Question Corsair 5000D Airflow set up questions.

[demidemon]

I'm down to the final part of my build, and decided to go with a Corsair 5000D Airflow case, the other option was Phanteks P500A but decided against it. My question now is, what fan set up should I go with on this? My components are going to be a i7-12700F (with turbo boost enabled), Asus ROG Strix B660-A, Silicon Power A60 1 TB NVME, Crucial MX500 4TB, G.Skill Trident Z RGB 36000 CL182 x 16, EVGA FTW 3 3080 12GB, and filling the case with Arctic P12 PST A-RGB 120mm fans (if I go Cooler Master AIO, will use Sickle Flow fans instead).

Outside of going with either one of three AIOs (Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360, Corsair H150i Elite Capellix, or Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360 R) or picking up a Noctua NH-D15, I am unsure how to configure the fans in this case.

The set up I'd like to do is 6 front intake, AIO behind the front panel, 3 fans at the top and one radiator. However, I've seen some posts saying not to use the side fans, I could use it for GPU AIO exhaust (seriously considering it). What would be the best set up for this case? I intend to have it near a AC, so using those side fans as intake may actually help as well.

Either way, please give me some advice with this. Once I get that figured out, it's just picking the cooler and it's all done.

 

[Phaaze88]

If you are mostly air cooling, there is no real cooling benefit to filling both side and front panels. It may look good depending on who you ask, but in terms of cooling efficiency, it creates unnecessary turbulence; the front and side will T-bone.
Those are really for expanding custom loop options.
For example, someone could use the side for installing a distro plate or pump+res combo, and have smooth intake through the front, or vice versa, if they wanted to.

For use with AIO/CLC:
1)Intake through the front with case fans.
Exhaust out the top with AIO/CLC.
Rear empty - only put a filter* there. Both halves of the cooler now have cool intake. [If you install a rear intake fan - turbulence again; T-bone the pull of the AIO's fans.]
Side closed.

2)Same as above, except you do side intake and close off the front panel... but the case isn't really set up to do that, so you'd have to DIY something to close it off, otherwise some of the side intake air could leak out the front.
Probably just skip this idea...

3)Take #1 and swap the AIO/CLC to front intake, the case fans to top exhaust, and instead of a rear filter, install a rear exhaust fan.
Side closed.

4)Do the same as #2... skip?


For use with tower air cooler:
1)Front intake. Rear exhaust. Side closed.

2)Front intake. Rear exhaust. Side closed. Top exhaust.

3)You should know by now - open up the side and close the front... skip?


There is no best; there is always bias towards one or the other. For cases with lots of optional fan locations like that one, the answer to the frequently asked question has never been to fill them all - except for looks, which is subjective.
All up to you in the end though...

 

[demidemon]

If you are mostly air cooling, there is no real cooling benefit to filling both side and front panels. It may look good depending on who you ask, but in terms of cooling efficiency, it creates unnecessary turbulence; the front and side will T-bone.
Those are really for expanding custom loop options.
For example, someone could use the side for installing a distro plate or pump+res combo, and have smooth intake through the front, or vice versa, if they wanted to.

For use with AIO/CLC:
1)Intake through the front with case fans.
Exhaust out the top with AIO/CLC.
Rear empty - only put a filter* there. Both halves of the cooler now have cool intake. [If you install a rear intake fan - turbulence again; T-bone the pull of the AIO's fans.]
Side closed.

2)Same as above, except you do side intake and close off the front panel... but the case isn't really set up to do that, so you'd have to DIY something to close it off, otherwise some of the side intake air could leak out the front.
Probably just skip this idea...

3)Take #1 and swap the AIO/CLC to front intake, the case fans to top exhaust, and instead of a rear filter, install a rear exhaust fan.
Side closed.

4)Do the same as #2... skip?


For use with tower air cooler:
1)Front intake. Rear exhaust. Side closed.

2)Front intake. Rear exhaust. Side closed. Top exhaust.

3)You should know by now - open up the side and close the front... skip?


There is no best; there is always bias towards one or the other. For cases with lots of optional fan locations like that one, the answer to the frequently asked question has never been to fill them all - except for looks, which is subjective.
All up to you in the end though...

Alright, thanks. Still trying to see which would be best with those, really leaning towards AIO cuz I could make the GPU AIO cooled too later on, been waiting to see when/if the EVGA FTW3 AIOs come back in stock. Haven't seen'em in a bit.

 

[Phaaze88]

I was thinking about vertical mounting the GPU, I know with how it is set up in that case, it would be against the panel. However, I did find another bracket that would move the GPU further back away from the side panel. Would that also improve GPU temps, even if I top mounted the AIO in the case or make them worse? I would prefer to front mount and horizontal mount the GPU, but if having it vertical would help improve temps, I may consider it over AIO for it.

It wouldn't change much of anything. In either orientation, you can't avoid the 3080 FTW3 sucking in some of its own exhaust.

You should already know that this model exhausts its waste heat out the sides, but there's numerous things that happen afterward.
Installed horizontally, and looking at the side that can't be seen, some of the exhaust:
-is absorbed by the motherboard.
-goes upward through the small gaps in between the gpu and motherboard.
-goes downward, to get pulled back in by the gpu's fans.
Horizontally, and the from the side that can be seen, exhibits much of the same. FYI, top exhaust fans do not completely stop some of the exhaust feeding back into the card.

Installed vertically, and from the side that can be easily seen, exhaust can go straight up. Great, right?
Unfortunately, the other side does much of what a horizontal installation did, except practically all of what is expelled from there gets pulled back in.


50% of the exhaust comes out both sides. Looking at it on paper: V-gpu would see a little more exhaust feeding back into the cooler than horizontal does.

 

[elforeign]

I have this case and I have it set up with 3x120 front intake, 3x120 side intake (I have the provided case cover that redirects the airflow to the side over the PCH, RAM), I have a 2x140 Corsair 115i as exhaust and the 120 rear exhaust. I have a 12600KF at 50/39 1.24v, under load it doesn't go over 63c, the GPU is an Asus TUF GAMING OC 12GB and runs at 64c max under load on auto fans and I don't see the fans go past 73% on the GPU.

All case fans, including the fans on the corsair AIO are Noctua NF A12/A14s where applicable. All the fans are set to a curve following CPU temps and I don't have them spin up past 70% at max load. The system is super quiet.

I set it up this way to achieve positive air pressure and it's working quite nicely.

 

[Phaaze88]

I set it up this way to achieve positive air pressure and it's working quite nicely.

PC cases aren't designed like hospital rooms - for the most part.
There is no pressure in a case like this; there are too many open spaces/gaps. It's not until manufacturers and users start sealing spaces off that a case starts leaning towards positive or negative.

NZXT H500: negative pressure.
Cooler Master H500P Mesh: Positive pressure.
Lian Li Lancool II Mesh: No pressure.
A few popular cases and where they stand.

 

[elforeign]

PC cases aren't designed like hospital rooms - for the most part.
There is no pressure in a case like this; there are too many open spaces/gaps. It's not until manufacturers and users start sealing spaces off that a case starts leaning towards positive or negative.

NZXT H500: negative pressure.
Cooler Master H500P Mesh: Positive pressure.
Lian Li Lancool II Mesh: No pressure.
A few popular cases and where they stand.

Thank you for the insight