Can the 280x handle the 9900k (AIO cooled) and an Rtx 2080ti?

Hello Everyone!

This is my first time building a pc.

I want to go as Small form factor as possible without risking high thermals.

I would like to make this build last 7-10 years if possible.

Out of all the cases, I thought the 280x would be great however, I’m worried about thermals.

Build:

GPU - asus rog strix GeForce rtx2080 ti OC

Power supply - Corsair SF Series™ SF750— 750 Watt 80 PLUS® Platinum Certified

CPU - intel I9 9900K

Motherboard - MSI MPG Z390M( micro itx motherboard) or Asus Rog Strix z390i (mini itx motherboard) having trouble deciding..

RAM - Corsair - Dominator Platinum 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory

Hard drive 1 - 512GB 970 PRO NVMe M.2 Ssd

Hard drive 2 - Samsung SSD 860 EVO 2TB 2.5 Inch SATA III

Would I have OK thermals if I had Two fans on the top as Intake, two fans on the bottom as Intake (directly below the gpu blowing into the fans), and the AIO grill with fans as exhaust in the front of the case?

I’m pretty sure the rtx2080ti Strix oc would fit right?

Thank You Very Much for your help!

If you feel this case would bake those internals even with the additional fans , what case would recommend with my components?

Would the h400 be able to handle it ?

I really like the 280x and would even raise the bottom pegs as well as the glass top panel If that could help thermals.

Thank You!

TBH, you'd be a better off with the front radiator as intake and the top as exhaust. I would suggest a 280mm radiator rather than a 240mm.

Not sure about GPU fit however.

Thank you, so it wouldn’t cook it?

Also, wouldn’t that mean the fans would be bringing in warm air from the hot radiator?

The air coming off the radiator will be approximately the same as the coolant temperature. That is going to range between 23-40C depending on the room temp and load. On the other hand, the air coming off your GPU is going to be about 50C+ at all times which you would then feed directly into the radiator. Hot air in, hotter air out.

Small builds are tough and there is always going to be compromise. Blasting case fans at the GPU won't make it cooler. It might help move the hot air around the GPU somewhere else, but it would be preferable not to have that place be through the CPU cooling radiator. I don't know about putting dual bottom fans 10mm below the GPU. I wonder a bit about the effect on the GPUs own fans (that is the only thing that will cool the internals). If you keep the speed low, it might be OK longer terms but then is that really that much better than passive? Only someone with the case who has tested will know. I think I would start with them as intake on the bottom, just to keep the case air flow up and out. Without it, the top rear exhaust will do a lot of pulling from outside the case through the rear mesh. That doesn't really help out too much. With more bottom push and front air intake, the rear mesh can become a passive exhaust outlet rather than a passive intake. That may indeed have more value for general case temps.

No, I don't think you will cook it and there a lot of people in the 280X with heavy GPUs that may be able to add actual data.

The air coming off the radiator will be approximately the same as the coolant temperature. That is going to range between 23-40C depending on the room temp and load. On the other hand, the air coming off your GPU is going to be about 50C+ at all times which you would then feed directly into the radiator. Hot air in, hotter air out.

 

Small builds are tough and there is always going to be compromise. Blasting case fans at the GPU won't make it cooler. It might help move the hot air around the GPU somewhere else, but it would be preferable not to have that place be through the CPU cooling radiator. I don't know about putting dual bottom fans 10mm below the GPU. I wonder a bit about the effect on the GPUs own fans (that is the only thing that will cool the internals). If you keep the speed low, it might be OK longer terms but then is that really that much better than passive? Only someone with the case who has tested will know. I think I would start with them as intake on the bottom, just to keep the case air flow up and out. Without it, the top rear exhaust will do a lot of pulling from outside the case through the rear mesh. That doesn't really help out too much. With more bottom push and front air intake, the rear mesh can become a passive exhaust outlet rather than a passive intake. That may indeed have more value for general case temps.

 

No, I don't think you will cook it and there a lot of people in the 280X with heavy GPUs that may be able to add actual data.

Thank you I really appreciate your explanation.

Here are acouple builds that are similar that I found on pcpartpicker

They sort of dissuade me because of thermals but if I’m wrong please let me know.

None of them have a 9900k and a 2080ti though :/

The ones below mostly just have 9900k’s

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/9ctgXL

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/KPD2FT. <- temps in this build seem high right?

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/NJXPxr

I am sorry, I don't want to be annoying I am just a little scared and want to make a good investment.. Here is Pcpart picker search with the 2080ti and here is a search with the 9900k.. no one has them together,

9900k - https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/#c=1179&e=692,1779,1778

2080ti - https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/#e=692,1779,1778&g=424

This is my last post btw lol. once you or anyone looks at those builds and temps and gives me the OK i will make the purchase

The air coming off the radiator will be approximately the same as the coolant temperature. That is going to range between 23-40C depending on the room temp and load. On the other hand, the air coming off your GPU is going to be about 50C+ at all times which you would then feed directly into the radiator. Hot air in, hotter air out.

