kraken g12 1080ti / h440 cooling

[feldsp4r]

Ok this might be a dumb question but I cant seem to find an answer anywhere. First things first specs:

 

Case: nzxt h440

Mobo: Asus z370-h

CPU: intel 8700k @ 5ghz

Cooler: corsair h100i v2

Ram: 16gb (2x8gb) Trident Z 3000mhz

GPU: MSI gtx 1080ti gaming x

PSU: EVGA 750 G2

Drives: 500gb 860 evo and a 1 TB HDD

Case fans: corsair ll 120mm 

 

- Ok as you can see from the attached photo - I have 3 corsair 120mm ll fans in the front, my corsair h100i v2 mounted on top, and another corsair ll fan in the rear.

 

Currently, with my cpu at 5ghz and my gpu at +105 on the core clock and +400 on the memory clock, I am on the border of what I feel comfortable with temperature wise. (obviously with gpu boost 3.0 the 1080 steps down as it gets warm) Typically under stress test the highest spike I see on my cpu is on core 2, at about 83c. With my gpu, I hit about 2050 mhz but once my temperature maxes out (around 62- 65c depending on ambient temp), it steps down to about 2012 mhz. 

 

Now to get to the point. I would like to maximize my cooling to get the most out of my components,  but I am on a budget and cannot afford a full custom loop. One alternative would be to get a kraken g12 braket and pair it with a kraken x42 I already own. This is where things get a bit confusing to me:

 

Will I see a noticeable temperature difference on my gpu going with an AIO over the msi gaming x cooling?

Will putting my gpu on water lower my cpu temps? (If I decide to go with a beefier AIO instead of thethe x42, I would have to mount the cpu radiator on the front panel)

Where would be the best place to mount the cpu and gpu radiators?

 

Any advice is appreciated. Given that I just overhauled my entire computer, my budget is a little tight but I could spend around 200$ (u.s) for increase cooling. 

 

Thank You!

 

 

 

[Rainbow Dash]

You will see a huge difference with an AIO over the original gpu heatsink, I have my GTX 1050TI attached with a Corsair H60 and the temperature has dropped from 70C to 40C. Also your CPU would be warmer since you are taking warm air from inside the case and exhausting it through the radiator, I would move the radiator to the front of the case as intake to increase the cooling and also have a push/pull config.

[Kenjo]

45 minutes ago, Rainbow Dash said:

You will see a huge difference with an AIO over the original gpu heatsink, I have my GTX 1050TI attached with a Corsair H60 and the temperature has dropped from 70C to 40C. Also your CPU would be warmer since you are taking warm air from inside the case and exhausting it through the radiator, I would move the radiator to the front of the case as intake to increase the cooling and also have a push/pull config.

Wont that just make a 2-3c degree difference i think i remember seeing a few videos on the "myth" of Cpu being affected by positioning of radiator... i could be wrong though

 

[Rainbow Dash]

It does make pretty big difference, in my situation with my HAF 922 with the Arctic Liquid Freezer 240 having it as top exhaust increased the cpu temperature as the hot air rises and the liquid is being cooled by air flow through the fins, when you have warmer air blowing at a already warm radiator fin it would only cool to the temperature of the inside the case. But with radiator as an intake on the side, it decreased my cpu temperature quite substantially since the room temperature would be lower than what the pc outputs. 

[feldsp4r]

Thank you for the replies. This is where im at:

 

Option 1: keep the 3 corsair ll fans on the front panel on intake. continue to have my h100i mounted on the top on exhaust. Then cool my gpu with an x42 on the back on exhaust. (All rads on exhaust)

 

Option 2: move the h100i to the front panel on intake. (Keeping one of the corsair fans in the bottom slot on in) Put the x42 on the back on exhaust. The remaining 3 corsair fans along the top on exhaust.

 

Option 3: move the h100i to the front panel on intake. Use a 240 or 280mm aio (kraken x62 for example purposes) for the gpu, mounted on the top on exhaust. Fill remaining fan slots with the corsair fans.

