FRAME 4000D – Optimal Fan Configuration

You’re planning your next PC build and you have carefully selected the most important components like your motherboard, processor, graphics card, power supply, RAM, and SSD. The FRAME 4000D caught your attention as the right place to mount your precious components, and all is clear, except for cooling.

Fans are essential to bring cool air from outside of the case into it and to remove hot air from the case too. Modern cases offer multiple options for fan configurations and now you are in the situation to figure out what fans to buy and where to put them.

In this article we will look at exactly that. How many fans do you need, where should you put them and what has CORSAIR to offer when it comes to case fans.

If this is your first PC build the sheer number of options can be confusing, so let’s get into the details of how you could plan out your cooling setup.

Looking at the image above you will see that the FRAME 4000D can take several configurations which consist of

• 12x 120mm fans
• a combination of 7x 140mm and 2x 120mm fans,
• or 2x 200mm fans paired with
  • either 9x 120mm
  • or 5x 140mm and 2x 120mm fans.

More combinations are possible as you can mix sizes if you want to. Typically, you would stick to either of the combinations mentioned above to keep the fan sizes consistent throughout your build.

If you're choosing an air cooler like the A115 Twin Tower CPU Air Cooler for your setup, you should at least have two case fans. With the FRAME 4000D this means using either 120mm or 140mm for intake and exhaust.

This will work for setups that do not produce a lot of heat. You need to remember though, that your fans will have to work harder and therefore will produce more noise. If you are set on a high-end processor and graphics card, you should install more fans though.

We at CORSAIR offer a large selection of fans that suits all kinds of needs. Let us throw in a few suggestions to help you choose.

iCUE LINK (140mm RGB fans; easy single cable connection & expandability)

Products: MSRP $94.99 (FRAME 4000D) / $109.99 (iCUE LINK LX140 RGB 140mm PWM Starter Kit) / $19.99 (iCUE LINK Cable with 600mm length)

Total cost: MSRP $224.97 (at time of writing)

Software controlled fan speed: Yes, via CORSAIR iCUE

Software controlled RGB lighting: Yes, via CORSAIR iCUE

If you want to go the iCUE LINK route, which for the sake of easy connection we want to recommend, the iCUE LINK LX140 RGB 140mm PWM Starter Kit is a great choice. The starter kits come with the necessary iCUE LINK System Hub.

Since the above configuration means that you'll use one fan in the front as an intake and one in the back as an exhaust, you will need to pick up another iCUE LINK Cable with 600mm length to the one already part of the Starter Kit.

The added cost might look steep, but you will have the benefits of an easy setup, CORSAIR iCUE software control, and the option to comfortably add more fans in the future.

RGB PWM Fans (140mm ARGB fans; 3-pin ARGB for RGB; 4-pin PWM for power)

Products: MSRP $94.99 (FRAME 4000D) / $44.99 (RS140 ARGB 140mm PWM Fans)

Total cost: MSRP $139.98 (at time of writing)

Software controlled fan speed: Yes, via motherboard when connected to 4-pin header

Software controlled RGB lighting: Yes, via motherboard when connected to 3-pin 5V ARGB header.

RS140 ARGB 140mm PWM Fans are available in a dual pack. You can simply connect these to available PWM (4-pin) headers on your motherboard for power as well as 3-Pin +5V ARGB for controlling the lighting of the fans. When using them in the front and back of the case, you will have to use 2 of the headers each.

Controlling fan speed as well as RGB lighting you need to use the software your motherboard comes with for lighting and fan control.

Expansion is easy too, as these fans can be daisy chained. Simply pick up more of them for additional cooling.

PWM fans (140mm fans; 4-pin PWM for power)

Products: MSRP $94.99 (FRAME 4000D) / $34.99 (RS140 140mm PWM Fans)

Total cost: MSRP $129.98 (at time of writing)

Software controlled fan speed: Yes, via motherboard when connected to 4-Pin header

RS140 140mm PWM Fans also come in a dual pack. They connect to available PWM (4-pin) headers on your motherboard which you need 2 of when using a fan for intake and exhaust.

Controlling fan speed needs to be done via the software the motherboard comes with and expansion is easy too, as these fans can be daisy chained. Simply pick up more of them for additional cooling.

