NZXT Switch 810 Water Cooled- Help Deciding Airflow! New/Rebuild

switch420 · May 13, 2013

Hello everybody..I just received my Switch810 in the mail! Along with 8 Corsair SP120 fans...I'm just wondering how I should setup my airflow...

360 (3x120mm) Xflow Rad. Push pull with 6 Corsair SP120 on the top
240 (2x120mm) XSPC Double thick on (Option 1) Bottom.. or (Option 2) front

I was thinking the 240 would be better up front as it could..push or pull more air that way..?

Rear 140mm fan
Two 140's can go on front or bottom ...wherever the 240 rad isn't..however if the 240 goes up front I will do 2x140mm and then two of the SP120's for push/pull and will put 140's in the bottom...if it goes on bottom then I will add 2 more 120's for push pull

So how should the airflow be? Can I do all bottom front fans in aswell as rear 140 and leave the 360 push/pull to exhaust everything? should both rads suck cool air in and the remaining fans push hot out...BUT if that's the case all the other components will get hot air from the rads...ram..chipsets etc... Help pls

thanks.

Oh and if it matters

Intel i7 3770k (Hoping to hit 4.8Ghz stable ( Swiftech Apogee Drive II Block/Pump )
Asus Maximus V Extreme
16GB Corsair 2000Mhz
EVGA Nova 1500watt
2xGTX670 in SLI with EK blocks
Swiftech mini res
MCP655-B pump

** Also considering putting a 120mm double thick on the back rather than the 140mm fan since I have it laying around...would an extra 120 make any difference with 670sli and 3770k OC with a 360 and 240?

austing · May 13, 2013

Pictures are better than words.

switch420 · May 13, 2013

austing :

Thanks for the helpful picture! exactly the setup...there will also be two fans on bottom..so now...how to do the airflow...Also where the 240 is might do just fans and do 240 on bottom..any suggestions on airflow would be great.

austing is that your current setup?

austing · May 13, 2013

switch420 :

I'm ordering my Switch 810 and a 400$ cooling kit next month, thats my plan right there.

The top 360mm rads going to push air out, the rear 140mm can push air out.

On the front, the 240mm will bring air in. You can try and mount a 120mm into the fron drive bay too.

There is room for a 140mm on the bottom of the case infront of the PSU, I recomend you put a fan there, bringing air in.

You can do what you said and put the 240 on the floor, and have it bring air in, and then mount 2 fains in the front of the case bringing air in through the front.

switch420 · May 14, 2013

austing :

Yeah ill probably do top fans out, do the 240 on the bottom with four corsair SP120's in push/pull and have the 140mm fans in front blowing in that way I can still keep one of the hard disk bays....however ill probably do the rear 140 blowing in fresh air to the 360 top rad...I just hope my 240 fits on bottom with my Nova 1500watt lol

switch420 · May 14, 2013

austing · May 14, 2013

switch420 :

That looks awesome.

Try the rear 140mm in both oreintations and post results!

ksham · May 14, 2013

Is there a point to the 2x 140mm in front? Wouldn't the bottom rad fans blowing up just collide with the front intakes? Does it cool better with two big radiators on both sides of the pump?

switch420 · May 14, 2013

ksham :

They will help keep internal temp down by bringing fresh air to mingle with the hot air from bottom 240 rad. also it will help keep pump cool as I hear they can over heat and die

but yeah more fresh air is always a good thing..if you only have your radiators exhaust coming in then well..your internal components not cooled by the loop will only be that much hotter and the air going through to top rad will also be that much hotter...that's the way I see it...

ksham · May 14, 2013

So you're saying that the top 360mm radiator is insufficient at cooling so you need to supplement it with a big 240mm radiator? And it makes a huge difference in internal temperature that you have radiators on both sides of the pump?

switch420 · May 14, 2013

ksham :

You asked "Is there a point to the 2x 140mm in front?" ... it has nothing to do with the 360 not being enough and needing the 240....the two 140's in front just add fresh air into the case...which is the only thing that makes a difference in internal temp...the only other thing that would make a difference is buying blocks for the VRM/chipset so the heat gets carried away and dissipated by the radiators...having radiators at both sides of the pump make no difference...loop order makes no difference.. how ever more fresh external air will make a difference...that's the point of the two 140mm fans in front....the air blowing over the pump by the 140mm fan is the only thing that will help keep the pump cool besides keeping the water temp down.