 

Option 4: go with a 360mm aio for the gpu, mounted to the front panel on intake. Keep the h100i mounted to the top on exhaust. Fill remaining slots on the top and back with the corsair fans on exhaust. 

 

Aesthetically I prefer option 1 because it allows me to keep all the ll rgb fans in place. However if there would be a noticeable temperatute difference going with any of the other options, i would prefer function over form. 

[meenmeen1103]

I prefer exhausting the heat straight out, as it also helps other things like the mainboard VRMs receive cooler air. Besides, if you already have a x42 (very decent AIO) you can just try it first with the G12 kit, then if temps aren't low enough to your liking get a 240/360. I've cooled a R9 390 and a 970 with a G10 and slim 240 AIO down to ~40-50C under load with ambient ~25C and rad fans at half speed. The X42 should perform similar to a slim 240mm because of bigger fan and thicker rad.

[airdeano]

the GPU will react better to the cooler temperatures, so load up the front intake with 120 fans and the GPU cooler (120). leave the CPU in the roof.

having both eating internally heated air and using that to cool the radiators is counterproductive, especially in a hot box of the H440.

 

[feldsp4r]

1 hour ago, airdeano said:

the GPU will react better to the cooler temperatures, so load up the front intake with 120 fans and the GPU cooler (120). leave the CPU in the roof.

having both eating internally heated air and using that to cool the radiators is counterproductive, especially in a hot box of the H440.

Makes sense. I guess my initial thought was that a 120 rad wouldn't be enough to see a noticeable difference over the stock gaming x cooler but maybe mounting a push/pull like the corsair h75 in the top front panel slot would be a good option.(since it will be pulling cool air like you mentioned) 

 

My only other thought is how mounting the gpu cooler to the front would affect the cpu temps. But im guessing as long as airflow is good it would make a negligable difference on the cpu temps?

 

I have a pair of ml 120mm high static pressure fans i could use on the gpu cooler if i went with the h75 (or save 10 bucks and go with the h60 since i already have fans and its the same radiator). So that mounted in the top front panel slot, with the ll fans below might do the trick.

[airdeano]

mount the GPU rad/fan in the front (best GPU performance).

1x 120mm rad cools a dual r9 290x, so it'll be plenty.

single fan, unless the fan noise is atrocious. prolly won't need more than 40-50% fan speed.

[feldsp4r]

Ok so i went with a front mounted h75 and the kraken g12. Just finished installing and having a slight issue. Everything boots up fine but the gpu slowly rises by a degree every second starting at around 26c all the way up into the 70s at which point i turn off my system to prevent the temperatures from Continuing to climb. 

 

Does this just sound like bad contact with the cooler? Going to go out and get some thermal past and try remounting the braket

[Rainbow Dash]

Yeah that was the same issue I had when it wasn't making complete contact. Make sure you don't tighten it too much.

[feldsp4r]

Hey guys thanks so much for the help. Reseated the bracket and booted up. Idling at 24c now without adjusting fan curves ect. Seems to be working well (the pump on the h75 is surprisingly loud but dont think theres any issue with it) going to adjust some things and run some stress testing but my initial impression is really positive. 

[feldsp4r]

Ok last question i swear. Will afterburner still be able to control the radiator fans if i use it to set a fan curve? Right now i just have it set through bios but would prefer to use afterburner if theres a way to do that.

[asand1]

With the x52 I installed on my 1080 Armor I use CAM to set fan curves. Your aio should have comparable software. 

 

Your fans should be plugged into the aio and not accessible to afterburner.

[meenmeen1103]

14 hours ago, feldsp4r said:

Ok last question i swear. Will afterburner still be able to control the radiator fans if i use it to set a fan curve? Right now i just have it set through bios but would prefer to use afterburner if theres a way to do that.

To be able to use afterburner to control the AIO rad fans for GPU, you would need to get an adapter to plug those fans into the GPU board, something like this. With that specific adapter, you would of course also need a splitter if you want push/pull on the x42 or just more than one fan