The PC General Chat Thread

I've been looking at getting a cpu cooler but don't know whether to go air or AIO. Currently got ryzen5 3600 which normally sits around 60-70°c when gaming, would AIO be too much?

Have looked at the coolermaster hyper 212 which looks good value for an air cooler.
I have the 3600 with a Noctua NH-l12S ( i needed a Low Profile one due to the size of the PC case ) and it sit's about 55/60c and it does it's job
if you were to get an AIO and have the room go for a 240/280mm they will keep it nicely cooled
no harm in beefing up the cooler and keeping it cool ..
 
I have the 3600 with a Noctua NH-l12S ( i needed a Low Profile one due to the size of the PC case ) and it sit's about 55/60c and it does it's job
if you were to get an AIO and have the room go for a 240/280mm they will keep it nicely cooled
no harm in beefing up the cooler and keeping it cool ..
Ok thanks. I do quite like the look of the AIO, will check space inside my case as GPU is quite big
 
If I was to lay a conventional midi tower on its side, should I be concerned about anything? Ie lay it horizontally instead of vertically, but placing rubber feet carefully in each of the 4 corners?
 
If I was to lay a conventional midi tower on its side, should I be concerned about anything? Ie lay it horizontally instead of vertically, but placing rubber feet carefully in each of the 4 corners?
Nope. Just make sure it gets airflow.
 
If I was to lay a conventional midi tower on its side, should I be concerned about anything? Ie lay it horizontally instead of vertically, but placing rubber feet carefully in each of the 4 corners?
Any AIO's in the rig ?
If there is just take note where the highest point of the rad is and it won't start sending the "bubbles" back into the cpu block where they may gather .
 
If I was to lay a conventional midi tower on its side, should I be concerned about anything? Ie lay it horizontally instead of vertically, but placing rubber feet carefully in each of the 4 corners?

Depends, has the mid tower got top ventilation if so then it will be less efficient at cooling as there will be no top vent when on its side unless you leave the side panel off but if you have enough input output fans then it should be fine.
 
Thanks everyone. New case ordered, only a cheap one but it’s got the dimensions I need and seems reasonably spoken about.

So, picture this in a cabinet, placed horizontally, with the rear encased in such a way that there is no way for the exhaust heat to recirculate back around the sides or front...

Given I’ll have 2, maybe 3 front fans, and seem limited to only 1 exhaust fan at the rear (my current proper HTPC case has 2, albeit only 80mm ones), what should I do with the “top” area (the 2x 120mm fans) which will be to the side of the cpu cooler (planned Noctua nhu12a style)? Do I:

a) do nothing
b) add exhaust fans
c) add intake fans
d) go for a water cooled cpu cooler and mount the rad there (is that enough distance for the pre-attached piping?!), which again would presumably make the fans intake.

B3555095-7B0E-4EB8-83E4-E79AD225BB87.jpeg


The risk with b) is given its cabinet based theres a chance some of the heat might come back round to the front and recirculate- albeit minimal.

In case it helps I’m planning on having a 3080 in there, so imagine it to be quite toasty.

Also, still not sure what type of fans to get for where, ie pressure or airflow type, am I right in thinking airflow is more appropriate here?
 
I'm also wondering about fan positioning similar to the post above.

Currently have 2 140 intake fans at the front and 1 120 exhaust at the back, have ordered a 240 AIO cooler which will have to be front mounted. So the fans currently on the front can be top mounted but not sure which way to put them?
 
I'm also wondering about fan positioning similar to the post above.

Currently have 2 140 intake fans at the front and 1 120 exhaust at the back, have ordered a 240 AIO cooler which will have to be front mounted. So the fans currently on the front can be top mounted but not sure which way to put them?
I'd say on top would be best as exhaust. Mainly because heat rises so putting intake up there will push the hot air inside back down towards your parts. Exhausting out the top should pull all that hot air straight out.
 
I'm also wondering about fan positioning similar to the post above.

Currently have 2 140 intake fans at the front and 1 120 exhaust at the back, have ordered a 240 AIO cooler which will have to be front mounted. So the fans currently on the front can be top mounted but not sure which way to put them?

I’ve done more research since posting, and recommend you watch this

 
Thanks for the replies. I'll set them up as exhaust and have a play around with the speeds as suggested in that video.
 
Installed the AIO this afternoon, the hoses were just long enough when putting them at the bottom they ended up being a bit bent over which hopefully won't cause a problem.

I've been having a look regarding the fan profiles and have seen that the cpu fan needs to be set at max in bios, is this correct? The fans are showing about 350rpm at idle in icue and do go up and down when I select the different profiles.
20200920_220207.jpg
 
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Installed the AIO this afternoon, the hoses were just long enough when putting them at the bottom they ended up being a bit bent over which hopefully won't cause a problem.

I've been having a look regarding the fan profiles and have seen that the cpu fan needs to be set at max in bios, is this correct? The fans are showing about 350rpm at idle in icue and do go up and down when I select the different profiles.View attachment 1369326
I wouldn’t put it at the bottom myself as will cause air to collect in the pump. Either at the front or top but each to their own I guess
 
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I wouldn’t put it at the bottom myself as will cause air to collect in the pump. Either at the front or top but each to their own I guess

How do you know that without knowing how high the radiator is ?
 
