AIO CPU and GPU - need a little help on placement, fans etc please

GCS

Limp Gawd
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Setting up a system for a friend of mine and here is what we have.

Arctic Freezer II 240 for Ryzen 9
EVGA FTW3 3080 Hybrid

Both recommend installs of the rad on the top but naturally that is not possible so one needs to go in front and one up top.

My question is does it matter which one?

In addition should the fans on BOTH units be set to exhaust and have no intake fans (well there will be room for one intake fan on the front the case since both of these are 240mm sized and not 360mm sized)

I guess I am just not clear on the right way to do it - first timer
 
I would try the GPU on top as it will generate more heat so it's best to get it out of the case right away.
you could always try both configurations and see which one keeps the temps lower.

Radiator on top will be exhaust with the fans mounted to the bottom of the rad pushing through.
The front will be intake with the fans mounted to the front also pushing through.
If you have space, you could do push/pull on either or both rads as well.

one of my systems only has space in the front for a 240 so I have push pull on that one.
IMG_1430.JPEG
 
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I would try the GPU on top as it will generate more heat so it's best to get it out of the case right away.
you could always try both configurations and see which one keeps the temps lower.

Radiator on top will be exhaust with the fans mounted to the bottom of the rad pushing through.
The front will be intake with the fans mounted to the front also pushing through.
If you have space, you could do push/pull on either or both rads as well.
Ok thanks.

GPU one makes sense ie up top exhaust out.

I guess I don't understand why you would make the CPU AIO intake and not exhaust too. Wouldn't the CPU AIO be dumping hot air back into the case that or am I just being dumb how it all works

Just trying to do this right is all
 
Ok thanks.

GPU one makes sense ie up top exhaust out.

I guess I don't understand why you would make the CPU AIO intake and not exhaust too. Wouldn't the CPU AIO be dumping hot air back into the case that or am I just being dumb how it all works

Just trying to do this right is all
Ya, it will be bringing hot air in but it's getting cool air from the outside.
If you have both set for exhaust, you will have negative pressure in the case.
If you have fan intakes on the bottom, you could use those for intake and then do exhaust on the GPU and CPU rads.

On my other system, I installed the hybrid cooler and put it on the front as my CPU rad is 280 and only goes at the top.
unfortunately my GPU failed during the cooler install so I never got to test the temps or performance of the system.
IMG_0819.JPEG
 
Ya, it will be bringing hot air in but it's getting cool air from the outside.
If you have both set for exhaust, you will have negative pressure in the case.
If you have fan intakes on the bottom, you could use those for intake and then do exhaust on the GPU and CPU rads.

On my other system, I installed the hybrid cooler and put it on the front as my CPU rad is 280 and only goes at the top.
unfortunately my GPU failed during the cooler install so I never got to test the temps or performance of the system.
View attachment 364503
Its a Lian Li Lancool II so yeah it has 120mm fan mounts on the bottom and 1 120mm fan mount on the back behind the CPU that could be used for whatever.

Bottom ones have the PSU underneath so not sure how much fresh air they provide of course.

I thought the pump was supposed to be below the rad? Speaking about the Hybrid install since your tubes go down to the bottom of the case, am I wrong on that?
 
Its a Lian Li Lancool II so yeah it has 120mm fan mounts on the bottom and 1 120mm fan mount on the back behind the CPU that could be used for whatever.

Bottom ones have the PSU underneath so not sure how much fresh air they provide of course.

I thought the pump was supposed to be below the rad? Speaking about the Hybrid install since your tubes go down to the bottom of the case, am I wrong on that?
you just want to have the highest point of the radiator higher than the pump.
 
i JUST changed from that, this is how i set them up, both blowing in, tops is exhaust

1623278227436.png

stole your pic zeph, its basically the same as my case.:)
yes it will increase case temp a few c, but its better to have fresh air for cooling the rads.
 
i JUST changed from that, this is how i set them up, both blowing in, tops is exhaust

View attachment 364516
stole your pic zeph, its basically the same as my case.:)
yes it will increase case temp a few c, but its better to have fresh air for cooling the rads.
Should be go with the arctic freezer 280 in front mount position instead of the 240 thus filling up more space space or even the 360? We got the 240 as we had planned to mount it up top but after getting a Hybrid card and its mount needing to be up top we had to move the CPU AIO to the front.

