Fractal North Airflow

[Johnny Fehr]

Hey, I am building a new workhorse and I decided to go with the Fractal North as it also looks nice! 

However, I do have a bit of a problem with planning the Airflow. 

I have from my old Build some Black Noctuca Industrial 140mm rads which I would love to use as well in the new build. so I ordered a Kraken 280mm to replace the stock fans also with my Noctuas. 
Sadly I didn't realize this wouldn't fit in the top of the case as it would clash with the boar heatsinks. So it's only possible to mount that in the front of the case. 
As I do CPU rendering it gets quite hot so the only way is to pump the heat outwards. 

That configuration however could clash with the air direction of the RTX 4090 FE I wanted to buy as this GPU looks better and is a bit cheaper than the other 4090 models. 

I haven't bought yet the GPU and the Kraken package has not opened yet. and I would like to keep my Noctuas 140mm so I don't have to rebuy unnecessary things. 
But I would like to hear your guys thoughts on that and how to approach it a bit better maybe

 

[Johnny Fehr]

an option could be to ditch the 4090FE and go for the PNY 4090 as it does not like a teen gamer design when the RGBs are turned off and in terms of size I should fit into the case while price is about the same as the FE 

[jaslion]

What cpu?

 

Else id just use the noctuas as front in and just get a decent 240mm aio or even just a normal air cooler if the cpu isnt something insane.

[GuiltySpark_]

3 minutes ago, Johnny Fehr said:

So it's only possible to mount that in the front of the case. 

Fractal's quite nice Compatibility section on North's page says "Up to 360mm" and the front fan section says 2x140's work. 

 

4090 FE fits fine with a front mount rad and fans. 

 

[Johnny Fehr]

2 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Fractal's quite nice Compatibility section on North's page says "Up to 360mm" and the front fan section says 2x140's work. 

 

4090 FE fits fine with a front mount rad and fans. 

 

but you wont think the one outtake of the GPU will clash with the intake from the top like on the screenshot? 

[GuiltySpark_]

8 minutes ago, Johnny Fehr said:

but you wont think the one outtake of the GPU will clash with the intake from the top like on the screenshot? 

 

Why would you go so heavily against conventional airflow for a standard case like the North? In at the front, out at the top and back. 

[Dedayog]

8 minutes ago, Johnny Fehr said:

but you wont think the one outtake of the GPU will clash with the intake from the top like on the screenshot? 

NO, just do it per normal and use front intake, rear and top exhaust.

 

I run my North XL like @GuiltySpark_ does, I am assuming.  Works fantastic. 

[Johnny Fehr]

1 minute ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Why would you go so heavily against conventional airflow for a standard case like the North? In at the front, out at the top and back. 

But then i blow quite a lot of hot air into the case. 
When doing CPU rendering the CPU runs at max and creates a lot of heat over a long period of time. Blow that into the Case wouldn't be optimal? 

[GuiltySpark_]

1 minute ago, Dedayog said:

NO, just do it per normal and use front intake, rear and top exhaust.

 

I run my North XL like @GuiltySpark_ does, I am assuming.  Works fantastic. 

I'm actually in a Torrent as the bottom intakes are just too good to pass up on for GPU cooling. Totally agree though, standard setup for airflow is best.

[GuiltySpark_]

2 minutes ago, Johnny Fehr said:

But then i blow quite a lot of hot air into the case. 
When doing CPU rendering the CPU runs at max and creates a lot of heat over a long period of time. Blow that into the Case wouldn't be optimal? 

If you have proper airflow in and out of the case this doesn't matter. The system will function just fine.

[Agall]

23 minutes ago, Johnny Fehr said:

Hey, I am building a new workhorse and I decided to go with the Fractal North as it also looks nice! 

However, I do have a bit of a problem with planning the Airflow. 

I have from my old Build some Black Noctuca Industrial 140mm rads which I would love to use as well in the new build. so I ordered a Kraken 280mm to replace the stock fans also with my Noctuas. 
Sadly I didn't realize this wouldn't fit in the top of the case as it would clash with the boar heatsinks. So it's only possible to mount that in the front of the case. 
As I do CPU rendering it gets quite hot so the only way is to pump the heat outwards. 

That configuration however could clash with the air direction of the RTX 4090 FE I wanted to buy as this GPU looks better and is a bit cheaper than the other 4090 models. 

I haven't bought yet the GPU and the Kraken package has not opened yet. and I would like to keep my Noctuas 140mm so I don't have to rebuy unnecessary things. 
But I would like to hear your guys thoughts on that and how to approach it a bit better maybe

 

 

Stick with the FE 4090.

 

Why not aircool with the mesh side panel? Its what I run on my rig in a FD North.

