# Suggestion for ideal airflow in cm 431 plus



## polupoka (Aug 13, 2014)

Hi,I want to buy a 120mm/92mm noctua fan as exhaust on top and a 140mm noctua fan as intake in front of my COOLER MASTER ELITE 431 PLUS CAB(stock fan@1000rpm in rear as exhaust) ...my motherboard is Gigabyte G1 sniper a88x ..please tell me whether i buy Noctua Nf-F12 or NF-A9 for top exhaust...

also after that* also tell NF-A15 PWM or Nf-A14 PWM as front intake....

Basically guide me for the 'best combination AIRFLOW' system please....


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## sniperz1 (Aug 13, 2014)

polupoka said:


> Hi,I want to buy a 120mm/92mm noctua fan as exhaust on top and a 140mm noctua fan as intake in front of my COOLER MASTER ELITE 431 PLUS CAB(stock fan@1000rpm in rear as exhaust) ...my motherboard is Gigabyte G1 sniper a88x ..please tell me whether i buy Noctua Nf-F12 or NF-A9 for top exhaust...
> 
> also after that* also tell NF-A15 PWM or Nf-A14 PWM as front intake....
> 
> Basically guide me for the 'best combination AIRFLOW' system please....



You will have to balance the intake vs outtake flow of your cabinet and take care negative pressure doesn't develop inside.
CM 431 Plus has basically
3 exhaust ports and 2 intake ports

I would suggest
exhaust
1 rear 120 mm
1 top 120 mm

Intake
1 front 140 mm
1 bottom 120 mm [does cm 431 plus comes with bottom dust filter?]

Your mobo comes with 3 system fan headers.

Fan config suggestion
1 top exhaust = stock cm blue led
1 rear exhaust = noctua nf f12 pwm or nf s12a pwm 
1 front intake = noctua nf a14 pwm 140mm
1 bottom intake = noctua nf f12 pwm or nf s12a pwm 

Connect both exhaust fans on a single fan header and intake on seperate ones.

If you want cheaper options then you can go with cooler master sickle flow but they are non pwm.
For front you can go with led pwm if you want to show off some cool led's in front panel

I personally use bitfenic spectre led pwms and noctua nf sp12a pwm and they are very silent and keep my cpu and gpu cool.


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## polupoka (Aug 14, 2014)

*tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/13/f2a451afd88bb04f92acea56bb528bcb.jpgHmmm...  So bottom intake is needed really?  Sorry i had no idea bout that sir! 
Btw i kept my cabinet on left-bottom of my table(u can see pic)..  And it sat just above a wooden stand... So i guess... I think in bottom how any fan intake air if i install?  And for solution please give me any idea so that theres space in bottom for air to pass through.. 

Thank you lots sniperz1 sir. *tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/13/4e15e8f0ae6e329149a179235850d3c8.jpg


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## sniperz1 (Aug 14, 2014)

CM Elite 431 Plus does have a bottom ventilation port. You can use it for intake or else you can try another config.
Bottom intake fan is sufficient if the front hdd cage is blocking the front intake of air and bottom intake will cool off the mobo and its components without restrictions.

CM Elite 431 Plus does have foot. So the bottom part of cabinet is some height above the ground. So make sure your case is resting on that feet even  if you kept it on that wooden stand. Your PSU is facing down probably too, right?

Exhaust
1 120 mm rear exhaust [noctua nf f12 pwm]

Intake
1 top = stock case fan
1 140 mm front intake [noctua nf a14 pwm or any other led]

All 3 connected to fan headers on your mobo.

Hot air rises above so top fans are used as exhaust usually but if your cpu is not getting any benefit then you can reverse the air flow and use top fans as intake. It will directly blow air on the cpu and keep it cooler.

You can monitor the temp of your cpu and add less or more fans accordingly.

Negative pressure inside cabinet will keep cabinet more cool but attract lots of dust especially in a non dust proof environment.

*Or you can simply use 1 rear exhaust and 1 front 140 mm intake as well. If that keeps your cpu cool then no need to add anything else.*

You can just call me sniperz1, I am just a regular member like you.


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## polupoka (Aug 14, 2014)

so much helpful! 
1. I kept my cab wrongly... Now its on its feet! Never thought about psu fan!! Thank you.

2. I dont like leds too much... Cooling is imp only, so all i need is to order noctua Nf-F12 PWM(as rear exhaust) and Nf-A14 PWM (as front intake) and stock fan as top exhaust (or keep it unplugged acc.to need). 

3.AIRFLOW MEASUREMENT: NOCYUA NF-F12 HAS Airflow-93,4 m³/h
Airflow with L.N.A.74,3 m³/h

NOCTUA NF-A14 HAS airflow115,5 m³/h
Airflow with L.N.A.101,9 m³/h

So i think i use stock as top exhaust to maontain air pressure... Am i right sniperz1?

4.I applied noctua nt-h1 thermal paste pefore and it resulted 5 degree less temp!  Now my mobo temp is 42 and cpu temp is 44 with stock fan only.. Hope it improves after i add 2 more fans. 

5.okkk,u are sniperz1... i have xperia z1, i can remember your name always 

THANKKK YOUUUU


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## sniperz1 (Aug 14, 2014)

polupoka said:


> so much helpful!
> 1. I kept my cab wrongly... Now its on its feet! Never thought about psu fan!! Thank you.
> 
> 2. I dont like leds too much... Cooling is imp only, so all i need is to order noctua Nf-F12 PWM(as rear exhaust) and Nf-A14 PWM (as front intake) and stock fan as top exhaust (or keep it unplugged acc.to need).
> ...


