Is this the optimal airflow configuration I could get?

[tman2damax11]

Extremely poor paint diagram of projected airflow configuration: http://imgur.com/rCnAIVf

 

So Ive been piecing together my next build for about a month now, and now that I have all the parts picked out, I'm just making fine adjustments to make sure this thing is near perfect day one. To start the rig is going to be an SLI build, but both cards I chose are blower style so they get rid of their heat on their own, so thats not my worry. My worry is the water cooling radiator (dun dun dun, did he just say water cooling radiator in the air cooling section), I don't what the optimal position for the rad and fan is, I picked the first google link for the question, optimal radiator placement or something like that and got this article: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/printpage/Which-is-The-Best-Configuration-for-120-mm-Liquid-Cooling-Fans/1738. The lowest temps were achieved by the radiator being mounted on a the top of the case with the fan mounted under as an intake which resulted in the lowest temps. So heres a poorly drawn paint diagram of how I would imagine the air flow in my case would work: http://imgur.com/rCnAIVf. What do you guys think, any way this could be revised for minimum temps with my limited 3 fans (I might get a the liquid cooling system thats a step up from the one I have chosen with 2 fans, making 4 total). Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Edit: Also I have one more question, its about the dust flow of the case. I know for a fact that the case I'm getting has a filter for the front fan, and the bottom PSU and vent, so if I'm using the radiator as an intake will it be bringing dust into my case, or will it most likely be sucked out by the back exhaust instantly? BTW, my house is very very dusty all the time. Thanks again for the help.

[MegaDave91]

In my R4, I have two front intake and one rear exhaust and my H220 is exhausting in pull. IMO, this is the best config for my setup. I put one of the modular sound dampening pieces on the bottom fan grill because I don't use that.

[Wtalk2]

Looks like it would work nicely  

[MrYuriy]

Yes, with (hopefully) good fans, preferably 140mm + (the bigger the better in this case) you seem to have proper, balanced airflow - per that professional-style diagram.

 

As far as the radiator, its fine where it is on top, just make sure the fans are in Pull [intake] configuration.

 

Only thing I would recommend, is if you can fit a 240mm rad, do so. And for my 2 cents, go with Corsair's H100, H100i per your budget. 

[tman2damax11]

Yes, with (hopefully) good fans, preferably 140mm + (the bigger the better in this case) you seem to have proper, balanced airflow - per that professional-style diagram.

 

As far as the radiator, its fine where it is on top, just make sure the fans are in Pull [intake] configuration.

 

Only thing I would recommend, is if you can fit a 240mm rad, do so. And for my 2 cents, go with Corsair's H100, H100i per your budget. 

The case I'm planning on getting definitely will support the h100i, if I do plan on going with the h100i would I not change anything besides using both of the top 2 vents and not just 1?

[MrYuriy]

The case I'm planning on getting definitely will support the h100i, if I do plan on going with the h100i would I not change anything besides using both of the top 2 vents and not just 1?

 

Technically, the unit is so good you shouldn't need to change anything on it.

However, I must mention this, getting Corsairs SP120 fans and replacing them with the default ones will give you slightly better performance. And aesthetics. 

[hawthorne]

Seems fine, positive pressure and good GPU cooling.

[tman2damax11]

Also I have one more question, its about the dust flow of the case. I know for a fact that the case I'm getting has a filter for the front fan, and the bottom PSU and vent, so if I'm using the radiator as an intake will it be bringing dust into my case, or will it most likely be sucked out by the back exhaust instantly? BTW, my house is very very dusty all the time.

 

Thanks again for the help guys!

[othertomperson]

No! You are pushing hot air that is naturally rising to the top of your case back down onto your CPU and GPUs. You want the top fans to be exhausts to work naturally with convection. If it's that important for the rad to have air from outside the case going through it put it somewhere else.

[LogicalDrm]

You propably won't be able to fit fan right next to PSU. On top mounts there's so many options. You can either have rad pulling warm air into case and exhausting with rear. Or have it and rear both exhaust. Or have rear intake and rad exhaust.