360mm radiator mounting on Thermaltake S300

[Hoss81]

What's up LTT forum, 

 

So after months of arguing with myself and trying 2 different air coolers I pulled the trigger this morning on a EVGA 360mm CLC.  Got a pretty good deal considering the other popular asetek coolers are being marked up due to the current economical climate of the world.

 

Next order of business, I have 2 possible mounting locations for the radiator in my Thermaltake S300 case.  My question to the group is, my preferred placement would be the very front.  According to the instructions I can mount the radiator on the outside of the case inside the front cover and then the fans on the inside.  

My question is air flow direction.  If I use the front fans as an intake, which is what I have now and I would assume is probably "Normal" for fan direction on the front panel.....won't I be blowing hotter than ambient air into my case?

My follow up question, if I change the front panel to exhaust and push air out I'm worried that I will be scavenging air from my GPU.  As you can see in the picture I have a GTX 1080 Turbo, so it pulls air from the bottom and pushes it out the back of its I/O panel.

 

Below is a picture of my current setup.  I have 2 140mm exhaust fans at the very top, 1 120mm exhaust fan at the back and then the 3 intake fans on the front.  I am planning on re-using the corsair AF120's as I like the white LED's and I've heard the factory EVGA fans can be noisy.

The 2 radiator mounting location options are the front and the front side, but the front side would be a last resort as I'd have to remove the drive bracket and then I have no place to put my IronWolf 4TB drive.

 

Let me know what you think.

[jaslion]

30 minutes ago, Hoss81 said:

What's up LTT forum, 

 

So after months of arguing with myself and trying 2 different air coolers I pulled the trigger this morning on a EVGA 360mm CLC.  Got a pretty good deal considering the other popular asetek coolers are being marked up due to the current economical climate of the world.

 

Next order of business, I have 2 possible mounting locations for the radiator in my Thermaltake S300 case.  My question to the group is, my preferred placement would be the very front.  According to the instructions I can mount the radiator on the outside of the case inside the front cover and then the fans on the inside.  

My question is air flow direction.  If I use the front fans as an intake, which is what I have now and I would assume is probably "Normal" for fan direction on the front panel.....won't I be blowing hotter than ambient air into my case?

My follow up question, if I change the front panel to exhaust and push air out I'm worried that I will be scavenging air from my GPU.  As you can see in the picture I have a GTX 1080 Turbo, so it pulls air from the bottom and pushes it out the back of its I/O panel.

 

Below is a picture of my current setup.  I have 2 140mm exhaust fans at the very top, 1 120mm exhaust fan at the back and then the 3 intake fans on the front.  I am planning on re-using the corsair AF120's as I like the white LED's and I've heard the factory EVGA fans can be noisy.

The 2 radiator mounting location options are the front and the front side, but the front side would be a last resort as I'd have to remove the drive bracket and then I have no place to put my IronWolf 4TB drive.

 

Let me know what you think.

Since you have a blower I'd go for a top mounted rad. A blower 1080 needs all the help it can get.

[Hoss81]

11 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Since you have a blower I'd go for a top mounted rad. A blower 1080 needs all the help it can get.

The top won't support the 360mm rad.  Also, not for nothing my 1080 stays cooler than my CPU does.  I rarely get above 60 on my GPU, even after a few hours of playing apex or warzone.  My CPU is in the mid 70's when F@h.  My computer is usually either Folding or gaming with very little of much else.