top mounted radiator cooling

[xzantian]

I am working on an expensive computer build, and have decided to move towards liquid cooling. I am looking for a nice appearance, and wanted a top mounted radiator for that reason. I do not want anything to cover the beautiful rog strix z270E motherboard much, and I also would like to show off the rgb ram kit. I know that I could save a bit of money and go with different parts here, but to be honest, I just want it to look nice. that being said, here is the build

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KT7VRG

 

I may change out some parts to get a better budget, but for the most part, this is the build I am looking at.

 

the cases I am looking at are the coolermaster master box 5, the phantex p400, the phantex enthroo pro m, and the nzxt s340.

 

I am hoping for top mounted radiator support that will not block the motherboard from the window, as well as clearance for my gpu, without removing all of the drive cages, as I will eventually be adding a hard drive to supplement my m.2 drive.

[dany_boy]

Just keep in mind that the H100i has rather stiff tubing. Great cooler though

[tom_w141]

You need to check those cases will support what you want to do. Off the top of my head i'm almost certain the s340 wont fit the radiator and fans up top

 

EDIT: None of those cases support a top mounted radiator except the enthoo pro m

[xzantian]

8 minutes ago, tom_w141 said:

You need to check those cases will support what you want to do. Off the top of my head i'm almost certain the s340 wont fit the radiator and fans up top

 

EDIT: None of those cases support a top mounted radiator except the enthoo pro m

thank you, I will most likely drop the rgb memory, for a more affordable trident z setup, so front mounted may have been an option, though I believe I will be going with the enthoo pro m, has anyone had good or bad experiences with it?

[stealth80]

I would go with a kraken aio if looks are your concern

 

I would also (if budget allows) get a 1080 for 1440P

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (Purchased For $250.00)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X62 Liquid CPU Cooler  ($149.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus STRIX Z270-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($186.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($93.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card  ($545.84 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Jet)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($30.00)
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 27.0" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor  ($400.00)
Total: $1966.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-04 09:06 EDT-0400

[xzantian]

16 minutes ago, stealth80 said:

I would go with a kraken aio if looks are your concern

 

I would also (if budget allows) get a 1080 for 1440P

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (Purchased For $250.00)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X62 Liquid CPU Cooler  ($149.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus STRIX Z270-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($186.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill TridentZ RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($93.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card  ($545.84 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Jet)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($30.00)
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 27.0" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor  ($400.00)
Total: $1966.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-04 09:06 EDT-0400

budget does not allow for a 1080, I spent a very long time considering that option, and have decided to stay with the 1070 (this build originally had an i3 and a 1060, so I have been upgrading well past what I intended already) as for the kraken, I like the corsairs more modest look for the cpu block, I find that many builds become to busy when you begin adding led after led, my intention is to have the asus strix line be the primary lighting, and only added the ram as an after thought, though I will most likely drop it as well (though that is due to price rather than appearance). the kraken looks like an amazing water cooler, but I do not think I will be taking that option.

[stealth80]

4 minutes ago, xzantian said:

budget does not allow for a 1080, I spent a very long time considering that option, and have decided to stay with the 1070 (this build originally had an i3 and a 1060, so I have been upgrading well past what I intended already) as for the kraken, I like the corsairs more modest look for the cpu block, I find that many builds become to busy when you begin adding led after led, my intention is to have the asus strix line be the primary lighting, and only added the ram as an after thought, though I will most likely drop it as well (though that is due to price rather than appearance). the kraken looks like an amazing water cooler, but I do not think I will be taking that option.

Last attempt I promise

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (Purchased For $250.00)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.99 @ Jet)
Motherboard: MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($92.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($509.89 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Jet)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($30.00)
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 27.0" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor  ($400.00)
Total: $1792.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-04 09:28 EDT-0400

[xzantian]

36 minutes ago, stealth80 said:

Last attempt I promise

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (Purchased For $250.00)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($99.99 @ Jet)
Motherboard: MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX300 275GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($92.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($509.89 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks ECLIPSE P400 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Jet)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($30.00)
Monitor: Dell S2716DG 27.0" 2560x1440 144Hz Monitor  ($400.00)
Total: $1792.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-04-04 09:28 EDT-0400

it looks really nice, and I may upgrade in the future, but for now, the 1070 fits my budget. also, the motherboard was only upgaded to a strix from that board because I could take out the wifi card, which was 30 dollars, and get a nice rgb effect for another 10, so I do not think that build would work out for me, yes, I will have it wired 90 percent of the time, but I am moving soon, and the only option right now is wifi. thank you very much, and I would take that build over my own in a heartbeat, if I could justify the 1080 over the 1060 I was originally planning to get, and while it gives better 1440p results, the 1070 is consistent, and any downgrades I could justify in order to fit a 1080, could easily be done with a 1070, and I could pocket the much needed cash.

 

that being said, the graphics card will be purchased at a later date, and I will most likely upgrade to the 1080 when I decide to purchase the graphics card (I know parting out slowly is terrible and I should save up, but I work in the IT industry with a failing laptop, I need a functioning computer asap.)

[xzantian]

after some more research, I have discovered that front mounted intake radiator cooling performs vastly better than top mounted exaust, so I will be using the phantex p400 tempered glass case, and I will use the radiator mounted in the front top as two intakes, and a be quiet! fan for a third intake pointed at the gpu, as well as mounting both of the added case fans in the rear and top respectively. I will be using the shorter and cheaper evga geforce gtx 1070 sc black edition at 370$.

 

if there are any issues with the above statements, feel free to let me know

[xzantian]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/GN6J2R

 

this is the revised build so far

[Zusafek]

7 hours ago, xzantian said:

after some more research, I have discovered that front mounted intake radiator cooling performs vastly better than top mounted exaust, so I will be using the phantex p400 tempered glass case, and I will use the radiator mounted in the front top as two intakes, and a be quiet! fan for a third intake pointed at the gpu, as well as mounting both of the added case fans in the rear and top respectively. I will be using the shorter and cheaper evga geforce gtx 1070 sc black edition at 370$.

 

if there are any issues with the above statements, feel free to let me know

Love your choice in the case. Here is a reference pic of my wife's P400 tg without water cooling. Just so you can see how much room you have.