The key, therefore, is to add fans that either get rid of this ambient heat or bring in fresh, cooler air to be used. Once I do the CPU AIO successfully it will be time to work on AIO for the GPU. I was thinking of configuriong it as exhaust becuase if I do intake then the only exhaust I will have is the one 120mm fan at the back. Very nice, good read. There is no catch 22. Depends mostly on case airflow/spacing and the actual GPU cooler. I would be mounting the radiator in the top of the case and would look like this setup.. Specs: Putting the AIO in exhaust or intake has a really minor effect on temps actually. I would put radiator in top with front full of intake fans, high pressure rated fans. Hi I’m planning to build a pc with a meshify c the case comes with two stock fans one intake and one exhaust. Nice case! If you have the cpu aio radiator as exhaust, it’s trying to cool the cpu with the air from inside the case, which may have already have been warmed up by the GPU. A: The idea is to create static pressure in the case. Its kiddie cooling. Good looks with lots of funtionality. This is the role of intake and exhaust fans. Yes, and the suggestion in the manual to use the fans as intake is contradicted by the picture right above it that shows the fans in an exhaust position and arrows pointing up and out. I've done a bunch of research and it seems like it's half and half so i'm not sure. again, this has been demonstrated to work. My Phanteks Enthoo Luxe case has one front 200mm fan, one rear 140mm fan, and a Corsair H100i AIO cooler (with two 120mm fans) pushes air through the radiator and exhausts out the top of that case as well. Although if I get the AIO with only One 120mm fan I could do that as intake and keep one fan at the top as exhaust. AIOs are best used as intake. Cs342, I suggest you turn the side fan to exhaust, add a rear fan to exhaust. I would put radiator in top as exhaust. Which way should the fans on the aio cooler go (i think push is better and im leaning that way). Works well. if the case has good airflow more than enough filtered intake to keep up with the aio exhaust and the aio are unloading the vast majority of the heat then having both blowing air out the top would be best. I'm curious. I was using a 280mm radiator in the front initially, I then swapped for the 240mm radiator … I have it as an exhaust with 3 intake fans. The coolant absorbs the heat, the radiator provides an increased surface area for the liquid to be cooled by air flow. Most commonly you want to aim for positive pressure, so if the radiator is in the back or the top, make it exhaust; if it's in the front or bottom, make it intake. If used as an exhaust, the internal components are still getting the same temp air input as before, but are now assisted by the radiator so the CPU will run cooler. I'm new to water cooling and just bought a corsair aio. I have two intake fans on the radiator and a single exhaust fan at the back. Nice rig btw If you install the H60 in either top exhaust position, you can configure a push/pull radiator sandwich with two 120mm fans, which should provide plenty of air flow out of the case. is this a bad air flow? Have a Corsair H110i AIO cooler which will go in the bottom. In my previous system I had my radiator sitting outside the case, but this time I'd like to get it mounted in or on the case in some way. It depends on how the other fans in your case are mounted. Two stock 140 mm fans intake in the front and a stock 140 mm fan in the back for the moment, will stick some pretty ones in later, and I guess the top mount PSU (SeaSonic 650 Plus Focus) will exhaust a little too. For clarification, positive pressure entails having more air flowing in than out, which means more intake fans than outtake fans. That's an AIO. I would suggest 280mm radiator, but then it would flow more air then front intakes … After much extensive testing on UTube (Jay's Two Cents & Linus Tech Tips are 2 good channels to watch) It really does not matter. With the radiator at intake, the radiator will perform some degrees-C better, but you're now pushing warmer air into the case. I have a radiator in push (outside air intake), 2x180mm fans, and a single 120mm exhaust fan. I used them initially in the XPS 8930 mod, and they were great at keeping the i7 8700 temps in check. In short I always push air through the radiator and exhaust at top. If not, use the Noctua 120 x 15mm wide fan instead, the NF A12 x 15 fans which are decent fans and come in black as well. Not ideal as you're not getting cold air coming through but it didn't adversely impact my temps. a) lower front as intake - a la HanoverB. So, if you want optimal overall temps, you should give your radiator fresh air. Why didn't I test this sooner?Top vs. Front radiator placement with different GPUs tested! You have to move the heated air out of the case. Heat rises, so its best on the front or side as intake. #2. Also which way for cooling would be better to install the aio? I have a Corsair H110 with stock fans and I run push intake with the radiator on top, exhaust out the rear 2 fans intake from the front. That's my problem because using it on top is the only option for this case. 2 front and 1 back. This will make it harder for the cpu to shed heat. A: To clean your AIO radiator, you need to blow compressed air through it in a backward direction. But the impact there would be negligible, however the custom loop is going to pull in some graphics cards and cooling efficiency is going to become a priority. 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