Lian Li O11 AIR MINI GPU cooling

[Sacob]

Hello hello!

I'm planning to get a new case to fit my new desk and I'm considering a white Lian Li O11 AIR MINI. After watching the gamers nexus review I got a bit concerned with the GPU cooling performance. I know he did not add extra fans so I'm asking you guys, is it that bad? Should I be worried?

BTW, any other case with that design that I should consider? I don't want a tall case. 

Thanks

[suedseefrucht]

1 hour ago, Sacob said:

BTW, any other case with that design that I should consider? I don't want a tall case. 

Do you have a graphics card? Which one? 

 

For air cooling I like the fractal design torrent compact/nano. 

 

Which cpu cooler do you use? 

[Sacob]

5 hours ago, suedseefrucht said:

Do you have a graphics card? Which one? 

 

For air cooling I like the fractal design torrent compact/nano. 

 

Which cpu cooler do you use? 

for now I have a 3050 but i will upgrade:

i have an atx motherboard so the nano won't fit and the compact is even taller than my corsair 400q

[IkeaGnome]

I don't have the air version and my 6800xt does fine with fans under the gpu. 

[thrasher_565]

1 hour ago, IkeaGnome said:

I don't have the air version and my 6800xt does fine with fans under the gpu. 

if you have a cse with bottom intake gpu temps will be good the front is for cpu tower cooler. so being that it has to do a 90 in to the cpu cooler temps will be a bit higher then if it dint have to do a 90 in to it make sense. 

 

if you dont have bottom intake then front intake will be better then 90 degree side intake for gpu and cpu temps.

[DD08]

Hi Sacob

I've got 2 Air Mini's... One with a 2080ti and the other with a 3070ti.
The 2080ti one is running with a front-mounted NZXT 280 AIO intake in push/pull configuration(very tight GPU fit!!!), 1 x 140mm and 1 x 120mm bottom intake, 1 x 140mm rear and 2 x 140 top exhaust. System is running silent and cool.
3070ti runs a Noctua CPU cooler, 2 x 140mm fans as intake for both front and bottom, and again, 1 x 140mm rear and 2 x 140 top exhaust.
Also runs silent and cool.
I would suggest the Arctic P12 or P14 fans, depending on your cooling solution. They are good performing, cost efficient, no-nonsense fans. If you are RGB-blinger, then go for that... It looks nice in my oldest sons PC.
Good luck with your build.

Cheers, DD

[Sacob]

1 hour ago, DD08 said:

Hi Sacob

I've got 2 Air Mini's... One with a 2080ti and the other with a 3070ti.
The 2080ti one is running with a front-mounted NZXT 280 AIO intake in push/pull configuration(very tight GPU fit!!!), 1 x 140mm and 1 x 120mm bottom intake, 1 x 140mm rear and 2 x 140 top exhaust. System is running silent and cool.
3070ti runs a Noctua CPU cooler, 2 x 140mm fans as intake for both front and bottom, and again, 1 x 140mm rear and 2 x 140 top exhaust.
Also runs silent and cool.
I would suggest the Arctic P12 or P14 fans, depending on your cooling solution. They are good performing, cost efficient, no-nonsense fans. If you are RGB-blinger, then go for that... It looks nice in my oldest sons PC.
Good luck with your build.

Cheers, DD

 

Thanks for your replay!

I'm currently running a Ryzen 5 3600 with a NH-U12S and I will keep that. the gpu, for now, is a 3050 but an upgrade is on the list.

Don't know exactly how I will cool that but I might keep the included fans ( 2 front intake and 1 read exhaust) and add 4 new ones (2 bottom intakes and 2 top exhausts. 
I'm a fan of the corsair's ML lineup but still don't know. not a RGB type of guy (and wallet xD)

 

 

[thrasher_565]

38 minutes ago, Sacob said:

 

Thanks for your replay!

