Im trying to get my system a little cooler. Atm i have no fans at the front and 2x 120mm fan at the back used on the h50 cooler. I have no side on the case and with my current hardware:

I7 - 920 @ 3.6
Asus Rampage II Extreme (standard)
6gb DDR3 corsair ram
SLi 460 Cyclones @ 900mhz (base is 725mhz i think)

Cpu temp idle = 38-45 degs C
Gpu temp idle = 25-28 degs C

Cpu temp load = 70 degs C (using prime95)
Gpu temp load = 56 degs C (playing dayz, medium to high, 100+fps in forest)

Now i know this is quite cool but i do have a fan blowing directly onto the gpu's which accounts for the lower temps. I want to come away from this setup and get the system all enclosed so i havent got fans all over my desk and to reduce the amount of dust sitting in the case (im forever cleaning out the h50 rad)

Now i have bought a fractal design xl case (not the best for cooling i know) but its quiet and well built. Im also thinking of upgrading the h50 to a h100 to aid in cpu cooling (ive also read that the rads work best with intake air passing over them than outtake air but that either means putting the rad at the front of the case (no room and it wont reach) or modifying the airflow so it blows in from the rear and straight upwards to the top rear fan.

By doing this im going to limit the amount of air getting out of the case via the fans effectivly creating a possitive pressure inside the case. So i have thought about modifying the case to include 2 more (120mm) fans in the roof section of the case and have 2 120mm fans at the front.

Im no airflow expert but from have explained above can anyone see any problems straight away that i might not of thought of?

Quote from R3DMAN :

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Those temperatures seem fine really, but the CPU is rated up to 68 degrees on Intel's site. If you upgraded to the H100 you should see a decent drop, maybe add some more fans to extract the heat out the back? (not sure how many your case has or what the H100 comes with?)

Something like this maybe?



If you aren't bothered with the noise of the GPU fans then you could manually make them come on quicker and a bit faster?

The h100 comes with 2 120mm fans. Rad is 240mm x 120mm so nowhere to mount it directly to the case i thought about making some brackets up so i can mount it out the back so it has as much air as it wants without disrupting the airflow in the case.

Quote from R3DMAN :

The h100 comes with 2 120mm fans. Rad is 240mm x 120mm so nowhere to mount it directly to the case i thought about making some brackets up so i can mount it out the back so it has as much air as it wants without disrupting the airflow in the case.

Ah I understand now, so you were planning to mount it like this??

Basically yes but have funnel or something channeling the flow of air in from the rear and upwards through the rad and out of the top.

What i have also thought about doing is moving the rad of the h100 outside the case altogether and mount i on a custom bracket with 4 fans for the push/pull method. This way the case internal airflow stays as normal. With the added benifit of the rad being outside in clean air. Only issues i can think of are how on earth do i get it outside the case without butchering it and 2nd it will attract more dust but if i get super cooling i can deal with having to vac the rad every month.

I think the best bet is move the rad to the outside of the case but ive no idea how to do it without cutting into the case.. Which i want to try and avoid, ive never had a nice case before in the 20 years ive been gaming. Lol

Quote from R3DMAN :

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I would set it up how it's like in the image, I think even if you moved it outside it would attract dust still. I wouldn't use the rear fan to suck air in, keep it pulling air out and make the fans at the front take air into the case.

Last time I checked the rear and top are for air out, and front and side for air in (bottom too perhaps). Where's the logic to suck air in from the top when warm air goes up?

Edit, I see about the H70 so maybe it works in your case.

Sucking air in was corsairs ideal for best cooling.

I got it setup last night and this is what ive ended up with