140mm (push/pull) or 240/280 pull

Man Manne · 14 Apr 2015 at 04:36

Guys I need help

Looking at getting my first AIO cooler in my new build.

Reading up to get back up to date (M.2's, Chipsets etc) I know what I'm going for. I will OC, but I want to build the best cable managed PC I ever have. I seriously want it looking clean as this is where I've failed before with them looking horrid.

So, I was thinking, I'm getting the NZXT H440 and I'm unsure of the following setups:

Push/Pull 140mm on the rear of the case.
Pull 240/280mm on the top of the case

or being super bold/stupid...

Push/Pull with a 240/280mm on the front of the case (hopefully hidden behind the storage bays as I won't be using them) - the issues with this (BUT I DON'T KNOW IF ITS SUCH A BAD IDEA, HENCE RAISING IT HERE) I see are bad airflow into the case (only 1 fan doing the work pulling in at the front) and then the rear and the 2/3 at the top pulling out and the hot air from the radiator coming into the case. Or could this be reversed with the got air going out maybe? I JUST DON'T KNOW

I do want to use the Alpenföhn green Wingboost fans as the look suits the case colour (black green).

Please, anything would help from the experienced guys here.

Is one of the earlier ideas fine? Or is this "use the front" idea ok either pulling through or pushing out.

Thank you

claypigeon101 · 14 Apr 2015 at 13:50

Hopefully this will help but I just read somewhere that despite there being a space to accommodate 140mm radiator in the back of the H440, it is in fact too narrow for an AIO watercooled radiator because it fouls against the side panel and doesn't close.

Also, I have S340 and 280mm Kraken X61 mounted in the front of the case. What I have learned is this- blowing hot air from radiator into case (over Graphics cards etc) is BAD BAD BAD. My 580s in SLI are unusable... because the top card maxes out at 97 degrees. Even running one 580 goes up to 87 degrees at 100% load. Bad news.

If I had a 120mm AIO cooler mounted at the back then I wouldn't have this problem. But I would desperately not recommend putting any radiator in the front of the case, ever. Not when your GPUs need airflow.

However.. I can hugely recommend the Kraken X61 itself. Very quiet, looks amazing, keeps my 2600k at about 35 degrees average even in games. When I overclock it to 4.2GHz+ I expect it to top out about 55 degrees max.

Honestly, go for this cooler and put it in the roof of H440. Will be lovely. S340 and H440 are such good looking cases, you just have to be smart with your cooling choices because of limited options due to airflow.

(One more thing- if you get H440 then look at removing the metal mesh from around the sides of the front panel. The fan filters itself really stifles the airflow but they're essential to keep your case interior free of dust... the next best thing to get more air inside is to remove the perforated metal around the vents to improve volume of air intake. Check it out.)

ttaskmaster · 14 Apr 2015 at 14:26

A lot depends on case space and the tube length of whichever AIO you choose. Those will likely be more the defining/limiting factors.

Personally, I'd go classic and stick a 2-fan (your choice over 240 or 280) AIO radiator in the top - Your CPU temps might be a couple of degrees higher than with other configs, but in the grand sceme of things it's barely noticable and it shifts warm air out of the case.
Front-intake rads really only work well for full-loop systems, in my findings.

If you can fit four fans, push-pull will give you the best performance. Just remember to put the same speed or slower fans in the Push position, as slow fans in the Pull may cause airflow stalls and cack up your performance.
Also note that any fan pushing into a radiator will trap a surprising amount of dust, so blow it clean on a frequent basis.

Man Manne · 15 Apr 2015 at 16:15

claypigeon101 said:
Hopefully this will help but I just read somewhere...

Also, I have S340 and 280mm Kraken X61 mounted in the front of the case. What I have learned is this- blowing hot air from radiator into case (over Graphics cards etc) is BAD BAD BAD. My 580s in SLI are unusable... because the top card maxes out at 97 degrees. Even running one 580 goes up to 87 degrees at 100% load. Bad news.

If I had a 120mm AIO cooler mounted at the back then I wouldn't have this problem. But I would desperately not recommend putting any radiator in the front of the case, ever. Not when your GPUs need airflow.

However.. I can hugely recommend the Kraken X61 itself. Very quiet, looks amazing, keeps my 2600k at about 35 degrees average even in games. When I overclock it to 4.2GHz+ I expect it to top out about 55 degrees max.

It did help thanks, I will get the Kraken, I think the case is fine for 240mm / 280mm in the top. I knew the GPU's and the system as a whole would suffer, it's just sometimes, you have to ask, you know? lol

ttaskmaster said:
A lot depends on case space and the tube length of whichever AIO you choose. Those will likely be more the defining/limiting factors.

Personally, I'd go classic and stick a 2-fan (your choice over 240 or 280) AIO radiator in the top - Your CPU temps might be a couple of degrees higher than with other configs, but in the grand sceme of things it's barely noticable and it shifts warm air out of the case.
Front-intake rads really only work well for full-loop systems, in my findings.

For purely aesthetic reasons, I think PULL would be so much better. Seeing a black radiator instead of fans (I would have push, but I want to the same fans, and Alpenföhn don't do SP) I have seen either push or pull (not both together) doesn't really have any positives either way. A pull system can be the same as a Push system.

I want the Alpenföhn's to be all over the case in theory (though I'm not replacing the 3 intake fans - unless they're crap? - But heard nothing to state that)

Are there good "pull fans" out there. I may just keep the normal Kraken ones that come with it as they won't be seen anyway

ttaskmaster · 15 Apr 2015 at 16:42

Man Manne said:
I have seen either push or pull (not both together) doesn't really have any positives either way. A pull system can be the same as a Push system.

Indeed and I personally go with Pull because of the less dust. Also I can open the top cover and play around swapping fans easier, if the mood so takes me.

Man Manne said:
Are there good "pull fans" out there. I may just keep the normal Kraken ones that come with it as they won't be seen anyway

I'd say see how you go with those first, before you start swapping things around.

Corsair SP fans offer great performance.
Noctua, my personal favourites, are almost as good as standard Corsairs but also have much lower noise levels than even the Corsair Quiet Editions.
Silverstone are quite reasonable low-budget options.
Enermax seem to only be good for Push.
Gentle Typhoons are usually reckoned to be the best, but are discontinued and hard to find even second-hand.

Man Manne · 15 Apr 2015 at 22:49

The Corsair SP's are for pulling? Or is the SP is only decent for pushing?

ttaskmaster · 16 Apr 2015 at 12:26

Man Manne said:
The Corsair SP's are for pulling? Or is the SP is only decent for pushing?

They are for Static Pressure application, ie where the airflow is restricted and needs to be forcibly shoved (Push) or dragged (Pull) directly through an obstruction such as radiators, HDD cages or right up against a tight mesh/grille.
Corsair SPs work very well in either Push or Pull position, though in my 500R case I personally found them best in Push, screwed directly up against the underside of my rad. Going the other way around, the case has a top cutout for either rad or fans, with the other fixing to the inside of the case. This means there's a natural gap of about 2-3mm (or as much as 5mm if you use the rubber grommets) which means the fans pull some air in from the sides as well as directly through the rad and performance is reduced by a notable amount. Putting 140mm fans on further increases this loss.

The Noctua fans I since switched to are square-framed and this, combined with the fancy airflow dynamic stuff means the intake is as focussed as the exhaust and it pulls through the rad far better, even despite the case gap. You can also ditch the grommets from the case and remove the rubber mounts from the fan frame for an even closer fit - Something I may get around to bothering with, but I'm pretty happy with my temperatures already (H100 on medium setting and still getting only a few degrees above ambient at idle).