360 AIO & Lian Li O11 Dynamic Fan Setup

1Wolf

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
433
Looking for some opinions here. All of the research I've done, and sample builds I've looked at, is giving me conflicting information so I was hoping to throw it out there and get some opinions.

360 AIO, Blower style GPU (GPU is not vertical), & Lian Li O11 Dynamic with typical 9 fan setup.
The 3 fans on the bottom are set to intake.
Radiator will be mounted up top.

So that leaves 2 options:

1) 3 radiator fans set to exhaust & 3 side fans set to intake. The idea here is that the intake airflow from the 3 side fans hits the glass case side cover and bends to flow back into and through the GPU and across the mobo. Air from the bottom is brought up and most will be blocked by the GPU, some will get eaten by the GPU, some will make its way upwards. Air makes its way through the radiator and exhausts out the top. Seems good for the GPU but concern here might be the radiator being bathed in warm air.

2) 3 radiator fans set to intake & 3 side fans set to exhaust. The idea here is that the cold air from outside the case runs thorugh the radiator first and doesn't heat completely at the radiator so its still relatively cool coming into the case and making its way down across the motherboard to be pulled towards the front across the mobo and exhausted out the side. As in #1 above, air from the bottom is brought up but most would be blocked by the GPU, and some will get eaten by the GPU. Seems better for the CPU with the coolest air from outside exchanging at the radiator first but maybe the GPU becomes starved.

It seems that most of the stuff I've read and the YouTube videos from the popular tech channels lean towards option 1. It seems almost every sample build I look at is set up like #1. One particular testing video I watched by Hardware Canucks definitely points to Option #1 being the ticket (Video linked below). However, here and there I see someone set up as #2 and they swear their temps are better. I've linked one of these that went for Option #2 from PCPartPicker that is a very similar build to mine. The comments on his build seem to indicate he tested both ways and his temps were better. Although, he is running a vertical GPU and I am not.

What is the best way to go? Option 1 or 2?

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/z4hgXL

 
As a third option, have you considered mounting the 360 radiator on the side and using the fans on it as intake so that the fresh air is coming into your case across the radiator? Then using the 3 bottom fans for intake and the top 3 as exhaust. This brings fresh air through the radiator, which would be whatever temp your room is at, and then forces the warm air up and out of the case, which is the way it wants to go anyway.
 
Right now, I'm running with 3 intakes on the bottom. I cut the metal out in the middle because it's actually pretty restrictive and makes a lot of noise.
bottomsout.jpg


I have a 360 radiator on top using 3 fans to push the air out. I have a distribution block in the 360 slot in the back of the case, so no air flow there. I also have a kraken G12 connected to a 240 AIO to cool the graphics card. I have that 240 mounted to the front of the case. I bought a custom front panel from Performance PCs. It appears they no longer make it, but they do make one for the Dynamic XL that you can see here: https://www.performance-pcs.com/cas...h-optional-fan-mounting-o11xl-frontpanel.html So, I have air coming in the bottom and going out the top radiator and the front radiator. I have 3 intake fans feeding 5 exhaust fans basically. I figure with the radiators acting as resistance, it probably evens out.
PCO11.jpg


It looks slightly different now as I had to replace the 240 AIO as it was dying. It has an EVGA 240 AIO, so now there's a shiny EVGA Logo on the front.
 
Right now, I'm running with 3 intakes on the bottom. I cut the metal out in the middle because it's actually pretty restrictive and makes a lot of noise.
View attachment 339217

I have a 360 radiator on top using 3 fans to push the air out. I have a distribution block in the 360 slot in the back of the case, so no air flow there. I also have a kraken G12 connected to a 240 AIO to cool the graphics card. I have that 240 mounted to the front of the case. I bought a custom front panel from Performance PCs. It appears they no longer make it, but they do make one for the Dynamic XL that you can see here: https://www.performance-pcs.com/cas...h-optional-fan-mounting-o11xl-frontpanel.html So, I have air coming in the bottom and going out the top radiator and the front radiator. I have 3 intake fans feeding 5 exhaust fans basically. I figure with the radiators acting as resistance, it probably evens out.
View attachment 339219

It looks slightly different now as I had to replace the 240 AIO as it was dying. It has an EVGA 240 AIO, so now there's a shiny EVGA Logo on the front.
you should flip that front rad, so tube are at the bottom so dont get gurgling/sucking air. looks good though
 
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you should flip that from rad, so tube are at the bottom so dont get gurgling/sucking air. looks good though
I would love to do that, but if I do, I have to lose the fan on the bottom on the far right. You can't fit both the tubes and that fan in there. I can't raise the AIO any higher to accommodate it either because it hits one of the tubes at the top. I'm not getting much gurgling....yet. If I did it all over again, I would buy the XL version of the case.
 
