Question Water Cooling

beckford

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Apologies if this has been asked before. Ive got a Corsair H100i water cooler and a Fractal R5 case. Now i've installed this into the front of the case with 2 140mm case fans at the front. I asume there intake being at the front? (came with the case)

Is this configuration ok for the rad? I'm running a 6th gen I7 overclocked to 4.5GHZ

The corsair has 2 120mm fans on the otherside. Ive read that the corsair are exausting fans. Ive took a pic. (pretty bad one as its off my phone and was running late)

 
You can install the rads and fans in a variety of ways and the fans should have arrows on them to show flow direction.

According to the instructions you have setup the same way and you are pulling clean air into the radiator (assuming fans are right way round).

The additional case fans will help a bit so you now have a push\pull configuration. Some fans are better than others at supplying static pressure to force through smaller areas such as heat sinks.

So long as you have all the fans blowing air towards the back of the PC you should be fine. Check the temps with the Corsair Link software.

Not sure if it has it but dust filters can be useful to stop the fins on the heatsink becoming blocked.
 
Thanks for the reply. I will check the fans later when i get in but basicly thats what i wanted, clean air coming through the front and the the fans taking the heat off the back of the rad. I have a couple more 120mm fans one just underneath the rad on the floor and one at the back by the I/O ports

The R5 case comes with dust filters at the front and also underneath.
 
Make sure you have all fans flowing the same direction. Check how hot the radiator gets as if your pushing air into the case via the radiator then it will be blowing warm/hot air into the case. might be worth just having the two fans blowing out and if you can put the R5 fans on another part of the R5 blowing in.
 
What sort of temps should I be looking out for or concerned about right now the rad is at 32.6c my 980ti is 43c CPU is 35c

Never really seen the CPU or GPU go up 54c under load. but havent really been battering it. Just doing bench marks and playing the odd sim.
 
Those temps seem fine,
mine are lower but im running
i5 2500k cooled with a Coolermaster 240m watercooling rad - 20c to 30c
OCUK GTX 970 (nvidia reference cooler) - 26c normal - 50c load

I have the 240m at the top of my case blowing out.
2x fans blowing in
and 1x fan at the rear blowing out
 
What you have is perfectly fine.

If you wanted to be super picky then matching all the fans on the rad is the thing to do. Also R5's tend to be on the positive side for air pressure so would always advise installing the AIO cooler in the roof of the case acting as an exhaust - It will then create a desired negative pressure and bring your GPU and overall case temps down (by quite a bit) but will bump your CPU temps up a couple of °C.
 
The main reason why I installed it in the front as I didn't want the top of the case exposed. I like the covers on and the sleek look of it and also sound proofing and I don't want it to become a dust magnet. But yeah, it's probably a better idea in the roof if it means it will benefit the system temp wise. Thanks for all your advice.
 
Have to disagree with @damanc. There's not really that much in it temp wise 3 - 5 degrees max (depends more on how hot the GPU gets).

Stick with the set up you have for the reasons you have described. Negative pressure is a nightmare for dust and it would be pointless to open up the top of a R5. It would negate the sound dampening properties of the case. Which is why most customers buy it in the first place.
 
Have to disagree with @damanc. There's not really that much in it temp wise 3 - 5 degrees max (depends more on how hot the GPU gets).

Stick with the set up you have for the reasons you have described. Negative pressure is a nightmare for dust and it would be pointless to open up the top of a R5. It would negate the sound dampening properties of the case. Which is why most customers buy it in the first place.

I have the Coolermaster 652s and ive had the rad at the top and to be fare its still quiet
 
I have the Coolermaster 652s and ive had the rad at the top and to be fare its still quiet

I'm sure it is but the whole point of your case and the R5 is, to minimise the fan and pump noise levels as much as possible. Removing the top covers is bound to compromise the acoustical integrity of the case to some degree.

Frankly for the lowest levels of noise an air cooler should be used for the CPU, not a AIO. Also the minimum amount of silent low rpm case fans, ideally 2 intake and 1 exhaust (for a mid tower). Inevitably the rig will run hotter but it will be very quiet. Which - as I said earlier - is the whole point of these types of cases.
 
I'm sure it is but the whole point of your case and the R5 is, to minimise the fan and pump noise levels as much as possible. Removing the top covers is bound to compromise the acoustical integrity of the case to some degree.

Frankly for the lowest levels of noise an air cooler should be used for the CPU, not a AIO. Also the minimum amount of silent low rpm case fans, ideally 2 intake and 1 exhaust (for a mid tower). Inevitably the rig will run hotter but it will be very quiet. Which - as I said earlier - is the whole point of these types of cases.

Using a sound meter on my phone my PC is running avg of 35dB and still runs nice n cool with my setup. But sound like with a lot of things is subjective and everyone will be different. These type of cases definitely help with the reduction of noise. but end of the day depends on how much sound you can live with
 
Using a sound meter on my phone my PC is running avg of 35dB and still runs nice n cool with my setup. But sound like with a lot of things is subjective and everyone will be different. These type of cases definitely help with the reduction of noise. but end of the day depends on how much sound you can live with

Yeah that's the crux of the issue - subjectivity. :D I am a bit anal about noise in my rigs. I've built 9 over the last 5 years (including 3 rebuilds/upgrades).

My oldest son's rig is like a jet engine when it starts up. :facepalm: He wanted a PC with lots of flashing lights (he was 15 at the time) but was limited with space and money so cheap case and cheep fans = poor airflow and lots of noise.

Whereas my youngest son took his time chose his components carefully (listening to my advice, his brother didn't). His last rebuild has a Fractal Design Define R5 case, Noctua cpu cooler and Fractal's excellent case fans. Its virtually silent and was a joy to work with. Much as I love my Corsair Obsidian 650D case I'm seriously thinking of swapping it out for a R5. it's that good.
 

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