AIO rad - front or top mount?

eddiew · 31 Jul 2014 at 10:19

Hey guys,

So yesterday I impulse bought an Aerocool DS200 and a 240mm Antec Kuhler 1220. On further inspection, I realise that the case can seat the radiator either right at the front, or up in the top.

Wondering which is better? Seems like a case of fresh air and positive pressure vs dumping the heat directly out of the case.

Also, do I need to worry about getting airflow over the motherboard and VRMs?

Cheers

snips86x · 31 Jul 2014 at 10:21

If you have it in the front you should really be using it as an intake, if its going at the top, it should be exhaust. Providing you've got some decent case fans, I'd put it at the top as an exhaust. Seems to work very well.

eddiew · 31 Jul 2014 at 10:27

Ok, cheers. Case seems to come with a couple, plus a pair of gentle typhoons I can scavenge from my current build. Only worry is whether I can get enough intake to keep a positive pressure vs 2x120 exhausts, really...

pigeonguyuk · 31 Jul 2014 at 11:21

My personal experience with this if front mounted

Front mounted is being cooled by colder air. Depeding on how much heat you 760 gives off , this will be heating up the inside case air temps reducing the cooling effect on the radiator if top mounted

eddiew · 31 Jul 2014 at 12:45

Yeah, it does seem to be whether I prefer it to warm the case, or be warmed BY the case. I'll start with it as exhaust, if I can get enough inflow fans to keep the case under pressure, and see how it goes. If the GPU ends up cold and the CPU gets hot, I can always swap it later