- Aug 15, 2011
- 132
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- 18,585
Getting a little confused on where best to mount rads for an AIO cooling solution.
Front-mounting:
My understanding is that a typical front mounted rad would have the fans out front - push config. The rad would get blasted with fresh cool air. If mounted behind the rad in pull config, it won't be as ideal at blasting cool air but would help get air into the rest of the case better.
And push-pull would kinda get the best out of both worlds. But the trade-off of front mounting would mean that the cool air would've passed through the rad and be a little warmer, and so the rest of the case like the GPU isn't cooled as well. So better CPU cooling, worse GPU cooling.
Another point to consider is that a more front-restricted case (e.g. Phanteks Evolv X) would suffer a bit more having the rad in front because vs just pure intake fans, already restricted airflow has to pass through yet another barrier - the rad. Perhaps a better case in this config would be one with unblocked front mesh? e.g. Fractal Meshify S2
Top-mounting:
Pretty much the opposite cost/benefit of front mounting. Maybe the restrictive nature of the case front design won't matter as much here. But the cool air that comes in from pure front intake fans would've passed through the GPU before it reaches the top rad, resulting in less cooled CPU? A push-pull would probably help again in this case; not at getting more cool air, but at least would help exhausting the warm air out of the rad a bit quicker. But a lot of cases won't have as much room between the top of the motherboard and the top case vents. I do see top-mounted rads as the more popular config though.
Is this the right understanding of tradeoffs?
Front-mounting:
My understanding is that a typical front mounted rad would have the fans out front - push config. The rad would get blasted with fresh cool air. If mounted behind the rad in pull config, it won't be as ideal at blasting cool air but would help get air into the rest of the case better.
And push-pull would kinda get the best out of both worlds. But the trade-off of front mounting would mean that the cool air would've passed through the rad and be a little warmer, and so the rest of the case like the GPU isn't cooled as well. So better CPU cooling, worse GPU cooling.
Another point to consider is that a more front-restricted case (e.g. Phanteks Evolv X) would suffer a bit more having the rad in front because vs just pure intake fans, already restricted airflow has to pass through yet another barrier - the rad. Perhaps a better case in this config would be one with unblocked front mesh? e.g. Fractal Meshify S2
Top-mounting:
Pretty much the opposite cost/benefit of front mounting. Maybe the restrictive nature of the case front design won't matter as much here. But the cool air that comes in from pure front intake fans would've passed through the GPU before it reaches the top rad, resulting in less cooled CPU? A push-pull would probably help again in this case; not at getting more cool air, but at least would help exhausting the warm air out of the rad a bit quicker. But a lot of cases won't have as much room between the top of the motherboard and the top case vents. I do see top-mounted rads as the more popular config though.
Is this the right understanding of tradeoffs?
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