[SOLVED] Front mounted radiator on tempered glass case

Jan 6, 2021
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Hello,
I just reacently finished mounting the last basic parts of my new PC with a custom watercooling loop, and I have a couple of doubts.

My case is the DeepCool Matrexx V3 and it has a tempered glass front, nice for looks, altough, not so good for cooling in general.
Mostly for the looks also, I mounted the 240mm radiator on the front of the case, with 2 DeepCool CF120 fans pushing air and 2 AeroCool Eclipse fans pulling air. I did the push-pull because I thought that I could compensate the restricction of the glass with this, but altough there is definately some air coming out of the radiator, Its not a lot. The radiator itself is quite thin, but honestly the aerocool fans are like 10€ and 32CFM, the DeepCool are decent though, with 56 CFM and 1,6mmH2O.

Given my case, the radiator and the fans, Will it be enough to cool my Ryzen 3700X? I only plan to OC it to 4.2 and that is not a must.
(I can’t test ir myself because the loop itself is not finished, i have the stock cooler and im just cheking airflow with the radiator)

In the case that it’s not enough, Would replacing the 3 exhaust fans (The same Aerocools) and the pulling fans on the radiator help?

Thanks a lot in advance.
 
Solution
This depends completely on how good your case airflow is to begin with.

If you have great airflow, there will be negligible difference between either orientation.

If you have poor airflow, then the location which as the best access to cool, ambient air from outside the case will benefit.


If you need to know if your case has good airflow, you can follow these steps to test:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

AIO Troubleshooting and Questions


High CPU and GPU temperatures:

This could be caused by a few different things, please don't automatically assume 'the cooler is not working' without also checking if the case airflow is sufficient.

Remove the side panel of the PC case. Orient a house...

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I would highly advise that you relocate the radiator to the top of the chassis and have the fans set to exhaust out the top or pick some high static pressure fans and have the fans at the front of the radiator behind the cases frame, if you've got room to spare then slap another set of high static pressure fans to the back of the radiator to have a pull<radiator<push<case frame setup.

Regardless of what your overclocking goals, the issue is further compounded when you factor in that the CF120 fans don't move anything. I used the fans and would only recommend them for builds that need minimal airflow since the components inside the case aren't hot headed.
 
Jan 6, 2021
6
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Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

I would highly advise that you relocate the radiator to the top of the chassis and have the fans set to exhaust out the top or pick some high static pressure fans and have the fans at the front of the radiator behind the cases frame, if you've got room to spare then slap another set of high static pressure fans to the back of the radiator to have a pull<radiator<push<case frame setup.

Regardless of what your overclocking goals, the issue is further compounded when you factor in that the CF120 fans don't move anything. I used the fans and would only recommend them for builds that need minimal airflow since the components inside the case aren't hot headed.

Hi Ltfij,
Thank you very much for your advice, I will replace the CF120 fans as soon as posible. Are Cooler Master SF120R a good replacement? Keeping the radiator at the front is entirely impossible even with a fan replacement and a push pull??
 
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Phaaze88

Titan
Ambassador
Push-pull isn't necessary here, and besides, the push fans won't be doing anything because they're still too close.
Just do pull intake, but with some proper radiator fans(the original fans)... or easier yet, Lutfij's suggestion to just mount the radiator up top - boom, you can keep the RGB in the front.
 
Jan 6, 2021
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Push-pull isn't necessary here, and besides, the push fans won't be doing anything because they're still too close.
Just do pull intake, but with some proper radiator fans(the original fans)... or easier yet, Lutfij's suggestion to just mount the radiator up top - boom, you can keep the RGB in the front.
Yeah to be honest its the way to go. But will it perform the same in the top and in the front? I heard that using it as intake was better performance wise.
 

rubix_1011

Contributing Writer
Moderator
This depends completely on how good your case airflow is to begin with.

If you have great airflow, there will be negligible difference between either orientation.

