First build - AIO and fan setup

[James Buckland]

I went overkill on the CPU cooling for my first build as I liked how the AIO's looked and now while I'm twiddling my thumbs waiting for everything to arrive I've been trying to read up on how to best hook up the radiator and fans. Reading (youtube) only got me so far so I thought I should ask before I go and set it up all wrong. This is the part list for reference:

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: EVGA - CLC 240 74.82 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI - B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Storage: Western Digital - Black NVMe 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
Video Card: Sapphire - Radeon RX VEGA 64 8 GB NITRO+ Video Card
Case: Fractal Design - Define S ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Is there anything I should look out for or any best practises when mounting a radiator / installing the AIO and does it matter which way up the pipes are?

I'm still not sure what the overall goal is when it comes to getting the air temps down, am I trying to get as much air as possible to pass over the components or expel as much of the warm air out the back as possible or is that the same thing?? I was thinking of having the 240mm radiator and one of the 120mm case fans at the front then the other case fan at the back for an exhaust. Does that seem adequate on the air side?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Meritor]

In all honesty unless you are overclocking as long as you have the basic flow right you shouldn't have to worry too much about it, effectively you are looking to achieve this;



With the radiator you have a few options depending on amount of fans and where/how you mount it.

 

[James Buckland]

Thanks! In terms of number of fans would 3 in (2 on radiator) and one out (back) generally be enough or should I order additional for the top? I see a lot of the builds I've been looking at seem to have quite a few exhaust fans top mounted similar to that first image you posted.

 

[James Buckland]

I forgot to ask as well if there are any good guides/books out there on beginner overclocking in regards to what is actually going on? I'm interested to learn in a more theoretical sense to begin with so I can understand what the BIOS settings are actually doing before I go messing around with them.

 

[Meritor]

Thanks! In terms of number of fans would 3 in (2 on radiator) and one out (back) generally be enough or should I order additional for the top? I see a lot of the builds I've been looking at seem to have quite a few exhaust fans top mounted similar to that first image you posted.

I have 10 fans in my case (excluding GPU/PSU); 3 up front (air in), one on bottom (air in), 4 on my radiator (Push/Pull out), 2 on the rear (air out). Hot air rises so having more means to exhaust it at the top of your case will help, just remember that there is a limit on how cool you are going to get something with air cooling (additionally, more fans = more noise).

I forgot to ask as well if there are any good guides/books out there on beginner overclocking in regards to what is actually going on? I'm interested to learn in a more theoretical sense to begin with so I can understand what the BIOS settings are actually doing before I go messing around with them.

I would say a good community (like here) or discord group would be best, as you can ask questions based on what you see on your screen and get fast direct responses to any questions (books/guides/YouTube are a good means to get the basics but not much help if you get stuck).