One Rad Passive, will it work?

wissel · 7 Dec 2012 at 09:58

Hi, just planning a new/re-build for my media system and have a question I'm not sure about.

The system will be an overclocked i7 920 and GTX670 and I would like to build this in a Fractal Define R4. The thing is there isn't much room up top for a rad so I'm wondering if I put a 280mm in the top (47mm) and run it passively along with another 280mm in the front with fans if this will give enough cooling?

pgi947 · 7 Dec 2012 at 10:06

I'll say yea as the 670 won't generate a tremendous amount of heat compared to the I7. The 280 with fans should take care of most the heat.

wissel · 7 Dec 2012 at 10:20

pgi947 said:
I'll say yea as the 670 won't generate a tremendous amount of heat compared to the I7. The 280 with fans should take care of most the heat.

Yeah that was my thinking. Guess I could try it and if temps are a problem then have a rethink.

BluSky · 7 Dec 2012 at 14:03

It should probably be fine. 670's are really quite efficient when it comes to heat output, and with the general airflow from those 280mm fans things should stay cool enough.

Pabl0 · 7 Dec 2012 at 14:15

I'd say so, if I turn all fans off overnight my temps increase around 15-20c but never go to a dangerous level where I'd be concerned about. It just means the rad will not be as efficient as it could be.

eddyr · 8 Dec 2012 at 00:00

You'll want a rad designed for low airflow, something like the black ice sr1 would suit well. Thermochill and xspc RX rads also but they dont do 140mm versions.

I noticed the case had a side 140 intake. I know you want passive, but under stress conditions (connect to fan controller or create a fan profie to cpu temp) a side fan set to low can make a significant diff to keeping temps comfortable. My case has a side 180mm fan which I leave set to min fan speed via the fan controller. It makes no discernible noise but the slight increase in pressure inside the case forces some air through the rad and drops 15C of my cpu temp and 20C off my gpu temp. More importantly, imo, it stops the system getting as hot as an oil radiator inside from the hot watercooling/board components radiating heat and the stale airflow keeping it about for longer.

blitz_911 · 8 Dec 2012 at 08:55

I'm doing a build in the r3 at the minute and as long as your ram or mob heat sinks aren't too tall then u can get a 240 radiator and fans in the top providing you offset the radiator off the back and side. Another option is to remove the hd cages and mount a rad in with the front fans and use ssd hds or mount the cages further back. If your VGA card isn't too long then u could also mount a rad and fans onto the back if th hdd cage, but I'm not sure how efficient that is. I can get the rx240 and fans in the top of th r3 and that's 58mm deep. The r4 is wider as well

wissel · 8 Dec 2012 at 09:43

eddyr said:
You'll want a rad designed for low airflow, something like the black ice sr1 would suit well. Thermochill and xspc RX rads also but they dont do 140mm versions.

I noticed the case had a side 140 intake. I know you want passive, but under stress conditions (connect to fan controller or create a fan profie to cpu temp) a side fan set to low can make a significant diff to keeping temps comfortable. My case has a side 180mm fan which I leave set to min fan speed via the fan controller. It makes no discernible noise but the slight increase in pressure inside the case forces some air through the rad and drops 15C of my cpu temp and 20C off my gpu temp. More importantly, imo, it stops the system getting as hot as an oil radiator inside from the hot watercooling/board components radiating heat and the stale airflow keeping it about for longer.

I like the SR1 rads (I have 2 x 480mm ones in my main rig) but haven't made a final decision on which rad to use yet.

I will be using a fan controller to get the noise balance right but wont be using the side intake as I'll probably buy the window version of the case (still planning this build, everything can change at this point). I had similar thoughts on air flow though and was planning on having the 2 front 140's (on the front rad), the rear 140 and another in the bottom of the case all sucking air in so air is forced out through the top (passive) rad. If this works it should also eliminate dust.

blitz_911 said:
I'm doing a build in the r3 at the minute and as long as your ram or mob heat sinks aren't too tall then u can get a 240 radiator and fans in the top providing you offset the radiator off the back and side. Another option is to remove the hd cages and mount a rad in with the front fans and use ssd hds or mount the cages further back. If your VGA card isn't too long then u could also mount a rad and fans onto the back if th hdd cage, but I'm not sure how efficient that is. I can get the rx240 and fans in the top of th r3 and that's 58mm deep. The r4 is wider as well

I haven't tried fitting a rad in the top of the R4 yet as I haven't bought it yet but have watched a few video's on YouTube and it seems even a H100 has problems fitting with ram. I had this problem initially with my Define XL as well, strange they sort it for the R3 and not the R4. Mounting the cages further back is what I had in mind.

Thanks for the input guys.

blitz_911 · 8 Dec 2012 at 13:07

wissel said:
I like the SR1 rads (I have 2 x 480mm ones in my main rig) but haven't made a final decision on which rad to use yet.

I will be using a fan controller to get the noise balance right but wont be using the side intake as I'll probably buy the window version of the case (still planning this build, everything can change at this point). I had similar thoughts on air flow though and was planning on having the 2 front 140's (on the front rad), the rear 140 and another in the bottom of the case all sucking air in so air is forced out through the top (passive) rad. If this works it should also eliminate dust.

I haven't tried fitting a rad in the top of the R4 yet as I haven't bought it yet but have watched a few video's on YouTube and it seems even a H100 has problems fitting with ram. I had this problem initially with my Define XL as well, strange they sort it for the R3 and not the R4. Mounting the cages further back is what I had in mind.

Thanks for the input guys.

You can get a radiator and fans in the top of the Arc mini because the motherboard and back plate is set lower down in the case providing more clearance compared to the r3/r4. Ive had to get the low profile corsair vengeance ram to do it but Ive tried the rx240 in and it clears the ram. The r4 is wider again so there should def be space for it. You just have to off set the radiator away from the mb, this means that the last 1.5cm or so of the radiator box isnt under the grill but It should make too much difference.