I'm currently running a Ryzen 5 3600 with a NH-U12S and I will keep that. the gpu, for now, is a 3050 but an upgrade is on the list.

Don't know exactly how I will cool that but I might keep the included fans ( 2 front intake and 1 read exhaust) and add 4 new ones (2 bottom intakes and 2 top exhausts. 
I'm a fan of the corsair's ML lineup but still don't know. not a RGB type of guy (and wallet xD)

 

 

corsair ml non rgb fans

[DD08]

15 hours ago, Sacob said:

 

Thanks for your replay!

I'm currently running a Ryzen 5 3600 with a NH-U12S and I will keep that. the gpu, for now, is a 3050 but an upgrade is on the list.

Don't know exactly how I will cool that but I might keep the included fans ( 2 front intake and 1 read exhaust) and add 4 new ones (2 bottom intakes and 2 top exhausts. 
I'm a fan of the corsair's ML lineup but still don't know. not a RGB type of guy (and wallet xD)

 

 

Understood...

The kids like the Corsair LL fans, but we've had some issues with them(also the kids  ), and especially the controller. I just run either Noctua or Arctic fans, now.

 

With the bottom fan intake, you will be cooling the GPU very sufficiently.

The Arctic come in a 5 pcs "Value Pack", for around 40 dollars(P14). They don't include any fancy sauce or sleeved cables, but they perform  very well. Keep in mind that the Value Pack fans come in a PST configuration, so they can be daicy-chained. The cables are shorter, so if you wish to route them on the back, and/or use a central fan-hub, then you have to consider buying them individually. Some times the fans are slightly cheaper, if you buy them individually.

Take care...

DD

[Sacob]

Just ordered the white version of the case and 4 arctic P14 white fans (not a rgb guy but wouldn't order the 5 value pack in black xD)

since my MOBO only has 3 fan connector i will use one for the rear, one for the 2 front fans with a pwm splitter and another with the arctic case fan hub for the 2 bottom and 2 top fans 

thanks for the help

[DD08]

Kewl'... Good luck with the build. It's a bit more "cramped" than other cases I've used (phanteks and Fractal), but the build-quality is superb!
A picture of the finished system would be great!   

 

BR. DD

[Sacob]

Ok! I will try to do that  

[BahnStormer]

On 6/8/2022 at 3:42 PM, DD08 said:

Hi Sacob

I've got 2 Air Mini's... One with a 2080ti and the other with a 3070ti.
The 2080ti one is running with a front-mounted NZXT 280 AIO intake in push/pull configuration(very tight GPU fit!!!), 1 x 140mm and 1 x 120mm bottom intake, 1 x 140mm rear and 2 x 140 top exhaust. System is running silent and cool.
3070ti runs a Noctua CPU cooler, 2 x 140mm fans as intake for both front and bottom, and again, 1 x 140mm rear and 2 x 140 top exhaust.
Also runs silent and cool.
I would suggest the Arctic P12 or P14 fans, depending on your cooling solution. They are good performing, cost efficient, no-nonsense fans. If you are RGB-blinger, then go for that... It looks nice in my oldest sons PC.
Good luck with your build.

Cheers, DD

DD08 - sounds like you've got some experience with this build.

 

Did you consider any other cases to the Air O11 Mini?

 

I recently build in one of these - for my son't PC as it was low on bling and just looked really smart (living room) and I was really impressed, but that was only a Ryzen 7 2700X

and GTX1660S, so not pushing the heat levels.

 

I need to replace my Corsair Carbide 330R - which was a great case for my Core2Quad and my watercooled 3770K, but it is showing it's age now as the Blueray burner and HDD bays seem to really obstruct the intake.

 

I was considering a Lian Li o11 Air Mini for this, but not sure what my alternatives are. Note that I'd have several 140mm fans that I could move over, I'm expecting to populate most of the intake and exhaust slots - then run Ai Suite to fan-manage them to minimal fan speed until they're needed (when gaming).

