Fan orientation

Digital Viper-X-

[H]F Junkie
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Dec 9, 2000
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Alrighty, I'm moving my build to an O11-D XL, now time to setup the fans :)

Currently, this is what I'm thinking of doing.

Running 2 x 360mm rads, 1 up top, one on the bottom.

Bottom rad will have intake setup (pull through the rad)
Top rad will have exhaust (push)

3 more fans will be installed on the side mount for cool air being pulled in as well.
1 Fan exhausting behind the cpu

Would this be a good setup, having the bottom rad pulling warmer air into the case be an issue with 3 more fans yanking in cool air?

Thanks for any input :)
 
20210112_223351.jpg
 
That seems to be the standard fan layout for the XL. Should be fine.

Which Corsair rad do you have at the top?
 
Is it possible to use the side and top mounts with Rads and use the bottom as intake? That way there is no warm air from 1 rad heading to another.
 
I personally want all my rads to have cool intake, so I'd configure it with one on the bottom and one on the side, (this is assuming the GPU and CPU will be watercooled).
There should be enough room for the rad if its <50mm thick on the backside, none of the generic components should have much difficulty with radiator heated air other than the gpu/cpu themselves.
 
Is it possible to use the side and top mounts with Rads and use the bottom as intake? That way there is no warm air from 1 rad heading to another.

It is possible, but it will be a bit of a mess (IMO) to fit it all that way. IF things don't work out this way, I will move it to the side though.

That is what I was wondering. I have a XSPC rx360 that is roughly the same thickness, yours looked a little tight for the top of the motherboard.

The XR7 is 54mm? It's based off of the Blackice Nemesis GTX 360.
 
The XR7 is 54mm? It's based off of the Blackice Nemesis GTX 360.

Yep, and the rx360 is 56mm, so if yours is looking tight, mine will probably be a no-go. Will probably just use the rx360 in the side, and pick up something 30mm for the bottom.
 
Yep, and the rx360 is 56mm, so if yours is looking tight, mine will probably be a no-go. Will probably just use the rx360 in the side, and pick up something 30mm for the bottom.

I should have it in this weekend, I will snap some pics to show you what it looks like.
 
In mine, I have the side fanes as intake, and all others as exhaust. I have a 360 top and bottom, and one exhaust in the back, so it's a mostly negative pressure setup, and has worked for me so far.
 

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Still waiting for a WB for the 3080 to tidy it up and finish it. Too much rgb as is. I would of liked to pu the fans on the front of the side mount but I didn't have the clearance. Also would prefer 360s over 280 but they are carry overs from a old build and not going to drop over $300 on new rads and fans.
Does that rad not fit on the back side of the case and/or was there a reason you opted to have the rad displayed in the front rather than the fans?
 
Does that rad not fit on the back side of the case and/or was there a reason you opted to have the rad displayed in the front rather than the fans?
It is a thick boi rad at 55mm thick and I can't close the panel with it and the wires there.
 
It is a thick boi rad. 55mm thick and with the cables there it right. Can't put the panel on with the rad there.
I'm guessing you have the fans on the other side of it. Had to put mine on the back side of the tray as well, the front mount distro plate in mine is too thick to allow anything to be placed on the inside area, that and the pump on it would certainly make it impossible for the bottom fan.
 
I'm guessing you have the fans on the other side of it. Had to put mine on the back side of the tray as well, the front mount distro plate in mine is too thick to allow anything to be placed on the inside area, that and the pump on it would certainly make it impossible for the bottom fan.
Yes fans are on the other side.
 
OK, one more question, I am about to tear down the loop to make some slight changes to the system, so might as well do this now. The top fans are currently exhausting , so pulling air from inside the case, which includes some warmer air coming up from the bottom rad. I Was thinking about switching the top fans to intake instead, but I'm not sure if the fans will like the pressure switch, it would mean 9 intakes and 1 exhaust. would that be an issue? I could see it raising the internal case temp, but lowering the loop temps a degree without having to increase the speed of the fans as much.
 
Not sure about 9 intake with one exhaust. For Air cooling I tested top/bottom intake - side / rear exhaust and temps was definitely worse vs bottom/side intake - top/rear exhaust on the XL. Still waiting for my distro plate to test out the WC temps with both setup.s
 
Yeah... the problem with running so many intake fans is that now the fans are competing to force air into the case, which reduces overall airflow. The reduced airflow leads to higher temps. Generally you want balanced airflow with a bias towards positive pressure to help prevent dust buildup. I would say the most imbalance you would want to have is ~50% more intake than exhaust.
 
