System upgrade - Fan placement thoughts.

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
M

Mattbodom

Commendable
Dec 13, 2016
41
0
1,530
I have ordered a few parts to upgrade my PC, mainly cosmetic but also spec upgrades.
'Corsair Carbide 400c case'
'Corsair H100i V2 CPU cooler'
'Corsair R650x PSU'

My question is are my plans for airflow good - Or should i change anything? Bare in mind that i will have some fans left over from my current case.

Option 1. H100i front mounted with fans on the inside, pulling air in. 1x140mm below the h100i as intake.
1x 120mm rear exhaust. 2x140 top exhaust.

Option 2. H100i mounted at the top, fans on the inside of the case but pushing air out. 2x140mm front intake. 1x120mm exhaust.

Basically i dont know where to put the h100i. If i was air cooling i would have 3 intakes at the front, 2 exhausts at top and 1 exhaust in the back. Not sure if this is overkill but i want to run as cool as possible with the hardware i have. Any recommendations to a push/pull config? I dont really understand how that works, but if it produces better performance im up for it haha.

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks
 
Solution
amtseung
My thoughts:

H100i on top, fans sandwiched between the rad and case (I found that my old, now deceased gen 1 h100i had better temps with the fans in pull.)
three 120's as intakes.
one 120 as exhaust.

Plug them all into your motherboard, whether individually, through the h100i and Corsair Link, or in banks (Rad fans, intake, exhaust; 3 banks), and spin them down as much as possible while maintaining relatively neutral air pressure, leaning on the positive side. You can tell by how much and which way the air is leaking through the vents by the PCIe slots. You'll then have a super quiet system, still with great airflow.

You can't fit a 140mm under a 240mm rad in front. I tried to at my local fry's to their display piece, to the dismay...
Sort by date Sort by votes
SVstorm

SVstorm

Reputable
Dec 10, 2014
27
0
4,540
I have the fractal design R4 case with a h100i mounted in the top as exhaust with the rear fan also exhaust and the two front and one bottom fan as intake. I get really great temps with this setup. I just hate the idea of blowing warm air into the case with the front mounted rad.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
amtseung

amtseung

Distinguished
Jan 28, 2014
1,057
0
19,960
My thoughts:

H100i on top, fans sandwiched between the rad and case (I found that my old, now deceased gen 1 h100i had better temps with the fans in pull.)
three 120's as intakes.
one 120 as exhaust.

Plug them all into your motherboard, whether individually, through the h100i and Corsair Link, or in banks (Rad fans, intake, exhaust; 3 banks), and spin them down as much as possible while maintaining relatively neutral air pressure, leaning on the positive side. You can tell by how much and which way the air is leaking through the vents by the PCIe slots. You'll then have a super quiet system, still with great airflow.

You can't fit a 140mm under a 240mm rad in front. I tried to at my local fry's to their display piece, to the dismay of the employees. That front thing is also kinda flimsy and flexible, so putting more fans in front will actually give it more structural rigidity.

Be sure to run static pressure optimized fans for the intakes. Cases like the 400C and S340, with the solid front panel, have restricted intakes, let alone the dust filter on top of that. If you have the money, I'd go stick ML120 Pros or Gentle Typhoons in there. Or the noctuas. or vardars. Or get 5 of the same thing so you have 2 for the rad and 3 for the intake. The standard Corsair fans for their AIO's are pretty bad. They're loud and don't move much air, unless you spin them at full speed, and then they're just loud. Like 747 taking off loud.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
M

Mattbodom

Commendable
Dec 13, 2016
41
0
1,530
SVstorm. Yeah i was also thinking that. So if it was front mounted, it seems to me that the cold air coming in would quickly get warmed by the radiator. Therefore bringing warm air into the case. But as for your setup, your getting 'fresh' air coming in and warm air out, but then im thinking the radiator isnt getting the coolest air it can, in turn giving less cooling to the CPU..i am probably overthinking it but i want to get it right first time haha. I also want 3intake and 3 exhaust... also on a sidenote, my mobo is a msi z97a gaming 7. It has 2 cpu headers and 3 sysfan headers. Do the h100i fans connect to the cooler block? If so i would have 1 spare cpu header and 3 sysfan headers spare. That is enough for the rear exhaust and extra intake and top exhaust fans. But i also want to use lighting so i would need more headers??? If i connect lighting (or fans) to the PSU, would they stay on when the PC has been shutdown?? And will it harm my PC if i turn it off at the mains, but still plugged in???

