h710 case mod for better flow

[Squeeeeeeeps]

I recently made some fairly easy mods on the NZXT H710 I just built to improve the airflow. It might be a little funky but so far it's getting the job done. Hopefully this helps someone as this case seems like it would be pretty hard to get adequate air on some higher end builds.

 

For reference the GPU Temps are at 95% usage and under similar conditions (cooler is Kraken X62, internal fans are stock x4):

 

Before:  76C with the front panel on (pump + radiator fans 90-100%)

               71C with the front panel off (pump + rad fans 70-90%)  

 

After:   ~66C-71C with the front panel on or off (pump 70% + rad fans 50%)

 

Before I had 4 exhaust fans (1 back, 3 top) and my 2x radiator fans were the only intakes on the front. Now this I really didn't like anything about it. The fans were noisy, it wasn't positive pressure, and I felt like the temps were really bad if the only way to get near 70C was to take the front panel off to let more air in... especially because the reason i bought the case was for the aesthetic.

 

My plan was to flip one of the fans up top around and turn it into an intake. The problem here is that the 3 top fans all share the same chamber and there is a panel sitting directly in front of the fans, the only ventilation is on the sides. Air is pushed in and out with brute force. I wanted to segregate the new intake fan up top from the 2 exhaust fans. I didn't want them stealing air from each other and having the intake recirculating hot air.

 

The best quick solution I could come up with was to take some dense packing foam that came with the case and cut it up to make a divider. I kept it snug so I could try to keep the best suction as possible on the intake fan.

Looking at the radiator fans I noticed they were very prone to recirculation and losing suction as well. I cut a small piece of cardboard from the back of a notebook to close the fans off from the inside of the PC. Other than that I used a little bit of electrical tape here and there to fine tune the leaks from the intake chambers leading back into the internals.

 

That's it! It's not the prettiest or most perfect way to seal it off, but it worked pretty damn well and you can't even see what I did when the covers are back on! It's a whole lot quieter too. I haven't fine tuned the case fans in the BIOS yet, but it feels like I've achieved positive pressure and I'm pretty happy with it so far. Now if I ever decide to overclock it, I might end up upgrading the fans to deal with the extra heat, we'll see.

 

This is my first PC build and I'm new to this world so take it easy on me lol. Just posting this in hopes it can help someone out as this case's stock airflow is kinda trash.

 

 

[DailyProcrastinator]

I like it, seems like my kind of mod. Decrease fan speed but lowering temps is a successful mod, it's also fun to experiment.

 

I used to spend time trying stuff like this back with my skylake i7-6700k system. I was always trying to improve airflow, I ended up turning my Thermaltake suppressor F31 into basically what I have now, the Fractal Design Meshify, by creating a mesh front panel mod and fitting 3x 140mm fans up front for intake, was a drastic improvement. 

[Squeeeeeeeps]

18 hours ago, JM21 said:

I like it, seems like my kind of mod. Decrease fan speed but lowering temps is a successful mod, it's also fun to experiment.

 

I used to spend time trying stuff like this back with my skylake i7-6700k system. I was always trying to improve airflow, I ended up turning my Thermaltake suppressor F31 into basically what I have now, the Fractal Design Meshify, by creating a mesh front panel mod and fitting 3x 140mm fans up front for intake, was a drastic improvement. 

Wow, that's a nice mod, was it a lot of work making the mesh panel?

 

I'll try the radiator up top and compare both my CPU and GPU temps now.

[Squeeeeeeeps]

15 hours ago, Caroline said:

Ah, the magic of NZXT... does less costs more, and you always have to end up modding

Haha yeah I'm figuring that out. I don't mind tinkering, it helps me learn, but next build I'll go with something like a meshify

[vong]

On 12/9/2019 at 5:58 PM, Squeeeeeeeps said:

 

Did you try moving the radiator to the top as an exhaust and use 3 of the 120mm fans as an intake on the front? The radiator is dumping warm/hot air inside the case from the front, that's why the gpu was hot.

[Squeeeeeeeps]

1 hour ago, vong said:

Did you try moving the radiator to the top as an exhaust and use 3 of the 120mm fans as an intake on the front? The radiator is dumping warm/hot air inside the case from the front, that's why the gpu was hot.

I was just thinking about doing that today. It's pretty obvious now that I think about it, but I didn't realize the intake was pushing air through the hot radiator when I first went with that setup.

 

I'm going to keep it a day or two to see how my CPU temperature currently is with the tasks I run. Then I'll make the switch, and compare the two. I'm expecting it'll drop a couple more Celsius and I'll more than likely keep the radiator up top

Edited December 10, 2019 by Squeeeeeeeps

[DailyProcrastinator]

On 12/9/2019 at 12:39 AM, Squeeeeeeeps said:

Wow, that's a nice mod, was it a lot of work making the mesh panel?

 

I'll try the radiator up top and compare both my CPU and GPU temps now.

Yeah took a while to figure out the proper execution and getting the proper materials, but end result was worth it. 

[Sansa]

On 12/9/2019 at 4:39 AM, Squeeeeeeeps said:

Wow, that's a nice mod, was it a lot of work making the mesh panel?

 

I'll try the radiator up top and compare both my CPU and GPU temps now.

what mesh panel? i dont see any mesh panel in the pictures. 

[Squeeeeeeeps]

On 12/17/2019 at 8:23 PM, Sansa said:

what mesh panel? i dont see any mesh panel in the pictures. 

Mine's not mesh, it's solid. JM21 was talking about a mod he had previously done 

[Squeeeeeeeps]

Got an update: I moved back to a top exhaust w/ 3 120mm intakes in the front... the GPU temp is about 69C so no change there, but the CPU temp seems to have risen about 10C all under similar conditions with the same fan curves. Also the fan noise seems louder.

 

So it seems a bit odd, But my previous setup seemed better for me and this case. I had the radiator intake in the front, with 1 intake fan up top right above the radiator, then the 2 top/back fans being exhaust and the rear fan exhaust. About the same GPU temp here, but much quieter with lower CPU temp.

 

I was hoping to reach low 60's and eventually start OC'ing, so I wish i could think of a better config to improve temperatures. I could spend more money on better fans, but I'm really not interested in that right now.