Aurora R11, front fan replacement

You can clip the Noctua in using the oem black plastic bracket.  I wouldn't recommend drilling the metal chassis unless you remove the mobo and electronic components first. But there's no need to do that. 

Lol same

@r72019 @Anonymous Thanks so much - didn't realize it was a bracket and not the fan assembly itself.  Appreciate the help and pointer! (and no, wouldn't drill / Dremel / case modify with stuff in it)

If you would please post your impressions after fan replacement.  So I'm gathering corsair 120 pro for top fan and Noctua is recommended for front fan?

Thanks,  I've been very happy with the performance of the R11 so far, but if I can optimize the system all the better. If you would, I'm interested in your thoughts after you get both fans installed.

@DrkHwk I've replaced the front fan with the Corsair ML120 Pro and will be tackling the top fan replacement this weekend.  I decided to use identical fans after reading about issues with the Noctua in the top fan position.  I'm happy with the build quality of the Corsair.  Hopefully the fan noise goes down a bit afterwards.  You may find this thread on Reddit interesting as well!

Blue Book

Corsair ML120 Pro (no LED, no RGB) 

Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM 

There is some optionality associated with the lower front intake fan.

According to Digital Etron's video, the 120mm case fan must be 1,700rpm or faster to prevent a failure to boot. Is he referring to the top fan only?

If so, I'd love to try out some fancy (Arctic P12 PWM) fan to replace the front one. :3

I wanted to follow-up to this post as today I finally had some time to replace the front fan, radiator fan, and re-pasted the CPU.  Bottom line - very quiet at the Balance profile, and much reduced at the Performance profile.  The temps are reduced by about 10 C, which could be the paste (most likely).  The fans spin much slower than the factory fans.

Bottom line - worth it to me.  Since I was in there I re-pasted CPU so that might have helped.

Links to some pictures

I had to replace my front fan when I went from a 2080ti to the only off the shelf 3090 I found that fits. I had to go with a 1/2" slim fan. Its the only one I could find that would fit. its running fine but also causing the annoying BIOS error. I'm thinking about running a Y cable and just setting the factory fan in there somewhere.

Correct. No front fan throws an error.

Awesome! Just today I put a 2nd front fan (same 120 as other front fan / top fan) in the HDD position. Didn’t need to from a thermal perspective, but that empty area was calling to me lol.  How do you like the EK CoolStream Copper radiator? Looking for an excuse to open up the case again, even though I don’t need to. Loving this system so far - exceeding expectations and fun to mod.

I have installed the Corsair 120 Pro in the top fan position. I have another 120 Pro on the way for the front fan. I currently have the corsair 120 that comes with H80I in the front fan position.  Extremely quiet in performance mode. The H80I V2 was a disappointment until I reinstalled the original pump that came with the system in conjunction with the H80I V2 radiator. I have since installed thermal grizzly paste with a EK CoolStream Copper radiator with the original AIO pump that came my system. Casual use temp consistently remain the the lower 40's C. Tombraider benchmarks are in the mid to upper 70C range with FPS numbers better than ever in the lower 180 to upper 170 range.  

So far I'm liking the EK radiator. Copper means much bettter heat transfer than alum. No need to worry about mixing metals due to thermal plate be made of copper and radiator being made of alum. Fin density is considerably less compared to the alum. rad. which means less restriction and better air flow, obviously this also means less surface area for heat transfer but it doesn't seem to be a factor. Thermals were better with the H80I alum rad. when running 3d Mark but at the time I had my system completely open due to not being able to close it since I had it Rigged up for testing, adapter fittings etc to make it work. Keep in mind my PC is in an enclosed desk setup, not ideal. I need to do some tests with it opened up.

could you advise how you installed a fan into the HDD section?

- I assume you had to use a Y splitter and connected it with the original front fan?

- did you use any screws or double-sided tape to mount it?

I had the same thought that it was a waste of space looking at that empty HD bay