360 AIO top mounting Hi Air flo case

[BulletApe]

I was thinking of top mounting a 360 AIO into the Cooler Master h500p or h500m cases. I've already seen it can fit ok in several build videos but is a 360 top mounted too much for these cases considering both have mainly solid tops. Gamers Nexus vid seemed to suggest not a case for a top mounted AIO but plenty seem to do it?

 

Also, looks like the rad and fans possibly need to be split between inside the case and in the top canopy bit. Would it make any difference whether mounted with the rad or the fans in the canopy. Just thinking that if the fans are mounted on the top they are very close to flat top surface and maybe that will hurt performance a good bit. Obv looking to exhaust out top of case and these have smaller side vents on top rather than full mesh like front.

 

I'm currently focused on these cases for the large 200mm fans and RGB on the front, but also airflow which will help feed the rad for the 10700k and cool a 1080ti inside. Happy to look at other case suggestions if any out there. Just needs to be a quality case.

 

Any help, pointers or abuse appreciated.

[TVwazhere]

15 hours ago, BulletApe said:

Would it make any difference whether mounted with the rad or the fans in the canopy.

Noth really, both are less than ideal for the setup, as either way casues resistance to the fans trying to blow air through a radiator and then force it o make 90º turns to exit out side vents. Why gamers nexus suggests to do it front mounted is because the radiator bracket is offset upwards (photo from PCPP below), which means you have less available room to push the air out the side vents, meaning more resistance and therefore less performance. However it should still be fine for a 10700k if that's the route you want to go. 

Spoiler

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/yrP323

[BulletApe]

I see exactly what you mean from the piccy. Makes sense why the fans in a build I watched ended up like an inch from the glass. I saw another dude do the reverse and shove the rad on the roof but there were no performance tests done but made me wonder if that was actually better.

 

I think I'm going to keep looking for another case with mesh top and front. I don't like leaving performance on the table (or canopy even). Thinking of splashing out on the top NZXT 360 so don't want to waste it on less than good choices. Nice enough case but I guess there'll be something that suits better.

 

Still not completely sure whether to even bother going to a 360 rad. Some testing shows it to be only around a degree hotter than a 280 but some others seem to suggest maybe a 10% improvement with a 360. In reality its probably somewhere in the middle. It certainly limits case choice it seems.