Cooling Check

marcus2704

marcus2704

marcus2704

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Joined
7 Aug 2005
Posts
358
This morning I have repositioned my CPU cooler rad to the front of the case. I bought a AF140 exhausting to the rear of my H440. I plan on purchasing two more AF140 fans and placing them in the top of the case, exhausting out to the case vents. Each of the case fans will be connected to the inbuilt fan hub on the H440, with the CPU 3 pin connected to the motherboard.

I just wanted someone to confirm what I have done and plan to do as being correct for my case, I admit I havent paid much attention to cooling before and like the additional space that moving the rad has provided.

 
I'm going to assume this is not the complete build and there will be a GPU in this system?

To offer accurate suggestions we need to know all components and their placement. Then we can evaluate case airflow and what will likely be best layout.

Airflow is simply air displacement. What air goes into case must also go out .. or .. what air goes out of case must first come into case. Having more exhaust flow potential does not improve case, but it will cause more dust to be drawn into case through unfiltered vents and holes.
 
I havent yet fitted the GPU, but its a Titan X (Pascal). CPU is 4690K @ 4.6. MSI Krait Z97 motherboard.

With regards to the Kraken X61 rad being placed at the front of the H440 in place of the drive cages, I have seen builds whereby the radiator is placed in front of the fans, but also builds where it is behind. I would prefer the fans to be behind, pulling air through the radiator and into the case, to be exhausted by the top fans (given that hot air rises) and rear. Does that sound ok?
 
Where is the cool air supply for your Titan X coming from?

With decent fans you don't need both push / pull fans to flow air through the case .. any more than you need push / pull on the radiator it appears the fans are powered by coolant flow, so extra fans may be needed.

The "Hot air rises" idea is not at all applicable in our cases. Heated air expands and is therefor lighter than cooler air, but it take almost no airflow (fan pushing air) to overpower the lighter air rising, so we forget about it in this kind of application. What we need is a cool air supply for your Titan X a well as your X61. To do this it might be better for the X61 to be mounted in the top with the front intakes supplying both it and th Titan. ;)
 
Ah, I have already gone and mounted it at the front. Will have to see how it goes I think :)

The Kraken X61 is a lovely cooler, but they decided to put a warning label on the CPU cooler right across the LED which left behind sticker residue which was almost impossible to remove, why they do that I will never understand.

Some photos:

 
Problem your current setup is that you have negative pressure. You have 3 fans and the titan X pulling air out of the case and only the x61 bringing it in (through a rad too)

What I would do is put 2 fans as intake at the front, x61 at the roof pulling air out and then the rear fan as an intake too.

The following advice might seem a little extreme but it works well in my experience.
The next step to improve airflow is to remove the restrictive mesh nzxt use on the front and top panels. Or just the strip you cannot see. Also take the dust filter and throw it out the window. Really put your arm into it. A year's worth of dust in my rads didn't raise temps as much as it did. Finally I straight up ditched the side panel window. It kept getting scratched and allows plenty of passive airflow in and out of the case.
 
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