[SOLVED] Water cooler Rad top mounted, are my fans placed right?

Ashley Knott

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May 5, 2020
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Ok so I built this PC a while ago but just recently I’ve herd that fans should be placed a certain way. I have my rad mounted to the top of my pc with the fans mounted on top of the rad
I have pictures to help better understand my question. I have added pictures of the front & side also to get an idea. Cable management I know lol

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Solution
I always thought that if you have the fans the other side it would pull warm air from the inside through the Rad
iu

You currently have them set to pull air through those side vents and push it through the rad.
Pushing air through the rad is made more difficult due to how close the fans are to the solid panel. Pulling air through the rad positions them further away and gives them more 'breathing room', and making their job a bit easier.
I did say that I didn't have a problem with you doing top intake...

Phaaze88

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@USAFRet
They're blowing down, so top intake. Doesn't help that the fans are so close to the solid panel...


@Ashley Knott
You installed them that way for aesthetic reasons, right?
You don't have a very big gpu in there, so I'm not going to give you any flak for the top intake AIO... I'm not too crazy on the fans being that close to the solid panel though.
If you're going to do top intake, position the fans further away from that solid surface so they have an easier time bringing air in that way - in other words, move the fans to the other side of the radiator.
If you do top exhaust, I'm not sure if it'll matter too much whether the fans are push or pull; there's going to be some blowback regardless.
 

Ashley Knott

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May 5, 2020
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4,535
@USAFRet
They're blowing down, so top intake. Doesn't help that the fans are so close to the solid panel...


@Ashley Knott
You installed them that way for aesthetic reasons, right?
You don't have a very big gpu in there, so I'm not going to give you any flak for the top intake AIO... I'm not too crazy on the fans being that close to the solid panel though.
If you're going to do top intake, position the fans further away from that solid surface so they have an easier time bringing air in that way - in other words, move the fans to the other side of the radiator.
If you do top exhaust, I'm not sure if it'll matter too much whether the fans are push or pull; there's going to be some blowback regardless.

Yes i did for aesthetic as thats the design of the case (its huge in person) & i thought that was okay for the fans. There are 3 mesh vents at the sides at the top. I always thought that if you have the fans the other side it would pull warm air from the inside through the Rad. As for the GPU i'm waiting to upgrade to a 3060ti

So do you advise i put the fans on the other side of the rad so they are on the inner side.
 
Last edited:

Phaaze88

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Ambassador
I always thought that if you have the fans the other side it would pull warm air from the inside through the Rad
iu

You currently have them set to pull air through those side vents and push it through the rad.
Pushing air through the rad is made more difficult due to how close the fans are to the solid panel. Pulling air through the rad positions them further away and gives them more 'breathing room', and making their job a bit easier.
I did say that I didn't have a problem with you doing top intake, because of the gpu in the pictures - it's pretty smol. With something much bigger than that - say a 3080 - a top intake does not work as well.
That's because most of them dump a lot of heat in the chassis. All that does is fight with the top intake coming from above, and make it take longer to get the heat out of the chassis.

None of this really matters right now due to the gpu. Whenever you change that though, fan positioning and whatnot will start to matter more.
 
Solution

Ashley Knott

Reputable
May 5, 2020
78
1
4,535
iu

You currently have them set to pull air through those side vents and push it through the rad.
Pushing air through the rad is made more difficult due to how close the fans are to the solid panel. Pulling air through the rad positions them further away and gives them more 'breathing room', and making their job a bit easier.
I did say that I didn't have a problem with you doing top intake, because of the gpu in the pictures - it's pretty smol. With something much bigger than that - say a 3080 - a top intake does not work as well.
That's because most of them dump a lot of heat in the chassis. All that does is fight with the top intake coming from above, and make it take longer to get the heat out of the chassis.

None of this really matters right now due to the gpu. Whenever you change that though, fan positioning and whatnot will start to matter more.

Okay so when i upgrade my GPU it would be wise to place them the other side of the rad (I can't adjust the fan height at the top) & should i have them direct air out through the Rad or have them pull cool air through the rad from outside. bare in mind that i have one fan on the back taking air out & two big fans at the front pulling air in
 

USAFRet

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Moderator
Yes i did for aesthetic as thats the design of the case (its huge in person) & i thought that was okay for the fans. There are 3 mesh vents at the sides at the top. I always thought that if you have the fans the other side it would pull warm air from the inside through the Rad. As for the GPU i'm waiting to upgrade to a 3060ti

So do you advise i put the fans on the other side of the rad so they are on the inner side.
And removing warm air from the case.

With that case, you may need to try both ways.
See which works best.
Likely there is minimal change, though.
 

emitfudd

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Apr 9, 2017
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I have the same fan setup with a Corsair 780T case. The difference is my case has a mesh top. I have my fans mounted above the radiator just like you but they are mounted in a pull configuration to exhaust hot air out of the case. Besides exhausting hot air from the CPU cooler it also sucks out any hot air from inside the case from other components as heat rises. Is that glass panel on the top of your case removable?
 

Ashley Knott

Reputable
May 5, 2020
78
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4,535
I have the same fan setup with a Corsair 780T case. The difference is my case has a mesh top. I have my fans mounted above the radiator just like you but they are mounted in a pull configuration to exhaust hot air out of the case. Besides exhausting hot air from the CPU cooler it also sucks out any hot air from inside the case from other components as heat rises. Is that glass panel on the top of your case removable?

So you have your fans set with the grid side facing up so they are pulling air through the Rad & out of the case? Yes i can remove it but the whole top comes off.