Question CPU Air Cooler in a Dual Chamber Case?

edo101

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Jul 16, 2018
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Hi all, I am looking to replace my Phanteks Eclipse P500A with the MONTECH King 95 PRO

I was watching a review and the guy mentioned he does not recommend putting a CPU air cooler in a case like the Montech. For those familiar with these type of cases is there a reason for this?

I have always use air coolers because the idea of an AIO scares me. I'm worried about losing cooling performance. And my first time testing one was not really impressive lol. Very loud.

The case seems to have good reviews, is it any good? Are air coolers ok for this type of case?

The reason I am looking to replace my case is that I lost the packing box and shipping it between cities (which I do every half year) without it's packing box has taken a toll. Otherwise the case for the most part is nice. I need HDD spaces and 2.5 SSD spaces which it has. cable management can be a lil dodgy though in the back,
 

RAIDGoblin

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Jan 10, 2021
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if you put incoming fans on the bottom, and outgoing ones on the top and back it looks like the airflow would be fine for an air cooler, I too am puzzled by this, perhaps he only said you should use an AIO because it looks like the top space is designed for one? or for aesthetic reasons? also with a big tower cooler you might not have room for the back case fan, but there would still be room for at least 5, maybe 6 case fans, I wouldn't have thought you would have a problem

edit: just a thought, if you regularly need to ship your PC would it not be better to get a case with mesh sides instead of the glass?
 
What cpu and gpu will you have installed that you need to cool?

I see nothing wrong with that case for air cooling.
Two included 140mm intakes will provide plenty of cooling air that will eventually exit somewhere.
Not the traditional front to back airflow, but it will work.


Tempered glass might concern me if you regularly ship the case.
 

edo101

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Jul 16, 2018
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if you put incoming fans on the bottom, and outgoing ones on the top and back it looks like the airflow would be fine for an air cooler, I too am puzzled by this, perhaps he only said you should use an AIO because it looks like the top space is designed for one? or for aesthetic reasons? also with a big tower cooler you might not have room for the back case fan, but there would still be room for at least 5, maybe 6 case fans, I wouldn't have thought you would have a problem

edit: just a thought, if you regularly need to ship your PC would it not be better to get a case with mesh sides instead of the glass?
I need the bottom fan spot for my HDDs. So I am onyl left with top, front and side. Case's front glass panel can be replaced with a metal mesh front that comes with the case. In this situation what would you recommend? I was gonna do Side and top for intake and then just one exhaust out the back? Or would you do front and side for intake and then top and back for exhaust? My cooler is the Noctua NH-D15. Considering the fact that I don't intend on ever throwing away my case's packing box, I think I should be fine shipping it around since I'd assume the box and packing it comes in are good for shipping around lol

What cpu and gpu will you have installed that you need to cool?

I see nothing wrong with that case for air cooling.
Two included 140mm intakes will provide plenty of cooling air that will eventually exit somewhere.
Not the traditional front to back airflow, but it will work.


Tempered glass might concern me if you regularly ship the case.
I have a 10850k and a 4090. I occasionally throw in my 2080Ti for retro 3D Vision games. And I was gonna find a way preserve the original box and packing the case would come so shipping wouldn't be an issue no?

geofelt

RAIDGoblin

 
AIO will be better than an air cooler when using just side intake, but both are going to be suboptimal in that configuration period.

I would think that a case with that much glass would be a bad idea to ship often just due to more pieces to break if nothing else. It does look like you could do a front intake with mesh panel, but I imagine you wouldn't be looking at this case if you were planning on that.
 

RAIDGoblin

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Jan 10, 2021
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I need the bottom fan spot for my HDDs. So I am onyl left with top, front and side. Case's front glass panel can be replaced with a metal mesh front that comes with the case. In this situation what would you recommend? I was gonna do Side and top for intake and then just one exhaust out the back? Or would you do front and side for intake and then top and back for exhaust? My cooler is the Noctua NH-D15. Considering the fact that I don't intend on ever throwing away my case's packing box, I think I should be fine shipping it around since I'd assume the box and packing it comes in are good for shipping around lol
you should be fine with just one exhaust, the case with the glass panel still has enough mesh to bleed the extra air from more intakes without a problem, but that configuration is less than perfect, because hot air rises it's usually preferred not to have incoming fans on the top. If you can't use the bottom fan spaces, for an air cooler you would likely be better with the back and top back fan being extract, and two fans on the mesh panel at the side being intake, but that's still not the best. see this video:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-3yXrtC01o


there is two drive bays hidden in the back panel next to the PSU space, unless you have more than two drives, you should just be able to make use of that, and have incoming fans in the bottom, and extract on top, if your mobo allows you should then have the tower cooler orientated so the fans blow upwards so all the air is moving in the same direction, if you have some intakes on that mesh panel part way up the side the mobo mounts to as well, you can probably leave out the fan that's next to the io plate if it gets in the way of the cooler, you'll have between 3 and 5 incoming and 3 extract. In this configuration you should be fine with the glass panel

Don't forget, if you ever have any major problems with air flow you can switch to the provided mesh panel, that's probably why they include it, and with regards to shipping, yes the box it comes in is designed to protect it but I guess it is still risk, you have already successfully shipped a glass case so I would have thought you'd be fine, if you like the glass use it, and if it ever has an accident you can switch to the mesh :)