Fan/Radiator Intake and Exhaust Locations?

[voxdan]

I am getting the Phanteks Evolv ATX and while I love the case, the one thing I don't love is how low top mounted radiators come down, blocking a decent portion of the motherboard. It doesn't impact functionality so much as screw up aesthetics, which is important to me in this build. I also want to use a liquid cooling system (such as the Corsair Hydro line) for aesthetics, too, allowing better viewing and keeping things more open in the case. That said, I've never done this kind of cooling before and it's been nearly 20 years since I done any building. I know there is a dremel mod people are doing to the top of this case, but I'd rather not do that.

From what I've read, it's typically recommended to have the front fan(s) intake and the top and rear fans exhaust. Assuming this is the case...

...Is it okay to put something like a Corsair Hydro radiator (maybe 240 or 280) at the front of the case, setting it to intake? Is it okay to put it (the 120) on the rear, setting it to exhaust? I'd just really like to avoid having to put the radiator on top if possible.

What are some cooling/fan best practices that would apply here?

Thanks!

 

[Mr Kagouris]

Yes you can easily put a dual-rad AIO in the front. Grabbing a couple of EK Vardar fans and setting them in push-pull with the fans that come with the AIO would significantly help airflow as well. Then just have one rear exhaust fan and you're good.

 

[voxdan]

Yes you can easily put a dual-rad AIO in the front. Grabbing a couple of EK Vardar fans and setting them in push-pull with the fans that come with the AIO would significantly help airflow as well. Then just have one rear exhaust fan and you're good.

So, are you saying that I may not even need to place any fans on the top shelf? That would be great, as it would be so much more clean. I don't plan on having a ton going on in the case. A 6700k or 5390k depending on which route I decide to go; a single 980 ti GPU or similar depending on what comes out soon; 16-32GB of RAM. And that Evolv case is pretty roomy as it is, especially since I won't have any of the HD bays installed and will only be using a couple of SSDs behind the mobo.

Anyways, if I could get away with decent temps and relatively low noise without having to put anything in the top of that case it would be great. That said, it wouldn't be all that bad if I needed to put some relatively thin fans up there. It's the added rad that screws things up on top.

Thanks again for your time!

 

[Mr Kagouris]

No need to add anything to the top. Use the push-pull front rad to pull air into the case and have one rear exhaust fan. As for hardware, I recommend getting a 6700k, a decent Z170 board, and one of Cryorig's AIOs. If you can mount a 280mm at the front get a Cryorig A80, or an A40 (the thick one) if you can only mount a 240mm. I recommend them because not only are they awesome AIOs but because they include a fan you can mount on the waterblock itself to cool the VRMs (which increases OC stability).

 

[voxdan]

No need to add anything to the top. Use the push-pull front rad to pull air into the case and have one rear exhaust fan. As for hardware, I recommend getting a 6700k, a decent Z170 board, and one of Cryorig's AIOs. If you can mount a 280mm at the front get a Cryorig A80, or an A40 (the thick one) if you can only mount a 240mm. I recommend them because not only are they awesome AIOs but because they include a fan you can mount on the waterblock itself to cool the VRMs (which increases OC stability).

Fantastic! Very reassuring. Thanks for that.