AIO Water cooling question

[namarino]

Hey guys, I'm going to be building a new PC with a 4790k and an EVGA 980ti Hybrid. The i7 is going to be cooled by an h100i and I'm going to be building in the define r5 from Fractal Design. I'm brand new to any kind of water cooling so I was curious, do I need case fans or do the fans on the radiators serve as the intake and exhaust fans? 

[Whorax]

There are fans that will come with the AiO that you can use for intake of exhaust depending on how you set them up (I recommend exhaust). I would assume the R5 will come with some front intake fans and an exhaust fan next to the motherboard IO.

[Guest Kloaked]

The H100i comes with two (shitty) fans. It's best to set them up pulling air in from the outside of the case and pushing through the rad, IMO (just from my experience).

 

If I were you, I would order some better fans if you don't like the noise when you get it. Would probably get slightly better cooling as well.

[namarino]

The H100i comes with two (shitty) fans. It's best to set them up pulling air in from the outside of the case and pushing through the rad, IMO (just from my experience).

 

If I were you, I would order some better fans if you don't like the noise when you get it. Would probably get slightly better cooling as well.

 

There are fans that will come with the AiO that you can use for intake of exhaust depending on how you set them up (I recommend exhaust). I would assume the R5 will come with some front intake fans and an exhaust fan next to the motherboard IO.

Ok cool! And another quick question. My gpu is going to be water cooled as well (980 ti hybrid). Where should I position that in the case? I'm probably going to have the h100i gtx on the top pulling in air as you said and then where would you recommend putting the rad for the gpu? And also do I need another intake fan at the front of the case??

[Guest Kloaked]

Ok cool! And another quick question. My gpu is going to be water cooled as well (980 ti hybrid). Where should I position that in the case? I'm probably going to have the h100i gtx on the top pulling in air as you said and then where would you recommend putting the rad for the gpu? And also do I need another intake fan at the front of the case??

 

I would probably mount the H100i up top, pulling air in (pushing air through the rad and into the case) and mount the video card AIO to the front, also pulling air into the case. There will already be a fan mounted in the back to exhaust, which is all you need.

[namarino]

I would probably mount the H100i up top, pulling air in (pushing air through the rad and into the case) and mount the video card AIO to the front, also pulling air into the case. There will already be a fan mounted in the back to exhaust, which is all you need.

Oh ok so the fan on the radiator of the gpu will serve as the intake. Gotchya. Thanks so much man, I appreciate your help!

[0ld_Chicken]

Oh ok so the fan on the radiator of the gpu will serve as the intake. Gotchya. Thanks so much man, I appreciate your help!

just fyi, the fan that comes with the hybrid runs at 100% all the time if it is plugged into the card, and it is quite loud. There is a connection in the cable to plug the fan in elsewhere (fan controller or motherboard) but it is a very short cable and you will most likely need a 3pin extension cable unless you don't mind the noise. I found that on idle it only required a very low fan speed and even under load it didn't require 100% to stay cool

[Tetters]

given that ambient temps shouldnt be much more than internal temps if you have good airflow in your case, you could also set up the radiator fans as exhausts.

[namarino]

just fyi, the fan that comes with the hybrid runs at 100% all the time if it is plugged into the card, and it is quite loud. There is a connection in the cable to plug the fan in elsewhere (fan controller or motherboard) but it is a very short cable and you will most likely need a 3pin extension cable unless you don't mind the noise. I found that on idle it only required a very low fan speed and even under load it didn't require 100% to stay cool

Ok good to know. I'll be getting an Asus board so I'll just hook it up and control it with fan expert. Thanks!

[0ld_Chicken]

Ok good to know. I'll be getting an Asus board so I'll just hook it up and control it with fan expert. Thanks!

If I recall correctly you cannot adjust fan speeds based on GPU temps with fanxpert, pretty sure that is why I quit using it and went with speedfan instead.  Most of the time my GPU is working way harder than my CPU so that does not really jive with me.  Speedfan is more complicated to set up but gives you more options for control of your temps and speeds.  The user interface leaves a bit to be desired since its made more for IT and server applications but there are some good guides to get you started if you choose to use it and feel free to find me if you need help with it!

[namarino]

If I recall correctly you cannot adjust fan speeds based on GPU temps with fanxpert, pretty sure that is why I quit using it and went with speedfan instead.  Most of the time my GPU is working way harder than my CPU so that does not really jive with me.  Speedfan is more complicated to set up but gives you more options for control of your temps and speeds.  The user interface leaves a bit to be desired since its made more for IT and server applications but there are some good guides to get you started if you choose to use it and feel free to find me if you need help with it!

Ok I will definitely keep that in mind. How about MSI Afterburner? Could I use that to control the external fan on the radiator.

[0ld_Chicken]

Ok I will definitely keep that in mind. How about MSI Afterburner? Could I use that to control the external fan on the radiator.

no 

it still controls the blower fan on the card unfortunately 

[Limecat86]

If you ever decide to replace the rad fans to reduce noise, consider replacing them with good quality lower rpm fans. I replaced my h110 GT fans with Noiseblocker NB-Eloop fans. They have a max rpm of 1200 and at that speed they are still pretty silent.