I have the EK front mounted distro plate for my 011XL case, it was expensive, but I didn't want the side mounted one as I wanted to have fans there for intake. I also wanted to keep the glass front plate on the case since I bought it to have all the glass opening to see inside. I know that's all personal aesthetic choices, but I gotta like what I have sitting next to me.
 
Right now, I'm running with 3 intakes on the bottom. I cut the metal out in the middle because it's actually pretty restrictive and makes a lot of noise.
View attachment 339217

I have a 360 radiator on top using 3 fans to push the air out. I have a distribution block in the 360 slot in the back of the case, so no air flow there. I also have a kraken G12 connected to a 240 AIO to cool the graphics card. I have that 240 mounted to the front of the case. I bought a custom front panel from Performance PCs. It appears they no longer make it, but they do make one for the Dynamic XL that you can see here: https://www.performance-pcs.com/cas...h-optional-fan-mounting-o11xl-frontpanel.html So, I have air coming in the bottom and going out the top radiator and the front radiator. I have 3 intake fans feeding 5 exhaust fans basically. I figure with the radiators acting as resistance, it probably evens out.


It looks slightly different now as I had to replace the 240 AIO as it was dying. It has an EVGA 240 AIO, so now there's a shiny EVGA Logo on the front.
I cry every time you post that picture. :cry:
 
Nope. The jagged, irregular cuts bother my OCD. The bottom of that case is 1 wrong move away from an ER visit
I had to leave the screw holes for mounting the fans. Don't worry, I also took a file to all the sharp edges. With the fans mounted and the filter in place on the bottom, you can't even tell. No one wants to mount two SSDs on the bottom of that case anyway!
 
I had to leave the screw holes for mounting the fans. Don't worry, I also took a file to all the sharp edges. With the fans mounted and the filter in place on the bottom, you can't even tell. No one wants to mount two SSDs on the bottom of that case anyway!
Dude...you did a good job...it's just my OCD. Instead of leaving the holes to mount the Rad and Fans, I made a frame to put mine in and secured it with Rive3ts
262860_IMAG0742.jpg
. Here's a pic from the work in progress.
 
I've got a similar setup but rather than 9 I'm running 12+1 (13).

3x bottom intake 120mm
3x side intake 120,,
6 on top for 360 AIO (3x push and 3x between cooler and case pull) 120mm
bonus 80mm mounted in empty space on read as exhaust for a little extra exit flow.
I'm running 2 fan controllers along with the RGB controllers as well as using mobo fan plugs as well (x570 Taichi)

With that much airflow its downright chilly.
 
I vote for, and run option 1- bottom intake, and exhaust through the side and top radiators.
I would love to do that, but if I do, I have to lose the fan on the bottom on the far right. You can't fit both the tubes and that fan in there. I can't raise the AIO any higher to accommodate it either because it hits one of the tubes at the top. I'm not getting much gurgling....yet. If I did it all over again, I would buy the XL version of the case.
I got the Mini and it was way less flexible than I had imagined. I don't regret it, but was surprised by the unfortunate 20mm of clearance under the vertical mount if using a radiator at the top.
 
Thanks for the advice and comments so far. I'm leaning heavily towards Option 1 in the OP and that also seems to be where the advice thus far is leaning. The results from that gentleman in the PCPartsPicker build I posted really made me double-think it though as I read through ALL of the comments on his build and he seems to have done some thorough testing and initially he had his system configured as Option 1, but then tried Option 2 and got lower temps.

I'm thinking that maybe it was because he mounted his GPU vertically. As I look at the pictures of his build I'm wondering if the vertical GPU mount allowed the cool bottom air from the bottom intake fans to "wrap around" the more narrow profile of the vertical GPU and move upwards to the middle of the motherboard. Then the push/pull intake around the radiator moved that cool external-case air down to also meet in the middle of the mobo. Then his 3 side exhaust fans pull that column of saturated air back out. Of course, the cool air from outside the case running over those radiators cools the CPU well and maybe there is enough air around that GPU to feed it and keep that cooler as well. I'd love to see a little smoke run through that case as I'm really curious.