 

PC is: Ryzen9 5900X, Noctua NH-D15, ASUS TUF X570PRO, RTX3080Ti FE, 32Gb TridentZ DDR4-3600C14, M.2 1Tb WDSN850, M.2 1Tb WDSN550, 2x 8Tb WD80EFAX, Corsair HX850, Corsair Carbide330R case + 3x NF-A14's,

 

 

[DD08]

20 hours ago, BahnStormer said:

DD08 - sounds like you've got some experience with this build.

 

Did you consider any other cases to the Air O11 Mini?

 

I recently build in one of these - for my son't PC as it was low on bling and just looked really smart (living room) and I was really impressed, but that was only a Ryzen 7 2700X

and GTX1660S, so not pushing the heat levels.

 

I need to replace my Corsair Carbide 330R - which was a great case for my Core2Quad and my watercooled 3770K, but it is showing it's age now as the Blueray burner and HDD bays seem to really obstruct the intake.

 

I was considering a Lian Li o11 Air Mini for this, but not sure what my alternatives are. Note that I'd have several 140mm fans that I could move over, I'm expecting to populate most of the intake and exhaust slots - then run Ai Suite to fan-manage them to minimal fan speed until they're needed (when gaming).

 

PC is: Ryzen9 5900X, Noctua NH-D15, ASUS TUF X570PRO, RTX3080Ti FE, 32Gb TridentZ DDR4-3600C14, M.2 1Tb WDSN850, M.2 1Tb WDSN550, 2x 8Tb WD80EFAX, Corsair HX850, Corsair Carbide330R case + 3x NF-A14's,

 

 

Hallo BahnStormer
Oh-boy.... yah, the 330R has the "old-school" design going for it!  
I considered LanCool 2 mesh, Phanteks P400A, P500A, and then Fractal Torrent.
I don't know if it needs to be an "eye-candy-box", but if not, I would highly recommend the Fractal Torrent. I've built 4 high-performance systems in that case, and it is really nice. Maybe not as intuitive and high quality as Lian Li and Phanteks, but fairly easy to work with, even though the PSU is placed in the top... like in the olden days.
Do you still need drives? Enthoo Pro 2 could be a candidate, then, but it is BIG!

With your current system, I reckon you would become very pleased with the Fractal Torrent in grey. The ones I built are all black, so no glass, hence I can't really tell whether the glass on the "backside" is annoying or not.

 

Off topic: NIce Dell monitor...   My 2408 still rocks in the colour-department, but was a massive no-joy for gaming fast paced games... ohhh, the bleeed.  
 

Good luck on the decision-making.

BR. DD

[BahnStormer]

Thanks for the input - sorry for the delay in replying, I was travelling with really intermittent time online!

 

In terms of case size, I'd prefer not too big: problem is the lower part of the case is slightly obstructed by a step. So the idea was that if it is Air Mini shaped, I can elevate the case a little and give it a chance to draw more air in at the front, plus get it off the carpet (yeah living the airflow dream right now!!!).

 

Eye candy is NOT a consideration - mostly just "tidy" and airflow. I'm v much anti-bling... most of my fans are Noctua originals.

 

I still want to keep the 2x 8Tb SATA drives, but not going to keep the DVD/Blueray burners - I'll set those up with my old C2QX6850 (probably with a Vertex2 boot drive and a 2Tb SATA cache drive  ).... then leave it in my garage. I genuinely don't think I've burned a DVD/Blueray for about 7 or 8 years.... and that was only a special request for a friend!

 

Air Mini is still top of the list, but the Fractal Torrent with the solid side panels in black/grey looks really interesting... I'm just torn as to whether I want a PSU baking in the top of what can be a v hot case if the rest of the components are working.... or will it just contribute to airflow when that happens? 

