Top is the exhaust point, the left and right are basically perforated like you said. Gpu on one side and CPU on the other. The bottom of the case is elevated so I assume that's where the intake of fresh air is with some possibility of side. The sides have no fans attached. Based on https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/ryzen-9-3900x-voltage-and-temperature.257295/ I have set the voltage to be 1.25v. I am getting 46C/47C idle on CPU now and coolant is around 37C/38C.. seems just slightly better. I have also taken out the top cover so radiator exhaust is completely unobstructed.
In the R20 test, I only tested the multi-core of the CPU, no GPU at all. I wonder though if the GPU 55C heat rises into the fan/radiator contributes to upping the radiant idle temp.
Setting the profile of the H100i Pro to quiet, the fan noise is doable at idle, for gaming, it is bearable. The question then is 40C/45C bad for radiator an hour or two a day? What I could also test my system without any panels (left, right, top) and see if the temp improves. But in reality, without any external factors, the radiator should be sitting slightly over ambient right?