Cooling for my build? NZXT 410 fan configuration?

[Alpha_]

4790k
Dual GTX 980's
VII Hero
G.Skill 16gb

I would like to go liquid cooling for the CPU- probably a H100i or H220-x. Or should I go for the H240-x?

The Case:
Rear: 1x120mm
Top: 2x140mm (or 2x120mm)
Front: 2x120mm OR 1x140mm
Bottom: 1x120mm
Side: 1x120mm OR 140mm

I read ideal setup would be intake front/bottom, exhaust top/rear, with side situational.
What would you recommend?

 

[tiny voices]

I would not even use a side fan. With my SLI setup a side fan actually increases temps as it messes up airflow.

Do you have blower cards or aftermarket cooler cards? This matters ALOT.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

I'd recommend strongly against any CLC ...especially the H100i ... it's louder than a vacuum cleaner. There is not a single CLC made today that beats the better air coolers.

The Swiftech H240-X would be my recommendnation.
http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/liuid/40870-swiftech-h220-x-open-loop-240mm-cpu-cooler-review?showall=&start=3

1. It is all copper / brass and doesn't mic metals (copper / aluminum) like done on the CLCs which promotes galvanic corrosion.
2. It cools better at 1/6th the noise level.
3. You can open the loop and conenct other water blocks for GFX cards whatever.

We have 3 SLI boxes here, all w/ side fans blowing in. Temps are lower on all three with fans on, even the one with water cooled cards (6 temp sensors in case + of course the on board GPU/VRM/VRAM temps) the side fans however are on the other side of the case on the water cooled box, feeding air to HD area.... the side fan if blowing towards the cards from the left panel should be between the two cards .... if above the top card, it could stagnate the area between the cards. In that case, many cases (i.e Phanteks) allow you to mount a fan on back of HD cage to cool area between cards; I find these helpful.

 

[tiny voices]

100% agree about coolers. I cannot stand closed loop coolers. SO LOUD.

 

[timz45]

4790k
Dual GTX 980's
VII Hero
G.Skill 16gb

I would like to go liquid cooling for the CPU- probably a corsair H100i.

The Case:
Rear: 1x120mm
Top: 2x140mm (or 2x120mm)
Front: 2x120mm OR 1x140mm
Bottom: 1x120mm
Side: 1x120mm OR 140mm

I read ideal setup would be intake front/bottom, exhaust top/rear, with side situational.
What would you recommend?

I have the same exact case with the same CPU, same RAM(Ripjaws?), and am using the VI Hero instead of the VII. Looks like we have the same great taste , although your GFX cards beat the shit out of my HD7970. Just put it together last month, and I am considering my case fan configuration myself. NZXT had the 1 140mm fan on top set to intake as default. I recently bought a second one, so now I have 2 140mm fans on top. I was thinking about switching them from intake to exhaust just because it made more sense. My only concern is that the small 120mm fan at the bottom front of the case would not be intaking enough air to introduce cool air in the system. What are your thoughts. Also, if I chose to switch the top fans to exhaust, how would you position the side panel fan?

EDIT: Also, just out of curiosity, did you already build it, or are in the process of it? Be SURE to upgrade your BIOS right away as there are changes that need to be made to handle the CPU voltages for 4th gen i7 haswell CPUs. I was having temp issues at first.

In case you haven't built it yet, and have any questions, here is my build.

Asus Maximus VI Hero Motherboard
Intel i7-4790k x4 @ 4.0GHz
CoolerMaster Hyper T2 Heatsink
PowerColor HD7970
16GB (2x8GB) G.SKILL Ripjaws DDR3-1600
Kingston HyperX 120GB SSD
Western Digital Blue 160GB HDD
NZXT Phantom 410 White/Steel Case

 

[tiny voices]

Top fan should ALWAYS be exhaust.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Just put it together last month, and I am considering my case fan configuration myself. NZXT had the 1 140mm fan on top set to intake as default. I recently bought a second one, so now I have 2 140mm fans on top. I was thinking about switching them from intake to exhaust just because it made more sense. My only concern is that the small 120mm fan at the bottom front of the case would not be intaking enough air to introduce cool air in the system. What are your thoughts. Also, if I chose to switch the top fans to exhaust, how would you position the side panel fan?