If you have poor airflow, then the location which as the best access to cool, ambient air from outside the case will benefit.


If you need to know if your case has good airflow, you can follow these steps to test:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

AIO Troubleshooting and Questions


High CPU and GPU temperatures:

This could be caused by a few different things, please don't automatically assume 'the cooler is not working' without also checking if the case airflow is sufficient.

Remove the side panel of the PC case. Orient a house fan (desk or box style fan) to blow air into the case, directly over components at the highest setting.

This will represent a case with the best possible airflow possible. For reference, the fans I am providing as examples would look like the items below (just to clarify for anyone who might want reference)

nI6vx5v.jpg
2GBempv.jpg


Re-test as you have normally done - play games, run benchmarks, etc. to get to where temperatures were normally seen to be higher than they should. Normal room temperature is usually between 20-24C or 68-75F. Please note that every air or liquid cooler operates as a product of delta-T over ambient, meaning that if the PC is operational (simply turned on), it is impossible for the CPU to display a temperature below ambient room temperatures. If it is, this is likely a bug in software temperature reporting either from the desktop UI or the BIOS reading it incorrectly.

With the fan running at full speed, if temperatures drop by 5-7C or more, case airflow is one major issue to contend with. You will need additional fans or better fans for your setup in order to optimize air in and out of the chassis. This might even require consideration for a new PC case or leaving the side panel partially open during sessions of heavier computing until these items are corrected.

If your temperatures remain relatively the same (difference less than 1-2C), then you likely have an issue with the cooler in question (if CPU is hot, CPU cooler, if GPU is hot, GPU cooler). It would be good to then approach the next steps by thoroughly cleaning the cooler with compressed or canned air and ensuring there are not large blockages in cooling fins or on fans, etc. This might require the cooling fans to be removed from the heatsink or radiator to ensure there is not a buildup of pet hair, dust or even carpet fibers which can trap additional debris. Please ensure the PC is turned off and unplugged during this process to prevent unwanted startup to keep fingers safe from fan blades or accidental shorting if you happen to drop a screw onto other components during fan removal.

Removal of the cooler and re-application of thermal paste & re-seating the cooler can also be beneficial once cleaning of the cooler is ruled out by retesting the steps above.
 
Solution

Phaaze88

Titan
Ambassador
Yeah to be honest its the way to go. But will it perform the same in the top and in the front? I heard that using it as intake was better performance wise.
No, it won't perform the same. There will be a trade-off regardless of where you orient it.
Front mounted will be better overall for the part the cooler is mounted to, but slightly worse for everything behind it.
Top mounted is pretty much the other way around.
Small differences though.

Using fans with low static pressure wasn't a good idea here. If not the fans that came with the cooler, you should be using fans of at least 2.0mmH2O.
The front panel is already a restriction, and the radiator adds even more.
 
Jan 6, 2021
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No, it won't perform the same. There will be a trade-off regardless of where you orient it.
Front mounted will be better overall for the part the cooler is mounted to, but slightly worse for everything behind it.
Top mounted is pretty much the other way around.
Small differences though.

Using fans with low static pressure wasn't a good idea here. If not the fans that came with the cooler, you should be using fans of at least 2.0mmH2O.
The front panel is already a restriction, and the radiator adds even more.
Yeah, I get it, too much restriction on the intake. The holes are tiny, the DeepCool fans are close to it and the fans pulling are complete trash for this rig. I just took the radiator from the front to the top and dissaselbled most of the fans. I’ll buy some decent ones for the radiator. Would CoolerMaster SF120R’s sufice?
 
Jan 6, 2021
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The fans that came with the radiator should be better than all the fans you currently have, thus the best to use with it.
What is the cooler anyway?


The specs look okay... they can get a little loud...
They're ok - I don't see any faults with them.
Its a custom loop, so it didnt come with any stock fans. I dont really care about noise so i will go with those fans.

My most sincere thanks for all the help.