Which fans setup?

[Matt9696]

I have my h115i radiator mounted on the front with 2 fans pushing air through it.

Now should i have 1 exhaust fan on the rear and 1 intake at the bottom.

or

1 exhaust rear, 1 exhaust top and 1 intake bottom.

extra info: Only front/bottom of case has dust filters.

 

[weberdarren97]

What case do you have?

 

[weberdarren97]

Normally I don't recommend using a radiator as intake. The point of a liquid cooling system is to take heat from the component (CPU in this case), transfer it to the liquid, pump the liquid to the radiator (or heat exchanger), and exhaust the heat through the radiator. Using a radiator as intake just blows all that heat back into the system, causing passively cooled parts like motherboard VRMs and chipsets to run warmer. It also can make exhaust fans louder as the system ramps them up to try to get the hot air out of the system.

 

[Matt9696]

What case do you have?

fractal define S

 

[weberdarren97]

What case do you have?

fractal define S

Good choice.

The case supports radiators up to 55mm up top as exhaust. Your radiator and fans add up to be 51mm. Why not put it up top and use it as exhaust?

 

[Matt9696]

What case do you have?

fractal define S

Good choice.

The case supports radiators up to 55mm up top as exhaust. Your radiator and fans add up to be 51mm. Why not put it up top and use it as exhaust?

It was just a suggestion i had from someone. so thats how i have it mounted currently since im getting filtered air coming from the front and then i have the free space at the top to put the noise dampening cover or just add more exhaust fans. Im new to all this so idk just looking around to see what I'll be good with.

 

[weberdarren97]

What case do you have?

fractal define S

Good choice.

The case supports radiators up to 55mm up top as exhaust. Your radiator and fans add up to be 51mm. Why not put it up top and use it as exhaust?

It was just a suggestion i had from someone. so thats how i have it mounted currently since im getting filtered air coming from the front and then i have the free space at the top to put the noise dampening cover or just add more exhaust fans. Im new to all this so idk just looking around to see what I'll be good with.

If it's already working, don't try to fix it. No need to mess with a setup that's already doing what you want it to do.

As for your ideas on the top, that radiator has very thin fins. It looks to be designed to only handle airflow from a pair of fans, like how it comes. I wouldn't add more fans to the mounts at the top because I'm worried the rad might not like that. Best case scenario, nothing happens and your temps don't go up or down. Worst case scenario, the fins fold in on each other and the rad dumps it fluid down your motherboard and into the power supply. Don't mess with liquid cooling solutions. If it's meant for two sets of fans, it'll come with two sets of fans. This type of thing is why AiO coolers are so affordable compared to custom liquid cooling solutions.

 

[Matt9696]

What case do you have?

fractal define S

Good choice.

The case supports radiators up to 55mm up top as exhaust. Your radiator and fans add up to be 51mm. Why not put it up top and use it as exhaust?

It was just a suggestion i had from someone. so thats how i have it mounted currently since im getting filtered air coming from the front and then i have the free space at the top to put the noise dampening cover or just add more exhaust fans. Im new to all this so idk just looking around to see what I'll be good with.

If it's already working, don't try to fix it. No need to mess with a setup that's already doing what you want it to do.

As for your ideas on the top, that radiator has very thin fins. It looks to be designed to only handle airflow from a pair of fans, like how it comes. I wouldn't add more fans to the mounts at the top because I'm worried the rad might not like that. Best case scenario, nothing happens and your temps don't go up or down. Worst case scenario, the fins fold in on each other and the rad dumps it fluid down your motherboard and into the power supply. Don't mess with liquid cooling solutions. If it's meant for two sets of fans, it'll come with two sets of fans. This type of thing is why AiO coolers are so affordable compared to custom liquid cooling solutions.

Ok so im just gnna leave the radiator mounted on the front of the case like i already have. So i shouldnt add one exhaust to the top of the case? currently i have one 1 intake at the bottom of case and then the two from front on the radiator. and only 1 exhaust at the back.

Im just wondering if i should add one more exhaust to the top. and remove the bottom cus all the psu cable are kinda right above that one. or just buy more fan and add that as another exhaust at the top of my case.

 

[weberdarren97]

Wait. I misunderstood you. Your wording wasn't very specific. I thought you meant you already had the rad on the top. I would move it to the top. You can move your rear exhaust fan to the front if you're really worried about having positive pressure, but it isn't really that big of an issue.

The case should have come with two 140mm fans. I would put these up front to provide intake and feed the radiator up top. If you don't want to move the rear exhaust fan, at least move the bottom intake to the front.