New case setup

Kipz · 19 Apr 2014 at 13:40

Hey all,

I'm having a slight problem with coming up for the best solution to house my watercooling loop as well as having enough airflow to get over my on air sli cards.

I've pre ordered the H440 black/red and it should be here in a few weeks so I can start my build but I keep flipping and flopping on where to put the rads and in what config.

I have a 120mm rad and a 280mm rad. I know they're not optimal but it's what I have and is plenty for what I need.

Right now I think having the 280mm rad up front is the best option because I want cool air to pass through the main rad and not warm air from inside the case. I then want to put the 120mm rad above the HDD storage to keep it hidden and out of the way. I can make sure they fit that's not an issue. I will then have another 2 120mm fans in the roof and another 140mm exhaust. I'll run these at low rpm anyway although sound isn't too much of an issue for me.

My only problem with this is do you guys think that this will starve the gpu's of air because its coming in and then out of the top? Would adding just a static fan to the side of them be much use like in the picture?

Sorry for the long post but I'm grateful for your advice.
Cheers.

deFiniLoGy · 19 Apr 2014 at 17:00

Is your 280 + 120mm rad only cooling your cpu?

Kipz · 20 Apr 2014 at 00:21

deFiniLoGy said:
Is your 280 + 120mm rad only cooling your cpu?

cpu and mosfet

ukbilleh · 20 Apr 2014 at 03:08

Kipz said:
Hey all,
My only problem with this is do you guys think that this will starve the gpu's of air because its coming in and then out of the top?

In a word yes but not really because of the flow but because of the case. Almost each panel in that H440 is lined with noise dampening foam and the ventilation is poor to say the least.

I would guess the lack of ventilation to your front fans added to the thickness of the noise dampening is going to starve the fans of their max air flow.

Have you had a proper look over the case in reviews etc? The thing is literally a hot box. There are the thin (sub 1inch) gaps around 1/2 of the top and front and that's it. I think this is going to be more of an issue than your rad placement.

On rad placement however it looks ok but i think the 120 will be better served towards the back of the case rather than so close to the 240 which might upset the airflow in your case a little at the front possibly starving a back a very small amount but not by much.

I was eyeing this case up recently but the air ventilation for fan intake has near totally put me off.

deFiniLoGy · 20 Apr 2014 at 12:59

ukbilleh said:
In a word yes but not really because of the flow but because of the case. Almost each panel in that H440 is lined with noise dampening foam and the ventilation is poor to say the least.

I would guess the lack of ventilation to your front fans added to the thickness of the noise dampening is going to starve the fans of their max air flow.

Have you had a proper look over the case in reviews etc? The thing is literally a hot box. There are the thin (sub 1inch) gaps around 1/2 of the top and front and that's it. I think this is going to be more of an issue than your rad placement.

On rad placement however it looks ok but i think the 120 will be better served towards the back of the case rather than so close to the 240 which might upset the airflow in your case a little at the front possibly starving a back a very small amount but not by much.

I was eyeing this case up recently but the air ventilation for fan intake has near totally put me off.

Agreed.

For noise dampened case you have to go full custom loop, especially with SLI display cards, or else you will just cook your gpu like a oven.