Help with cooling a 250D extreme gaming build

[mitthrawnuruodo]

Recently I set out to build a powerful gaming PC in a small form factor. Its my first time building a PC after 6 years of using Laptops. I assembled this inside a Corsair 250D -

i7 4790K + Asus ROG Maximus VII Impact
MSI GTX 980 TI Gaming
16GB Corsair Vengeance
500GB Crucial SSD + 1TB 7200 RPM Seagate HDD
Corsair RM650 modular PSU
Intel stock cooler, 2x80mm exhaust fans at the back, 1x140mm fan at the front and 1x120 fan at the side to pull in air into the case

Everything fit nicely. Performance is as expected. But I am not happy with the cooling. I am using stock intel cooler now to see how it works. The temperature varies from 40-50 deg C on idle to 80-85 deg C while gaming. Room temperature is near 30 deg celsius. Almost every thread about 4790k suggests that those CPU temps are too high and unsafe. The high load temparature was even higher (100 deg C on 100% load), but it was reduced after I lowered the CPU voltage based on recommendations on this thread https://communities.intel.com/docs/DOC-23517

So I am thinking about changing the set up -

CoolerMaster Nepton 240M liquid cooler instead of stock cooler
Remove the 120mm fan to make room for the radiator
Change the front intake fan to a 200mm
Keep the the 2x80mm exhaust fans at the back as it is

What do you guys think? Will those changes work? Do my stock cooler temperatures even warrant an upgrade, given the small size of the case and higher room temparatures? Do you guys have any other suggestions for any hardware chagnes or anything else?

PS - I do not plan to overclock at this moment because I have no experience with overclocking. Also I think this system can pretty much handle anything thrown at it and more without OC.

 

[Ibreakthings]

I would say get a:
Front/Intake: Kraken X61 (Replace Stock Fans With Noctua NF-A14 PWM)
Rear/Exhaust: 2x Arctic Cooling F8's
Side/Intake: 2x Arctic Cooling F12's

 

[Ibreakthings]

And if your not going with overclocking then no need for water i would say get a Hyper 212 EVO and replace the stock fan with Noctua NF-12 PWM in a Push/Pull

 

[TechyInAZ]

I would say get a:
Front/Intake: Kraken X61 (Replace Stock Fans With Noctua NF-A14 PWM)
Rear/Exhaust: 2x Arctic Cooling F8's
Side/Intake: 2x Arctic Cooling F12's

How would a 280mm Radiator fit in a 250D?

 

[mitthrawnuruodo]

Thanks I will look at the availability of those. But what about the CPU cooler? That is the one I am most worried about.

The case only has room for a CPU cooler of height 95mm or less. So I do not think the 212 evo will fit.

 

[Ibreakthings]

Cpu cooler i do see how the kraken x61 wouldnt fit so i would go with either
Kraken X41 (Water)
Hyper 212 EVO (Air)
Corsair H55 Quiet (Water)
Of course replace any fans that have to do with CPU cooling into Noctua fans and any case fans make them Arctic Cooling

 

[TechyInAZ]

Cpu cooler i do see how the kraken x61 wouldnt fit so i would go with either
Kraken X41 (Water)
Hyper 212 EVO (Air)
Corsair H55 Quiet (Water)
Of course replace any fans that have to do with CPU cooling into Noctua fans and any case fans make them Arctic Cooling

Or he could do an H100i for the best cooling performance.

 

[mitthrawnuruodo]

Hey guys, I had to go for the the nepton 240M, since the shop did not have H100i. Due to space constraints I was only able the screw only the top 2 screws of the 2 fans to the radiator, I hope that is safe. Its not wobbly or anything, and my CPU is now running 20 degrees cooler.

However the 980TI GPU is now running around 10 degrees hotter (40 - 50 on idle, 60-70 while gaming) 🙁 I have read that those are still within acceptable limits, so I am letting be for now. But I am still a bit worried and puzzled as to why it increased suddenly. I am hoping its due to more warm air inside the small case, pulled in by the liquid cooler, and not because of some mess up I did while re-assembling my system.