 

Small builds are tough and there is always going to be compromise. Blasting case fans at the GPU won't make it cooler. It might help move the hot air around the GPU somewhere else, but it would be preferable not to have that place be through the CPU cooling radiator. I don't know about putting dual bottom fans 10mm below the GPU. I wonder a bit about the effect on the GPUs own fans (that is the only thing that will cool the internals). If you keep the speed low, it might be OK longer terms but then is that really that much better than passive? Only someone with the case who has tested will know. I think I would start with them as intake on the bottom, just to keep the case air flow up and out. Without it, the top rear exhaust will do a lot of pulling from outside the case through the rear mesh. That doesn't really help out too much. With more bottom push and front air intake, the rear mesh can become a passive exhaust outlet rather than a passive intake. That may indeed have more value for general case temps.

 

No, I don't think you will cook it and there a lot of people in the 280X with heavy GPUs that may be able to add actual data.

I can fit the 280mm radiator up top but then it would have to be exhaust.. Is this still okay?

i

Here's my experience with the 280x with a Core i7-8700K and the RTX 2080ti.

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=186882

While not the 9900K, it should give you an idea of what to plan for. I believe your build is completely possible in the 280x, you just need to plan accordingly for exhausting the heat.

Best regards,

Tony

Here's my experience with the 280x with a Core i7-8700K and the RTX 2080ti.

 

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=186882

 

While not the 9900K, it should give you an idea of what to plan for. I believe your build is completely possible in the 280x, you just need to plan accordingly for exhausting the heat.

 

Best regards,

 

Tony

Thank you very much!

my 280mm AIO radiator I know will fit the top but do you think it will fit if I put it in the front? According to the Corsair website the answer is No.

However, I know your graphics card is around 10 inches long.

My graphics card is 12 inches long and in this picture that means there is no way my card can fit with the 240mm AIO radiator right? With the stock fans the card will just be touching the card.

Or am I wrong? In your picture of your case you have a fan, the radiator, and another fan. and your card still has some wiggle room being 10 inches long.. Can just a 240mm AIO radiator fit with the fans that come with it next to my GPU? I would much rather have the radiator in the front so I don't have a hotter cpu. I am actually baffled how you were able to fit all of that?

I am really confused because that guys picture shows the max length is 12 inches with fans there.. is the 240mm radiator with the fans mounted to it the same thickness as those fans?

Btw your Noctua Redux 80 x2 80mm fans in the back are awesome! I've never seen that before how did you do that? What do you mean when you say "additional screw pilot holes"?

Thank you so much your build and info has helped me dramatically.

Thanks for your note. Unfortunately, the 280mm rad up front will be too tall, that is the issue more than the depth and width of the rad. As I noted, I even had to make some mounting compromises to get my 240mm rad in with a push/pull configuration.

Your 12 inch RTX 2080ti will also be around a quarter of an inch too long even with the 240mm rad front mounted with only one fan depth (not push/pull). Its damn close, but I also don't think you'd have enough room to actually move it around for installation. That was tight even in my configuration with the smaller card.

So I think the top mount AIO is the way to go in your build if you want to go with the longer RTX card.

Regarding the Noctua fans, yes, I had to drill a few additional pilot holes in the case to accommodate the 4 fan mounting screws for each one. You have to take time and do it carefully, but mine looked very clean in the end - almost as if intended for the fan mountings.

Note, while I agree bottom mounted fans as intake won't cool the GPU, it moves the air and made a 5C temp degree difference between my card running at 75C max vs. pushing into the 80s. So, be sure to consider bottom intake fans.

Best of luck with your build!

Tony

Thanks for your note. Unfortunately, the 280mm rad up front will be too tall, that is the issue more than the depth and width of the rad. As I noted, I even had to make some mounting compromises to get my 240mm rad in with a push/pull configuration.

 

Your 12 inch RTX 2080ti will also be around a quarter of an inch too long even with the 240mm rad front mounted with only one fan depth (not push/pull). Its damn close, but I also don't think you'd have enough room to actually move it around for installation. That was tight even in my configuration with the smaller card.

 

So I think the top mount AIO is the way to go in your build if you want to go with the longer RTX card.

 

Regarding the Noctua fans, yes, I had to drill a few additional pilot holes in the case to accommodate the 4 fan mounting screws for each one. You have to take time and do it carefully, but mine looked very clean in the end - almost as if intended for the fan mountings.

 

Note, while I agree bottom mounted fans as intake won't cool the GPU, it moves the air and made a 5C temp degree difference between my card running at 75C max vs. pushing into the 80s. So, be sure to consider bottom intake fans.

 

Best of luck with your build!

 

Tony

Thank you very much! I will let you know how it goes. I will more than likely be buying those two fans and drilling as well. do the 7 fans all plug into the motherboard? or do I have to buy a splitter of some kind? can you explain how to do that?

Once I put my card in and see how close they are to the stock fans I will see if I can fit a 240mm radiator but probably not haha.

What would make the cpu cooler? Having the fans or the radiator closer to the motherboard up top? I would say fans right?

I was also thinking of cutting out a piece of the top of the case and having the radiator sit on top of the case and have the pipes come down through the cut out?

