Top or bottom?

kiloechovictor · 3 Jul 2012 at 15:11

hi,

just a quick question, recently bought a switch 810 case, i have a cpu only loop with a 240 rad which i want to put in and was wondering if placing it in the top of the case would affect temps, keep in mind i have a gtx480 with an AC accelero extreme2 cooler on it. great gfx cooler but it dumps all the heat in the case. my worry is all that hot air would be going through the rad if it was in the top, is this a valid concern or will it not make too much difference? i can mount it at the bottom of the case, i'm just weighing up my options. thanks in advance for any replies.

Avathar77 · 3 Jul 2012 at 15:18

Top mounted RADs are bit difficult to bleed.

shadowscotland · 3 Jul 2012 at 15:51

I just tip the case to bleed my top mounted rad - very easy as my res is next in line.

Looking at the switch I'd be temped to mount the rad in the roof and have it as intake.
Pushing air down and extracting it via the psu and front case fans.
Block the rear perforated panel to stop air short cuts.
It may up the temps of the hard disks a bit but shouldn't be a problems

kiloechovictor · 3 Jul 2012 at 19:23

Thanks for the replies, I hadn't considered ease/difficulty of bleeding, using the top as an intake is a interesting idea but wouldn't I have a similar problem as described in the OP with hot air from the gfx passing through the PSU now instead of the rad?

shadowscotland · 4 Jul 2012 at 09:24

yes - the hot air would exit via the psu.

You could flip the psu and have that on it's own air route... makes sence with a hard floor/case on desk/case on a plinth.
Not good if on carpet.
Hard disks would be slighty hotter again - as the air is blown out the front.
Big advantage with this is PSU fan speed - low to no rmp

I've alway thought that a single block loop should be for a gpu.
CPU's have the room (and thermal load) to be cooled passively
Silverarrow/K2 = block cost
Gpu's have limited space and are really hot - ideal for watercooling

No one considers a CPU block that only fits a single socket (they are all multi socket)
Yet fullcover single card gpu blocks are the norm - which is very odd imho
Yes I know why full cover block are card specific - but aftermarket aircooler work on all cards!

GPU only or GPU/CPU loops make the biggest differance to temps and noise.