And am I seeing right that you have fans mounted on the back of the radiator and on the front? Is that really needed?

I mean we are trying to keep everything cool but also QUIET as well, more fans = more noise.

TIA for the help guys

And we can order whatever CPU AIO makes sense
Artic Freezer 240, 280, 360
Also considering the Lian Li Gallahad as its just much more aesthetically pleasing and I hear performance is very good (not as good as AF II) but the unit is a little noisier

Bear in mind there will be little to no overclocking in this system
 
ah sorry, i didnt click on any pics and didnt realize the gpu has a 240, used to them just bein 120. in that case, id put the gpu rad up top, exhausting air. id get a 280 or bigger and put it in the front as intake. then id put an intake fan in the back.

push/pull isnt need, but i had the fans. it doesnt really add extra noticeable noise since they run slow and its 8-10 feet away from me. it does knock a few degrees, 3-4c, off temps

what case are you working with?
 
ah sorry, i didnt click on any pics and didnt realize the gpu has a 240, used to them just bein 120. in that case, id put the gpu rad up top, exhausting air. id get a 280 or bigger and put it in the front as intake. then id put an intake fan in the back.

push/pull isnt need, but i had the fans. it doesnt really add extra noticeable noise since they run slow and its 8-10 feet away from me. it does knock a few degrees, 3-4c, off temps

what case are you working with?
Lian Li Lancool II Mesh

Downside is this will be on his desk about 2-3 feet away from him -- hence the wanting to be cool and quiet.

So to be clear GPU AIO up top as MFR recommended exhausting air out
AF II 280 or 360 front mounted tubes down at the bottom - fans mounted inside case on the back of the rad pulling air into the case from outside
Another fan on the back of the case behind CPU spot as an intake as well basically pulling air in from the back of the machine

This set means the only exhaust I have would be the GPU AIO at the top

Is that right?
 
Lian Li Lancool II Mesh

Downside is this will be on his desk about 2-3 feet away from him -- hence the wanting to be cool and quiet.

So to be clear GPU AIO up top as MFR recommended exhausting air out
AF II 280 or 360 front mounted tubes down at the bottom - fans mounted inside case on the back of the rad pulling air into the case from outside
Another fan on the back of the case behind CPU spot as an intake as well basically pulling air in from the back of the machine

This set means the only exhaust I have would be the GPU AIO at the top

Is that right?
k. yup. it might increase the gpu temp a couple degrees BUT it can spare it with an aio keeping it in the low 50s. and it will be sporadic usually only under heavy cpu usage. in gaming, where the gpu is doing all the work, it will barely make a difference.
edit: also, the aio tubes might not reach the bottom but as long as the top of the rad is higher than the pump it should be fine. mine ran like that for the last couple years without any issue.
 
k. yup. it might increase the gpu temp a couple degrees BUT it can spare it with an aio keeping it in the low 50s. and it will be sporadic usually only under heavy cpu usage. in gaming, where the gpu is doing all the work, it will barely make a difference.
edit: also, the aio tubes might not reach the bottom but as long as the top of the rad is higher than the pump it should be fine. mine ran like that for the last couple years without any issue.

yeah I am concerned about the tubes reaching as well. I guess I could move the front mounted CPU AIO as high up as possible using the 240 we have and the tubes would not be as low and should probably reach ok.

Gamers Nexus said that the AIO 360 doesn't really provide a big benefit over the other 2 sizes and that the 280 size is kind of the sweet spot.

