I moved the AIO Rad to the top

FredFlint · 26 Apr 2021 at 20:26

Hi,
I watched the YouTube video of how not to install an AIO and mine was bad according to that, so I moved it. After moving the radiator from the front (tubes at top) to the top of my case I did some testing, and the results are not good. My 3900X is over 10C hotter(average) with the rad at the top of the case, Cinebench can hit 95C+. I have tried all sorts to fix this but today I moved the rad back to the front as it is getting worm and the fan noise is bad. After moving the rad back, the temp has dropped back to where it was before I moved it. Idle = 35C and hits 70-80C running Cinebench and 60C in games. So, for me the bad install works much better?

The cooler is a Corsair H100i V2 240mm with 2 * SP120 fans.

Cooler running · 26 Apr 2021 at 21:56

Which case? Some cases (like some be Quiet! cases) have choked top panels which can cause this.

Mr Mcgoo · 26 Apr 2021 at 22:14

Nice case you got Fred (checked your sig). The reason for your temps to be better at the front is due to the fans pulling cool air from outside the case (ambient room temp) as supposed to top as exhaust in which your fans are pulling air from inside your case and that air temp will be a few degrees above your ambient room temp giving you higher temps. The way you had is fine. So keep it on the front

OldKitMan · 26 Apr 2021 at 22:15

Did you add extra fans to the front to pull in cold air or did you configure the top of the case to be an intake and have no fans at the front?

Mesai · 26 Apr 2021 at 22:19

Assume you made it exhaust out the top and also added intake fans at the front?

It can be slightly warmer but 10c seems too high. I definitely wouldn’t expect much difference with R23 as there is no GPU load so could be an issue with the overall cooling setup.

FredFlint · 26 Apr 2021 at 23:28

I added 2 * 140mm fans to the front of the case after moving it. The case is a Enthoo Evolv (not a great case in my opinion, looks good but...). When testing I took the side and top off but it made very little difference? I could feel the airflow though the rad but temp's did not improve. I tried moving the rad when it was on to see if it was trapped air but nothing helped, I also tried fans on front of rad(push) and fans on back of rad(pull). Moving it back was really to test if the cooler was dead, i did not think it would get better but now its good? I will let it be now and see if it stays good, if not will get a new one, 360mm one this time as AMD chips get hot.

Quartz · 26 Apr 2021 at 23:56

FredFlint said:
After moving the radiator from the front (tubes at top) to the top of my case I did some testing, and the results are not good.

Are the tubes not long enough to go at the bottom?

damodude · 27 Apr 2021 at 07:25

I'm also wondering what is best AIO radiator position, front or top, push or pull, and tubes at top or bottom? Watched a few youtube videos and there doesn't seem to be much consensus other than to ensure that the pump is below the top of the radiator. Have got a 5950x so am keen to get the best cooling solution I can, am curious to hear how other people have positioned their AIO cooler and fans?

OldKitMan · 27 Apr 2021 at 07:36

damodude said:
I'm also wondering what is best AIO radiator position, front or top, push or pull, and tubes at top or bottom? Watched a few youtube videos and there doesn't seem to be much consensus other than to ensure that the pump is below the top of the radiator. Have got a 5950x so am keen to get the best cooling solution I can, am curious to hear how other people have positioned their AIO cooler and fans?

A lot depends on the case and the length of the tubes. I've got mine at the top of the case as an exhaust as the tubes aren't long enough for me to mount it at the front with the tubes at the bottom of the case.

cavemanoc · 27 Apr 2021 at 09:14

Have you tried reversing the flow - have the rad at the top pulling in cool air, and have the fans at the front pushing it out the front - ideally you want the rad to have the coolest possible air, but you also want a smooth flow of air through the case or other components will start to overheat.

doyll · 27 Apr 2021 at 09:31

Evolv does have some problems, mainly very limited vent area. But when setup properly it has decent airflow. Rad in top as exhaust needs all openings not covered by rad in rad mounting panel blocked off so the air fans move through rad does not circle back into motherboard compartment. There are a couple screws to remove and top can be popped off. top clips on but hash screws as well so top won't pop off when case is picked up by top.

