Should the H115i fans be used as exhaust?

Hello, my fans on my H115i at mounted to the radiator at the top of my case. These fans blow outward and I'm wondering if I'm doing it wrong where they should probably be mounted to the front of the case as intake to cool the fins? Thank you for your time.

Both can work - it depends on a lot of variables. Mounting as exhaust can be more challenging however as you'll tend to suck GPU heat through the radiator, which isn't ideal. You can also - assuming that you have a filter on top - keep them on top and flip them to intake.

There are a lot of variables, but in most cases you are talking about a 2-3C difference due largely to differences in case temperature in different locations. A 2C difference in CPU temp is usually irrelevant and less than daily room temp fluctuations. However, what you have to do to make it fit at one location or another is likely meaningful. Needing to stretch the AIO tubes to the max and rip out all your front drive caddies may be a bad trade for some. All this makes the decision very case case and use specific. But back in the science only realm, the greater the difference in intake air vs coolant temperature across the radiator, the more effective the cooling. For most, the air coming in through the front will be cooler than the air right above your VRM and RAM. Just remember there are no miracles and these kinds of things are usually scrapping for a degree here or there. Edited August 6, 2019 by c-attack

can't recall his name but someone did a review of the 115i on youtube and one of his comments was that its a must to have the any aio at the top of the case instead of the side......

 

personally I like it at the top if you have the room as well as having plenty of fans blowing air in, actually going to the extreme and will have 6 x 120mm fans blowing air in and the the 115i at the top exhausting....WILL KEEP THE DUST OUT :-)

 

 

had a look and its actually a different brand aio that I was considering.............. [ame]

[/ame] at about 5mins 40 ..he says its bad thermal management but he doesn't supply any figures to back up this Edited August 12, 2019 by will_s

Yeah, there is no must to any of this. Most of the time the case is going to dictate options. So going by the exhaust only principle, someone with S340 is limited to a 120mm radiator at top/rear, while I front mount a 360mm. Not much doubt who gets better cooling. While I certainly subscribe to the "it's better to vent your waste heat than dump it into the center of your case" school, there are just too many exceptions and greater factors in designing the system.