I

I wouldn’t put it at the bottom myself as will cause air to collect in the pump. Either at the front or top but each to their own I guess
I did mount at the front, just meant with the hoses at bottom of radiator like this.

I ran the pc for a while at idle and browsing the web after installing and was getting some quite high temps (40-50°c) so not sure if something is wrong
 

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Because he said the radiator was installed at the bottom so will be lower then the pump.

No he didn't, he said the pipes were at the bottom.

The top of the radiator is above the pump which is the whole point :rolleyes:
 
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I did mount at the front, just meant with the hoses at bottom of radiator like this.

I ran the pc for a while at idle and browsing the web after installing and was getting some quite high temps (40-50°c) so not sure if something is wrong

Which CPU is it ? as Ryzen does show some strange temps generally, my 3700x peaks anywhere between 38-60 degrees when doing nothing but then on full load aida64 it still only reaches a stable 68-70 degrees

See this graph from the last hour which I have only been using for internet and sitting idle as you can see it peaked at 59 degrees

3700x.PNG
 
I'd say on top would be best as exhaust. Mainly because heat rises so putting intake up there will push the hot air inside back down towards your parts. Exhausting out the top should pull all that hot air straight out.

I think the "heat rises" argument has been debunked, the air in PC cases moves where the fans push it, it doesn't have time for the heat to cause it to rise.

But the top fans are traditionally used as exhaust either way.

I'm currently using a 240mm AIO, but one row of small fins has come loose and it's being RMA'd (fins no longer attached to main pipe, no leaks though). This means I have decided to get a 280mm AIO now, but my Define 7 Compact case will only fit that AIO on the front.

Current system: 3 x 120mm high flow intake fans on the front, 240mm AIO at the top as exhaust, 120mm exhaust at the rear.

New system: 280mm AIO front intake, 120mm high flow rear exhaust. I'm not sure whether to change the top panel to the closed one, or add a 140mm as exhaust there too. I have a feeling as the case flows ok, I will be alright temperature wise with just the 280mm AIO as intake and 120mm as exhaust.

I think I'll try with the 120mm exhaust on it's own with closed top panel and run a benchmark, and then test with a 140mm in the top and the top open to see if it makes any difference.

AIO I had was the Alphacool Eisbaer 240, new one is the Fractal Celsius 28+ Dynamic (no ARGB headers on my MB, so no point going for fancy lighting).
 
Which CPU is it ? as Ryzen does show some strange temps generally, my 3700x peaks anywhere between 38-60 degrees when doing nothing but then on full load aida64 it still only reaches a stable 68-70 degrees

See this graph from the last hour which I have only been using for internet and sitting idle as you can see it peaked at 59 degrees

View attachment 1370617
I have got ryzen 3600 so could be ok then from looking at your temps. Need to have a change around of my fans so will do some more testing.
 
I have got ryzen 3600 so could be ok then from looking at your temps. Need to have a change around of my fans so will do some more testing.

The other thing worth checking is the mounting of the pump on the CPU as the Corsair mounting (I use the same) is crap, I wish they would do the 4 point mounting that every other company uses, make sure that the pump is tightened properly so it sits flat.
 
I think the "heat rises" argument has been debunked, the air in PC cases moves where the fans push it, it doesn't have time for the heat to cause it to rise.

But the top fans are traditionally used as exhaust either way.

I'm currently using a 240mm AIO, but one row of small fins has come loose and it's being RMA'd (fins no longer attached to main pipe, no leaks though). This means I have decided to get a 280mm AIO now, but my Define 7 Compact case will only fit that AIO on the front.

Current system: 3 x 120mm high flow intake fans on the front, 240mm AIO at the top as exhaust, 120mm exhaust at the rear.

New system: 280mm AIO front intake, 120mm high flow rear exhaust. I'm not sure whether to change the top panel to the closed one, or add a 140mm as exhaust there too. I have a feeling as the case flows ok, I will be alright temperature wise with just the 280mm AIO as intake and 120mm as exhaust.

I think I'll try with the 120mm exhaust on it's own with closed top panel and run a benchmark, and then test with a 140mm in the top and the top open to see if it makes any difference.

AIO I had was the Alphacool Eisbaer 240, new one is the Fractal Celsius 28+ Dynamic (no ARGB headers on my MB, so no point going for fancy lighting).

New AIO arrived today, so fitted on the front as an intake with the fans in pull configuration, moved 1 x 120mm Venturi HF-12 to the rear exhaust and put the solid top of the Fractal Define 7 Compact on the case.

Ran some tests, GPU is maybe 3 degrees warmer, CPU max is 70 when using Prime 95, hit 61 when running time-spy benchmark. GPU hit 69 on Port Royal, the ray tracing benchmark, so no need for a top exhaust in my opinion as temps are all great.

6700k running 4.5ghz OC @ 1.27v max (dynamic voltage)
16gb DDR4 2133MHz OC @ 2666MHz
Gigabyte RTX2070 Super Gaming OC 3X OC'd
2 x HDDs
1 x SSD

PXL_20200923_135720295.jpg
 

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