O11 vs O11 XL for triple 360

[Grim5]

Just a quick question

I've seen people do triple 360 builds with the standard O11 but it does look kinda cramped inside, not sure how good the airflow really is.

Does using the O11 XL make more sense or is the standard O11 perfectly fine?

The XL seems to be an O11 that's a little bit wider and a fair bit taller, so I guess the extra height means its easier to work with the tubes?

 

[Grim5]

Not sure why you need triple rads? Standard O-11 is fine for 2x 360mm

I have a 500w GPU that I want to give every opportunity to not run above 45c.
Also have a 250w cpu and VRM to cool

I am open to using just two rads but then I'd want 60mm thick ones and I've been told that 60mm rads should be used with push and pull fans and the O11 isnt tall enough (cause that's 110mm for rad and fans on top and 110mm at bottom)

 

[Grim5]

You could go with this option

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/threads/ek-external-cooling-unit-for-lian-li-o11d.18918656/

where can I find that?

 

[Grim5]

Why would you not just go for an XL at that point? I just can't see the value in having a separate unit for it when you're likely to have to mode some holes in the bottom of the o11 just to plumb it in.

I won't be going for that because the XL is big enouugh for my needs.

However, in absolute terms - adding that unit means you can put 4 big radiators in the build (2 in the case and 2 in the external unit), the XL only allows 3

 

[Grim5]

It's targeted at the o11 regular though, not the XL. I can't think of many setups that would need more than 2x 60mm 360's and a slim 360 in a single setup.

And knowing EK, the external unit will be priced high enough that buying a bigger case would make more sense

 

[Grim5]

On my XL build I went for:
- XE 360 bottom with 3 fans pulling air in
- PE 360 top with 3 fans pulling air in
- Rear fan set to exhaust
- Side 3 fans set to exhaust
- Front distro

At the moment all that cooling is for a 5950x (monoblock so VRM too) only as I am waiting on water blocks for 3090's. Under load, temperature of coolant never goes over 33 degrees. I have my top and bottom fans set to react to coolant temp. so they never spin more than 25-30%. Rear and side fans set to react to the higher of the motherboard temp. sensors to exhaust warm air from the case; generally these never go above about 40% and when I eventually have water blocks on my GPU's, I will run these off coolant temp. too. All in all, very quiet setup.

I would not go for the regular O11 as in my experience, XL is just about big enough for an XE on the bottom and definitely not on top. I have considered adding a third rad on the side but I don't think I will.

I've now ordered the stuff. Gone with the XL case, an EK PE 360 triple radiator for both Top and Bottom and an EK SE 360 radiator for the side

The EK loop configurator says that this build will have a cooling power of 1400w, it estimates the heat output of my PC to be 750w and estimates the load coolant temp will be 28c but I think that depends on the room temp


What's the best fan configuration for this build? I've seen people say 3 intake at bottom, 3 intake at side and 3 exhaust at top but that's for air cooled, what about when there is radiators?

 

[Grim5]

You can go triple 360 no issues on the XL. Much easier to run tubing too.
I would say you can go 60mm thixh bottom, 45mm side and 45mm top. Personally I used 3 45mm thick alphacool, but using a top 30mm would allow easier tubing.
The standard O11, would limit your options, click vem for an AIO (had to mod the side to allow the 360 AIO to be at the side of my O11 air (moved from a XL to an Air).

Do you think 6 fan push/pull is possible with a 40mm rad on the side?

I'm thinking of adding more fans that way, caause I can still change my order.

Bottom: 360x40 with 3 fans (intake)
Top: 360x40 with 3 fans (Exhaust)
Side: 360x40 with 6 fans (intake
Rear: 1 fan (Exhaust)

 

[Grim5]

I've settled on just using 3 fans, but now I need to know what fans to use.

my thermaltake riing plus rgb fans don't seem to be very good at pressure with low rpm.

which fans can still push high airflow at like 1200rpm? Ignoring the Noctua NF-A12x25 because that fan only comes in brown - I'm only interested in plain black or black with RGB fans.

I am aware of the Thermaltake Toughfan 12, it's a A12-25 copycat that comes in black with nearly identical performance and so far this appears to be my front runner for new fans, however I can't find stock anywhere

 

[Grim5]

I would say P12 but it sounds like you're after the RGB. I hear the new Lian Li SL120's aren't bad if you're that way inclined.

I'm fine with totally black fans

And the new Thermaltake tough fan 12 outperform the P12 and are functionally the same as the Noctua A12-25

The new Toughfan 12 is basically a black colored half priced A12-25

 

[Grim5]

3 times the cost

Static pressure
P12 2 .2mm
Thermaltake 2. 41mm-

Didn't realise the artic fan was so cheap, it's performance is very surprising for that price - that's the price I'd expect for budget no name fans - very impressive.
However I can't find stock anywhere for it

 

[Grim5]

EK Vardar EVO? I have 3 in my current system on my rad and I never ever hear them. Can get them in pretty much any colour (black, white or RGB if you are that way inclined), decent static pressure (3.16mm on the 120mm variant) and also shifts a decent amount of air.

Downside? As with most EK things, the price.

The Vardar X3M RGB do look quite nice to me, however the EK fans don't review well that's the issue for me.
Yes they have high rpm and high pressure but any review I look at puts EK fans near the bottom for any given RPM in terms of the amount of airflow actually being pushed through a radiator.
Yes you can run them at 2200rpm and get good results, but for example the Noctua A12-25 or Thermaltake Toughfan 12 or Artic P12 can produce the same result at 1500rpm and make 10 decibels less noise.

And then of course its the price, they are priced at the same level as noctua fans, same level as Corsair ML PRO RGB fans, fans that are either better and/or come with fan controllers.

 

[Grim5]

Yes if you use the Distro plate it takes up one of the spaces for the radiators leaving you with only two options for 360mm radiators.

Saw a build today on reddit, distro plate at the front and 3 x 360mm radiators - so yes it can work but its tight

 

[Grim5]

Yes if you use the Distro plate it takes up one of the spaces for the radiators leaving you with only two options for 360mm radiators.

found the pics again, its the O11 XL with 3 rads and the distro

https://preview.redd.it/wlwbr7frzeg...bp&s=7229f327fa2228299fc91d70a154707d8f0cb87a
https://preview.redd.it/ggcumu6rzeg...bp&s=b7b5323c42f400e15a47e1f8e0abb033c24536da

 

[Grim5]

so which district plate is that? is it for the std or xl o11?

re the bottom add on to the o11, one advantage, I think, would be keeping the heat away from the main case

The case photo I posted I think is using the EK 011 XL distro, it uses a D5 pump, not DDC like most distro's

this one: https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-quantum-reflection-pc-o11d-xl-d5-pwm-d-rgb-plexi

Its $500 for me