EDIT: Also, just out of curiosity, did you already build it, or are in the process of it? Be SURE to upgrade your BIOS right away as there are changes that need to be made to handle the CPU voltages for 4th gen i7 haswell CPUs. I was having temp issues at first.

1. The M6H needs the BIOS upgrade for DC CPUs, the M7H does not. a M6H won't boot with a DC CPU in it unless you do the BIOS upgrade 1st with a HW CPU in it....then you can switch to the DC. Tho as shelves clear Asus should begin shipping boards with the latest BIOS.

2. Air cooling:

-Front, Bottom and Side* fans in
-Rea and Top Fans out (exhaust)

* if fan above top GFX card in SLI, this may result in no flow to bottom card in SLI.

Water Cooling .... same as above except all fans on rads should be intake....otherwise you reduce effectiveness of rad by half.

 

[tiny voices]

I personally prefer Radiator fans to be exhaust UNLESS the GPU is cooled too. If the GPU is not in the loop, the hot air from the radiator will blow into the case and REALLY raise GPU temps?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Preference is an individual thing but thermodynamics is a science and I started out with same mindset but investigation and testing wound up trumping my original assumptions ... after all we all learned in 8th grade that heat rises. I learned in college, that HVAC kicks convection's tail .... but I still wasn't sold .... the 6 temp sensors (0.1C accuracy) in the rig, and the ones on the CPU / GPUs changed my mind.....looking back, it all makes sense

23C air coming in from the outside cools 33C water twice as well as 28C air inside the PC. As for raising GPU temps, let's do the math.

A 4790k CPU creates 84 watts peak load at stock, say 135 overclocked. 60% of that will be absorbed by the rad or 81 watts....the other 40% is hot air radiated off the surface area of all the components.

So you have 81 watts of heat being pushed down into your case ... towards a pair of video cards that are pushing maybe 500 - 600 watts with 7xx / R9s or 350 - 400 watts with a pair of 970s .

So we can either cut the performance if our CPU cooling loop by 50% or we can impact our GFX cards by 20% .... or will we ?

Another way to look at it is ...

Do we want 400 - 600 watts of heat going thru our CPU radiator or do we want 80 watts of heat going thru our cards (40 each) ?

Let's assume we have two fans blowing in the front , two from the top and one/two exhausting out rear.... plus what get shoved out the rear grille, our turnover is about 1 complete air change per second. How far does that air travel down from the top before it gets shoved out the rear ? I find from smoke testing and using temp probes, that most of the air from the top radiator goes out thru the rear grille and fan before it ever reaches the top card .... the air from the two front fans goes out mostly from the cards and the rear grille.

Now if you have 2 fans sucking air up and one sucking out to rear..... That puts 2/3 of the 400 watts thru the CPU cooler . Blowing in, we have 3 fans worth of air (4 in - 1 out) going out the rear grille, half of which is above the cards. So how much of that 80 watts actually gets down to the cards before it gets thrown out thru the exhaust fan and rear grille ? Almost none.... the two front fans channel air past the cards and out the rear and the two top fans do the same.

 

[Alpha_]

I'd recommend strongly against any CLC ...especially the H100i ... it's louder than a vacuum cleaner. There is not a single CLC made today that beats the better air coolers.

The Swiftech H240-X would be my recommendnation.
http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/liuid/40870-swiftech-h220-x-open-loop-240mm-cpu-cooler-review?showall=&start=3

1. It is all copper / brass and doesn't mic metals (copper / aluminum) like done on the CLCs which promotes galvanic corrosion.
2. It cools better at 1/6th the noise level.
3. You can open the loop and conenct other water blocks for GFX cards whatever.

We have 3 SLI boxes here, all w/ side fans blowing in. Temps are lower on all three with fans on, even the one with water cooled cards (6 temp sensors in case + of course the on board GPU/VRM/VRAM temps) the side fans however are on the other side of the case on the water cooled box, feeding air to HD area.... the side fan if blowing towards the cards from the left panel should be between the two cards .... if above the top card, it could stagnate the area between the cards. In that case, many cases (i.e Phanteks) allow you to mount a fan on back of HD cage to cool area between cards; I find these helpful.

I ordered an H240-x, and although the case can fit two 140mm fans in the top, the radiator and pump simply make it to big to fit into the case.
I'll probably return it and pick up an air cooler.