I am looking at the case now (I have the same one) and I think that idea would work but ultimately not sure.

For me personally I am looking to go to the same EVGA Hybrid card as well. My fear for myself is getting the rad to mount up top as I use the Noctua DH15 and that thing leaves very little room up there. I think the rad would fit but don't think I can get the fans on it which would defeat the purpose. I may have to go CPU AIO as well to do the FTW3 Hybrid card.
 
yeah I am concerned about the tubes reaching as well. I guess I could move the front mounted CPU AIO as high up as possible using the 240 we have and the tubes would not be as low and should probably reach ok.

Gamers Nexus said that the AIO 360 doesn't really provide a big benefit over the other 2 sizes and that the 280 size is kind of the sweet spot.

I am looking at the case now (I have the same one) and I think that idea would work but ultimately not sure.

For me personally I am looking to go to the same EVGA Hybrid card as well. My fear for myself is getting the rad to mount up top as I use the Noctua DH15 and that thing leaves very little room up there. I think the rad would fit but don't think I can get the fans on it which would defeat the purpose. I may have to go CPU AIO as well to do the FTW3 Hybrid card.
ive had a 280 and a 240 front mounted as intake, just shoved them as high as possible and it gave at least an inch above the block. never had a prob with either.

yup, a 280 is like 90% of the performance of a 360.

yeah that wouldnt work with a dh15 very well. your could try "reverse flow" and have the top and back as intakes or go aio.
 
ive had a 280 and a 240 front mounted as intake, just shoved them as high as possible and it gave at least an inch above the block. never had a prob with either.

yup, a 280 is like 90% of the performance of a 360.

yeah that wouldnt work with a dh15 very well. your could try "reverse flow" and have the top and back as intakes or go aio.
I think we will stick with the AF 240 - its the ARGB version and he likes it. We will front mount as high as we can with the fans on the back side of the unit pulling air into the case. We would do the 360 but the ARGB version doesn't seem to be in stock anywhere - regular version and plain RGB version is in stock.

On the FTW3 Hybrid we will top mount with it exhausting out of the case. Based on lots of research we will be replacing the fans on the Hybrid with some Arctic P12-ARGB fans as well
 
I think we will stick with the AF 240 - its the RGB and he likes it. We will front mount as high as we can with the fans on the back side of the unit pulling air into the case. We would do the 360 but the ARGB version doesn't seem to be in stock anywhere - regular ver and plain RGB version is in stock.

On the FTW3 Hybrid we will top mount with it exhausting out of the case. Based on lots of research we will be replacing the fans on the Hybrid with some Arctic P12-ARGB fans as well
that should work fine.

might be a good idea and the P12 are decent fans. theyre what i have on my rads and P14s for top exhaust.
 
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Just to be sure this is the proper install for the AIO in the Lian Li case (not my pic)
Ec6IZcF.jpeg
 
yup, thats the way to go if the tubes are long enough to reach.
I would assume yes as that pic is the AF II 280 and the case is the same as ours Lian Li Lancool II Mesh.

I would think if the 280 fits then the 240 would be just fine as well. Although I do like the way the 280 fits in there and fills the space up nicely. Kinda wish AF had made their tubing all black though, that would look better.

Still really thinking about the Lian Li Gallahad for myself as it looks so much better IMHO. Just concerned about pump noise based on what others have said. Performance of it seems really good and since I would never be o/c it doesn't have to be the best of the best. I just want it cool and quiet.

Guess I will have to decide once I get my friends system done. I mean clearly the AF II AIOs are the best ones around and since they moved their warranty to 6 years that takes away people's biggest complaint (other than the little fan on the CPU which people think is dumb)

Does anyone make a really good 140mm RGB rad fan - AF 140s aren't RGB at the moment. Just wondering about changing him to the 280 over the 240.
 
I would assume yes as that pic is the AF II 280 and the case is the same as ours Lian Li Lancool II Mesh.

