Why mount a radiator on the top?

[NeatSquidYT]

If hot air is being exhausted out the top, why put a radiator there?

[DoubleY]

Where else would you put it? On the side panel? 

[Gung Pow Chicken]

Where else would you put it? On the side panel? 

I have actually seen someone do that.

[DoubleY]

I have actually seen someone do that.

Please no...

 

I guess it's better than an external radiator. 

[Virgule]

If hot air is being exhausted out the top, why put a radiator there?

 

Not all PCs have top exhaust. It's the wise thing to do but you could do it the opposite way. If in fact the hot air exhaust through the top, then yes, it's not the most efficient place to mount the radiator since you want the coldest air running through it - "not the most efficient" : strictly speaking of rad heat exchange efficiency.

 

The thing is if you mount it on the bottom, then you heat up the inside intake of your case, which heat up your components, which in turn will exhaust more heat to the radiator until an equilibrium is reached. You'll probably end up running your components hotter then than if you mount it on the top. 

 

The most efficient way would be to mount it in a separate cross flow compartment in your case, but not many cases have that.

[NUFCThomas]

you could put it on the front, i also agree that the top is bad in that way

[Horrorfull]

Hot Air Rises

 

Edit: Oh a Rad. Disregard What I said. I thought you just meant fans in general.  

[Gung Pow Chicken]

Please no...

 

I guess it's better than an external radiator. 

I once thought about it but it would make closing my case extremely difficult and I don't want to deal with that lol.

 

That is when I wanted to install a second rad in my old core 2 quad loop.

[Enderman]

Cause its usually the only place in most cases where you can mount a dual radiator. Some people put them on the rear exhaust if its a single rad. The tubing is usually not long enough on an AIO to reach the front or bottom case intakes.

[Shaqo_Wyn]

If hot air is being exhausted out the top, why put a radiator there?

Depends on what setup you have and how much you care about 1 - 3 degrees Celsius better or worse temps. 

 

The common reason for top mounted rads, is short tubing on AIO's or working with convection, hot air rises.

 

In builds with CPU + GPU's water cooled you can have all the rads as intakes (fresh air over the rads) and a single rear exhaust fans for example, won't matter.

 

Some people just want to maintain a certain airflow path in their case, for example front intake rad, top exhaust rad.

 

Cases like the Obsidian's from Corsair have less airflow restriction at the top. 

 

There are a thousands of reason why one would go for a certain rad setup. 

[sqwidee]

If hot air is being exhausted out the top, why put a radiator there?

 

My radiator is on the top because my front fans pull cool air in, hot air is exhausted out of the back and sides, and the radiator pulls the coolest air from the top. That helps the radiator cool the CPU faster since once you start using liquids to move heat away from the CPU, the air cooling across the radiator becomes a thermal bottleneck anyway.

 

Plus the top is where there's room for the thing in the first place. Big-ass H100i radiator won't fit anywhere else in my case.

[HermanT]

there shouldnt be too much hot air anyway if you have a loop imo. All the heat is in the loop and the rad... other components might be 30-40 which is negligable (the vrm might get hot but its at the very top so whatever).

[cjwilliams.poco]

I have a H60 so its mounted in the rear push pull exhaust. honestly there are pros and cons to different ways of mounting radiators, including fan configurations. its just a matter of what works best in your scenario.

[Lays]

Hot Air Rises

 

Edit: Oh a Rad. Disregard What I said. I thought you just meant fans in general.  

 

 

hot air doesn't rise in a PC case unless you have atrocious air flow.  Air will ALWAYS go where it is pushed, unless it's allowed to sit and do nothing for long periods of time.

[fringie]

hot air doesn't rise in a PC case unless you have atrocious air flow.  Air will ALWAYS go where it is pushed, unless it's allowed to sit and do nothing for long periods of time.

You should point out that, that is your opinion. Neither of us knows what actually happens, it's all fine to make conclusions up but it's not OK to claim another reasonable conclusion is incorrect based on your own conclusion that isn't backed up by anything but words at this current time.

[Lays]

You should point out that, that is your opinion. Neither of us knows what actually happens, it's all fine to make conclusions up but it's not OK to claim another reasonable conclusion is incorrect based on your own conclusion that isn't backed up by anything but words at this current time.

 

???

What?

 

 

 

If you're pushing air around, how is it going to have time to "rise"?  If you're simply pushing it or pulling it in a direction, it's only going to continue going in that direction.

 

Hot air naturally rises because it is less dense than cold air, but if you have a fan pushing that air in a different direction, it will never rise. It's simple lol.

[Leonard]

If hot air is being exhausted out the top, why put a radiator there?

To send the hot air out of the case faster.