 

2408 is very much my 3rd monitor with the 27" 1440P for gaming and the ProArt alongside it for e-mail / work - I have the Dell wall-mounted above the other two as an extra screen for sharing + tracking conference calls, etc

 

And if you think that is some old hardware, I've still got a working Opteron165 (socket 939/940 - Athlon 64 "X2" server spec CPU), which after a few years OC'd from 1.8 to 2.7Ghz (50%) is now only overclocked to 2.25Ghz (25%) and UNDERvolted, so I can run the EVO120 cooler at about 400rpm (45C).... after the heavy OC stint as my gaming cPU, it spent a few years as a newzleeching download server, but that stopped when Netflix + Prime Video came along and gave us a legit option... so the big capacity drives are long gone and it doesn't really get powered on very often as it's now rocking a couple of RAID0 36Gb WD Raptors (noisy 10,000rpm little beasts).... main problem is the motherboard only supported 2Gb RAM... plus even if there ever was a BIOS update to fix it, I don't think I'd be able to get any more sticks of OCZ 500Mhz DDR that I'd need to maintain that 250Mhz FSB overclock with such perfect ratios for the rest of the OC 

[BahnStormer]

7 minutes ago, BahnStormer said:

Thanks for the input - sorry for the delay in replying, I was travelling with really intermittent time online!

 

In terms of case size, I'd prefer not too big: problem is the lower part of the case is slightly obstructed by a step. So the idea was that if it is Air Mini shaped, I can elevate the case a little and give it a chance to draw more air in at the front, plus get it off the carpet (yeah living the airflow dream right now!!!).

 

Eye candy is NOT a consideration - mostly just "tidy" and airflow. I'm v much anti-bling... most of my fans are Noctua originals.

 

I still want to keep the 2x 8Tb SATA drives, but not going to keep the DVD/Blueray burners - I'll set those up with my old C2QX6850 (probably with a Vertex2 boot drive and a 2Tb SATA cache drive  ).... then leave it in my garage. I genuinely don't think I've burned a DVD/Blueray for about 7 or 8 years.... and that was only a special request for a friend!

 

Air Mini is still top of the list, but the Fractal Torrent with the solid side panels in black/grey looks really interesting... I'm just torn as to whether I want a PSU baking in the top of what can be a v hot case if the rest of the components are working.... or will it just contribute to airflow when that happens? 

 

2408 is very much my 3rd monitor with the 27" 1440P for gaming and the ProArt alongside it for e-mail / work - I have the Dell wall-mounted above the other two as an extra screen for sharing + tracking conference calls, etc

 

And if you think that is some old hardware, I've still got a working Opteron165 (socket 939/940 - Athlon 64 "X2" server spec CPU), which after a few years OC'd from 1.8 to 2.7Ghz (50%) is now only overclocked to 2.25Ghz (25%) and UNDERvolted, so I can run the EVO120 cooler at about 400rpm (45C).... after the heavy OC stint as my gaming cPU, it spent a few years as a newzleeching download server, but that stopped when Netflix + Prime Video came along and gave us a legit option... so the big capacity drives are long gone and it doesn't really get powered on very often as it's now rocking a couple of RAID0 36Gb WD Raptors (noisy 10,000rpm little beasts).... main problem is the motherboard only supported 2Gb RAM... plus even if there ever was a BIOS update to fix it, I don't think I'd be able to get any more sticks of OCZ 500Mhz DDR that I'd need to maintain that 250Mhz FSB overclock with such perfect ratios for the rest of the OC 

and for those "extreme airflow" occasions. are the 2x 180mm fans worth it? or better to stick with 140mm and just swap them out for Noctua "industrials" if it really comes to it?

 

I've got a couple of NF-A15's (on the CPU cooler already) and a few A14's that I'll move over too.

[Sacob]

As promised, here is my build! Nothing out of this world but it does the job.