The vent mesh is like tape on vent strips in top. Removing it greatly increases top vent airflow.

evolv-atx-top-rad-brkt-gde-2-jpg.2488204

Same problem of air circling around applies to front venting and it's intake fans.

FredFlint · 27 Apr 2021 at 12:48

Quartz said:
Are the tubes not long enough to go at the bottom?

No

Chris Beard · 28 Apr 2021 at 17:20

I think as long as your rad is above the pump then it's not 'bad' per say.

Was the top of your rad physically lower than the pump?

For 10ΔT°C I'd be tempted to 'do it wrong' anyway!

FredFlint · 28 Apr 2021 at 17:39

Chris Beard said:
I think as long as your rad is above the pump then it's not 'bad' per say.

Was the top of your rad physically lower than the pump?

For 10ΔT°C I'd be tempted to 'do it wrong' anyway!

This is how I have it now:

It was across the top.

tyler_jrb · 28 Apr 2021 at 17:57

FredFlint said:
This is how I have it now:

It was across the top.

Not really much of a problem with that. As long as the pump isnt the highest part it will be fine.

I've had the same case in the past and have had the same experience swapping from front-top mounted. Front mounted the CPU cooler always has fresh cool air. Whereas top mounted it always has generally hotter air from components and much hotter air during gaming from the GPU if it exhausts heat into the case majority of that has to go through the AIO. Which is like raising the ambient by 10c+ during gaming.

Also the top panel/vents in the EVOLV are not brilliant for airflow. The front has much better airflow although not brilliant on the stock version.

I actually had mine machined out for better air flow. But i think the stock ver is a good comprimise. The added noise with the cutout's wasnt worth it for me.

Chris Beard · 28 Apr 2021 at 18:40

FredFlint said:
This is how I have it now:

It was across the top.

This is fine - https://youtu.be/DKwA7ygTJn0

FredFlint · 28 Apr 2021 at 21:08

Chris Beard said:
This is fine - https://youtu.be/DKwA7ygTJn0

Thanks, that makes it very clear, still dont know why it was so bad at the top but not moving it again.

doyll · 29 Apr 2021 at 14:55

To has very little vent area. Maybe half as much as front and even front is quite limited. compound that by not blocking off openings in mounting panel not blocked by radiators and much of the air rad fans pushed through rad was circling around through the holes to mix with and warm up air going through radiator .. warmer air through radiator means coolant doesn't cool down as much so CPU runs hotter. That's why it ran so much hotter in the top.

FredFlint · 29 Apr 2021 at 17:06

doyll said:
To has very little vent area. Maybe half as much as front and even front is quite limited. compound that by not blocking off openings in mounting panel not blocked by radiators and much of the air rad fans pushed through rad was circling around through the holes to mix with and warm up air going through radiator .. warmer air through radiator means coolant doesn't cool down as much so CPU runs hotter. That's why it ran so much hotter in the top.

I blocked all the vents other than where the rad was and removed the top and side, could feel lots of airflow going through rad. All I can think of is air trapped in pump or somewhere, it seemed to be something with the pumps as the liquid temp was hitting 45C, normally its ~28-35C depending on load. I did try move it about when powered to get rid of air but nothing worked so is very strange but it just does not like been at the top? Should not have moved it, was just trying to avoid water dripping noise that my old Intel system sometimes makes.

Drumroll · 29 Apr 2021 at 21:48

Not really a problem using the radiator at the front, unless the pump, which is located in the block seats higher than the highest point of the radiator, which acts/have a reservoir built-in.
Only "issue" is more likely to generate noise and with time, not overnight, due to permeation, the pump will struggle to get coolant.
I would expect, as long both orientations are the same (intake), performance for front and top to be the same, as they don't depend on any other fan for airflow or supply of cooler air.
Quite bad temp for a 3900x. Arctic Freezer would keep mine, before going back to custom loop to silence the GPU, at the same level I'm now, maximum mid 70s.
A slight offset voltage could help boost higher and drop your temps quite a lot.
-0.1 drops mine about 6C. Boosts higher and longer. -0.2 would drop over 10C, but them boost would be affected. All core auto and -0.2 all core about 4.2-4.25. -0.1 all core 4.3-4.35.
But that's all about finding the balance for your chip. Starving your chip of voltage would be as bad as giving it too much "juice".