ksham · May 14, 2013

I could be wrong. I'm just trying to understand it. The air from the 2x 140mm will be nullified by the up current of the 4x 120mm on the 240mm radiator. Since your 360mm would likely cool it fairly well, the 240mm doesn't do a whole lot. The 240mm radiator fans + 2x 140mm are all just blowing at the pump. I doubt much, if any, air actually gets into the case and near where the GPUs are.

switch420 · May 14, 2013

ksham :

with their air flow crossing I would think it would push it up/back...I wouldn't think the air would tumble around...maybe if I put the 140 rear fan in exhaust the top of the case would suck up air...making the available air from the bottom/front fans flow that way?

Also I will be overclocking the 3770k to about 4.7Ghz with a delid..so a bit of heat will be generated also both GTX670's will be overclocked until stability issues are observed and then they will be backed down just a hair. So there will be a bit of heat to dissipate...is it overkill? is 360 enough? that's 120mm per block...usually the cpu will use at least 240 efficiently and wuld see higher temps if using only 120 for cpu...so leaving only 120 rad space for the two GTX670's? I also could just do my double thick 120 in the bottom...so a 360 xflow on top and a double thick 120 on bottom. point being I already own all this hardware so...I wont be wasting any money if its a little more rad than I need...Currently with my 240 and 120 my CPU temp hits 74c in BF3 that is however without a delid.

ksham · May 15, 2013

You have too much up pressure. Your 360mm rad + your 240mm rad are both pulling and pushing air up. So that's a strong up current. What I was saying is that your 2x 140mm is being stopped by this up current. It's like a blockade and the 2x 140mm will be hard pressed to break it. And even if it does break through, it'll be at a slant.

manofchalk · May 15, 2013

Over-radding is never a bad thing Ksham, means you can turn your fans down and achieve the same cooling. If hes fine with spending more on radiators then let him. Besides, 360mm + 240mm seems right for a CPU + Dual GPU loop.
For reference I have 2x360mm (RS and EX) for a 3570k and a 7970. That's overkill

.

As far as I'm concerned, getting into the specifics of which direction air will be blown doesn't matter. Its just purely air in, air out and balancing hot vs cold air in.
The setup that you last posted Switch seems fine to me, only thing I would do is add a dust filter to that rear 140mm fan. I used to run an intake fan there when I was only using a 360mm fan at the top, thats where most of the dust came into the system.

I see you have your GPU's configured in series, might want to look up on having them in parallel with each other. Will significantly reduce the restriction on the loop, which will increase flow rates through the loop. Sure each card is now only receiving half the flow rate each, but the total flow rate is so much higher because of it that it works out better.

What also may be worth considering is rigging a fan to blow onto the CPU socket. Motherboards are designed to use the downward airflow from a stock cooler to cool the surrounding VRM's. With a water-block you lose that airflow, so you will need to make up for it in some way. I just zip tied an old 80mm AMD stock fan to some tubing and the rear fan grill, blows air at the mobo VRM heatsinks.

In regards to pump cooling, depends on the pump how thats achieved. Your using a D5 pump, which is cooled by the water flowing through it. Having a radiator on either side wont make much of a difference in terms of pump temperatures, just having the rads in the loop is all that it needs.

ksham · May 15, 2013

@manofchalk: I didn't say it was a bad thing or that Switch420 shouldn't get it. I was only inquiring about placement of the fans. Wouldn't you still want airflow in the back of the case?

austing · May 15, 2013

As long as air is moving THROUGH the case, its fine.

I've had watercooled ITX cases with two intakes, and two exausts, and it kept chiller than a killer.

switch420 · May 22, 2013

Well she is all built....good call on the dust filter on the rear fan! I'll have to get that ordered...she is staying super cool and I found a great way to mount the res and pump! check out the video of the finished build

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onUytyMUSZg

NZXT Switch 810 Water Cooled- Help Deciding Airflow! New/Rebuild

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