[SOLVED] Correct radiator and fans configuration for H150i RGB PRO XT

[arkantos91]

Hi, I just upgraded my Noctua NH-D14 (which has been serving me amazingly for almost 10 years) with my first ever AIO which is the Corsair H150i RGB PRO XT. Unfortunately it seems very clear that cpus like the 3900X are meant to be liquid cooled, I don't even know how they put the Wraith stock cooler with it in the box. The NH-D14 itself had troubles properly cooling the cpu, also bothering me with the fans constantly revving up for a few seconds very often, which is very annoying. This of course happens because of Ryzen... and the way sometimes it just bumps up the voltage and the temps spike 10 degrees.

Now, my case is a Thermaltake X5 (https://it.thermaltake.com/core-x5-tempered-glass-edition.html), which is quite huge so I'm pretty sure I can't put the radiator in front because the pipes are not long enough to reach the cpu.

At the moment I installed the 360mm radiator on top, acting as intake, meaning it takes fresh air from outside. To give you an idea, going from up to the bottom I have:

• the chassis roof (which has holes and a filter in it)
• the radiator fans
• the radiator

Now, since I remeber reading here that "pulling air in through a restriction works better than trying to push out through it" ... does it mean I mounted it the wrong way? Meaning the fans should be below the radiator and not above it?

• the chassis roof
• radiator
• radiator fans

Thank you!

 

[QwerkyPengwen]

if the tubes aren't long enough to mount at the front, then mounting it to the top makes sense.
However, making it intake at the top does not make sense.
Heat rises, so internally in the case you should have air flowing in from the front and exhausting out the top.

You won't see a huge difference in cooling performance on the CPU from doing this, but you will see better temps on GPU and keep things cooler inside the case for the rest of your components.

The way to put fans on the radiator is easiest and best done by having the radiator mounted to the roof, with fans underneath it, sucking air up from within the case, and pushing it through the radiator to exhaust out the top.

Just of course make sure you have fans elsewhere at the front and maybe the bottom that are sucking air in from the outside

 

[vMax]

Very interesting case with so many options on the cooling front. I would probably go on the top extracting (but not on the PSU side) and then have the front fans bring air in and some bottom and or bottom side fans bring air in as well...With this case you can probably run all the fans in quiet mode and have a really nice cooling setup..

 

[arkantos91]

if the tubes aren't long enough to mount at the front, then mounting it to the top makes sense.
However, making it intake at the top does not make sense.
Heat rises, so internally in the case you should have air flowing in from the front and exhausting out the top.

You won't see a huge difference in cooling performance on the CPU from doing this, but you will see better temps on GPU and keep things cooler inside the case for the rest of your components.

I thought about that but given I'm using a Strix 2080TI which gets VERY hot under load during summer, around 75° or even more at times, my concern is that, the way you're suggesting would make the radiator fans suck up the hot air (which goes up) coming from the gpu, and this would in turn make cpu temps very bad too .

Also I have AC on blowing on the top of the chassis, so that's the other reason why I've gone for that unusual intake top radiator.... however as I said I'm not sure about where it's best to put the fans, if above or below the radiator.

 

[Karadjgne]

Fan orientation on a radiator can make a minor difference, but that depends on several things.

The way a fan works is a pitched blade travels through air. This creates a non-directional area of low pressure behind the blade, the byproduct being the higher pressure exhaust which is directed in a flow outwards.

When it comes to rads, they are an obstruction, so certain fans work better or worse in certain circumstances. Being non-directional, the low pressure area covers the entire surface of the rad under the shroud, a pretty even pull in a solid circle. This works extremely well at low fan rpm, under @ 1200 rpm because the low pressure is stronger than and covers more rad area than the forced exhaust.

At @ 1200rpm - 1500rpm, there's enough cfm and built up static pressure that push or pull are about equitable. It's above @ 1500 rpm that push becomes more effective than pull.

With push, the directed flow is perpendicular to the blade itself. Air is pushed from the blade, static pressure being the force behind the push. It's static pressure that forces the air through the obstructive fins. Air is not pushed from the motor housing. That's 2 severe detriments to push at low rpm, lack of SP, and a large blank hole dead center of the rad. You can always tell a rad in push by the 'dust donut' built up on the fins, and the relatively clean circular area in the middle. Since SP is higher at higher rpm, the faster spinning fan blade can force more cfm more effectively through the fins, resulting in better efficiency, regardless of the loss from the motor area.

So the question of push or pull really depends on 2 things overall, the fans themselves and the range of normal operation. If the fans are decent rad fans and never see above @ 1000rpm, pull will be better. If in the middle range, it really won't matter, if above @ 1500rpm push will be better.

But, there's also the motherboard to contend with. Rads are slightly wider and offer no forgiveness to the motherboard headers, ram, wiring etc. Fans are a little different in that they can be installed initially at different angles, can be changed out for slimmer models, can be left out entirely if needs be. So sometimes a combo will only fit in push. Some vendors, Gigabyte for one, have asymmetrical fans, literally the frames are not flat, so can only be mounted push, rgb/argb rings etc. No point in expensive rgb fans if they are upside down and buried under a rad.

The axial gpu style sucks air in from below and forces exhaust out the side, which goes up the side of the case. Having top intake just blows all that heat right back down on top of the gpu, creating a hot pocket and not helping airflow in the slightest. Front/bottom intake, top/rear exhaust. Creates a directed flow of air, taking heat with it. Don't be scared that the heat from the gpu will affect the cpu because the cpu has a far higher wattage output than will be much affected by case air ambients.

There is no right or wrong, correct or incorrect way to mount an aio and it's fans, you can do it however you wish, there's only ways that make more or less sense overall.