I would think if the 280 fits then the 240 would be just fine as well. Although I do like the way the 280 fits in there and fills the space up nicely. Kinda wish AF had made their tubing all black though, that would look better.

Still really thinking about the Lian Li Gallahad for myself as it looks so much better IMHO. Just concerned about pump noise based on what others have said. Performance of it seems really good and since I would never be o/c it doesn't have to be the best of the best. I just want it cool and quiet.

Guess I will have to decide once I get my friends system done. I mean clearly the AF II AIOs are the best ones around and since they moved their warranty to 6 years that takes away people's biggest complaint (other than the little fan on the CPU which people think is dumb)

Does anyone make a really good 140mm RGB rad fan - AF 140s aren't RGB at the moment. Just wondering about changing him to the 280 over the 240.
k, it still needs to clear the gpu though, that one in the pic is tiny.
yeah the tubes will be about the same length.
pump noise is a personal tollerance thing, might be totally fine. the little fan blows air onto the vrms, should helps a bit. yeah it looks a little odd, cause were not used to them.
maybe, havent seen comparisons but typically aios performance differences come down to the fans attached.
there are a tonne of AF fans but i cant seem to find P fans. TT pure 14 and the phantek sk140 are argb and have 9/10 blades so pressure should still be decent. thats what i would look for, a fan with high blade count and cfm and it should overcome not being a pressure focused fan better.
 
k, it still needs to clear the gpu though, that one in the pic is tiny.
yeah the tubes will be about the same length.
pump noise is a personal tollerance thing, might be totally fine. the little fan blows air onto the vrms, should helps a bit. yeah it looks a little odd, cause were not used to them.
maybe, havent seen comparisons but typically aios performance differences come down to the fans attached.
there are a tonne of AF fans but i cant seem to find P fans. TT pure 14 and the phantek sk140 are argb and have 9/10 blades so pressure should still be decent. thats what i would look for, a fan with high blade count and cfm and it should overcome not being a pressure focused fan better.
I would imagine the ones that come on the AF 280 are good fans probably P series 140s from them. And since they came out the P series ARGB 120s maybe the 140s are to follow perhaps, I dunno.

Good point about the GPU. He will be running a 3080Ti FTW3 Hybrid so its a bigger card than the one in the pic for sure.
 
I would set it up to exhaust from the top and front. That case has plenty of ventilation for negative pressure to pull air in from the rear and bottom/power supply area. And it will be quieter with the fans pushing, instead of pulling with their back to a vent grill.
 
I would imagine the ones that come on the AF 280 are good fans probably P series 140s from them. And since they came out the P series ARGB 120s maybe the 140s are to follow perhaps, I dunno.

Good point about the GPU. He will be running a 3080Ti FTW3 Hybrid so its a bigger card than the one in the pic for sure.
yeah the are P12s. hopefully...
yeah they need to be long enough to get around it. mine wouldnt clear my 5700...
 
yeah the are P12s. hopefully...
yeah they need to be long enough to get around it. mine wouldnt clear my 5700...
well damn then the only option would be to have the tubes up top then or swtich to an AIO with longer tubes (I think the Galahad is longer, not sure)
 
well damn then the only option would be to have the tubes up top then or swtich to an AIO with longer tubes (I think the Galahad is longer, not sure)
tubes up top is not that bad as long as, like i said before, the rad is higher than the block. any air in them will collect in the top of the end tank on the rad, rather than in the pump/block.
 
tubes up top is not that bad as long as, like i said before, the rad is higher than the block. any air in them will collect in the top of the end tank on the rad, rather than in the pump/block.
yeah if I have to go tubes up it will be at the very top of the case and of course the pump on the cpu block would actually be slightly lower than that based on the above pic (if you flipped the rad of course).

Should the cpu mounting be flipped in that case then ie opposite of the pic
 
yeah if I have to go tubes up it will be at the very top of the case and of course the pump on the cpu block would actually be slightly lower than that based on the above pic (if you flipped the rad of course).

