YAKINIKU

Wanted to initially go for the Core 500 but it seems like without modding it's not going to fit the Sapphire Nitro+ Vega. I did some searching around but it's hard to find any cases smaller than my current one. I'd prefer an mitx solution because I currently have a Corsair 280x which is on the larger size of cases. Are there any other options (mitx or even matx?) I know there are the thermaltake V21 but that's about the same size as my current case.

Also do you think if I had a separate AIO for the GPU so both rads were exhausting I would have any benefits? So maybe a top for the CPU and the front for the GPU with 1 bottom intake fan?

Sweet I actually have a couple other questions for you. Definitely not an ME major. Do you think adding in additional intake fans at the front or bottom (assuming the setup we discussed) would add any additional performance to moving heat ?

That makes a lot of sense actually, not sure why that didn't naturally occur to me as I thought things through. The computer is going to be out in the living room on a desk, so I don't think I'll have to worry about the hot air being trapped in a small room.

Any thoughts then on what would be the most optimal setup with 2x 140mm fans and a 240/280mm rad?

To preface this here's what the parts I am working with (missing GPU, because not sure if I am going Vega 56 or Navi yet, but it will be one of those dual or triple fan versions) (missing CPU cooler because I'm not sure what AIO I am going with depends on setup, pictures attached, but either 240mm/280mm Rad) PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor ($0.00) Motherboard: Asus - ROG Strix B450-I Gaming Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($149.33 @ Amazon) Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($0.00) Storage: Silicon Power - 256 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($0.00) Storage: Silicon Power - A55 512 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($0.00) Case: Corsair - Crystal 280X MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($0.00) Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ Newegg) Case Fan: Noctua - NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140mm Fan ($24.90 @ Amazon) Case Fan: Noctua - NF-A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140mm Fan ($24.90 @ Amazon) Total: $269.11 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-18 17:37 EST-0500 This will be a mitx build inside the Corsair 280x Case, with a mix of AIO and air cooling. The reason I have only included 2 case fans instead of 4 is due to cost (I may consider 3 fans 2 intake 1 exhaust but likely not). The 17.8 db and high airflow are what attracted me to the choice of these fans. To further go into detail I am not an expert and so I have minimal knowledge about cooling and optimal fan/AIO setup; usually I'd have a rear exhaust but the case does not support a rear exhaust. Instead you have the options of such: Top- 280/240mm Rad OR 2x 120mm/140mm fans Front- 240mm Rad OR 2x 120mm/140mm fans Bottom- 240mm Rad OR 2x 120mm/140mm fans As such I drew some MS paint mockups detailing what I think are my 3 best options. Setup 1 is using the front as an intake for the CPU, so taking colder air from outside the case (15-22C depending on season) and expelling the warmer air inside the case. To remedy this I have a Noctua 140mm fan intaking air from the bottom of the case(bottom case has enough decent clearance from the desk to pull air from) and feeding it to the GPU fans to make sure most of the air the GPU fans are intaking are "relatively" cool. And to help keep temperatures inside the case down, I have 1 140mm Noctua fan exhausting air from the top. Setup 2 is using the bottom as intake for the CPU, again taking cooler air from outside the case and expelling the warmer air inside the case. Since this directly expels the warmer air into the GPU fans I have again a Noctua 140mm fan intaking colder air and expelling it across the back of the GPU to try and cool the PCB where the heat is coming out of. And again to exhaust the warm air in the case I have 1 140mm Noctua fan exhausting air from the top. Setup 3 is using the top as an exhaust for the CPU (larger 280mm rad), so taking the air inside the case and expelling the hot air outside. While this may keep the inside of the case cooler it does warm the CPU up. And again using 1 bottom 140mm Noctua fan to intake cool air for the GPU but also having another Noctua 140mm fan mounted at the front to cool the back of the GPU as heat is expelled. Aside from the setup and orientation of the parts the biggest difference is the first 2 setups have a 240mm rad, while the 3rd setup is using a 280mm rad. I am currently thinking that the 1st setup will probably be the best overall, but am wondering if any of the other mockups I made OR any other people's ideas would work better. I know this was a very large block of text and I want to thank the people that took the time to read through it and give their thoughts and opinions.

It's not totally performance issue, it's just the QF120 Balance LED fan is loud and pushes less air than a Noctua case fan would. So the theoretical "upgrade" would be a Chromax fan with higher CFM but lower noise. I'm still debating on that, and the change would likely be after I swap out my 4 SP120RGB fans with 2/3 140mm Noctua fans (2 intake 1 exhaust or maybe just 1 intake 1 exhaust?).

I have it installed so it's fine, I'm just curious to see if I can mount a larger fan (potentially) on it without changing cases.

I'm replacing the fan for a future refresh of my current build, the QF120 Balance which comes with the cooler is ok at best when moving air through the heat sink, and I wanted something that has higher CFM and static pressure but lower noise level overall.

ok then another question. Can I attach case fans to the cooler? Like if I wanted to attach a Noctua 120mm fan to the cooler is that possible with the cryorig brackets?

hmm that might be an issue then, the cooler is 145mm and the clearance is 5mm extra. R I P

Definitely stupid but I have to ask, is it possible to fit a 140mm fan onto a tower cooler that originally came with a 120mm fan? Specifically A Cryorig H7 Lumi.

That's what I thought too mount it for top exhaust. Yeah the case has room for 240mm rad on top and 280/240mm rad on the front and if you're mitx you can fit an additional 2x 120mm fans on the bottom. I'll just make sure I'm extra careful with the mounting and make sure that the fan blades are pointing up not sideways. Thanks so much you guys!

Hey guys! Need some help. I have a Cryorig H7 Quad Lumi cooler and want to mount it not sure which orientation exhaust to the back or top. I've attached a crude MS Paint drawing of my current setup Case is Corsair 280x, I have 4x SP120mm fans, Ryzen 2600 RX 580 dual fan Thanks for any tips or reading I need to do

No there is an rgb version of the case but I decided against it because I didn't need the fans when I originally bought them