H80i: Thermal Paste [Update] Position?

[BishamonX]

[Update]

 

 

I'm moving all my parts to a new case and adding a new H80i to it (replacing the old H80i, long story, didn't cost me anything :P).

 

Anyway, H80i comes with pre-applied thermal paste, I've read so many conflicting reviews on the quality of it, some say it's good quality no need to replace and others say it's recommended to clean it off then use an aftermarket one. The one comment that got my attention was actually suggesting to keep the thermal paste on the H80i and add a different layer on the CPU itself, for the life of me I can't find the article/comment that suggested that, maybe for a good reason, but, is that a good idea?

 

Final question, how's water cooling operation compared to air cooling? Specifically H80i, when I had air cooling I rarely ever shutdown my PC, in fact, the only times it would be off if there was a power outage, but recently my paranoid mind kept telling me to shutdown the PC whenever I can remember it because I keep thinking that the water (or liquid) will never actually um, go back to the base cool degree since technically it's constantly going through heat.

 

I'm not really sure if that's important or if it would have any effect, but thank god for you experts.

[Morpheus]

you can have it on 24/7 as far as i know and it wont cause problems. as for the the thermal compound, reapply some aftermarket stuff yourself but clean off the stuff that comes with the h80i

[Silentsoul]

The thermal paste that is pre applied is not bad. With my experience it is possible to gain maybe 1-3c with something else but there are a lot of dependencies on that. As far as how you use the computer, you do not have to change your routine at all

[CaramelPleasure]

I have my H80i running 24/7 no problem with an OC.

I definitely wouldn't recommend keeping the tim on the H80i and applying additional thermal paste to the CPU, as too much thermal paste can cause an adverse effect.

I'd either keep the tim already on it, or completely clean it and use better after market stuff.

[BishamonX]

Yeah, figured the thermal paste thing was too much, but curiosity always gets me heh. As for the 24/7 thing, really appreciate the info, was kind of making me paranoid. I might experiment a little with it, compare heat fluctuations and so on whenever I find the time to do it, will post here if I actually find anything interesting.

 

Thanks for the help folks, helpful as always.

[BishamonX]

Sorry for the double post, had a question about H80i, didn't want to create a new topic and cause clutter.

 

The case that I'll be mounting the H80i in is NZXT Phantom 410, I hate having the H80i mounted in the traditional rear fan position, it's just too big. Would it be a bad idea to mount it on top exactly like you would mount the H100i? I'm not really sure if it would be a problem, since technically it's the same thing but it's a single 120MM radiator.

 

Top: (Two fan mounts) Corsair H80i exhaust + 120MM exhast

Rear: 120MM Intake

Front: 120MM Intake

Side: 120MM Intake (for GPU, non-blower)

 

[Silentsoul]

Sorry for the double post, had a question about H80i, didn't want to create a new topic and cause clutter.

 

The case that I'll be mounting the H80i in is NZXT Phantom 410, I hate having the H80i mounted in the traditional rear fan position, it's just too big. Would it be a bad idea to mount it on top exactly like you would mount the H100i? I'm not really sure if it would be a problem, since technically it's the same thing but it's a single 120MM radiator.

 

Top: (Two fan mounts) Corsair H80i exhaust + 120MM exhast

Rear: 120MM Intake

Front: 120MM Intake

Side: 120MM Intake (for GPU, non-blower)

 

 

 

It's not going to hurt anything to put the h80i rad at the top of the case but personally I would keep the rear fan as exhaust as well.

[OneGun]

I ran my stock paste on my h100i and I just changed it to better stuff and the difference at max is maybe 2c lower.. It's not horrible stuff that comes on ur they just use way to much and it got all over everything.. So I would say change it just for that reason..

[BishamonX]

It's not going to hurt anything to put the h80i rad at the top of the case but personally I would keep the rear fan as exhaust as well.

 

I mounted it on top but it ended up looking very very weird heh. I ended up mounting in rear fan as an intake, but what you said got me thinking, currently the only exhausts I have are the two fans on top. Do you think I should make the side panel fan an exhaust instead of intake?

 

Top: 2x 120MM Exhaust

Rear: H80i Intake ([fan][rad][fan])

Front: 2x 120MM Intake

Side: 120MM Fan (Exhaust or Intake?)

 

I ran my stock paste on my h100i and I just changed it to better stuff and the difference at max is maybe 2c lower.. It's not horrible stuff that comes on ur they just use way to much and it got all over everything.. So I would say change it just for that reason..

 

Good point, I'll do just that.

 

Edit:

Just a side note, I realize now that my questions are not relating to water cooling, apologies for that, the flow took me there (pun :P).

 

Also, thank you very much guys for all the help, I realize that some might think all the fans questions are unnecessary, I'm just trying to make sure that the air flow inside the case is perfect as it can be, because where I live, in summer it gets really hot, my A/C keeps things cool but I'm paranoid like that.

[Silentsoul]

 

I mounted it on top but it ended up looking very very weird heh. I ended up mounting in rear fan as an intake, but what you said got me thinking, currently the only exhausts I have are the two fans on top. Do you think I should make the side panel fan an exhaust instead of intake?

 

Top: 2x 120MM Exhaust

Rear: H80i Intake ([fan][rad][fan])

Front: 2x 120MM Intake

Side: 120MM Fan (Exhaust or Intake?)

 

This is what i would do:

 

Front: Intake

Top: Exhaust

Rear: Exhaust

Side: Intake

 

I never put a rad as intake to the case because it causes a lot of unnecessary heat in the case. I also do not recommend putting the side as exhaust because it will draw air away from your graphics card.

[BishamonX]

Thank you very much for all the help, will do as you suggested.