OK, one more question, I am about to tear down the loop to make some slight changes to the system, so might as well do this now. The top fans are currently exhausting , so pulling air from inside the case, which includes some warmer air coming up from the bottom rad. I Was thinking about switching the top fans to intake instead, but I'm not sure if the fans will like the pressure switch, it would mean 9 intakes and 1 exhaust. would that be an issue? I could see it raising the internal case temp, but lowering the loop temps a degree without having to increase the speed of the fans as much.

Swapping the top fans to pull in fresh air would not be an issue. However, you would want to put the side/back fans to exhaust. This should keep your system at positive pressure, depending on fan speed.
 
You can overcome some exhaust issues by using a single larger exhaust fan with lots of slower intakes. I’m using a 3000rpm noctua industrial as an exhaust for a define 7XL with intakes on a 360mm and a 420mm rad. I’m letting the exhaust go to 50% at 29c water temp and 100% at 31c water temp. 29c is as far as I’ve gotten with PBO enabled, but I’ve tested at 100% fan and while it’s fairly loud it seems to be a fair balance of exhaust to intake.
 
You can overcome some exhaust issues by using a single larger exhaust fan with lots of slower intakes. I’m using a 3000rpm noctua industrial as an exhaust for a define 7XL with intakes on a 360mm and a 420mm rad. I’m letting the exhaust go to 50% at 29c water temp and 100% at 31c water temp. 29c is as far as I’ve gotten with PBO enabled, but I’ve tested at 100% fan and while it’s fairly loud it seems to be a fair balance of exhaust to intake.

That sounds.. loud :)

I was thinking since the front of the rad gets cooler air being close to the intakes, I'll leave that as exhaust, since it will pull cooler air into the rad there, and the rear of the rad where the exhaust fan is, I will switch to Intake. Is there any issue with having 2 orientations on a rad?
 
That sounds.. loud :)

I was thinking since the front of the rad gets cooler air being close to the intakes, I'll leave that as exhaust, since it will pull cooler air into the rad there, and the rear of the rad where the exhaust fan is, I will switch to Intake. Is there any issue with having 2 orientations on a rad?

Potentially yes. You might end up with a segment of air that is recirculated between the two orientations unless separated by a baffle on each side.
 
I am a proponent of balance, equal intake to exhaust(as much as possible). All intake with one exhaust doesn't seem like a good idea to me, You will know pretty fast if your glass starts to fog up. You are using three dedicated intake fans and an intake rad, that top rad is not going to be just sucking in hot air. Your original orientation is what I would go with.
 
That sounds.. loud :)

I was thinking since the front of the rad gets cooler air being close to the intakes, I'll leave that as exhaust, since it will pull cooler air into the rad there, and the rear of the rad where the exhaust fan is, I will switch to Intake. Is there any issue with having 2 orientations on a rad?
it’s actually not very loud in my most common use case, which is my 5950x set to eco mode and doing covid research. The exhaust fan sits about 30% and the 12 intake fans (push + pull on both rads) are each about 15%. It’s not whisper quiet, but since I have the furnace, water heater, and radon exhaust fan are all running, I can’t hear the computer over ambient. When I really crank everything up, it’s because I’m gaming and I have headphones on anyway.

I wouldn’t do both intake and exhaust on the same rad - I would do the front rad as intake and to rad as exhaust in that case. The exhaust rad wouldn’t be as effective, but at least you would have predictable airflow.
 
So, an update, I installed the better fans in the push rad up top, exhaust, after some tweaking, which was me turning the exhaust slightly higher than the intakes at the same temp, the loop temps improved 1-2 degrees, without added noise. Since I have 6 intakes to 4 exhausts , I figured a bit closer to balanced would help tht shitty fans which are all on intake.
 
I am about to redo my system with new fans and switching out the 2 280 rada. I am going to go with just 2 360 rads in the new setup. I can't decide how I am going to setup the fans. I was thinking 3 fans at the bottom as intake. One 360 rad on the side intake with the top rad as exhaust. And of course 1 fan as exhaust on the back.
 
I am about to redo my system with new fans and switching out the 2 280 rada. I am going to go with just 2 360 rads in the new setup. I can't decide how I am going to setup the fans. I was thinking 3 fans at the bottom as intake. One 360 rad on the side intake with the top rad as exhaust. And of course 1 fan as exhaust on the back.

Good setup IMO, thinking that is better than what I went with, more cool air going over the components.
 
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