Fractal Define 7 & Arctic Liquid Freezer 2 280 Configurations

Muso

Muso

Muso

Associate
Joined
15 Mar 2006
Posts
243
Hi,

I'm in the process of putting a new build together and was wondering (hoping) that someone else has this same setup and could provide me with any tips.

At the moment I have two fans on the front of the case pulling air in and 1 at the rear pushing out.

I'm currently considering where to put the radiator, either at the top or the front of the case. If I put it at the front I will need to remove those fans which I don't think is ideal as they are pulling air into the case. So it looks like possibly the top is the most logical place to put it as I will still have the air throughput and the heat will be pulled down by the radiator fans.

I've never had a water cooling setup so I'm not sure if I'm overthinking all of this too much?

The main thing I need is quietness, so I'm not keen on swapping the lid for that ventilated panel and that to my eyes looks pretty nasty!

Cheers
 
Rads are designed to transfer the heat from the water in the pipes to the network of fins, which then need airflow to cool them. So putting the rad on the top panel with the solid lid will block air supply and any fans fitted to the rad will struggle to generate any airflow at all. If you insist on the solid lid then the rad must be at the front. As long as nothing else on the mobo needs significant air cooling (such as a graphic card) then you might be OK with just the 3 fans.
 
I had the the 360 version exhausting out through the vented top panel on that case. It wasn't noisy. The 280 will be even less so. But as therealdippy says, if you go solid top, front is your only option, which is not a bad one at all. Maybe stick another two fans on the rad (making it push-pull) if you're worried about airflow inside the case. I assume you'll have a rear exhaust fan, too?
 
Hi thanks for the replies.

If it goes on the top as it stands the radiator would be on the top with the fan on the bottom pulling the air down.

Could one solution be to have the fans on the top pushing air down through the radiator into the case. This air would then be pushed out the back by the two front fans?

If I go for the front I'm concerned it would mean no colder air intake which is what those two front fans will be doing.

I think there's a few options I can play with. I will try some different configs and see what works best.

Is there a good program to test for temps?
 
Your Define 7 case is very similar to my Vision case, when I had my NZXT Kraken 280mm it wouldn`t fit at the top as it clashed with the RAM sticks. If you`re intent on not using the vented top panel then there is no point in putting the radiator up there as there wont be any cool air to pull in.
I think either front mounted or base mounted would be best. Can you mount your fans on either side of the radiator? If so then it would be possible to set it up in a push/pull configuration using the front fans.
 
I think base mounted sounds like a good idea as the bottom is vented. I'm just not sure where it would go though. Yes you can put fans on the front or back I think. From what I've read push pull doesn't make that big s difference.
 
Muso said:
Yes you can put fans on the front or back I think. From what I've read push pull doesn't make that big s difference.
Click to expand...
These cases aren`t great for airflow so every little bit helps, I would mount the radiator to the case fans using the long screws going through the holes for the fans in the front panel, through the fans and into the radiator and then mount the P14`s in pull configuration on the back of the radiator, I think this would give you better airflow than base mounting as it will be vented straight out of the back.
There is room in the bottom as long as the cooling pipes are long enough, there are 2 removable panels so your cooling pipes can pass through and there is enough room, I have 2 P14`s for intake down there .
 
Thanks Gavster, I think what you've suggested sounds like a good idea, I'm not sure of the kit I'm have comes with those screws.

I think what I'm going to do first is to set it up in the standard position on the top with the vented cover to see how noisey that is. I'll then try the pull push config on the front.

I did look at the bottom of the case but it really didn't look like a good idea, too much stuff in the way and there's a lot of people saying don't have the pump below the radiator.
 
The vented panel at the top is the best option, they`re not that noisy and you probably won`t hear it over the case fans anyway.
Good luck.
 
Last edited:
A quick update just incase anyone else is interested. I tried a number of different configs and the best one I found was to have the radiator blowing out at the top with the vented lid.
 
I thought that would be the best option, heat rises and you have cool air coming in from your front fans. Can you hear the pump?
 
I can't, and the fans are pretty silent.

The one slight issue is the graphics card, it's a Zotac twin edge OC 3070 and the fan on it is pretty terrible so that runs hot when gaming and can make some noise.
 
Thats one thing with the Founders Edition, they`re not too bad. My 3080FE was quieter than my 1080ti but my 3080ti FE made more noise in gaming.
At least your Arctic Freezer is quiet.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom