Water Cooling Advice

[gity69]

I recently purchased the NZXT Kraken X40 water cooling system based on the toms article. It recommends possibly needed an extra fan on the voltage regulator. Where is this located and what fans could I purchase for it? I have a AsRock 990fx extreme3 board and the coolermaster storm stryker case. Any help is much appreciated.

 

[cragzman]

The voltage regulators are probably located under the heatsink thats between the CPU socket and the rear motherboard ports. It isn't really necessary to plonk a fan on there but if the Kraken is mounted on the rear exhaust, it may draw the heat away from the heatsink. Or if you want to go mad, get an Antec Spot Cool fan and aim it at the heatsink. Optimal airflow in the case also helps.

 

[gity69]

The voltage regulators are probably located under the heatsink thats between the CPU socket and the rear motherboard ports. It isn't really necessary to plonk a fan on there but if the Kraken is mounted on the rear exhaust, it may draw the heat away from the heatsink. Or if you want to go mad, get an Antec Spot Cool fan and aim it at the heatsink. Optimal airflow in the case also helps.

So I plan on mounting the Kraken to the rear 140mm fan mount the case also has a 200mm top fan. This is probably sufficient right? Would the mother board temp be a good indicator of the temp of the voltage regulator?

 

[cragzman]

Upon looking at the review, you don't really need a fan for the VRM. It's just on their test system, the VRM heatsink was at the top, and the top mounted coolers can draw heat away from the VRMs, and pass the air through the radiator. Rear mounted and a top exhaust fan is ideal. What CPU do you have? If you are heavilly overclocking the CPU, the VRM's will throttle the speed as they reach high temps. This is due to the phase power being 4+1. If you arn't overclocking, the VRM temps should be fine.

As for motherboard temp..... I'm not sure where the sensors are placed on that board. Best setup would be to have the Kraken set up on rear exhaust, have top fan installed, and make sure there is suitable air intake for decent airflow. If in doubt, in addidition, get a Spot Cool fan and aim it directly at the VRM heatsink.

 

[gity69]

I have an fx8350 and definitely plan on mild overclocking but I don't dare push too hard with this board. The case has two 120mm intake fans in the front with my Kraken mounted to the rear, and the large exhaust on the top I think that will be sufficient until I upgrade my mobo to handle heavier overclocks. Thank you very much for you insights you have been most helpful. Is there no longer anyway to select best answer? This new system is not cool.

 

[cragzman]

You may be able to have a mild overclock but not sure when the VRMs will start to freak out. I had a similar problem with a Phenom 9950 BE and a Gigabyte MA790X-DS4 board. The 4+1 phase wasn't enough. Come to think of it, it was unstable at stock speed. Ended up getting an equivalent 8+2 phase board and then it was happy.

Hmmmmm good point. I have no idea where the best answer thingy is.