Got a 240mm AIO on my Corsair 5000x which has a 360mm slot, how do I make it look less ugly.

[Jahamas123]

Having that empty space where a 360mm AIO would have went does not look at good. I don’t want to just buy a new AIO but want to fill the spot. Debated between getting a fan there but it would also look bad as it would be uneven. Any ideas?

[Burnedice25]

If you're into that sorta thing, you could buy some figurines of your favourite characters and have them chillin in your rig

like, if you liked Indiana Jones, you could get him swinging from a vine hung from that space too. Lego looks great too!

[Budget DIY]

Place the fans in front of the AIO. Then just add a 3rd (identical) fan. That would help a fair bit filling in that gap.

 

I myself have replaced my 240 AiO for a 360 AiO, to make the case look much better. Looks were the primary reason, but to make that swap less rediculous, I told myself: that 240 AiO is over 3 years old, and has been running 24/7. It's probable not that healthy anymore. So depending on how old your 240 AiO is, looks might not be the only reason to get a replacement. And if you're going for "just the looks", and if performance is less of an issue (I am using a Ryzen 3600, non-X), you can just go for affordable/budget options.

 

*The cooling performance of an "just for looks" 360 AiO doesn't have to be top-tier, just make sure it's a somewhat reputable brand, when it comes to leaks.

[freeagent]

Gotta have the symmetry..

 

You know what you have to do..

 

That 240 has a place on the shelf waiting..

[tkitch]

post pics

[Jahamas123]

1 hour ago, Budget DIY said:

Place the fans in front of the AIO. Then just add a 3rd (identical) fan. That would help a fair bit filling in that gap.

 

I myself have replaced my 240 AiO for a 360 AiO, to make the case look much better. Looks were the primary reason, but to make that swap less rediculous, I told myself: that 240 AiO is over 3 years old, and has been running 24/7. It's probable not that healthy anymore. So depending on how old your 240 AiO is, looks might not be the only reason to get a replacement. And if you're going for "just the looks", and if performance is less of an issue (I am using a Ryzen 3600, non-X), you can just go for affordable/budget options.

 

*The cooling performance of an "just for looks" 360 AiO doesn't have to be top-tier, just make sure it's a somewhat reputable brand, when it comes to leaks.

Mine is just under a year old. I mean I could try selling it just to get some of the money back then put it towards a 360 AIO. Either way, my computer is currently broken so I’ve taken it apart. Will definitely try your recommendation after it’s fixed.

[Budget DIY]

13 minutes ago, Jahamas123 said:

Mine is just under a year old. I mean I could try selling it just to get some of the money back then put it towards a 360 AIO. Either way, my computer is currently broken so I’ve taken it apart. Will definitely try your recommendation after it’s fixed.

Oh, I too sold my old and used AiO. And I really had to talk myself into selling the thing. I felt like I was a scammer. I myself would never buy a used AiO. But I was very honest about everything. Listed as much information as I could about how I used it and whatnot. Also very upfront about the age. Anyone with some AiO knowledge, would avoid my ad like the plague. (sold it without fans btw) But hey, if stoopid people want to do stoopid stuffs, I might as well benefit from it. Bought the 240 AiO new for about 50 euros, sold it (without fans) for 20. And I could really hear the liquid when I was shaking the thing around. Thing might have lived just fine for at least another year in my care, it being top mounted. However, seller mentioned he wanted to go front mounted. I almost said no to selling it to him. For some reason, about a week after the buyer had gotten it, I still got a 5-star review.

 

So yea, even if your old AiO is total junk, you should still see some moneys from it while selling. And for a bit of context, I had an VERY budget 240 Coolermaster AiO, with a less optimal reputation. Bought it at 50, sold parts of it for 20. New AiO is a DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX L360, paid about 90 euros. So my actual cost for this AiO, was 70 euro's.

 

(it was actually even less then that, because I sold my case fans + AiO fans + splitters + RGB controller as a bundle @ 20 euros too)

[freeagent]

I could never in good faith sell my old AIO. I was  hesitant on even giving it away to my brother. I keep it as a reminder of why I will never buy another one

[Jahamas123]

21 minutes ago, Budget DIY said:

Oh, I too sold my old and used AiO. And I really had to talk myself into selling the thing. I felt like I was a scammer. I myself would never buy a used AiO. But I was very honest about everything. Listed as much information as I could about how I used it and whatnot. Also very upfront about the age. Anyone with some AiO knowledge, would avoid my ad like the plague. (sold it without fans btw) But hey, if stoopid people want to do stoopid stuffs, I might as well benefit from it. Bought the 240 AiO new for about 50 euros, sold it (without fans) for 20. And I could really hear the liquid when I was shaking the thing around. Thing might have lived just fine for at least another year in my care, it being top mounted. However, seller mentioned he wanted to go front mounted. I almost said no to selling it to him. For some reason, about a week after the buyer had gotten it, I still got a 5-star review.

 

So yea, even if your old AiO is total junk, you should still see some moneys from it while selling. And for a bit of context, I had an VERY budget 240 Coolermaster AiO, with a less optimal reputation. Bought it at 50, sold parts of it for 20. New AiO is a DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX L360, paid about 90 euros. So my actual cost for this AiO, was 70 euro's.

 

(it was actually even less then that, because I sold my case fans + AiO fans + splitters + RGB controller as a bundle @ 20 euros too)

You were able to sell it without the fans? I mean I would sell it without the fans if the person buying it didn’t know better. I bought this AIO for just over 200 CAD and it goes for 250 CAD currently so I’m hoping that I just lose a little bit. Did the person you sold yours to know about the fans? Or did they just never ask about fans. Just want to know how it went.