Products: MSRP $94.99 (FRAME 4000D) / $99.99 (iCUE LINK RX120 RGB 120mm PWM Fan Triple Starter Kit) / $34.99 (iCUE LINK RX120 RGB 120mm PWM Single Fan Expansion) / $129.99 (iCUE LINK LX120-R RGB 120mm PWM Reverse Fans Starter Kit) / $39.99 (iCUE LINK LX120-R RGB 120mm PWM Reverse Fan Expansion)

Total cost: MSRP $539.93 (at time of writing)

Software controlled fan speed: Yes, via CORSAIR iCUE

Software controlled RGB lighting: Yes, via CORSAIR iCUE

When packing the FRAME 4000D with all the fans possible, you get quite a list of fans to purchase.

- 2x iCUE LINK RX120 RGB 120mm PWM Fan Triple Starter Kit (front and top)

- 1x iCUE LINK RX120 RGB 120mm PWM Single Fan Expansion (rear)

- 1x iCUE LINK LX120-R RGB 120mm PWM Reverse Fans Starter Kit (side)

- 2x iCUE LINK LX120-R RGB 120mm PWM Reverse Fan Expansion (PSU cover)

This will give you 12 fans in total. The above picture gives you an idea of how this would look like. For clarity, the fans on the PSU shroud we used in the picture above are the RX120 fans and not the suggested LX120-R fans. You should pick the latter for best looks though.

You will have 3x iCUE LINK System Hubs with this setup, but you will only need one, as the total number of devices a System Hub supports is 24, 12 for each of the available channels. It is however a bit cheaper to pick up triple packs of the fans than a single fan expansion only.

The front of the FRAME 4000D is fitted with two INFINIRAILs. In the stock configuration it is setup for triple 120mm fans which can be easily adjusted with the mounting clips which can be freely positioned on the rails.

There are two screws for each INFINIRAIL, one at the bottom and one at the top. Simply loosen these screws slightly to move the rail into the desired position to accommodate the compatible fan sizes.

You can install three 120mm fans when the INFINIRAILS are in the 120mm position. You need to use the mounting clips to install the fans.

Another possibility is to mount a single or dual 140mm fans. The INFINIRAILS need to be in the 140mm position, and you will use the mounting clips to mount the fans. Adjusting the position is easily possible by slightly loosening the screws on the clips and then sliding the fans into the desired position.

When installing 200mm fans you need to put the INFINIRAILs to the outer position and not use the mounting clips. For dual 200mm fans you may also need to remove the PSU cover for these large fans to fit.

The FRAME 4000D has another trick up its sleeve. You can unscrew the right hand INFINIRAIL entirely, rotate it by 180° and mount it back in. You need to loosen the sliding screw to move the rail to the left until you see two screws at the top and bottom. Unscrew these and the rail can be removed, rotated and put back in.

This will give you enough space to install a 30mm thick radiator like the Hydro X Series XR5 360mm Cooling Radiator with 35mm thick fans like the iCUE LINK RX120 MAX RGB 120mm fans in the side of the case. Now you can make another 360mm radiator fit in the front and if you want even more cooling another 360mm radiator in the top.

The top of the FRAME 4000D is also fitted with an INFINIRAIL. Adjust it by loosening two screws. Above you see the configuration when set up to be used with 120mm fans.

Moving the rail to the outer position lets you install 140mm or even 160mm fans easily.

The back of the case has space for a single fan. Above you can see a 120mm fan installed.

And this is the fan space fitted with a 140mm fan.

The cable shroud with the GPU anti-sag support you can see in the right can be replaced with another fan tray.

Here we installed 3x 120mm fans. The tray has two mounting spots to move the fan location closer to the motherboard tray or the front.

The tray can also fit dual 140mm fans. Here in combination with an iCUE LINK TITAN 280 RX RGB.

Two 120mm fans can be installed on top of the PSU cover. This helps to move air towards a horizontally installed graphics card. Ideal fans for this location are the iCUE LINK LX120-R RGB 120mm PWM Reverse Fans. These will let you see the RGB effect of the fans best while moving the air in the correct direction towards the graphics card.