Is my Fan/Rad Setup okay?

[WaitDontSh00t]

Hey LTT, 

 

I was wondering if you guys can take a look and help me out with my current fan/rad setup. I recently just got new fans to replace the ones currently in my case. Before I started to replace everything, I wanted to see if you guys thought my current setup was okay or if I should move things around. I would greatly appreciate if you could give me your input!

 

Additional Info:

- Replacement Fans are Noctua Chromax 120mm/140mm/200mm

- Top 980Ti Hybrid is currently Back Exhaust as a Push(?)

- Bottom 980Ti Hybrid is currently Bottom Intake as a Pull(?)

- Kraken x61 280mm is currently Top Exhaust as a Push(?)

- Top 140mm Exhaust

- Front 200mm Intake

 

Again, I would GREATLY appreciate any input or recommendations. I wasn't sure if I should post this in Air Cooling or Water, but I thought it made more sense here.

**(?) Hopefully used the correct terms describing fan placement.

 

Thank you!

[1234vietnam]

h

 

[airdeano]

5 hours ago, WaitDontSh00t said:

 

do not mount the 980ti radiator lower than the GPU card. the trapped air in the system will harm the pump (located higher than the rad) as the radiator is the 'reservoir' for trapped air. the rear i/o is the best suited place for the 120 rad.

 

with all that exhaust (3x140) that 200mm fan will not displace enough air to overcome the needed airflow for a neutral/positive pressure need.

[WaitDontSh00t]

6 hours ago, Prqnk3d said:

i would change the exhaust in the back to an intake and remove the stock 140mm exhaust (or at least run it at low rpm) so you get positive pressure. this will mean your pc won't end up full of dust.

each arrow would be one fan.

Thanks for the recommendation. I was hoping to use all fan spots though, especially since I just got new ones to replace the current ones. 

 

59 minutes ago, airdeano said:

do not mount the 980ti radiator lower than the GPU card. the trapped air in the system will harm the pump (located higher than the rad) as the radiator is the 'reservoir' for trapped air. the rear i/o is the best suited place for the 120 rad.

 

with all that exhaust (3x140) that 200mm fan will not displace enough air to overcome the needed airflow for a neutral/positive pressure need.

So what do you recommend then? I already have one hybrid rad on the back as an exhaust. For the time I've had this setup, everything seems to be okay for the bottom hybrid rad. Otherwise, I'm not sure what changes to make exactly.

[tony95]

I have a somewhat similar set up and what I noticed is that flipping my front radiator fan from exhaust to intake improved my CPU temps without affecting the GPU temps.  This should give you neutral pressure at the X61 radiator and let the other fans move air through the case without having so much hot air from the graphics cards being dragged over your X61 radiator.  I agree with airdeano, it would be best if you could move the bottom GPU rad to the top of the case.  I am not sure that is possible, if not just flip that front X61 fan to intake and you will get positive pressure from the front 200mm fan being larger than the rear exhaust fan, since the GPU and CPU radiator fans will basically cancel each other out.  Let us know what results you see.

 

 

[WaitDontSh00t]

2 hours ago, tony95 said:

I have a somewhat similar set up and what I noticed is that flipping my front radiator fan from exhaust to intake improved my CPU temps without affecting the GPU temps.  This should give you neutral pressure at the X61 radiator and let the other fans move air through the case without having so much hot air from the graphics cards being dragged over your X61 radiator.  I agree with airdeano, it would be best if you could move the bottom GPU rad to the top of the case.  I am not sure that is possible, if not just flip that front X61 fan to intake and you will get positive pressure from the front 200mm fan being larger than the rear exhaust fan, since the GPU and CPU radiator fans will basically cancel each other out.  Let us know what results you see.

 

 

Thanks for the reply! I'll see if it's possible if one of the hybrid rad will fit on the top. 

 

Also, question as far as the Kraken x61 goes. Isn't it bad to have airflow opposite directions on a rad like that I thought?

[tony95]

15 hours ago, WaitDontSh00t said:

Thanks for the reply! I'll see if it's possible if one of the hybrid rad will fit on the top. 

 

Also, question as far as the Kraken x61 goes. Isn't it bad to have airflow opposite directions on a rad like that I thought?

Not sure why it would be bad.  I haven't heard that.  I just know I get better temps in my system as a whole like this.  Seems to make sense because in the heat of battle, the air inside the case is pretty warm and it can't cool your radiator as efficiently as fresh air and conversely taking in air across the radiator will further warm the inside of the case.  I get -5C on CPU and +5C on GPU if I go both intake versus both exhaust, but if I split them I get -2C on CPU and my GPU temp doesn't change.  However, like I said, my case is pretty small (Versa H15) and I am testing with a 1080ti running full speed.  I have 2x 44 CFM fans bringing in fresh air from front of case and 1x 74 CFM fan exhausting out the back and my radiator cycling air as described.  What kind of temps are you seeing now?  If your CPU temps are fine then maybe it isn't necessary for you.  You should definitely try all configurations and let us know which worked the best for you.

[WaitDontSh00t]

9 hours ago, tony95 said:

Not sure why it would be bad.  I haven't heard that.  I just know I get better temps in my system as a whole like this.  Seems to make sense because in the heat of battle, the air inside the case is pretty warm and it can't cool your radiator as efficiently as fresh air and conversely taking in air across the radiator will further warm the inside of the case.  I get -5C on CPU and +5C on GPU if I go both intake versus both exhaust, but if I split them I get -2C on CPU and my GPU temp doesn't change.  However, like I said, my case is pretty small (Versa H15) and I am testing with a 1080ti running full speed.  I have 2x 44 CFM fans bringing in fresh air from front of case and 1x 74 CFM fan exhausting out the back and my radiator cycling air as described.  What kind of temps are you seeing now?  If your CPU temps are fine then maybe it isn't necessary for you.  You should definitely try all configurations and let us know which worked the best for you.

Thanks for the explanation, appreciate it. I'm going to be swapping them later today so I'll take a look and see what's possible.

 

Temps right now aren't bad. I have a 6700k @ 4.5, temps for that idle are around 27-37C. Gaming/Higher Usage range from 45-56C with 61C being a high.

 

GPU temps for my top 980Ti I usually see low-mid 20s for idle. Gaming is typically around 45-55C. Bottom card is always lower too of course. So I think temps are pretty good so far at least. 

[WaitDontSh00t]

19 hours ago, tony95 said:

 

Alright, so here's an update.

 

I pretty much left my fan configuration as it was. I wasn't able to move a hybrid rad to the top, since it wouldn't fit properly. Unfortunately I really don't notice any difference in temperature. I feel like my CPU temps are a bit higher now for some reason, even on max fan speed (Which is for some reason not 1500, won't go that high). GPU Temps seem about the same, possibly a tad higher, but my bottom card is typically 8-10C lower than my top. Not quite sure what to do, new fans didn't seem to make a difference which sucks.

 

New fans were the Noctua Chromax

[tony95]

Sounds like your CPU temps aren't too bad.  One thought  I am having is that since your top card is the hot card, you might consider making it the one that brings air into the case and the bottom card the one that exhausts air out.  This will probably give you more balance between the two cards in terms of temperature.

[WaitDontSh00t]

17 minutes ago, tony95 said:

Sounds like your CPU temps aren't too bad.  One thought  I am having is that since your top card is the hot card, you might consider making it the one that brings air into the case and the bottom card the one that exhausts air out.  This will probably give you more balance between the two cards in terms of temperature.

I'll give that a shot and see how it goes, thanks!