On the other hand, my GPU won't be vertically mounted. Its a 3090 so its going to be a big "wall" that probably block alot of the air from my bottom intake fans. I'm thinking the 3090 will have to rely alot on the side fans being set to intake to feed it. The fans on the top radiator set to exhaust and hopefully the air won't be so saturated that it cools the CPU well.
As a third option, have you considered mounting the 360 radiator on the side and using the fans on it as intake so that the fresh air is coming into your case across the radiator? Then using the 3 bottom fans for intake and the top 3 as exhaust. This brings fresh air through the radiator, which would be whatever temp your room is at, and then forces the warm air up and out of the case, which is the way it wants to go anyway.

True. I fear in that configuration I'd starve my GPU some as its so big. Also, I think I prefer to have the radiator up top as it just seems to make the hoses easier to deal with.

Right now, I'm running with 3 intakes on the bottom. I cut the metal out in the middle because it's actually pretty restrictive and makes a lot of noise.
View attachment 339217

I have a 360 radiator on top using 3 fans to push the air out. I have a distribution block in the 360 slot in the back of the case, so no air flow there. I also have a kraken G12 connected to a 240 AIO to cool the graphics card. I have that 240 mounted to the front of the case. I bought a custom front panel from Performance PCs. It appears they no longer make it, but they do make one for the Dynamic XL that you can see here: https://www.performance-pcs.com/cas...h-optional-fan-mounting-o11xl-frontpanel.html So, I have air coming in the bottom and going out the top radiator and the front radiator. I have 3 intake fans feeding 5 exhaust fans basically. I figure with the radiators acting as resistance, it probably evens out.
View attachment 339219

It looks slightly different now as I had to replace the 240 AIO as it was dying. It has an EVGA 240 AIO, so now there's a shiny EVGA Logo on the front.

Dude...you did a good job...it's just my OCD. Instead of leaving the holes to mount the Rad and Fans, I made a frame to put mine in and secured it with Rive3tsView attachment 339311. Here's a pic from the work in progress.

Wow! Nice work. You guys are intense. I'm just not that [H]...lol. I'm not quite at the advanced level of cutting things and swapping stuff around. I'd be far too dangerous getting my dremel anywhere near PC parts ;)

I've got a similar setup but rather than 9 I'm running 12+1 (13).

3x bottom intake 120mm
3x side intake 120,,
6 on top for 360 AIO (3x push and 3x between cooler and case pull) 120mm
bonus 80mm mounted in empty space on read as exhaust for a little extra exit flow.
I'm running 2 fan controllers along with the RGB controllers as well as using mobo fan plugs as well (x570 Taichi)

With that much airflow its downright chilly.

Thanks! Option 1 is seeming like the best plan so far.
 
The reason I went this way myself was to direct the rising heat. The side / front panel leads to a cramped wiring copartment, so I didn't want to try to exhaust through it, since heat would just go in there and collect - hence, using the front side as intake.

Pointing the top fans as intake instead of exhaust would be fighting the natural flow again since heat rises.

The bottom I'm using as intake because again, if used as exhaust, it would be pushed into the cramped space under the case and create another hot spot, so better used as intake. Plus the fresh air blows directly on the GPU to help cool that. In my case I prefer to prioritize the 3x 120 for lots of fresh air right at GPU.

While the idea of using the AIO on the front/side is another possibility - my CPU runs cooler than my GPU so I dont see the need to feed the AIO radiator cool air and blow hot radiator air onto my nearly 2k GPU. That's a big nope. CPU cheaper to replace than GPU for me. If it was a smaller radiator maybe, but 360 is plenty big as intake or exhaust and for this case, throw some push/pull on it and run it on the exhaust side.
 
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My 3090 will pull 488w peak at load in some rtx games. It gets the coolest fresh air from both side and bottom intake. My 5900 in this setup only sees mid 60s during gaming, even under prime load doesn't generate more than 165w worth of heat. Remember that while there is heat in the air coming from gpu, the air itself is nowhere near its max specific heat capacity. The radiator on top will still radiate that heat out and the air flow will take it out of the case. It will not absorb the heat in the air and circulate it back.
 
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