 

For reference:

 

[Johnny Fehr]

Just now, Agall said:

 

Stick with the FE 4090.

 

Why not aircool with the mesh side panel? Its what I run on my rig in a FD North.

 

For reference:

 

I already have the Tempered glass version :S 

[Johnny Fehr]

4 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

If you have proper airflow in and out of the case this doesn't matter. The system will function just fine.

Okay so then blow in the hot Air from the CPU and add as many outtakes as possible so the hot air is pushed out as fast as possible. because it will blow all over the GPU, Ram, Mainboard 

[Johnny Fehr]

i mean i will use an AMD 7950X and as said for rendering so over multiple hours it will run at max 

[Dedayog]

Just now, Johnny Fehr said:

Okay so then blow in the hot Air from the CPU and add as many outtakes as possible so the hot air is pushed out as fast as possible. because it will blow all over the GPU, Ram, Mainboard 

It's not that hot though.  The AIO dissipates the CPU heat nicely, and the only time my case emits hot air is when the GPU is at 99% while gaming.

 

You're not fucking your system over by doing it that way, you're fine.

[GuiltySpark_]

Just now, Johnny Fehr said:

i mean i will use an AMD 7950X and as said for rendering so over multiple hours it will run at max 

Thats fine, that's why we have intake and exhaust fans.

[Johnny Fehr]

1 minute ago, Dedayog said:

It's not that hot though.  The AIO dissipates the CPU heat nicely, and the only time my case emits hot air is when the GPU is at 99% while gaming.

 

You're not fucking your system over by doing it that way, you're fine.

I mean i do rendering already for quite some time and I know how hot the air is on my current build. as mentioned I don't do gaming

[Johnny Fehr]

2 minutes ago, GuiltySpark_ said:

Thats fine, that's why we have intake and exhaust fans.

Cool thanks mate for your input! will try it that way. maybe will also try it the other way once as well and check the temps 

[GuiltySpark_]

2 minutes ago, Johnny Fehr said:

Cool thanks mate for your input! will try it that way. maybe will also try it the other way once as well and check the temps 

If the benchmarks and noise levels are where they're supposed to be, temps don't matter. 

 

Trust me this hobby gets easier when you realize this.

[Johnny Fehr]

Just now, GuiltySpark_ said:

If the benchmarks and noise levels are where they're supposed to be, temps don't matter. 

 

Trust me this hobby gets easier when you realize this.

for me, its durability is what I keep in mind as the main point besides of the performance as I usually build one strong reliable workhorse every 6-7 years and just want it to work. 

[Dedayog]

33 minutes ago, Johnny Fehr said:

for me, its durability is what I keep in mind as the main point besides of the performance as I usually build one strong reliable workhorse every 6-7 years and just want it to work. 

Running 100% for a CPU for years is nothing.   They're not fragile at all, my 9900K overclocked is STILL running like it did when new.

[Zando_]

36 minutes ago, Johnny Fehr said:

I mean i do rendering already for quite some time and I know how hot the air is on my current build. as mentioned I don't do gaming

You are severely over-estimating how hot the air coming through your radiator is. I've never had air get close to that hot-feeling even coming out of custom loop radiators (better at getting heat out and through them than AIOs) with a much higher output machine (an overclocked 7980XE, which alone will pull similar wattage to modern CPU + GPU combos). The most I've felt is... warm air. Not super hot, just warm. Which means it's likely ice cold to the computer (mid 30s Celsius or less, which it seems to be as if I let the PC idle it will stabilize at low-mid 30s Celsius). I run my shower decently hot, at 108F. That's 42C, cool for a computer. Hottest I can stand after warming up is around 115F, which is 46C, still cool for a computer. Actual hot temps for a PC would burn me, as it'd be at 95-110C depending on components, which is near or above the boiling temp of water. Either airflow option is fine, with top intake you are fighting against natural convection though. I've only had issues with a front-intake rad when running fans at low rpm through a 60mm thick radiator. AIOs use 25-38mm radiators so they have a lot less restriction, I didn't have any issues running an AIO as front intake. Though I did have a much lower draw GPU (1660 Ti, ~130W if absolutely pushed) at the time. I believe the 4090 FE is overbuilt though, so it likely won't care either, you may see 1-3C higher temps with a front AIO intake. 

30 minutes ago, Johnny Fehr said:

for me, its durability is what I keep in mind as the main point besides of the performance as I usually build one strong reliable workhorse every 6-7 years and just want it to work. 

Air cooler then, not AIO. After ~5 years or so you're on borrowed time with an AIO, as the coolant evaporates slowly through the rubber tubing, and most AIOs do not have a way to top it off (this happens in custom loops too but you can just add more coolant to the reservoir).