How to get good airflow with this setup?

[Gamer2886]

I've never actually built a computer, so I'm kind of a noob when it comes to these things.

This is my rig, and i don't know how to get good airflow with it, I'm going for a black and white setup .

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($445.34 @ TigerDirect Canada)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($168.00 @ TigerDirect Canada)
Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver 12g Thermal Paste ($14.84 @ DirectCanada)
Motherboard: Asus X99-DELUXE ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($438.98 @ DirectCanada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($265.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($194.00 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.95 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($707.81 @ DirectCanada)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($707.81 @ DirectCanada)
Case: NZXT H440 (White/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ NCIX)
Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($239.99 @ NCIX)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($109.99 @ Canada Computers)
Other: NZXT G10 ($29.99)
Other: NZXT G10 ($29.99)
Other: NZXT x41 ($109.99)
Other: NZXT x41 ($109.99)
Total: $3752.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

If you could let me know how to improve my case airflow without changing the case or the coolers, that would be great. I'm just such a noob when it comes to airflow

 

[Archgaull]

Well first off drop the two Kraken x41s, as you can't have more than one CPU cooler at one time.

 

[Gamer2886]

Well first off drop the two Kraken x41s, as you can't have more than one CPU cooler at one time.

To cool the CPU I'll use the x61, and the x41s are to cool the GPUs.

 

[Gamer2886]

you never built a PC before but you want to start replacing video card HSF? as long as you have air coming in and going out you have good airflow.

I never built a computer, but i know a decent amount about them, all except when it comes to the airflow

 

[Karadjgne]

While that may be a beast, its going to get neutered on airflow. The h440 has room up top for the x61, but that leaves a 140mm exhaust and 3x intakes, and with the size of the x41 radiators you kill any room possible, only having room for them as 2x intakes, or vice-versa. Personally unless you plan on coupling the 2x x41 pump together like a r9 295x2 cooler, I'd scrap the aio's altogether and just do a full custom loop. A triple rad as intake for cpu, double rad up top as exhaust for gpus and leave the stock exhaust alone.

 

[Gamer2886]

While that may be a beast, its going to get neutered on airflow. The h440 has room up top for the x61, but that leaves a 140mm exhaust and 3x intakes, and with the size of the x41 radiators you kill any room possible, only having room for them as 2x intakes, or vice-versa. Personally unless you plan on coupling the 2x x41 pump together like a r9 295x2 cooler, I'd scrap the aio's altogether and just do a full custom loop. A triple rad as intake for cpu, double rad up top as exhaust for gpus and leave the stock exhaust alone.

So i should just remove the x41s?, What do you think i could do to cool the GPUs?

 

[Archgaull]

They'll be perfectly cool on their own, they don't need coolers typically.

 

[Karadjgne]

Gtx980's typically run 160w. They aren't hot running cards like r9 290x by any means. 3x intakes and 3x exhaust will be more than sufficient to keep them within decent temp ranges. And unless you are planning this beast to be running ultimate settings on a 4k monitor, they won't be pushed all that hard anyways.

 

[Karadjgne]

The h440 comes with 3x 120mm intakes and a 140mm exhaust. Adding the 2x 140mm on the x61 will leave it pretty well balanced, even if it is 3x 120mm vrs 3x 140mm as the x61 will not be running full speed much if any time unless op wants to set it up that way on the fan curves. It'll be decent airflow.

 

[Gamer2886]

The h440 comes with 3x 120mm intakes and a 140mm exhaust. Adding the 2x 140mm on the x61 will leave it pretty well balanced, even if it is 3x 120mm vrs 3x 140mm as the x61 will not be running full speed much if any time unless op wants to set it up that way on the fan curves. It'll be decent airflow.

I was hoping i could get something like this, 2 x41s to cool GPU in SLI and a x61 to cool my CPU.

http://i57.tinypic.com/x6bj9i.jpg.

I don't think it possible with the case right?

 

[Karadjgne]

With the h440, maybe possible. The problem lies in the length of the rad piping. If you went with the x31 120mm instead of the x41 140mm, the pipes may be long enough to reach the 2 available lower slots at the front intakes, sacrificing the hdd bays there (do that anyways for gpu clearance) since the h440 claims to support 3x 120mm rads in front. Highly doubtful the piping is long enough to go from gpus to top slots, so thats where the x61 will sit. This would leave you 1x intake and 1x exhaust fan, which is plenty, with the adding fans of the rads. The pic shows the gpus with rear exhaust mounts, which are considerably closer than intake mounts. Even having exact dimensions of length of piping doesn't help any, pipes will have to curve/bend etc, and care with pump orientation would need to be maximum effort.

Only 1 way to find out, but with nzxt claims to 3x 120mm rad support in front, don't know precisely if they mean a single 360mm rad, or 3x 120mm rads turned sideways, its a pretty wide case at 180mm cpu cooler clearance. Either way, the x31 us more than capable of cooling a gtx980 by itself.

Since this is a big ticket budget, and the budget is not of supreme importance, modifying the x31 rads with an additional 240mm single rad in front is a good possibility, linking the 2x x31 pumps to exactly emulate the stock setup of a r9 295x2 cooler, but with a 240mm rad instead of the single 120mm rad, linking the pumps in series between the 2x gpus. For this all you would need is a couple of in line couplings available from any full custom loop place. Then the 240mm would be able to sit straight up/down in intake position in front. You could even re-use the original coolant if you were careful not to spill any. An option, depends on your mechanical ability with your hands.