Should the cpu mounting be flipped in that case then ie opposite of the pic
no id leave it with the fan at the top, otherwise its not hitting the vrms.
 
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no id leave it with the fan at the top, otherwise its not hitting the vrms.
Ok thanks for all the help it is really appreciated!! I have seen too many AIO vids lately and have gotten so confused. Jay, Steve and many others have done some good ones but then all the comments people make saying tubes at the top are wrong etc just baffled me. Want to be sure to do this right and get a cool, quiet as possible case that works and lasts him as long as possible (yeah I know 5-6 years he has to probably replace the AIO).

Of course everyone agrees top mount is 100% safe but a you know that isn't possible for me since the FTW3 rad will need to go there.

If he didn't already have this Lancool II like me (and I told him to get one, lol) I would tell him to get the Dynamic 011 XL or something to avoid issues since that seems to be a top choice for folks - expensive case though.
 
Ok thanks for all the help it is really appreciated!! I have seen too many AIO vids lately and have gotten so confused. Jay, Steve and many others have done some good ones but then all the comments people make saying tubes at the top are wrong etc just baffled me. Want to be sure to do this right and get a cool, quiet as possible case that works and lasts him as long as possible (yeah I know 5-6 years he has to probably replace the AIO).

Of course everyone agrees top mount is 100% safe but a you know that isn't possible for me since the FTW3 rad will need to go there.

If he didn't already have this Lancool II like me (and I told him to get one, lol) I would tell him to get the Dynamic 011 XL or something to avoid issues since that seems to be a top choice for folks - expensive case though.
not a prob! its only an issue if the block is the high point, 'cause all aios have a bit of air in them and it will collect there.
 
not a prob! its only an issue if the block is the high point, 'cause all aios have a bit of air in them and it will collect there.
understood. Still panicking a bit on the whole AIO or air bit like most. For every post saying go AIO you get 5 saying air and vice versa. Guess I won't know until we try.
 
just enough length, nice!
Well I popped the AIO cherry tonight (y)

Installed the Arctic Freezer II 240 A-RGB model. Install went ok I think. Had some issues but worked through them. AF needs to rethink how they package the A-RGB model though because they have it set up to be exhaust and you have to flip the fans to make it intake. Well to do that you have undo all the RBG and fan wiring that they so tightly packed and shrink wrapped to the fans. It sucked!

Overall the install went fine on a Gigabyte X570 Pro motherboard which I was worried about since I read there were a lot of issues with this unit mounting on the board. This is REV 4 of the AMD install kit and it worked just fine.

Not thrilled with the tubes crossing over the GPU like that but there was no other way to do it. Turning the rad up top I couldn't make the hoses work into a shape that fit - too stiff. Overall not bad but moving GPUs in and out will suck.

Quick test of the unit and idle temps for normal stuff right around 32C. Gaming max temp was 71. This is with the case still half apart and fans not really set up right.

Previous temp on Noctua DH15 was 85 during gaming. Would like for temps to be lower than 71 but maybe once I get things worked out and the hybrid GPU in there temps will settle down.

Have yet to get the ARGB working but save that for another time. Plus I will have plenty to fiddle with there once the FTW3 Hybrid goes in with the ARGB P12s I am putting on it.
 
And oh btw those who say Noctua is quieter than an AIO well have you tried one?

This is far quieter than the DH15 I was using before. I can hear the pump but ONLY if I open the case and put my ear basically right in the case.
 
AIOs are fine for noise, never had an issue with them, switched from air to an AIO many years ago. That led to a full custom soft tube loop, and now a custom hard tube custom loop. I have 10 fans in my case pusihing air in where it can, then out on the 2 360mm radiators in the case, and I never hear the fans and the computer sits right next to me.
 
