AIO unit for Fractal Define R5

Oriaz

Oriaz

Oriaz

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Joined
5 Jan 2015
Posts
156
Howdy folks,

After a very long and painful week of troubleshooting and testing an audio issue I was having (see here if you are interested) it has become apparent that I need to replace my very large BeQuiet air-cooler with something that takes up a lot less real-estate on the motherboard. This is so I get my GFX card in the top PIC-E slot on my motherboard, without the very big Accelero IV heatsinks being blocked by the CPU fan.

I haven't found any air-cooling solutions that I can guarantee will give me the clearance I need, so it seems that an AIO water/fluid unit is the best option for me. I am not really looking for an expandable water-cooling setup for the whole PC, just the CPU.

I am running an older i7-2600 @ 4.6ghz usually on a Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3P (rev 1.0) motherboard.

I am looking for something as far under (or around) £100 as possible, and preferably as quiet as possible (my BeQuiet cooler may be huge, but it's silent). As far as I can see, my current options are:

- Corsair Hydro H100i
- Fractal S24
- Raijintek Triton

All of these are dual-fan units, so I want to make sure there's not another good unit out there that I'm missing. Or a single-fan unit that will still do the job just as well. I would also be interested to hear from anyone that's fit something like this inside a Fractal Define R5. There are mounting options at the top of the case, but I am not sure what clearance I need above the motherboard.

Thanks for any advice,
Cheers, Ori
 
I have had an overclocked i7 2600K running with an Antec Kúhler H2O 620 AIO with no heat problems for several years. It's been in a Coolermaster Silencio case and only produces normal case fan levels of noise.
So I would think that current single fan AIOs would be fine heat wise. A 2 fan unit may let you run at lower fan speed though?
 
Hmm, I hadn't really looked at single-fan units for some reason. Just figured that dual-fans would always be better (which I guess is still true). But from looking at some reviews and tests, the single-fan units perform just as well as my current air-cooling, if not better.

The Fractal T12 seems nice, and also sounds quiet. And it's made by the same company that made my case, so fitting shouldn't be any concern. It's just a little expensive still. About the same as the Corsair 100i which has dual fans ...

Time to start investigating single-fan units a bit more I think. Suggestions welcome :D

Cheers!
 
I'm finding it a bit tricky to figure out just how much space I have available at the top of my case if I were to try and fit a dual-fan AIO unit like the H100i. From the various pictures and videos I've seen, most seem to have what looks like more space between the top of the motherboard and the top of the case, where the rad+fans fit nicely.

My case has a little under 4cm (about 38mm) between the top of the case and the motherboard. Here's a dodgy picture I took:

space.jpg


Does anyone who has an H100i, or similar, know if I can actually fit it in there from this pic? The case is quite deep (about 20cm of usable space) ... so is there anything to stop me mounting the rad+fan assembly slightly forward from the back of the case, so if it is too deep to fit in the space above the motherboard, it can slightly overhang without touching anything (not sure if I explained that very well)?

Thanks very much!
Ori
 
I think you would struggle, my Antec is around 50mm total fans and rad.
It may fit if your case is wide enough for you to be able to offset the installation away from the motherboard.
 
The case is pretty wide (Fractal Define R5). It's 23cm in total, with 19cm of usable space inside (once you subtract the space behind the motherboard for cables etc).

From what I can tell, the width of something like the H100i is 12cm (120mm). Meaning I have about 7cm of wiggle-room in the width of the case ontop of that. From what I can see, I would have to move it maybe 2-3cm forward from the back of the case to avoid hitting anything on the motherboard, so I think it should work.

I assume that's something quite common that people have to do? Or am I being a bit renegade about the whole thing?

Cheers :D
 
I've got a Hydro H100 in my Define R5.

Fits perfectly, no issues with space.

TBH it looks tiny in there
 
Ahh, that's what I wanted to hear.

Do you have a standard size ATX motherboard? And, if so, did you just shift the radiator forward to miss any of the motherboard components?

Thanks very much,
Cheers!
 
