[SOLVED] 360mm intake aio or 240mm exhaust aio?

[YouBelongToOcean]

I was wondering what would be better for the overall temps in my pc that I am looking to get. I either want to have a 360mm aio in the front as intake or 240mm aio at the top as exhaust. I am looking to use the arctic freezer II argb 240/360mm. I am also looking to use the deepcool matrexx 55 case (the one without fans). I am looking to fill in the rest of the fan slots with arctic p12 fans. The gpu will be an open-air gpu and the cpu will be the 5800x.

Any answers are very much appreciated!

 

[sizzling]

360 front intake. Not only is it a larger radiator it’s taking cool air from outside. The 240 at the top is pushing warm air from inside the case through the radiator.

 

[YouBelongToOcean]

360 front intake. Not only is it a larger radiator it’s taking cool air from outside. The 240 at the top is pushing warm air from inside the case through the radiator.

I have though read that the overall temperature in the pc gets higher when using an aio as intake because the heat from the cpu heats up the radiator which then heats up the air coming in to the case. Do you think that would make a noticeable difference or would it still be better temperatures than using the 240mm aio?

 

[CountMike]

I have though read that the overall temperature in the pc gets higher when using an aio as intake because the heat from the cpu heats up the radiator which then heats up the air coming in to the case. Do you think that would make a noticeable difference or would it still be better temperatures than using the 240mm aio?

For CPU cooling it's better to be as intake.
For case cooling not as good but could be fixed by an extra exhaust fan. You have a pretty hot CPU so front mounted 360 as intake would be better for you. Not only that but it's better cooler. Just put 2 120 exhaust fans on top and one at back.

 

[sizzling]

While true I’ve not seen it make more than a few degrees difference. If you have a very hot running gpu or poor case airflow you might want to do that. Also consider a 240mm AIO is generally no better performing than an average air cooler. My current setup has the 360mm AIO front mounted although it’s overkill for my cpu.

What gpu are you going to run?

 

[YouBelongToOcean]

While true I’ve not seen it make more than a few degrees difference. If you have a very hot running gpu or poor case airflow you might want to do that. Also consider a 240mm AIO is generally no better performing than an average air cooler. My current setup has the 360mm AIO front mounted although it’s overkill for my cpu.

What gpu are you going to run?

Thanks for the answer!
I am looking to use the EVGA FTW3 3070 ti gpu.

 

[sizzling]

Thanks for the answer!
I am looking to use the EVGA FTW3 3070 ti gpu.

The 3070Ti is generally not a hot running gpu so I would not expect any issues keeping at a good temperature. If concerned about gpu temp then look for a case that can take fans on the bottom as this allows cool air to be pushed directly into the area under the gpu.

 

[Zerk2012]

That case has a glass front so you will have bad cooling either way.

 

[geofelt]

Define "overall temps"
You must realize that using a aio is going to be a tradeoff situation.
Front intake will cool the cpu best, but the motherboard and graphics card will have warmer air to work with.
OTOH, top mounted exhaust will be best for motherboard and graphics card cooling, but not so good for the cpu.
I think either way would be adequate so long as you will not be overclocking either the cpu or gpu. Overclocking is most useful for all core overclocks and batch apps.
Games will do better with the default turbo mechanism.
In games, your cpu will not be effectively using more than 4-6 of the 16 threads.

And... since your use is apparently for gaming, I might suggest a 12th gen intel processor such as the 12600k.
The single thread performance is most important for games:
https://valid.x86.fr/bench/60vs0l

To answer your question: I might vote for top mount.

 

[Phaaze88]

What do you PRIMARILY use the PC for??? That matters.

A 3070Ti is not 'light' - well, I wouldn't consider 300w light. Most aftermarket models will pull more.
Also, open air models dump their waste heat inside the PC, heating up anything above it - sometimes, even things below it(depends if airflow is smooth or turbulent). So, regardless of AIO front or top, SOMETHING is going to be heated up from something else.
Whether a minimal or significant amount, comes down to the power used by the part in question. The heat consumed by a 5800X pales in comparison to what the 3070Ti is capable of. Front mounted cpu AIO with that cpu is nothing. Top mounted, on the other hand, the AIO needs to cope with the cpu and everything below it. You offset that by using larger rads at the top.

AIOs do best when their radiators are placed against open mesh panels.
Solid, or semi-solid panels? You may as well be stacking 2 walls - the radiator itself is a source of air resistance - and reducing the cooler's efficiency.
Deepcool Matrexx has a semi-solid front panel, which isn't ideal for AIO radiators, and it only allows a max of 240mm at the top.
You're kinda screwed out of optimizing cooling either way.




TL;DR: I would suggest completely shelving a cpu AIO here for an air cooler(164mm or shorter)... if you insist on the AIO, then I will lean on front mount, with the fans specifically set to pull air through the rad and inside the chassis.
Avoid pushing air through the rad into the chassis - it will not be as effective.