Corsair H60 In An Omen By HP Obelisk Desktop? TAGS:

We were out Christmas shopping and I saw this computer at Best Buy.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-omen-by-hp-obelisk-desktop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-rtx-2080-2tb-hard-drive-256gb-ssd-hp-finish-in-shadow-black/6285801.p?skuId=6285801

I have been wanting to update to a more modern computer recently since I was still running with a Intel 26k CPU and a EVGA GTX970 FTW GPU. I did upgrade to SSD a couple weeks ago though. My old computer will be going to my girlfriend's son, although I'm keeping the 1 gig SSD from it and replacing the 2GB HDD in this one with it.

Anyway, I use a Corsair closed loop cooling system in my old computer and went ahead and purchased another one. It's a single fan unit and it should fit in the micro case easily as it's only a 120mm fan.

My question is, this computer only has one exhaust fan and no other intake fans. It has venting at the top and bottom. Which way should I place the fan for this Corsair H60?

I am guessing exhausting it out, but it'll just be blowing hot air from the case over the radiator.

No sure fire way to know with out testing each position, but likely common sense is going to dictate your placement. It's not so much the air being dragged across the fins as it is the temperature of the local environment. Sitting above an actively loaded GPU will be a warmer spot, but the front installation spot looks choked by the front fascia. If the top venting is open, it is likely the rear fan will draw air in through the top anyway when as moderate or better speed. It looks like you might have enough space to try top exhaust or intake positions as well. You can always buy another $15 fan for the rear exhaust and if there are no intake fans, you'll need to address that as well.

What I am thinking after watching a quick video on this computer is that I can just mount it on the back as an intake, possibly, and then have a fan on the top blowing out. The video that I mentioned said there is room at the top for liquid cooling.

I'm figuring that I can put the fan radiator combo on the back and an exhaust fan on top. Can the H60 be top mounted?

This is my first time buying a pre-made computer in about 15 years. I usually just build them myself, but the price of doing so is right up there with the pre-builts now. The video card alone is $700+ dollars.

... I can just mount it on the back as an intake, possibly, and then have a fan on the top blowing out. The video that I mentioned said there is room at the top for liquid cooling.

That's probably the position I am least keen on. You get stung twice with that. The external "cooler air" is like not cool at all. You will be sucking up a lot of GPU waste heat from the back of the case and if you push it back toward a wall as most would do, that area behind the case the is quite warm as well - more so than the case interior. If you really don't have any GPU load this is less of a concern, but that doesn't apply to many. Regardless of intake/exhaust on the fan, the direct proximity to the GPU is where a lot of the heat comes from. 2 inches above the rear of the GPU directly warms the bottom of the radiator. It's a hotspot and fan direction won't help. You're not go to melt anything with any of these configurations, so you are welcome to try them all and see how they compare.

If you are looking for a single recommendation, my initial attempt would be front intake, H60 as exhaust in the top-front, with additional exhaust fans at the top-rear and rear-exhaust. This gets the radiator physically out of the warm zone, a steady source of air to it, and keeps the rear exhaust free to get rid of GPU waste heat. Without the radiator blocking flow, the rear fan can move twice as much volume. Now that's all nice in theory, but sometimes the way things fit together or look may not be totally acceptable.

That's probably the position I am least keen on. You get stung twice with that. The external "cooler air" is like not cool at all. You will be sucking up a lot of GPU waste heat from the back of the case and if you push it back toward a wall as most would do, that area behind the case the is quite warm as well - more so than the case interior. If you really don't have any GPU load this is less of a concern, but that doesn't apply to many. Regardless of intake/exhaust on the fan, the direct proximity to the GPU is where a lot of the heat comes from. 2 inches above the rear of the GPU directly warms the bottom of the radiator. It's a hotspot and fan direction won't help. You're not go to melt anything with any of these configurations, so you are welcome to try them all and see how they compare.

 

If you are looking for a single recommendation, my initial attempt would be front intake, H60 as exhaust in the top-front, with additional exhaust fans at the top-rear and rear-exhaust. This gets the radiator physically out of the warm zone, a steady source of air to it, and keeps the rear exhaust free to get rid of GPU waste heat. Without the radiator blocking flow, the rear fan can move twice as much volume. Now that's all nice in theory, but sometimes the way things fit together or look may not be totally acceptable.

Thank you for your response.

The front panel doesn't allow for front intake fans. It only has the rear fan and the CPU fan.

Sorry - too many positional words in that sentence. I was thinking the top of the case, 1st forward position. It looks like there is 50mm of room up top, but it's hard to tell.

The front panel doesn't allow for front intake fans. It only has the rear fan and the CPU fan.

What?!? Are you saying the front is sealed? No side inlets hidden on the front fascia? Not uncommon for suppliers to skimp on the included fans to cut cost, but not leaving mounting options is something else. That would certainly complicate things. If it really does come down to that, and there is no top mounting, then on the back in goes and you can flip the fan in 5 minutes to see which direction is least harmful.