec 29, 2013 12:49 am

Hi all

I have used the holiday's promotion to buy the parts for a silent system that will be used for recording video-tutorials/podcasts, editing videos/photos, rendering HD videos(1920,1280,720p), web programming as well as personal use and an occasional gaming.
I do not plan to over-clock (maybe down the road) My main concern is the silence.
I need help with the Cooler:

1)I bought a Corsair H100i which was on a sell for $70, while the Noctua NH-D14/NH-U14S sells for $90.
Tom's Hardware implies that NH-D14 produces less noise than H100i!: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/h10 ... 80-12.html They suggest the only issue with NH-D14 is it's weight, otherwise NH-D14 is the most quite solution!

Should I pay more and get the NH-D14 or stick with H100i?
Would it worth it to change the fans of H100i with noctua nf-f12? Some reported good results after doing so.
Option A) $70 Corsair H100i
Option B) $90 Noctua NH-D14
Option C) $110 H100i with nf-f12 fans


-----------------------------
2)
Fractal Design Define R4 offers the following fan slots:
120mm back (with a fan)
2X120mm top (covered by default to reduce noise)
2X120mm front (with one fan)
2X120mm bottom (one will be covered by the PSU)
1X120mm side (covered by default to reduce noise)

If I go with H100i, in order to minimize the noise, where do you suggest to install the radiator, the front (Front has a gap to let air in but has a covering door with noise reduction foams), or installing it using the top window?

Installing at front (Hopefully fits):
Image

Installing at top:
Image

FYI my parts:
i7 4770K 3.5GHZ
ASRock Z87 Extreme4
Sandisk extreme II SSD
Fractal Design Define R4
Seasonic Platinum Fanless 520W PSU
Corsair Cooling Hydro Series H100i



Thank you and happy new year

CA_Steve
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Location: St. Louis, MO

Re: Fractal Design Define R4 with H100i or NH-D14

Post by CA_Steve » Sun Dec 29, 2013 7:03 am

Welcome to SPCR.

How about Option D: return the H100 and get the Scythe Mugen 4 instead. It ships for ~$55-60 in the US. It's quieter, cheaper, and gives good performance. If, sometime down the road you decide to overvolt the CPU, you can add a second fan and get thermal/noise similar to the Noctua.

You don't list your graphics card (for gaming).

Fans: Try the supplied fans first, in a front to back, input to exhaust flow. You can always add/change to other fans later.

This will provide the quietest solution for your live mic video recording as well as being able to handle high cpu loading and gaming.

mkk
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 with H100i or NH-D14

Post by mkk » Sun Dec 29, 2013 8:33 am

Completely agree with CA_Steve. Ditch the water cooling since low noise is the main goal, and a Mugen 4 would do very well with its really low idle fan speed.

I'd just like to point out that the Define R4 case has mounts for 140mm fans, so it's best to use fans of that size. In case you don't even have a graphics card then using just the two included fans in the default positions will be perfectly fine. Hooked up to the built in controller set to low, or controlled by the motherboard. Adding a second front intake fan would ensure that pretty much all intake comes through the filters. Personally I'd tape over the three rows of stamped holes that are situated just above the rear exhaust, to avoid having warmed up unfiltered air recirculate in that way, but that's more a personal preference than anything necessary. You're on a very good path even if getting that water cooler was not an ideal fork. :wink:

xan_user
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Re: Fractal Design Define R4 with H100i or NH-D14

Post by xan_user » Sun Dec 29, 2013 11:38 am

ditch h20. get mungen 4.flip psu. dump the two fans in front. depending on temps, you could possibly block the front fan on top where radiator was, so only two exhaust fans remain- one on top, one on rear. might also be able to block top opening in front so intake is only in front of hard drives and from bottom.

youd be eliminating noise from 2-3 fans and a pump.

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