First Rig. Gaming m-ITX in EVGA Hadron. Airflow Questions.

[akr12]

Hello guys,

I am building my first rig. I wanted to go with a very small build, thus a mini-itx case. I chose the EVGA Hadron Air for my set-up. Here is my set-up:

cpu: intel i5 4460
fan: stock cooler (for now)
mb: evga stinger z97 w/ wifi
ram: 1x8gb hyperx savage
hdd: samsung evo 840 256gb sss
gpu: msi gtx 970 gaming 4gb

I've seen a few threads online regarding cooling in the Hadron case, but haven't been able to answer my questions regarding the airflow very clearly. As far as I understand:

-The 2 fans at the top are exhausts.
-There are no dedicated intakes. Main intake will be the PSU. (Isn't this a big problem since the psu is only a 40mm fan?)
-The GPU seems to be fragmenting the case flow into 2 halves? Won't new air coming in from the PSU be obstructed by the GPU to reach the CPU and then the exhaust fans at the top?
-If the top fans are converted to intakes, then the issue would still remain, no? The GPU faces downwards, so in such a case, the air would be coming from the top and hitting the back side of the GPU.

So, in such a set-up what would be the best air-flow?

1. Top fans: exhaust or intake
2. PSU: exhaust or intake
3. GPU: reference blower or fan? (I haven't received shipment so I still have a chance to swap for reference blower.)
4. CPU fan: I assume will depend on top fan's setting. If exhaust, CPU fan should blowing out and towards exhaust. If intake, then CPU fan should be blowing downwards towards the GPU .

Scenario 1: Top Fans Intake. PSU & Case Perforations Exhaust. CPU Downwards.
-Pros: Positive Air Pressure. Can put dust filter on intake fans, controlling dust.
-Cons: Air flow impeded by GPU. PSU possibly cut-off from airflow & overheating? (For this, Blower or Fan better. Possibly set GPU fans outward to blow on the PSU?)

Scenario 2: Top Fans Exhaust. PSU & Case Perforations Intake. CPU towards Top Exhaust.
-Pros: Standard Set-up. Less effort to modify.
-Cons: No dust control. Small 40mm PSU fan main intake? small source of air intake impeded by GPU, choking CPU? If GPU blower type, all intake exhausted by GPU before reaching upper half of case & CPU?


I hope I was able to elaborate on the various factors and scenarios. I am curious to hear your suggestions.

 

[Supremenyan]

psu cant be exhaust im sure, but i think that intake all fans and then dispense it out the gpu (Positive pressure is good if you have filters)

if you spend 150$ on a case, it should have semi - awesome airflow. look at fractal design for cheap options with awesome airflow and performance.

 

[Xibyth]

You will want to get as much hot air out so for the top exhaust. The power supply has only internal flow so wont supply any fresh air to the system, it will pull from inside the system and exhaust through the bottom. and you will want a blower style GPU, fans push the air off the GPU to the rest of the system and will crank the heat inside the case higher, blower will push it out of the case.

As for dust in this case with exhaust on top, there really is not much room for it to get in. A filter would just impede airflow.

 

[akr12]

thanks for the replies, guys. i think i will go for the reference nvidia 970 instead of the msi gaming 4gb. I am tempted to make the top fans intake, and rely on gpu & passive exhaust. maybe this is a noob p.o.v., but why would it be more beneficial to have 3 exhaust (2 on top + gpu exhaust) rather than 2 intake and 1 gpu exhaust + perforations?

Is there a benefit to getting as much hot air as possible through exhausts rather than getting in cool ambient air through intakes?

 

[akr12]

Get the EVGA ITX tower cooler when you build the machine. EVGA boards are sketchy. I suggest the ASUS Z97 I instead. Don't buy 1X8GB RAM. That's going to kill half your potential memory bandwidth. Run 2X4GB. 840 EVO is obsolete. You want an 850 EVO.

As for air flow, don't screw with it. Hot air rises. exhausts draw air into the case. It's all about air pressure. When you create a vaccuum you draw air in to fill it. Don't screw with the PSU. and no the PSU is not an intake. No idea how you got that into your head. Leave it the way they have designed it. It's worked for people so far. Make the changes to your parts list that I suggested.

Thanks a lot.

The 840 I had lying around so that's why I will be using it in this rig. I might later just use it as a secondary SSD, but for now I thought it should be decent enough.

I went with 1x8Gb so that, in the case that I would decide to go to 2x8Gb, my current ram would still be useful. But if there will really be a noticable difference in performance between 1x8Gb and 2x4Gb, I might actually trade out like you've mentioned.

I picked the EVGA mobo for a couple reasons. One was the availability (it was ready to ship). Second was, I assumed the CPU and Pin placement would be the best for their own case.

I might just take my chances with the mb, but switch out the ram like you suggested. I am also planning to switch to a Nvidia Reference Blower even though it's about 50$ more.

For the PSU intake, I got the idea from reading on a forum a guy was planning to switch the top fans to intake and the PSU to an exhaust. But I think I will stick with your suggestions and initially stick to the standard cooling set-up. Depending on the temps I get, then I will consider different setup.

Any particular reason you suggest the EVGA cooler? I was eyeing the Noctua's (I believe U-9 and L-12).

 

[akr12]

Quick question, guys.

I know a blower GPU is preferred for such a small case. But how much of a difference will it make vs. a Dual Fan GPU? Will it really make a big difference or will it only a be a minimal temp & performance difference?

The reason I ask is the reference gtx 970 look pretty ugly, and I've heard that their fans can get really loud. And the NVidia 970 is almost a 100$ more expensive after taxes at Best Buy. So I'm tempted to stick to my MSI 970.

 

[Supremenyan]

Quick question, guys.

I know a blower GPU is preferred for such a small case. But how much of a difference will it make vs. a Dual Fan GPU? Will it really make a big difference or will it only a be a minimal temp & performance difference?

The reason I ask is the reference gtx 970 look pretty ugly, and I've heard that their fans can get really loud. And the NVidia 970 is almost a 100$ more expensive after taxes at Best Buy. So I'm tempted to stick to my MSI 970.

dual fan will recirculate air in case therefore making it hotter. blower style will dispense the arir out the back making it cooler.

 

[bubbz1324]

You can always price match the gtx 970 reference blower at best buy from newegg. That's what I did. I got it for about 50-60$ cheaper

 

[Xibyth]

Quick question, guys.

I know a blower GPU is preferred for such a small case. But how much of a difference will it make vs. a Dual Fan GPU? Will it really make a big difference or will it only a be a minimal temp & performance difference?

The reason I ask is the reference gtx 970 look pretty ugly, and I've heard that their fans can get really loud. And the NVidia 970 is almost a 100$ more expensive after taxes at Best Buy. So I'm tempted to stick to my MSI 970.

PLEASE don't buy computer parts, or anything else for that matter, from the imbeciles at Best Buy.

Look, I hate geek squad and the extended service plan jokers as much as the next guy. But not everyone has a microcenter or frys nearby.

 

[erickmendes]

Hey, I got a Hadron too, and I'm thinking about getting a MSI GTX 970 GAMING 4GB but I would like to see some pictures to know how it would look... got some to share?