Sorry for all the questions
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

Mattbodom

Commendable
Dec 13, 2016
41
0
1,530
Okay i think thats what i will go for. But i would like the fans to be visible :/ can i put them in a push config top mounted? Also my Mobo has 2 cpu inputs and 3 sysfan headers. But i also want lighting. Is there a way around it? I can connect straight to PSU but will they stay on when i turn my PC off? Thanks for your replys :)
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
amtseung

amtseung

Distinguished
Jan 28, 2014
1,057
0
19,960


Sure you can put the fans in push against the rad. It is harder to clean, and IMO, doesn't look as cool as light shining through a radiator. Temps won't change at all unless you're attempting to overclock an FX to 5ghz+ anyway (approaching 220W TDP).

Fan splitters will be your friend. You can use a 2-way splitter for both rad fans, a 3-way splitter for the intakes, and the exhaust fan can go straight into the motheboard. You'd even have spare headers left. This is what I meant by "banks of fans".

Connecting a fan straight to the PSU is generally a bad idea for noise, fan lifespan, and your sanity. And no, the lights will still turn off when you shut the PC off.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
SVstorm

SVstorm

Reputable
Dec 10, 2014
27
0
4,540




 
Upvote 0 Downvote
SVstorm

SVstorm

Reputable
Dec 10, 2014
27
0
4,540
The H100i fans will connect to the pump so you can control them with the corsair link software. In my set up the case fans connect to a fan controller that came with my case but as amtseung said you can connect them to the motherboard headers so you can adjust the fan speeds. When you connect them strait to the PSU they run full speed.

The lighting will most likely connect to the PSU, Mine did but I'm not sure about all lighting.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

Mattbodom

Commendable
Dec 13, 2016
41
0
1,530
Okay cool, so i will go with the following setup i think: h100i at the top as exhaust in a push air out config. 2 or 3 intakes at the front and the standard exhaust at the back. I will connect the rad fans to the cpu cooler block and the block itsself into 'cpu1' header. 3 way splitter for intake fans into a sysfam header and rear exhaust into cpu2 header, so i can set up to blow air out quicker, as the intake speed increases. That will leave me with 2 headers for lighting if i need it.

I have 1 final question haha, does the pump need to be at a constant speed? Becaise i have a coolermaster seidon v2 currently and i was told to keep AIO water cooler pump speed at 100% . If this is the case, should i not connect the rad fans to the block? This way i can have the pump running at a constant power and use a splitter for the fans and control them together seperate to the pump. Because im assuming that with the fans plugged into the block, the rpm will change for fans and pump together?

Hopefully it is easier to setup than i expect haha
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
amtseung

amtseung

Distinguished
Jan 28, 2014
1,057
0
19,960
Setting up will probably be easier than you think it is.

The pump and fans shouldn't change speeds together. The pump, once set, generally doesn't change speed. And then you'll need to get Corsair Link to work to actually change the pump speed anyway. I don't know about the gen 2 and gen 3 h100i's, but I ran my first gen h100i at 50% pump speed for almost 2 years on the hottest CPU in existence. Running it at 100% did nothing but make more noise. YMMV.

Actually, even the fans shouldn't change speeds. Ideally, all the fans will be left at a constant RPM as well. I've been building systems like this to no ill effect, from mini ITX cases to a Corsair 900D build. This is done to keep the airflow constant, and the balance between intake and exhaust constant. And when water cooled anything is involved, it's more important to balance airflow than to just have a lot of it. With too much, you can actually end up in a situation where all the fans are fighting each other, and less air is being moved. Regardless, radiators are so good at transferring heat when they're working, that there's practically no point to assigning the rad fans a fan curve. As long as your water block is mounted properly, the pump spinning fast enough, and the fans are moving some air, your temps will be solid. Again, YMMV.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
M

Mattbodom

Commendable
Dec 13, 2016
41
0
1,530


Okay thankyou, all ready to go tomorrow, my stuff is due lunchtime-ish. By any chance do you know if my current case has some sort of fan adapter, in which i can attach more than one fan to 1 input. Its a NZXT phantom 630 and it has 3 case fans that are controled in a group with the front case buttons. I am hoping to salvage it to enable me to add a few white leds and maybe another fan, although i think my motherboard will have just about enough for fans. Thanks again for you advice :)

 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom