[SOLVED] Front mounted AIO, intake or exhaust?

[FoxInFlames]

First of all, my specs
CPU:- Intel core I7 12700F

Mobo:- Asus prime B660 plus D4

RAM:- Gskill Tridentz RGB 3600MHz (16GB X 4)

GPU:- Inno3D GeForce RTX 3080Ti X3 OC

PSU:- NZXT C850

Chassis:- Deepcool CL500 4F

Now, my question

The 3080Ti here starts at a peaceful 32 degrees on bootup and keeps going up till the 57 mark (at idle, mind), running a 3dmark shows no issues (the GPU keeps at 100% all the time through the two GPU tests, though it staggered a bit at 99% midway) but the temperatures were kinda hot (78 degrees), i felt the air pressure with the palm of my hand at intake and exhaust and it seems my case is going through negative air pressure (exhaust air volume is much more than intake, if the term i used was incorrect).

here's the current airflow of my PC (it seems a bit cramped, doesn't it?)

my question, would it be better for my top and rear fans to be intake and the radiator as exhaust? That would allow sufficient air intake for the GPU (albeit from the top) and the exhaust would pull out the hot air from the radiator anyways?

 

[Colif]

intake.

Better to intake fresh air for CPU than to have AIO as exhausr sucking all heat from 3080 through it

 

[FoxInFlames]

I see, as a last question, should radiator fans be configured as push or pull? Or would it make a negligible difference?

 

[Colif]

I don't think it makes any difference. I just checked case has a mesh front = https://global.deepcool.com/products/Cases/fulltowercases/2020/4664.shtml

gpu generally doesn't care where the radiator is, its temps unaffected by air coming in through one.

how many exhaust fans do you have?

I just replaced my case fans with 3 Noctuas and temps seem a little better, nvme is 6c cooler. I haven't tried games yet as GPU is next step in upgrade process.

You could fill case with exhaust fans since you use an AIO for CPU.
front is intake, top and rear are exhausts.

 

[FoxInFlames]

how many exhaust fans do you have?

2 top, 1 rear

 

[FoxInFlames]

They are Deepcool cf120, for the sake of info

 

[Colif]

You have 3 in and 3 out, all same size. So it could be you have balanced air flow pattern. that is the hardest to get right.. I wonder if you be better off removing the top front exhaust.. it could let air get to rear of case and would mean you have positive air flow which blows all the heat out of case.

could just unplug it from board and see if it makes any difference.

My intakes are only 120's but my 3 exhausts are 140 so I have negative air pressure, it generally works in my case.

 

[FoxInFlames]

I wonder if you be better off removing the top front exhaust

You mean the fans on the top of the chassis?

 

[Colif]

yes. the front on on the top of case

You better off with an uneven number of fans, more in than out, or more out than in.

 

[FoxInFlames]

You better off with an uneven number of fans, more in than out, or more out than in.

While I'm at it, what if i put them on the rear of the radiator to create an uneven push pull configuration?

 

[FoxInFlames]

Would that be possible with those tiny screws anyways?

 

[Colif]

Its likely the fans for radiator are better suited to job.
Case fans not really designed to pull air through a radiator. More for open cases or exhausts.

3 intake fans should be enough.

 

[FoxInFlames]

Well, i did some tinkering

Somehow pulling from the radiator instead of pushing air through it made my GPU 3 degrees cooler (maybe, just maybe because now one 120mm fan is throwing air right into it's face?)

Unplugging the top two 120mm fans didn't work, it made the temperature go 1.5 degrees higher again (compared to previous scenario)

CPU always stayed quite peaceful, with 30-33 degrees throughout the GPU test and a max of 53 on the cpu test

 

[Colif]

CPU has a 360mm radiator keeping it cool, its the GPU that doesn't seem to breath all that well.

Having fans on inside at least does bring the fans closer to rest of hardware. On outside they just cooling the CPU. IN my case the AIO fans so far from current GPU they don't do anything unless I increase AIO fan speed. My new gpu is 8cm longer than current one so it might get some air from it.

 

[FoxInFlames]

I guess that's just because my chassis doesn't support more than two 120mm fans at the top (and it is therefore less wider than the standard chassis) so the distance between the fans and the gpu is very small (think around 5 cm)

In any case, thanks for the help

 

[Colif]

Whats the deep cool thing under GPU? Unless its got fans in it, it wouldn't be helping with air flow of the GPU

 

[FoxInFlames]

Whats the deep cool thing under GPU? Unless its got fans in it, it wouldn't be helping with air flow of the GPU

It's a support bracket, it doesn't cover the fans, just protrudes from the side and supports it from the front

 

[Colif]

oh, okay. I understand now

I could use one of those on my next GPU.

 

[FoxInFlames]

It's a boon for heavy graphics cards i guess, I've seen some motherboards warp due to the added weight,therefore some companies even ship such stands (not like this one, but sturdy enough to get the job done) with their GPU (MSI suprim X series is an example)

 

[Colif]

My current GPU weighs 1.8kg.
My new Powercolor Red Devil Radeon RX 7900 XT weights 3kg.
Its a brick and comes with its own GPU stand but my MB PCIe slot is strengthened so hopefully I won't need it.