AIOs are fine for noise, never had an issue with them, switched from air to an AIO many years ago. That led to a full custom soft tube loop, and now a custom hard tube custom loop. I have 10 fans in my case pusihing air in where it can, then out on the 2 360mm radiators in the case, and I never hear the fans and the computer sits right next to me.
I think I am good with just a CPU and GPU AIO, baby steps.

I still have lots of details to handle - cables, fan curves, ARGB issues etc but so far pretty happy.

Can't wait for the FTW3 Hybrid to get here (just a few more days).

I am sure I will have a million more questions but greatly appreciate all the help I have received.
 
A few basic questions

Do AIOs have a break in period - meaning they work better after being in use for a month or something or is it they pretty much are what they are right from the start

Should I mount fans on the other side of the rad as well as this case has a pocket where fans used to be mounted. In truth that pocket sure seems like where the rad should go but I am pretty sure the way I installed it is right but also the way I installed it there is no way a 360 AIO would fit. Guess I need to look into this further hmmm
-- I'll answer part of this myself I guess. Seems I did install the rad on the bracket incorrectly. Looks like I should have turned the case bracket around and mounted the rad into the bracket. This would move the rad a little further back which makes sense as the fans are almost touching the GPU. Guess I am remounting things this weekend.

I set the fan curve in the bios to auto. Should it be manually set to something specific instead

And just a side note the way this is in my case the rgb is kind of useless. You can hardly see the lighting inside the case and because the fans are behind the rad you can only barely see the rgb on the outside. Just letting others know is all
 
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just enough length, nice!

Any reason to move to the 280 rad over the 240 - ignore the RGB part.

I believe technically the 280 might be a little quieter since it would use 140mm fans instead of 120mm but not sure
 
Any reason to move to the 280 rad over the 240 - ignore the RGB part.

I believe technically the 280 might be a little quieter since it would use 140mm fans instead of 120mm but not sure
The Arctic 280mm performs as good/nearly as good as many 360mm. And that's mostly because Arctic's Rads are thicker and they also give you fans which don't suck. Likewise, their 240 will compete with some 280mm.

For EK, their 280 doesn't seem to be strictly better than their 240 and I wonder if its due to the fans.
 
A few basic questions

Do AIOs have a break in period - meaning they work better after being in use for a month or something or is it they pretty much are what they are right from the start

Should I mount fans on the other side of the rad as well as this case has a pocket where fans used to be mounted. In truth that pocket sure seems like where the rad should go but I am pretty sure the way I installed it is right but also the way I installed it there is no way a 360 AIO would fit. Guess I need to look into this further hmmm
-- I'll answer part of this myself I guess. Seems I did install the rad on the bracket incorrectly. Looks like I should have turned the case bracket around and mounted the rad into the bracket. This would move the rad a little further back which makes sense as the fans are almost touching the GPU. Guess I am remounting things this weekend.

I set the fan curve in the bios to auto. Should it be manually set to something specific instead

And just a side note the way this is in my case the rgb is kind of useless. You can hardly see the lighting inside the case and because the fans are behind the rad you can only barely see the rgb on the outside. Just letting others know is all
no break in.
whatever floats your boat, there isnt much difference.
i always set a manual curve, either in bios or with the aio software(if it has one). i will leave it flatlined at 25-30% until cpu hits ~45-50c, then a straight line to full blast at 75c. reason is that the aio will handle the normal little heat blips without needing the fan to to ramp up. it only need to ramp them up when the heat is sustained under a load.
yup, if you want the rgb flashies you need them on the "inside" of the rad.


Any reason to move to the 280 rad over the 240 - ignore the RGB part.

I believe technically the 280 might be a little quieter since it would use 140mm fans instead of 120mm but not sure
it is a pretty big jump over a 240, in performance and less noise. also, a 280 is about 90% the performance of a 360...

edit: as cham. just added, rad thickness does play into performance. im compairing the standard 25mm rads most aios use.
 
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