Help me with ideas on a CM 690 II w/ an H50

[ability]

Hi all,

Recently purchased the CM 690 II Advanced case and a Corsair H50.

With so many fan options in this case I'm having a heck of a time trying to decide where I need to put all my fans. The case itself can hold up to 10 fans, but I'm not going to be using that many.

http://www.coolermaster.com/product.php?product_id=6638

Front: 140 x 25 mm Blue LED fan x 1 / 1200 RPM / 19 dBA

Rear: 120 mm fan x 1 / 1200 RPM / 17 dBA

Top: 140 x 25 mm fan x 1 / 1200 RPM / 19 dBA (supports 120 / 140 mm fan x 2)

Bottom: 120 mm fan x 2 (optional)

Left side: 120 / 140 mm fan x 2 (optional)

Right side: 80 x 15 mm x 1 (optional)

HDD cage: 120 mm fan x 1 (optional)

VGA holder: 80 x 15 mm fan x 1 (optional)


My main concern is where to put the H50 because Corsair recommends that you bring cold air into the case, so I will be mounting it to the top or rear as intake.

Does anyone have this setup with the H50 or have any suggestions for best airflow? Would having the Rear/Front/Sides all as intake and two 140mm at the top be enough for exhaust? I can also add a fan at the bottom for exhaust as well. Then I would mount the H50 at the rear.

Also.. I plan on putting a fan behind the CPU, would it work better to take hot air off the CPU or blow cool air onto it?

 

[Triggaaar]

Recently purchased the CM 690 II Advanced case and a Corsair H50.

Good choice. I have the same case with the H70.

My main concern is where to put the H50 because Corsair recommends that you bring cold air into the case, so I will be mounting it to the top or rear as intake.

My suggestion is to use the H50 with 2 fans (more important than some of your case fans). Doing so would mean that you can only fit it in the rear position, unless you mod the top of the case - actually, I'm not 100% sure on that, my H70 won't fit at the top as it would hit the botherboard or memory, but the H70 is bigger than the H50 However, the rear position, and adjacent top position are effectively the same, because by the time you've got the rad in there, and 2 fans, it'll take up both positions and be in the same place. The top front is less ideal anyway, as the memory is there, and you don't want to use hot air from the memory (or dump hot air on it). Corsair say to set it to intake - well they would, wouldn't they. They don't care if your motherboard and memory get hot, they just want to say how cool they've got your cpu (I'm not having a dig at Corsair, that's just the way the world is and marketing for you). You're better off keeping the case cool with a few case fans, and setting the H50 to exhaust (1 fan either side of the rad, both exhausting air from the case). If you do go for the rear slot, it's best to remove (with a diy tool like a dremel) the rear grill (as long as kids won't be round the back putting their fingures in). It will help the airflow no end.

Do you have any after market fans?

 

[ability]

Good choice. I have the same case with the H70.

My suggestion is to use the H50 with 2 fans (more important than some of your case fans). Doing so would mean that you can only fit it in the rear position, unless you mod the top of the case - actually, I'm not 100% sure on that, my H70 won't fit at the top as it would hit the botherboard or memory, but the H70 is bigger than the H50 However, the rear position, and adjacent top position are effectively the same, because by the time you've got the rad in there, and 2 fans, it'll take up both positions and be in the same place. The top front is less ideal anyway, as the memory is there, and you don't want to use hot air from the memory (or dump hot air on it). Corsair say to set it to intake - well they would, wouldn't they. They don't care if your motherboard and memory get hot, they just want to say how cool they've got your cpu (I'm not having a dig at Corsair, that's just the way the world is and marketing for you). You're better off keeping the case cool with a few case fans, and setting the H50 to exhaust (1 fan either side of the rad, both exhausting air from the case). If you do go for the rear slot, it's best to remove (with a diy tool like a dremel) the rear grill (as long as kids won't be round the back putting their fingures in). It will help the airflow no end.

Do you have any after market fans?

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm curious what temperatures you're getting when setting it to exhaust?

I have some extra 120mm case fans.

If I set it up as an exhaust at the rear I would have to bring enough cold air into the case for the radiator to be effective wouldn't I? Then I would have the Front, Sides, Bottom? as intake, then the Rear and Top as exhaust?

Do you install the CPU fan? I'm wondering if it's better as an exhaust or intake?

 

[sushicide]

Just finished this build a week ago, I have the first gen 690 w/ H50, but the layout should be pretty much the same.

I put two fans in push-pull config on the rad and wedged it right in the drivebay sitting on top of my DVD-RAM, seems to work pretty well, cpu idles at 25C.

 

[ability]

Just finished this build a week ago, I have the first gen 690 w/ H50, but the layout should be pretty much the same.

I put two fans in push-pull config on the rad and wedged it right in the drivebay sitting on top of my DVD-RAM, seems to work pretty well, cpu idles at 25C.

That's a pretty good idea, is it pulling enough cold air from the front that far into the case? I quickly tried to place mine there and it was a really tight squeeze, I'll have to look at if I can actually get it in there with the tubes on the side like yours, I may just have to have the tubes on the top.

 

[zCypher]

I have this case, pretty happy with it overall and it looks really good too. Actually thinking about changing it for something small since I have a small mobo and live in a small apartment, good case though.

 

[Triggaaar]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'm curious what temperatures you're getting when setting it to exhaust?

My temps are fine. I'll give you the details, but you shouldn't pay much attention to other peoples temps, because not only are all cpus different (require different voltage to reach an overclock), but the cpu temperature gauges are not accurate. For example, some people have idle temp readings at lower than their ambient temperature. Where the temp gauges are useful is in showing you the difference between different set-ups, and as a rough guide.

My 930, with H70 and stock fans:
- 3.8GHz, running prime for 17 hours gave max temps of 68, 66, 68, 63 (ambient was lowish, say 22 C max)
- 4.0GHz, running prime for 13 hours gave max temps of 75, 72, 74, 71 with a 27 C ambient (when ambient was 23 the core temps were all exactly 5 degrees lower).

The only reason (IMO) to set the H50 to intake is if you need the cpu temp down an extra couple of degrees at the cost of everything else.

Note that my case temps are not too high, I don't yet have a hot GC (although when I do I expect to get that heat out of the case anyway).

If I set it up as an exhaust at the rear I would have to bring enough cold air into the case for the radiator to be effective wouldn't I?

No not really. If you want really good temps you'll need to try different set-ups, but with the 690 you don't need to match fan intake with exhaust, because the whole case is so breathable. Although I had planned on more intake fans than exhaust, the case suits negative pressure better than positive. You could quite easily set all of your fans as either intake or exhaust, and it'd work.

Then I would have the Front, Sides, Bottom? as intake, then the Rear and Top as exhaust?

That would be the converntional set-up. You could start theree and then experiment. If you do go for that set-up, you might want to remove the rear grill before you start installing.

 

[Bad Dude]

Good idea but if you have 7 hard drives like I do, you can't put the fan in the front with the drive bay.