Standard atx board, radiator fitted right on the opposite edge from m/b, probably an inch clearance guve or take. Will try and post a naff pic, not at home at the moment.
 
Oooh, nice! Thanks for posting that. Pretty similar to what's inside mine.

The radiator does look small in there, you're right! How about the fans though, you have those on the top?

Cheers!
 
Can you fit 2 x 140mm fans in the top of that case? If so have you looked at the NZXT Kraken X61. Also a nice depth rad. A little bit more than what you are looking at I know but if the X41 is anything to go by it is good.
 
dubs said:
No the fans were mounted afterwards on the inside, still loads of clearance.
Click to expand...
Ahh perfect, sounding more and more like a dual-fan unit might be the way to go then.

I think I could fit 2 x 140mm fans in there, yes. The NZXT and Fractal coolers are also both ones I was looking at. They are just a bit more expensive than the Corsair, and pretty hard to find too! The Raijintek Triton also seems very good value for money, but also impossible to find until the end of this month ... work will be wanting their OEM fan back before then :rolleyes::D

Cheers!!
 
Taken from Fractals site

Top – 420, 360, 280, 240, 140 and 120 mm radiators. (A thickness limitation of 55mm for both radiator + fan applies on 420, 280 and 140 mm radiators) (420 and 360 mm radiators require removal of the ODD bay)

Plenty of options for radiators in the top.
 
Thanks dubs!

Yah, the site does list support for all sorts of sizes, I remember reading it before. I just wanted to see some "real world" examples to be 100% sure. Especially with motherboard clearances if I have to offset the radiator from the back of the case.

I still haven't decided on a final unit yet, but I think I'll be looking more at the 240mm units now, rather than the 120mm ones.

Cheers!
 
Just wanted to add in that the block for the S36 that I recently fitted was a nightmare to fit. Was only the 2nd AIO I have fitted, but the corsair one I also did went in much easier. I'm guessing that the S24 is similar.
 
Thanks Gradyhawks .. given that I am not 100% decided yet, little things like fitting problems are helping to make my mind up :D
 
Well, I decided and it arrived today .. the Corsair H100i.

First the good new ... it's fits perfectly, plenty of space up there, and fitting it wasn't too much of a problem.

However, the bad news. When I turned the PC on after fitting the cooler, I had the side of the case open so I could see what was going on (make sure fans were spinning etc). What I actually saw was a bright flash, a little "pop" and the PC power turning off ...

.. some swearing followed ...

I checked in the location of the flash, which was where one of the fan headers on the motherboard is. The one that I plugged the "fan" connector for the H100i into, in fact. Upon closer inspection, I realized that I had managed to plug the 3-pin fan connector up a bit wonky, so that only 2 of the pins were connected and one was exposed. It seems that somehow shorted something out, causing the flash and loss of power. I figured that if I connected it properly, the problem would be solved.

Apparently not though. I made sure the fan connector was properly connected, turned it on, and nothing. Dead ... more swearing followed.

I am not sure what to do now. I checked the fuses for the power cord, but it's fine. When I switch the PSU from the "0" to "1" position, I can hear something powering up (a light whining sound), so I guess power is getting into the system somewhere. But when I press the power switch, there's nothing at all. No lights, nothing. Sometimes the case fans move a couple of millimeters, but that's it. It's like something has blown somewhere, but I don't know what!

The H100i doesn't seem to use the actual CPU fan header, so I plugged the old fan into that, just in case the PC was refusing to boot without a fan there .. but same story! Is it possible that I've fried my board just from a slightly wonky 3-pin fan connector?

Cheers!!
 
Oh bum ..... I think I might have found the issue (now that I've tried a different PSU, Cooler, Minimal Hardware setup, isolated motheboard etc). Then I checked the pins in the CPU "seat" and I saw this...

pins.jpg

These are situations where having a macro lens comes in handy! I have no idea how this happened, but I am guessing that those bent pins, some of which are touching each other, are probably what's causing the PC to "NOPE" every time I try and turn it on?

Urgh .. the macro lens also makes it look MUCH bigger and easier to fix! :(
 
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