[Jahamas123]

14 minutes ago, freeagent said:

I could never in good faith sell my old AIO. I was  hesitant on even giving it away to my brother. I keep it as a reminder of why I will never buy another one

Why? What happened with your AIO, mine has been amazing so far. Keeps the temps low and overall has been a great purchase. Just want a bigger one so I can make my PC look better. 

[freeagent]

Just now, Jahamas123 said:

Why? What happened with your AIO, mine has been amazing so far. Keeps the temps low and overall has been a great purchase. Just want a bigger one so I can make my PC look better. 

Mine spent most of its life (2 years) in a full load situation with a highly tuned x5690. My AIO is very light, with almost no coolant left. After I was done, it could not cool my brother little stock 7700K. Todays CPUs are very efficient, nothing like they were 10 years ago. AIOs actually have a chance at survival now.. maybe.

[Jahamas123]

Yea, I was thinking about doing a custom loop or an AIO. But my budget didn’t really allow me to have a custom loop. Maybe a future upgrade? But for now it’s an AIO.

[Budget DIY]

49 minutes ago, Jahamas123 said:

You were able to sell it without the fans? I mean I would sell it without the fans if the person buying it didn’t know better. I bought this AIO for just over 200 CAD and it goes for 250 CAD currently so I’m hoping that I just lose a little bit. Did the person you sold yours to know about the fans? Or did they just never ask about fans. Just want to know how it went.

For my previous case, I had bought that coolermaster AiO, with a matching set of 2 identical fans. The radiator itself wasn't visible anywhere. (hefty casemod) So matching fans was important to me. With my new case, I was going to switch from RGB fans, to aRGB fans. Also the size changed. My 360 AiO came with their own 120mm fans. But the front of my new case, could really benefit from 2x 140mm fans. So I wanted to sell the fans too.

The 240 AiO came with 2 fans, random fan power splitter and an RGB controller. Trying to sell 2 random RGB fans "might" have worked. But far less value. So I took the 2 fans off of the AiO, and sold it as a set of 4, with all required splitters, and RGB controller. Way more easy to sell such a kit.

I had listed both ads at the same time, under the same account. I would also refer to the other ad, when buyers were interested in the first ad. None of the interested people, cared about the fans I had to offer, and none of the people who were interested in the fans, were interested in the AiO. Not even if I would do a small discount if they would buy both sets.

There is some logic to it. Some people just want to upgrade things, on a budget. And already have some particular parts. Like, if they want to go from air to liquid, they probably already have some fans on the place where the AiO should go. So not being forced to pay for fans, might even be desirable. Also, many people who buy a higher end case, will also replace all the (limited) fans provided by the case manufacturer. Because people will have their own views on "what looks good", or which fan performs better.

[Budget DIY]

1 hour ago, freeagent said:

I could never in good faith sell my old AIO. I was  hesitant on even giving it away to my brother. I keep it as a reminder of why I will never buy another one

I was also really hesitant to sell my AiO. I considered gifting it to my GF with all the disclaimers, until I noticed she couldn't top-mount it. I mean, I could have cut some holes and weld up a bracket, but that wasn't the kind of looks she was after. There for sure was some life left, if used in an optimal situation. And I have no regrets buying both of these AiO's. Although there aren't any noticeable gains in my situation vs a decent-isch air cooler.

[Budget DIY]

1 hour ago, freeagent said:

Mine spent most of its life (2 years) in a full load situation with a highly tuned x5690. My AIO is very light, with almost no coolant left. After I was done, it could not cool my brother little stock 7700K. Todays CPUs are very efficient, nothing like they were 10 years ago. AIOs actually have a chance at survival now.. maybe.

Liquid cooling for "regular" PC's started with enthusiasts. For either performance, looks/noise or the DIY/bragging rights part. These days, liquid cooling is being used by just about anyone who is somewhat interested. Because of the performance gains liquid cooled parts CAN have, when done properly. I say this, because an high-end air cooler, can often still beat a mid-tier AiO in performance.

AiO's started (IMO) when it was pointless. And I believe it will remain pointless in 90%+ of all usecases. (including mine) For me, it's mostly looks and feeling happy because I went overkill. (and MAYBE bragging rights in the eyes of some)

 

*Sidenote: I can and will brag about my casemods, but that's totally unrelated to the size of an AiO, or custom loop. I flipped the case internals upside down, so I've got a right-side-window in my case. Way more uncommon than a custom liquid loop.

[freeagent]

8 minutes ago, Budget DIY said:

Liquid cooling for "regular" PC's started with enthusiasts. For either performance

It was the performance.

 

Pond pumps and heater cores was the start of pc water cooling

 

Some air coolers are pretty strong, and I am not talking about D15, because there are plenty of coolers out there that are as good or better.. I would say in the right setup top end air with custom fans can probably hang with top end AIOs.. depending on the hardware.

[Budget DIY]

3 minutes ago, freeagent said:

It was the performance.

 

Pond pumps and heater cores was the start of pc water cooling

 

Some air coolers are pretty strong, and I am not talking about D15, because there are plenty of coolers out there that are as good or better.. I would say in the right setup top end air with custom fans can probably hang with top end AIOs.. depending on the hardware.

The fancy people used actual car radiators. Those are bigger then heater cores. (from cars)

[freeagent]

Just saying that pond pumps and heater cores were the start, I know because I saw it all go down

 

Some guys even used Bongs