 

Asus ROG B450 F gamming

Ryzen 5 3600

32gb of hyperx ddr4 ram

Corsair MP510 960gb 

3gb + 4gb hdd

Msi 3050 GPU

A bit upset because the white on the Arctic fans don't match the case color. Wasn't able to push the top ones more to the rear because it hits the CPU power connector on the top of the MOBO.

PS: i know i need a paint job on that wall xD

[DD08]

@Sacob Looks nice, but yeah, the "white" components are sometimes hard to match. I reckon you have decent temperatures now?  

@BahnStormer No worries. Busy workdays here as well, with exhibitions adding to the flow.
I like the Air Mini size, but it is a bit bulky on the desktop. It's all Noctua fans in it, some poop-A14 PWM's  and the rest are 2000rpm iPPC PWM fans (140). So, no bling, just "cool" performance.
Regarding the Torrent systems, I actually switched out the 2 180mm fans, and installed a 420mm Arctic Freezer 2 AIO. You will have to modify the bottom fan bracket, but it will fit.
It was "desperate measures", for a crazy system.  You can also see that the wiring is a bit "different", but was done to minimize obstruction of the airflow. I would not be worried about the risk of "cooking" the PSU, as the 9 140mm fans should provide sufficient airflow to exhaust the heated air. Attached picture below...

Lifting the Air Mini from the carpet/floor would be logical, if you haven't already implemented a vacuum-cleaner-bag interface and duct-system into the bottom of the case.  

Regarding screens, I stuck with Dell, and bought a 32" s3220dgf. It gets the job done in OK colors for the occasional gaming-session, and still have the 2408 vertically mounted for the same reasons as you.

 

[BahnStormer]

I went with a black Air 011 Mini in the end.... I really like the way they use the extra width for keeping the PSU and hard drives out of the airflow.

 

The Fractal Torrent looked really interesting, but it seemed that it would only handle 1x 3.5" drive and I have the 2x 8Tb's for my main desktop - also, a little more width is a good trade-off with less height as this will allow me to get much more ventilation above ( to allow the hot ait to get out from under the desk), even after I lift the case well off the floor (which needs to happen, to stop it sucking up so much dust).

 

I'll get some photo's of the "spare parts" rig in a white AirMini - it's a remarkably clean build considering it is using a full "ketchup and mustard" PCP&C 610W "Silencer" from about 15 yrs ago.... it's the first gen of "80PLUS" (white), so if I was using it for more than an hour or two per day I really ought to replace it, but the 2nd hard drive bay holds all the spare power leads and it is doing the job v nicely:

Ryzen7 2700X, Scythe FUMA2, Asus B450 Prime, GTX1660S, 2x8Gb Corsair Vengeance LPX (3200Mhz @ C16), 512Gb M.2 (970EVOplus), 2Tb SATA and then the vintage PSU (PCP&C 610W silencer) and a few accessories like a Gigabyte Bluetooth+WiFi6 adapter.

 

New case (Air Mini, but in black) arrives today, but it will probably be Saturday before I can rebuild my main PC (the one in the sig), but having seen the dual RTX build above, I have reasonably high hopes that my 5900X (air cooled) and a single RTX3080Ti should be fine....  

[DD08]

4 hours ago, BahnStormer said:

I went with a black Air 011 Mini in the end.... I really like the way they use the extra width for keeping the PSU and hard drives out of the airflow.

 

New case (Air Mini, but in black) arrives today, but it will probably be Saturday before I can rebuild my main PC (the one in the sig), but having seen the dual RTX build above, I have reasonably high hopes that my 5900X (air cooled) and a single RTX3080Ti should be fine....  

Kewl... You will like it, but it's a bit fiddly with the 3,5" drives.

Please keep in mind that the picture above is the Torrent, and NOT Air Mini! A 3070ti (ASUS Strix) fits well in the Air Mini, though, so I reckon the 3080TI will as well.
Happy building!  

[Sacob]

@DD08 everything is nice and chill but i don't have a very demanding setup. Let's see what happens when i finally upgrade my GPU