Corsair Air 240 & 1080 FTW: best airflow setups?

Hi!

Could you please give suggestions for the best airflow setups for the Corsair Air 240 with a 1080 FTW?

I have an H100i v2 mounted on the front as intake (pull) and 1 fan on top extract and trying to lower the 1080 FTW temps: with the 3 fans (SP120 PWM) at minimum rpm I have 81C at AIDA stress tests.

Increase rpm? How much for the H100i v2 and for the top fan?

Add another fan at bottom? 2 maybe? A 120mm with 25mm does not fit, so it would have to be either a 92mm with 25mm with PWM or a 120mm with 12mm without PWM. Which is better?And it should be intake or extract? How much rpm?

Or would it be better to have push/pull on H100i v2? Better by how much?

So many questions..

The goal is to have the coolest possible (specially the 1080 FTW and the Samsung 950 pro) with least amount of noise :)

Thank you in advance for any help!

http://cdn.overclock.net/9/92/925833e8_179442.bf32837749e7a1e052ccda398e2bf47b.1600.jpeg

It looks to me like you are pulling warm air in through the radiator, which is then sitting around inside the case, warming everything (including your 1080) up. Push/pull is probably not a good idea, you may reduce the water temp by a couple of degrees, but you would have more warm air coming into your case, which is the last thing you want/need.

I would put a second 120 mm fan on the top as an exhaust fan, maybe an 80 mm fan on the back, as an exhaust fan. I would also consider putting a 120 mm fan on the bottom as an intake (as long as the computer isn't sat on a carpet) to get some much neede cool air into the case.

It looks to me like you are pulling warm air in through the radiator, which is then sitting around inside the case, warming everything (including your 1080) up. Push/pull is probably not a good idea, you may reduce the water temp by a couple of degrees, but you would have more warm air coming into your case, which is the last thing you want/need.

 

I would put a second 120 mm fan on the top as an exhaust fan, maybe an 80 mm fan on the back, as an exhaust fan. I would also consider putting a 120 mm fan on the bottom as an intake (as long as the computer isn't sat on a carpet) to get some much neede cool air into the case.

Thank you very much! It seemed to work like magic :)

Adding an additional top fan as exhaust and an intake on the bottom (this one on the far back of the case), made the GPU temps go down 8C (and other parts even more, like the Samsung 950Pro). But these stock fans were running at max rpm so I am not sure if I will maintain these figures when I put PWM ones with lower rpm.

On a positive note, I did an experience by adding a second fan on the bottom (this one more close to the H100i v2, also at max rpm) and although some parts got improved temps (SSD and motherboard), the GPU got worse so it is not a simple matter of "dumping" fans in the case.

I also thought on modifying the fan's curve of the EVGA and when entered OCX it showed that for a target power of 100% the target temp is indicating 81C. These two sliders are linked (more power means more temp) but I think I can unlink them. Is there any arm on unlinking them by keeping the target power to 100% and say the temp reduced to 74C? This way, with the additional fans, I could be seeing a GPU temp of around 67C?

Reading a few reviews on the 1080 I got the impression that it wasn't a particularly hot running card so I would be surprised if it gave problems as long as you have a decent through flow of air.

You should be able to turn the case fan speeds down to a reasonable level without sacrificing too much of your temperature improvement. Asus Fan Xpert can control the case fans using DC or PWM, and I use it to control my fans (Link doesn't work on my system). I have 3 x 120 mm brown and beige fans in the front, a 140 mm In the back as an exhaustand an H110i GT in the top as exhaust, and my system stays cool and quiet, but then I have a big spacious case and quiet fans so it should.

I can only suggest that you experiment, unless c-attack has one of his brilliant insights. The man knows more about computer cooling than pretty much anyone on here (and elsewhere).

Generally with small cases you need to focus on exhaust capability. You don't have the extra volume of air the hold the heat and need to evacuate quickly. The options are somewhat limited for placement, so I think you are doing the best you can.

I would keep the bottom fan as intake, almost solely for the 950 Pro. Those little guys are extremely temperature reactive. Even in my much larger 540 with very low case temperatures, my 950 pro can swing 10C in either direction based on the fan type I used in the front of the case. I am considering a 740 Carbide for the same bottom fans placements to address the issue further.

Don't think of push-pull as more air or cooler, but the ability to move the same amount of air through the radiator at lower speeds. So perhaps 4 SP120 at 800 rpm will move the same amount of air as 2 SP120 at 1200 rpm. This can help make the desktop work environment a bit quieter, although you have to factor 4 moving fans versus 2 as well. The higher in the RPM band you go, the less benefit you receive from push-pull. The bottom fan makes a better direct cooling source for the 950 pro, so don't do it for that reason. Do it because you need your idle speeds a bit lower (idle temps should not matter much regardless) or to keep the mid level speeds down when gaming. This is the last puzzle piece. Address all other needs first.

The other exhaust option is a 80/92mm fan on the back grill above the GPU. It may further help with GPU waste heat. It may also force the larger fan above to pull air from in the case, instead of in through the back grill. Take a small piece of paper and see if it sticks to back grill while running. That would suggest the top fan is drawing air from outside the case.

If you want to manage the GPU and case temps (along with 950 Pro), use EVGA precision to set up a custom fan curve. If your model is one of the "zero fan" types that doesn't run until XX degrees and then has to blast the fans to regain control. Not a great strategy. Even just minimal GPU fan speed will take a chunk off the GPU temps and help exhaust idle GPU waste heat out the back. This should further help the 950 pro. Even 20% is plenty and should keep it unnoticeable. If not, make your own GPU curve anyway and set it to your liking. Don't bother unlinking the GPU temp and power levels. It doesn't do what you think. That's the throttle point. It will not really reduce your current GPU temps until you hit the limit and the effect in game is disastrous.

Thank you so very much c-attack! You were really helpful :)

You were right snapper69 (both times: the solution and about c-attack) :)

Cheers!

Just to put some closure on this topic and thank again for your help:

Added an additional fan on the top (extract) and another fan on the bottom (intake).

EVGA 1080 FTW temperature on full load stress tests stabilises at 71C (before it was 81C), and Samsung 950 Pro at 57C (before it was 70C, where it is known to throttle).

With a mATX motherboard in this case, the bottom 120mm fan is not fixed to it, but its dimension in that position makes it possible to be nicely tucked with no vibrations, between the side panel and the motherboard connectors, so all is good and I avoided to use a 92mm fan (which is noisier).

I also set a custom curve to the EVGA 1080 FTW: 30% fans speed until 50C, 50% fans between 50C and 60C, 60% between 60C and 70C, and finally 70% for temps from 70C up.

I have now a virtually silent computer for the everyday tasks and the top and bottom fans kick in higher rpm depending on PCH temperature while gaming (it is still not loud being all Corsair's fans the Quiet Edition and I do not hear it anyway since I use the awesome Logitech G933).

Thank you very much for your help!

how many mm to you have from the grafic card to the plexidoor ?

Around 10.

For more details on out to install the 1080 FTW please check:

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/Czbj4D