Would a 360mm radiator fit in my case?

[IAmAndre]

Hi,

 

I have a Aerocool Shard case and the specs say that it can fit a 240mm radiator in front or 3 120mm case fans. I currently have the case fans installed and I'm curious to know why a 360mm radiator wouldn't fit. I will probably stick to the official specs anyway but I'm just curious to know why it wouldn't fit.

 

As you can see, it has two HDD bays at the bottom. If I install a 240mm radiator I wouldn't be able to cool those hard drives with a fan. How much of an issue is it? I have currently two Seagate Barracuda.

 

Finally, with the radiator installed I'll have two free fan spots at the top of the case. Should they be installed in a pull configuration to cool the motherboard's VRMs or in push to exhaust the hot air?

 

Thanks

[Statik]

It's hard to tell in the photos but it appears that the PSU shroud would block a rad? Not having a fan on an HDD should be no big deal.

 

You should try to make your air flow through the case, i.e. in the front/bottom, out the top/back is generally ideal.

[IAmAndre]

13 minutes ago, Statik said:

It's hard to tell in the photos but it appears that the PSU shroud would block a rad? Not having a fan on an HDD should be no big deal.

Ah it makes sense because there's just a tiny space between the bottom fan and the shroud for some cable management so definitely not enough space to fit a radiator.

 

16 minutes ago, Statik said:

You should try to make your air flow through the case, i.e. in the front/bottom, out the top/back is generally ideal.

I understood that the fans on the radiator are pulling air inside the case but doesn't the radiator emit some hot air? In this case how can I keep the VRMs and RAM sticks cool?

[Statik]

1 hour ago, IAmAndre said:

Ah it makes sense because there's just a tiny space between the bottom fan and the shroud for some cable management so definitely not enough space to fit a radiator.

 

I understood that the fans on the radiator are pulling air inside the case but doesn't the radiator emit some hot air? In this case how can I keep the VRMs and RAM sticks cool?

What board do you have? If your board required direct air on the VRMs at stock/general OC to not overheat, it's a shit board. And if your ram is running at XMP/Slight tune/OC it shouldn't need direct air. Just having air flowing through the case should be plenty.

 

Yes air coming through a rad in the front will be slightly warm, but it's the only option. And it's not going to be make or break for temps, it'll be a few degrees difference.

[IAmAndre]

39 minutes ago, Statik said:

What board do you have? If your board required direct air on the VRMs at stock/general OC to not overheat, it's a shit board. And if your ram is running at XMP/Slight tune/OC it shouldn't need direct air. Just having air flowing through the case should be plenty.

 

Yes air coming through a rad in the front will be slightly warm, but it's the only option. And it's not going to be make or break for temps, it'll be a few degrees difference.

The thing is I would have no air input. The temperatures have been fine so far on all components but I thought I would need to have at least some air input to cool down the components other than the CPU and GPU.

 

BTW I made a configuration on the Corsair website and this is pretty close to what it would look like: https://www.corsair.com/ww/en/custom-cooling-configurator?configCode=vftrkp

 

So the question is whether the top fans should be in a push or a pull configuration.

[Statik]

1 hour ago, IAmAndre said:

The thing is I would have no air input. The temperatures have been fine so far on all components but I thought I would need to have at least some air input to cool down the components other than the CPU and GPU.

Yes you would, from your rad... That's your intake.

[IAmAndre]

1 minute ago, Statik said:

Yes you would, from your rad... That's your intake.

Hmmokay so you're saying that the air from the two fans on the radiator should cool the radiator itself and the rest of the system?

[Statik]

1 hour ago, IAmAndre said:

Hmmokay so you're saying that the air from the two fans on the radiator should cool the radiator itself and the rest of the system?

Yes. The air will be a few degrees warmer obviously, but it will still (in theory) be plenty cool enough to cool down your system.

[IAmAndre]

3 minutes ago, Statik said:

Yes. The air will be a few degrees warmer obviously, but it will still (in theory) be plenty cool enough to cool down your system.

Interesting. Anything I can do to improve the thermals overall. Because in summer the ambient temperature can be as high as 30°C where I live.

[Statik]

1 hour ago, IAmAndre said:

Interesting. Anything I can do to improve the thermals overall. Because in summer the ambient temperature can be as high as 30°C where I live.

Not really. It all depends on the temperature of the air going into your PC. No number of fans or configuration will change that. Only way to fix that is bring down the ambient temp (i.e. AC.)