Need Input on Mounting a Corsair Hydro H55

H

Hazard

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 30, 2005
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336
I'm doing some upgrading on my wife's rig but need some advice on cooling. I'm happy with the NH-D14 that's cooling the CPU so I'm not looking to change that.

I have an Powercolor R9 290 TurboDuo I plan to pop in there to replace the pair of XFX 5850 CrossFireX but with all the heat that comes that the R9 290 puts out, I got a Kraken G10, Gelid VRM coolers with a Corsair Hydro H55 and RAM heatsinks on order.

My problem is that her case is the Lian Li PC-7FN and does not have top exhaust (can't even find the special top panel with exhaust for this case anymore).

http://www.lian-li.com/en/dt_portfolio/pc-7fn/

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Yes, the insides need cleaning but we'll get to that later.

While I would like to squeeze the H55 radiator and fan to the exhaust fan mount, I'm not sure that's a good idea. I guess the alternatives I have are either figuring out a way to mount it in the 3 empty 5.25" bays and get some overpriced mesh in the front to keep the look and have it exhaust out that way or I could remove the HDD cage (moving the SSD and HDD up) and find a way to have it mounted to go with the flow.

Any suggestions?
 
Find a local electrician that has a 4 inch knockout and use it to punch the hole in the top of your case along with a fan guard similar to the one on your rear exhaust fan (you can paint it black if you want it to match your case). The 4 inch hole is perfect for a 120mm fan.
 
If you can somehow find a mounting spot in the optical cage, that's where I would put it. You can try top mount like what has been suggested above. But I think the challenge with is your D14 cooler, there is a chance that the CPU cooler fan will block the rad+fan when mounted on top. I can't really tell from the photo if you have enough space for that set up.

You can also consider the space right next o your HDD cage. I know the front fan is spaced for 140mm fan, but you can maybe drill some holes for a 120 spec and mount the H55's radiator there instead. Just move the drives up to clear the tube route.
 
Move the mechanical HDD's to the optical bays Velcro the SSD to the back of the motherboard tray or some other out of the way area then remove the HDD caddy and install in the front fan location.
 
Thanks for the replies.

MrGreg62 said:
Move the mechanical HDD's to the optical bays Velcro the SSD to the back of the motherboard tray or some other out of the way area then remove the HDD caddy and install in the front fan location.
Click to expand...

That's probably what I'll have to do since I like the top and getting someone to punch a hole there would mean I can never go back to an blank top. I like this case because it looks mostly simple and understated.

I guess this way is also the cheapest way since all I need to spend is a few bucks for a 140mm to 120mm fan adapter to attached to the radiator to the front fan. Since it's a 140mm, I may as well use that as a push and use the included 120mm as a pull.
 
Joseph_Ocbina said:
If you can somehow find a mounting spot in the optical cage, that's where I would put it. You can try top mount like what has been suggested above. But I think the challenge with is your D14 cooler, there is a chance that the CPU cooler fan will block the rad+fan when mounted on top. I can't really tell from the photo if you have enough space for that set up.

You can also consider the space right next o your HDD cage. I know the front fan is spaced for 140mm fan, but you can maybe drill some holes for a 120 spec and mount the H55's radiator there instead. Just move the drives up to clear the tube route.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the problem with this case is there is no top exhaust. It was nice when I got it and wanted a flat plain top panel.

So yeah, I guess the cage will have to go and the storage moved up since I only really have 1 optical drive up there.
 
I may finally have to time to put in the H55 on the R9 290 but I need some more input. I'll be putting the drives into a Silverstone CFP52B and adding a 120mm intake at the 5.25" bays.

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I see a number of people saying that the radiator should always be set to exhaust. My concern with that is that this case doesn't have a hole on top and I'm going to continuing using the NH-D14 so it needs to keep the airflow moving out the back.

Plan A here is what many have said about using these AIO coolers.

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For plan B, I was thinking of adding a quiet 80mm fan in the PCI slots in the back with some silicone pins and making the H55 take in cool air instead so I can try to keep the air moving from front to back. I'm using the existing 140mm via an adapter to push air through the radiator and the 120mm to pull the warm air from the radiator and hopefully through the case and out the back.

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Plan B good, bad or just plan stupid?

On a side note, I bought VRM coolers for no reason at all. The Powercolor R9 290 Turbo Duo already have VRM coolers and RAMsinks.
 
Plan B sounds better to me...it is generally better to supply the AIO with cool air. That said, you are then dumping warmer air into the case...
 
Kelvarr said:
Plan B sounds better to me...it is generally better to supply the AIO with cool air. That said, you are then dumping warmer air into the case...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think Plan B is going to be they way I'm gonna go. Putting warmer air in was a concern but I figure a decent 80mm fan in the lower back should help keep the air flow moving well enough that it won't be an issue.
 
I think B is better. That seems like it would also get more (though slightly warmer) airflow over the rest of the card too.

I have a Lancool PC-K63 with an H60 on the CPU and a Tt Water 3.0 on the GPU.

k63-07.jpg


All three of the clear fans visible in this pic are intake in my setup. I have my drives installed in the lower half of the drive cage, with the upper half removed. The lower front fan is simply an intake fan. The GPU's rad is installed on the upper front fan (which helpfully happens to be right in front of the video card). The CPU's rad is on the upper rear fan. There are two exhaust fans on the top, under the plastic.

With this setup, it pulls in air from the front and rear, and all the heat goes up and out the vented top. I'm actually surprised at how simple and effective it ended up being. When I'm gaming, I can just reach over and feel how much heat is coming out the top.
 
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