The two Noctua fans connect to a fan connector on the motherboard via a splitter cable. All the other fans are connected to a Commander Pro, with the exception of the AIO connected to the CPU Fan motherboard header and the ML fans that connect to the leads from the AIO cooler. Highly recommend the Commander Pro as using the provided Temp Monitor cables make both monitoring and tweaking the fan curves much easier. Note, I also put a fan in the side compartment, so 10 fans in total in this case... lol! Some serious overkill and likely well past the diminishing return theory of managing case temps.

I would definitely go with fans closer to the motherboard up top. Unfortunately, the exhaust will likely impact the rad performance, but I don't think trying to do intake via the top fans makes much sense given heat rises regardless.

Putting the rad up top via the removal of the glass seems doable, though perhaps a slight mod to accommodate the pipes. Not sure how it would look visually? Perhaps a bit industrial, which could be kind of cool now that you mention it.... don't give me any ideas! ;)

Tony

Oh wow I didn't realize I would have to buy the Commander Pro. I have the MSI MPG gamers edge AC mobo, without looking I can guess I have a fan connector for the two noctua fans.

I am going to fit the motherboard first with the gpu installed to see where I am at with clearances first. Once I get it to boot then I will have to order the other fans and the commander pro. If my GPU is just barely touching the two front fans that come with the case I will leave them there and just get two 140mm for the bottom of the case, if that even fits.

Should I attach the AIO heat sink to the motherboard before mounting it to the case or should I install the AIO radiator and fans first to make getting the mobo in easier and then putting my thermal paste on the cpu and tightening down?

What order do you think is best for that and the other components?

Now that I think about it am i okay with the 850 watt power supply that I bought?

I think you should be in good shape with the 850W overall. I wouldn't install the AIO cooler to the CPU and motherboard first. Install the AIO cooler mounting bracket and standoffs on your motherboard, but hold off on the actual installation of the cooler with thermal paste until you know you've got the rad and fans installed.

You don't have to go the Commander Pro route if you have enough fan headers on your motherboard, but it does bring other benefit to the build if you are planning on adding RGB fans, LED strips, etc... though all within the Corsair eco-system. I went that way just for ease of use and desptite some of the issues you read about in the forums about the iCUE software - I find it actually to be one of the best in terms of features and functionality.

Ah okay I see, Yeah I am not the biggest fan for the RGB so hopefully it has enough headers! if it doesn't I'll just get the commander pro. but when its connected to the motherboard it's the motherboard talking straight to the fans on how much RPM right?

That's correct, you'll rely upon the motherboard bios and/or software to control. For me, I found managing the desired rpms and thresholds were just easier with the Commander Pro - also easier to route all the cables to one central spot versus multiple locations on the motherboard. So a cleaner look.

Holy smokes haha just putting the gpu into the case without the mobi barely fits!

I got the rog Strix because of the 3 fans for better cooling so hopefully it fits when the mobo is in!

Question, the Corsair manual says to use the fans with the radiator as Intake. Could I put my 280mm AIO on the top taking in and the two front fans as exhaust? Would that keep things cooler?

would be better to intake from front so airflow through the case would be better as opposed to intake on the top. Also depending on motherboard the 280mm AIO would be a tight fit.

Oh yea, btw I had your dilemma of choosing ROG z390i or MSI Z390m and I ultimately went with the Z390I as the integrated I/O shield, as well as bigger heatsink for the VRMs would do better.

The MSI z390m however, has a more cable management friendly layout. As I have the 280x case as well, its a flat usb 3.0 cable so having the z390m right angle mount would have been easier than a bottom/normal mount usb 3.0 header. The M-ATX has 4 ram slots keep in mind whereas Itx has only 2

The z390m also doesnt come with heatspreaders for the M.2 drives whereas the z390i does. That will be another deciding factor in your build. As you mentioned you are using corsair rgb ram, Msi mystic light will support the ram whereas Asus Aura sync does not support corsair rgb ram (unless you are using the vengeance rgb non pro)

Hey guys so I built the computer! It’s great! I will send pictures! I went with the MSI MPG Z390m because I can upgrade my ram in the future!

Tjgodin, I’m going to buy those exhaust fans but I don’t know if I want to drill. The holes on either side look like they are meant for fans but maybe different dimensions ?

Hey guys so I built the computer! It’s great! I will send pictures! I went with the MSI MPG Z390m because I can upgrade my ram in the future!

 

Tjgodin, I’m going to buy those exhaust fans but I don’t know if I want to drill. The holes on either side look like they are meant for fans but maybe different dimensions ?

The back of the 280x just has air holes, just not officially designed for fan mounting however the holes are the right size to fit the fan mounting screws through. While I used 2x 80mm fans from Noctua, part of the exhaust is blocked as to your point the air holes don't cover an 80mm wide area. The air holes were only there for passive exhaust. Regardless, an option, if you so choose. Note, I drilled the extra holes so I could use 4 screws to mount each fan however, you likely can get a secure mount without drilling the case. The fans just may not be completely flush, given you may only get 2 screw mounts based on the existing air holes.

Hope this helps.

Tony