how safe is it to move a pc with a closed loop cooler?

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John Hattam

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okay so i was going to build a slightly over budget 750 quid pc

then....i realised i wouldnt be happy unless i got what i wanted

which would cost about 1k
i7, 970 etc

what i want to know is would it be safe to move a corsair 250d with an h100i in it

as i would be moving it about every 8 weeks as well as bringing it with me on a ferry to ireland...
 
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synphul
It should be fine. Aio/closed loop coolers are typically safer when moving a pc than a big air cooler since they don't stress the motherboard. Just make sure whatever environment it's in, it doesn't freeze or anything. I'm thinking winter, ferry, ireland - it's liable to be chilly out or in unheated storage on the ferry. Depending how cold it gets, you might want to let it sit in the room and warm up before firing it up, make sure there's no condensation (regardless of clc or air cooling). You also don't want any of your water lines potentially freezing and splitting.
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synphul

synphul

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It should be fine. Aio/closed loop coolers are typically safer when moving a pc than a big air cooler since they don't stress the motherboard. Just make sure whatever environment it's in, it doesn't freeze or anything. I'm thinking winter, ferry, ireland - it's liable to be chilly out or in unheated storage on the ferry. Depending how cold it gets, you might want to let it sit in the room and warm up before firing it up, make sure there's no condensation (regardless of clc or air cooling). You also don't want any of your water lines potentially freezing and splitting.
 
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synphul

synphul

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You'll still want to check for any condensation. Let the machine warm up to room temps once it gets from point A to point B to reduce chance of condensation shorting anything. Once the metal and things begin to hit the warm air is when condensation will occur until they've fully reached ambient temps and equalized. That's why if a pc has been sitting out in a shop or garage at chilly temps for awhile and it's brought into the house where it's heated it's safest to give it awhile to adjust to the new temps.

Depending how big of an air cooler you opt for, just be careful moving it. Larger air coolers that weigh 700-800g or more if bounced around roughly could potentially flex the motherboard pcb and damage it. That's why when many companies like websites or magazines feature a pc as a prize, they've opted to send the cpu cooler separate and let the user put it on at home. Many with something like the phanteks dual tower or noctua nh-d14 pre-installed were arriving with damage to the motherboard from shipping.

Usually closed loop coolers are the solution of choice for frequent moving such as lan parties and such for the reason that they apply hardly any stress to the motherboard. You'd mentioned the colder region and boat trips, I don't know how long a ferry ride is for you or how long the system might be exposed to unheated storage. For instance if the pc gets packed in a box or crate and loaded separately from the passenger area, like cargo. It's a bit of a special circumstance that doesn't come up often.

You did mention around 8 week intervals though, so leaving the pc in a room for several hours wouldn't be too much of a burden to allow it to warm back up before powering on. Water cooling may not be a completely terrible idea, although I wonder if maybe an actual reservoir, pump, radiator component setup wouldn't be beneficial. That way it could be drained prior to travel (avoid the freezing issue) and refilled once you reached your destination.
 
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John Hattam

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thanks for all your help youve clearly put a lot of effort into trying to answer my question as fully as possible

for me personally having weighed up pros and cons i think i am going to go with an air cooler, i only have 120mm of clearance. thinking a noctua nh c14 with top fan removed and used as a case intake

inwin 901 is the case in question
 
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synphul

synphul

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That looks like a decent cooler, good compromise to a tower cooler. I was going to also suggest as an option, the cryorig c1. It's the same style cooler, but the noctua's only $10 more (at least here in the u.s.) and likely has better fans. Plus it has dual fans, the c1 only has 1 fan.

I checked pc partpicker, in sterling it's a 15 pound difference between the 2.
The noctua still may be better, but at least you have options. Not certain of your location/currency.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/noctua-cpu-cooler-nhc14 - 59.65gbp
http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/part/cryorig-cpu-cooler-crc1a - 44.99gbp

Both at ebuyer.com
 
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John Hattam

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thanks, options are definitely lacking in thsis department, what do you think of the nh-u9b se2?
its taller than the 120mm limit i would be comfortable with if it were a top down cooler but since its a tower cooler and fits within the max 130mm clearance at 125 it should be fine...

mixed cooling reviews though
 
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synphul

synphul

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I don't know if you plan to overclock, what style cooler you're preferring etc. If not overclocking, many coolers will suffice to handle stock speeds. Noctua makes some good coolers, that particular one at that price just didn't look like it had the performance. Not sure how quiet you need it to be, usually people prefer quieter others may require it for their setting (office or bedroom)
 
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John Hattam

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since my case is limited with regards to airflow and is much more style over performance, im building a low power xeon/gtx 970 pc. so no, no overclocking. its just within the confines of this case i want the airflow and cooling to be as good as it can be

i figured the noctua tower would help things keep moving since there is only one exhaust and one air intake in the case, rather than blowing things around randomly

happy new year
 
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synphul

synphul

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If you're not concerned with maximum performance, just about any aftermarket cooler will work. I know what you mean about keeping air moving, even though my case is a mid tower it's similar. One intake, one exhaust fan. Overall a tower cooler if it will fit like the smaller noctua you mentioned may help improve total airflow in and out. I'd only suggested a top down for height clearance on a smaller case.

Happy new year to you as well, good luck with your rig. Sounds like it will be nice looking.
 
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DLAROC

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Yes it is ok. Like someone else said, probably just have to worry about freezing. But moving it won't bother it unless the tubes are moving about a lot or something. Funny, I'm on my way back from vacation now and took my PC with me. I have the Corsair H90 in the Corsair 380t ITX case. I was kinda worried about it being tilt back some because I have it in an old child's car seat. Fits perfect but is tilted back slightly. It's fine though
 
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