Help with H80i install.

RetrogamerX

RetrogamerX

RetrogamerX

Permabanned
Joined
19 Jul 2012
Posts
4,722
Location
Buckinghamshire
Maybe someone knows this, can I use only 1 fan on the Corsair H80i. The reason I ask is because with both fans it looks like it will cover the front on the CPU LED. I think I heard someone say it will reduce performance with only one fan, but by how much?

Also which do I mount, the fan to the back of the case or the radiator. I'm thinking it's the fan I mount onto the case with the radiator. I wouldn't think it would be the radiator I mount to the case. I could be wrong though?

Receiving second Corsair H80i so never got to install first one. Never got past the mounting the fans to radiator.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
I can't think of any good reason why you couldn't fit it with a single fan. I'd assume that you'd need to leave the fan between the case and the radiator in place for the mounting hardware to work. The performance drop shouldn't be too extreme.

I don't really understand your reason for not fitting both fans. Blocking a LED doesn't seem like much of a reason.
 
bremen1874 said:
I can't think of any good reason why you couldn't fit it with a single fan. I'd assume that you'd need to leave the fan between the case and the radiator in place for the mounting hardware to work. The performance drop shouldn't be too extreme.

I don't really understand your reason for not fitting both fans. Blocking a LED doesn't seem like much of a reason.
Click to expand...

I thought that too, but blocking the front of the corsair logo wouldn't look too cool imho. It's just me;)

Thanks for your input.
 
If you fit 2 fans (push pull) you only gain about 1-2°C in cooling usually.

Also as bremen said, blocking an LED is no biggy.
 
Edit - I didn't read your entire post properly :o

If you're just going to use the one fan, I would attach the one which goes behind the radiator. Hard for me to describe properly lol but it should go case > radiator > fan etc, as if for instance you looked in your case after installation, only the radiator itself is screwed straight onto the case with the fan on the other side pushing cold air into it. The radiator will also act as an exhaust too as all the hot air out of the radiator will be pushed straight out of the case, and the fan itself will be pulling all the cold air in. In my opinion I've only seen the second fan on the H80i as an exhaust fan anyway as the way it's meant to be setup is pulling the hot air from the radiator and out of the case.

Liam
 
Last edited:
LEK-89 said:
Edit - I didn't read your entire post properly :o

If you're just going to use the one fan, I would attach the one which goes behind the radiator. Hard for me to describe properly lol but it should go case > radiator > fan etc, as if for instance you looked in your case after installation, only the radiator itself is screwed straight onto the case with the fan on the other side pushing cold air into it. The radiator will also act as an exhaust too as all the hot air out of the radiator will be pushed straight out of the case, and the fan itself will be pulling all the cold air in. In my opinion I've only seen the second fan on the H80i as an exhaust fan anyway as the way it's meant to be setup is pulling the hot air from the radiator and out of the case.

Liam
Click to expand...

Are you saying I should mount the radiator to the case then put the fan on the inside? so case-rad-fan? Which way should I point the fan? Corsair says you should have air going into case? This installtion is a little confusing really. Don't know which way things go?
 
RetrogamerX said:
Are you saying I should mount the radiator to the case then put the fan on the inside? so case-rad-fan? Which way should I point the fan? Corsair says you should have air going into case? This installtion is a little confusing really. Don't know which way things go?
Click to expand...

In my eyes yes it should go case-rad-fan, as say if you had it the other way so case-fan-rad then the cold air would be pulled into the case to the radiator, but all the hot air would then exit the radiator to the inside of the case which is bad for regulated case air flow. The fan attached on the radiator should act as an intake (the side where the fan blades are fully visible)

I imagine what Corsair could mean is that you should think about having good airflow to inside of the case i.e. already having front case fans so that they act as an intake to bring cold air in, and then having the radiator with the fan on the back & a case fan on the top of the case so that it pushes all the hot air out.

Liam
 
Just to make myself more clear, here is an illustration of what I mean lol:

20121128_193102-1.jpg


As you can see how the H80i was setup when I had it, the only fan present on it is how it should be positioned on the radiator.

Liam
 
So that "X" on the back part of your pic means No fan right? anyways love how you did the pic:)

So I should have the 1 fan I'm using with the rad as outflow right? So the rad can push hot air out.

I have 7 fans in my case.

2 120mm front Intake - 2 120mm top Outflow - 2 side fans Intake - and the 1 120mm back fan outflow.

So the 2 top outflow fans should be fine for pulling hot air out of case. It's pretty cool in my case anyways, only when gaming does the inside get a little warm, but never hot.
 
The problem with case-rad-fan with these coolers will be the fixing. You need to make sure the screws you use for fixing the rad to the case only go in a few threads - or things may get a little wet.
 
Ripshod said:
The problem with case-rad-fan with these coolers will be the fixing. You need to make sure the screws you use for fixing the rad to the case only go in a few threads - or things may get a little wet.
Click to expand...

I gonna be use corsair's screws that come with the h80i. Should I do fan then rad?

see what I mean....don't know which is best? I don't want water in my pc?
 
the screws supplied are long enough to go through a fan into the rad, with no shorter screws. I've gone case-fan-rad blowing into the case and get wicked temps. I also have good airflow with extract at the top of my case. Others will argue, it's for you to try.
Make sure there's space behind your case or the rad will breath you 680's exhaust lol
 
Last edited:
Ripshod said:
the screws supplied are long enough to go through a fan into the rad, with no shorter screws. I've gone case-fan-rad blowing into the case and get wicked temps. I also have good airflow with extract at the top of my case. Others will argue, it's for you to try.
Click to expand...

Well with 2 fans you have to install like this anyways....Case - Fan - Rad - Fan.

I think I'll try Case - Fan - Rad first and see how temps look.

I hope I don't get condensation problems?
 
Ripshod said:
the screws supplied are long enough to go through a fan into the rad, with no shorter screws. I've gone case-fan-rad blowing into the case and get wicked temps. I also have good airflow with extract at the top of my case. Others will argue, it's for you to try.
Make sure there's space behind your case or the rad will breath you 680's exhaust lol
Click to expand...

I have a cooling back plate on my 680. If theirs issues I'll just use my side fans as outflow and that would help. right now their intake:)
 
Can you monitor the temps of your HDDs? If these rise as a result you know what to try next. You have plenty of case fans so the options are endless (256 counting 8 fans in total)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom