Front mounting H110i? Doesn't fit up top.

Hey there, I'm doing my first build and encountered a problem. I have a Corsair 570x case and wanted to mount the H110i CPU cooler at the top of the case, but it won't fit due to what looks like a heat sink on the mobo (STRIX H370-F).

If I remove the heat sink it should fit, but I assume I don't want to do that.

So, I've mounted the H110i at the front of the case, which sandwiches the radiator right up against the front case fans. Will this be an issue? If both sets of fans are pulling air into the case, I assume it should be OK, but I don't know how hot these things get. I don't know if I'll be overclocking - I will be using it for motion graphics and 3D work, not gaming. If front-mounting is ok, I just want to check that I've done it correctly.

I've attached a few pics for reference. Thanks in advance!

You do not want to remove the heat sink for the VRM!!! A VRM on a higher end system should never be naked!

Mounting it at the front is fine and sandwiching the rad with fans, all blowing in the same direction can give you better performance at lower speed and sound. Though as I look at yours I am a little perplexed, I don't think I have ever seen someone mount 140Fan/140Rad/120Fan. That is highly usually and I can't say as I have ever seen any benchmarks done. So I can't say off hand if it would be better or worst. You could always do benchmarks and test it for yourself. Many people will have opinions, though unless their is data or benchmarks to back it up, it will be hard to say. I do know 120mm tend to have higher static pressure than 140mm, so who knows. Maybe a spacer/shroud fan adapter would help as it would alleviate some of the dead spaces from the fan hubs.

Personally I generally recommend mounting an AIO as exhuast as it will lower GPU temps as that tends to be a bigger limiter in performance. Though it is fine the way you have it, you are most likely talking about only a few degrees C, when over clocking. If you said you can't get it to mount it up top, then

In all as long as it mounted with more than a few screws, then you should be fine.

You do not want to remove the heat sink for the VRM!!! A VRM on a higher end system should never be naked!

 

Mounting it at the front is fine and sandwiching the rad with fans, all blowing in the same direction can give you better performance at lower speed and sound. Though as I look at yours I am a little perplexed, I don't think I have ever seen someone mount 140Fan/140Rad/120Fan. That is highly usually and I can't say as I have ever seen any benchmarks done. So I can't say off hand if it would be better or worst. You could always do benchmarks and test it for yourself. Many people will have opinions, though unless their is data or benchmarks to back it up, it will be hard to say. I do know 120mm tend to have higher static pressure than 140mm, so who knows. Maybe a spacer/shroud fan adapter would help as it would alleviate some of the dead spaces from the fan hubs.

 

 

Personally I generally recommend mounting an AIO as exhuast as it will lower GPU temps as that tends to be a bigger limiter in performance. Though it is fine the way you have it, you are most likely talking about only a few degrees C, when over clocking. If you said you can't get it to mount it up top, then

 

In all as long as it mounted with more than a few screws, then you should be fine.

@solarity - thanks for the response. I figured removing the heat sink would be a bad idea ;)

Mounting it there wasn't my original plan, but it's the best I could come up with... Not sure if there's a better way of doing it? Not sure what you're saying about static pressure.

Are you suggesting that I add some space between the case fans and the radiator? Not sure what you're saying about the dead spaces either - as I'd mentioned, this is my first build, so I'm kinda winging it...

No, you are fine front mounting it and everyone who owns a 460/570 pretty much has to do the same. The 3x120 front (push), 2x140 interior (pull) is the standard solution and it is just fine to run this way. The only other people not really doing this bought a 360mm and they are also running it as front intake.

I too prefer to exhaust waste heat whenever possible, but it isn't always catastrophic or even mildly detrimental. On a 8700K, you don't have a massive amount of wattage to dissipate, even when overclocked high. Mine is at 5.0 GHz and right before putting on my current loop, I spend a few weeks with my H115i PRO on the front intake of my 740 Air. It fits perfectly up top and that is always where I've kept the CPU radiator. Too my surprise, the results were the same and occasionally even better. However, it was not the commonly cited "cooler exterior air" that makes the difference. With a thermal gun, it was plain to see the the -2C reduction in coolant temp was because the front panel area was 2C cooler than the top of the case, the warmest part. Now this would be even better if the 570 had some bottom fans for assist, but nevertheless you won't have a ton of heat to vent from the CPU. The GPU's load level will be the dominant factor in case heat management.

No, you are fine front mounting it and everyone who owns a 460/570 pretty much has to do the same. The 3x120 front (push), 2x140 interior (pull) is the standard solution and it is just fine to run this way. The only other people not really doing this bought a 360mm and they are also running it as front intake.

 

I too prefer to exhaust waste heat whenever possible, but it isn't always catastrophic or even mildly detrimental. On a 8700K, you don't have a massive amount of wattage to dissipate, even when overclocked high. Mine is at 5.0 GHz and right before putting on my current loop, I spend a few weeks with my H115i PRO on the front intake of my 740 Air. It fits perfectly up top and that is always where I've kept the CPU radiator. Too my surprise, the results were the same and occasionally even better. However, it was not the commonly cited "cooler exterior air" that makes the difference. With a thermal gun, it was plain to see the the -2C reduction in coolant temp was because the front panel area was 2C cooler than the top of the case, the warmest part. Now this would be even better if the 570 had some bottom fans for assist, but nevertheless you won't have a ton of heat to vent from the CPU. The GPU's load level will be the dominant factor in case heat management.

@c-attack - thanks for the answers. That's good to know. Am I OK with having the rad sandwiched up against the front fans like that, or should I add some kind of spacing? BTW, to attach the rad, I had to run 4 long screws on either side of the front fans into the rad. I used metal washers at the front of the case - not sure if I should add rubber in there somewhere to dampen any vibration? Cheers!

No, you did the right way for that hardware and that is how others have done it as well. I also agree you don't need space and it is better with the fans as a flush fit. The 140s in back will do most of the work, but the front 120s still move air through sections of the radiator and it is better with both sides, then one alone. Besides, the biggest reason to keep the front 120x3 is for the signature lighting aspect.

If you start hearing rumbles and tumbles from the front fans, you can try using rubber gaskets and washers to reduce contact vibrations, but I wouldn't bother until there is an issue. Also, you should not need to blast the fans in this arrangement. I rarely go over 800 on my H115i with just the single pair. Coolant delta is about +6C. I am not going to run 1400 to reduce the CPU temp by 2 degrees.

@mdouglas - I stand by my last statement that you should be fine for your use case, so long as the fans rads are mounted securely. I didn't mean to confuse you, the "Maybe" was intended to imply speculation for a possible solution, as I have never seen anyone use 120mm fans with a 140mm rad. I defer to benchmarks and data whenever I can and try to infer speculation when I have a hypothesis. Also for other people to weigh in. The science behind thermal dynamics is a lot more than many of us armchair scientist understand. We could talk about ways how to improve your temps by a 1 or 2 C's, though I don't think it is worth wild, especially as you are not over clocking. Thinking about it a shroud/adapter wouldn't most likely work as the fan spacing might be thrown off and might cause issues mounting. Just make sure you put the heat sink back on ;-)

@c-attack - While I do like AIO to exhaust out of the case to benefit the GPU, in my custom loop I do have 2x360mm rads all as intake as I have my GPU and CPU in the same loop, so I don't have to worry about the case air temps for my GPU. My system does get decent positive airflow and my VRMs tolerate a lot of head and don't get too warm to begin with. Using the cooler outside air will mean that heat will transfer from the fins and water channels to the air better. This is with Newton's Law of Cooling: The rate of change of the temperature of an object is proportional to the difference between its own temperature and the ambient temperature . I think this is one reason why a longer rads preform so well, you have a greater surface area facing the cooler ambient air. While a thicker radiator can have greater surface area, as the air moves through the radiator it warms up and the transfer of heat is decreased proportionally. There are so many variables involved in cooling it can make your head spin. Though it is a lot of fun to talk about.