Aio airflow help

Cthulhu1986 · 29 Nov 2021 at 11:52

Hello.

I am looking to buy better cooling for my pc.
I'm currently looking into a Arctic freezer II 360 aio.

However I am wondering about the effect and recommendations for airflow setup.

My current pc is :
Ryzen 5800x
Gigabyte Aorus B450 pro
2x8 Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000 black
Rtx 3070 FE
Fractal design define R5 case.

Current air flow :
Stock Fractal design 140mm fans - 1 in front for inhale and 1 in rear for extraction.
After changing CPU cooler I will have a 120mm noctua available to place.
(In total 2x 140mm and one 120mm available)

My question is basically, I will place the aio 360 on top as exhaust.
How should I configure my remaining fans?

I suppose I need to remove the rear one and reposition it as inhale?
Or can I maybe make the most forward aio fan an inhale and the other 2 exhale?

If the overall config seems off, I may end up getting a noctua d15 - should be ok with my ram.

Thank in advance.

mickyflinn · 29 Nov 2021 at 11:59

Put the fans at the front as intakes as you ideally want more air in than out , this also helps with dust build up.

Even if you go for the Noctua i would put 2 x 140mm fans at the front.

Cthulhu1986 · 29 Nov 2021 at 12:34

The define R5 can have 2 front fans.
I will have 3 fans available.

Where do you recommend putting the 3rd?

I was thinking either :
1
2x140 front intake
1x120 bottom intake
Aio (3x140) top exhaust.

2
2x140 front intake
1x 120 rear exhaust
Aio (3x140) top with the 2 back fans exhaust and the front fan intake.

Or 3
1x120 rear exhaust
2x140 front intake
Aio (3x140) top exhaust

I do not know if the 2nd or 3rd solutions can work well.

mickyflinn · 29 Nov 2021 at 12:46

Cthulhu1986 said:
The define R5 can have 2 front fans.
I will have 3 fans available.

Where do you recommend putting the 3rd?

I was thinking either :
1
2x140 front intake
1x120 bottom intake
Aio (3x140) top exhaust.

2
2x140 front intake
1x 120 rear exhaust
Aio (3x140) top with the 2 back fans exhaust and the front fan intake.

Or 3
1x120 rear exhaust
2x140 front intake
Aio (3x140) top exhaust

I do not know if the 2nd or 3rd solutions can work well.

2 x 140mm front intake , rear 120mm as intake or exhaust ( I would see which soloution is best for the 120 mm) , arctic 360mm top exhaust.

doyll · 29 Nov 2021 at 16:56

I would setup case with 2x 140mm front intkes, 2x 140mm bottom intakes 3x 120mm exhaust on radiator and experiment with rear, but it will most likely be better as exhaust or no fan used in rear.

Optimum case airflow is to flow air in, thru and out of case with a little disturbance to this flow as possible. More disturbance means more mixing of heated air coming off of components (GPU & CPU are most common) mixing with and heating up cool intake air going to coolers. This is why systems often run cooler with less fans and/or less fan speed. More fans / higher speed fans mean move air movement / faster movement into other air flowing thru case resulting in mixing .. and every degree warmer air in entering air coolers become same degrees warmer that component is (at same fan speed and load).

Hope that makes sense.

Cthulhu1986 · 29 Nov 2021 at 19:54

Makes sense.
Just trying to work out the best way for the 3 fans before possibly investing further.

If I'm investing in AIO plus 2 extra case fans. Maybe a noctua d15 would be the better solution.
It's already 15€ cheaper, but if I add 2 extra fans, that'll make the aio solution about 50% more expensive.

Drumroll · 6 Dec 2021 at 19:55

AIO on top as exhaust and everything else as intake, bigger fans as possible, as they'll be quieter while moving as much or more air.
No really need for an exhaust fan, which mainly adds noise.
The Arctic Freezer, as long the airflow is good, at 60 or 60% should be more than enough.
One thing to note, with all other fans off, try to find which % PWM the pump and fans from the AIO are virtually silent. Not always slower means quieter. Had few of them, and usually could hear them at 40% but not at 50%, and 55% was noisier than 60%. Takes only minutes, but worth doing before tuning the other fans.
The P12 supplied with the Arctic are quite good performance-wise, but considering the price, exceptional.
The only "issue" with them is about 1000rpm, at least for those very picky about noise, as they sound like (trying my best here to describe) the fan is oscillating or unbalanced. Not the usual airflow noise (hummmmm), but a noticeable noise, which shouldn't be an issue as they should be more than enough at 800ish rpm.