You are welcome.

If you are not much into LED's then noctua will be an excellent choice. Good airflow and very silent and 6 yrs warranty !
Your cpu and mobo temp looks fine right now , it might go a bit lower with addition of a rear exhaust since right now your case doesn't have any exhaust fans.

My suggestion would be 
Intake
1 front 140 mm noctua nf a14 
1 top 120 mm stock fan [optional]

Exhaust
1 rear 120 mm noctua nf f12
----------------------

Incase you decide to use your stock fan then add it as intake rather than exhaust cause if you have 2 fans as exhaust and 1 as intake it will create negative pressure inside your case and attract more dust.
Your stock fan must be non pwm, so you can connect it along with the 140 mm intake fan on the same fan header using y cable given by noctua so that your mobo autoregulates both intake and exhaust or else you can connect it seperately and manually control it.

Those airflow values are taken considering that fans are at max rpm.
If you add 1 120 mm as exhaust and 1 140 mm as intake , the airflow difference = 115 - 93 =  22 [positive air pressure]
Now if you add another stock fan as exhaust it will make the air pressure inside cabinet negative.

So choose either of these combinations [1 rear exhaust + 1 front intake] or [1 rear exhaust + 1 front + 1 top intake.

Use rubber screws while installation which comes with noctua.


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## polupoka (Aug 14, 2014)

Wowwwww!  Speechless now! .....too much more than i needed...  I would be glad if I do anything for you someday...  I am your fan sniperz1


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## sniperz1 (Aug 14, 2014)

polupoka said:


> Wowwwww!  Speechless now! .....too much more than i needed...  I would be glad if I do anything for you someday...  I am your fan sniperz1



Thanks, that really means a lot. I am happy to help 
Let us know what changes you notice once you get your case fans installed and working.


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## polupoka (Aug 17, 2014)

Noctua Nf-F12 is out of stock in primeabgb still!  Any other site..?  Can only Hope of 'in stock'!


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## sniperz1 (Aug 17, 2014)

polupoka said:


> Noctua Nf-F12 is out of stock in primeabgb still!  Any other site..?  Can only Hope of 'in stock'!



Primeabgb and itwares are the only two distributors of noctua in India. I am not sure where else can you get those products. Ask them when will it come in stock. Or else you will have to look for some other company like CM Sickleflow, Corsair Air series or Bitfenix spectre.


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## polupoka (Aug 17, 2014)

No, i will wait for noctua  hmm.. M checking itwares now....  Tc


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## sniperz1 (Aug 17, 2014)

polupoka said:


> No, i will wait for noctua  hmm.. M checking itwares now....  Tc



I have NF S12a PWM but their max is 1200 RPM whereas NF F12 runs at 1500 max [more cooling but more noisy too relatively]

By that time you can just get the 140 mm fan intake fan and use your stock as rear exhaust. That would be good too.


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## Rajesh345 (Aug 17, 2014)

I dont know which Chase is in the pic (from google)  , But similar to pic i posted can u arrange the cables  , i see lot of cables arranged in ur cabnet ,Cable management surely helps


> *i734.photobucket.com/albums/ww350/F1REFOX2107/P1030872.jpg


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## polupoka (Aug 17, 2014)

sniperz1 said:


> I have NF S12a PWM but their max is 1200 RPM whereas NF F12 runs at 1500 max [more cooling but more noisy too relatively]
> 
> By that time you can just get the 140 mm fan intake fan and use your stock as rear exhaust. That would be good too.


Hmmm....  Ok...  So i am ordering 140mm now!  Thanx

Actually m preferring Nf-F12 for its 'SSO2' bearing.


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## polupoka (Aug 17, 2014)

Rajesh345 said:


> I dont know which Chase is in the pic (from google)  , But similar to pic i posted can u arrange the cables  , i see lot of cables arranged in ur cabnet ,Cable management surely helps


Yeh.... I will for sure,M just waiting for noctua fans... M a bit too lazy actually


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## sniperz1 (Aug 17, 2014)

polupoka said:


> Hmmm....  Ok...  So i am ordering 140mm now!  Thanx
> 
> Actually m preferring Nf-F12 for its 'SSO2' bearing.



I think almost all noctua fans comes with SSO2 bearings. But yeah NF F12 is more powerful.

I have 8 fans in my case so I needed something which is more silent rather than powerful lol.


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## polupoka (Aug 17, 2014)

sniperz1 said:


> I think almost all noctua fans comes with SSO2 bearings. But yeah NF F12 is more powerful.
> 
> I have 8 fans in my case so I needed something which is more silent rather than powerful lol.


Pwm fans:Nf-s12a,Nf-f12 are sso2 but nf-p12 isnt. 

Both 140mm pwm fans are sso2.
As i hav not so many fans... Thats why m waiting for Nf-F12 instead of buying nf-p12 (Nf-s12a is less powerful, so cancelled)


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## polupoka (Sep 28, 2014)

I bought noctua nfa-14 from kolkata...  And corsair sp120 and stock fan already were in my home...  So just a moment ago i installed those....  I must say best quality is noctua fan and hardest to install too!!!!


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