Top Mounted Radiator, Intake or Exhaust

[MandoPatriot]

I have a top mounted radiator, XSPC RX360, and will have push pull fans. My question is, is it better to have them set for exhaust or intake?

 

I have an HAF 932 Advanced case, 230mm intake on front and side, and 140mm exhaust on rear. My loop is going to CPU for now, but will include GPU in near future.

 

Just seeing what I would see better temps with. I don't mind the dust, I plan on getting the magnet filters for my case. Thanks in advance.

[Il_napoletano]

is the rad mounted on the top?

if so usually have it as exhaust..as I saw 6C drop when I arranged mine to exhaust

Edited June 9, 2012 by Il_napoletano

[Andrewr05]

top mounted

Heat rises, so of course you want to exhaust that heat.

 

Asshattery redacted, see here.

[Nyt]

Got the same Case (HAF932) and rad (RX360 Push/pull). Set it to exhaust out of the top.

[airman]

I would say try it both ways. If you use it as an intake, the air you're pulling through the rad is going to be cooler than what would be flowing through the rad from inside of the case if it's set as exhaust. On the contrary, as intake, you'd be pulling air into the case that's been heated by the radiator on its way in, raising the "system" temp. Either could work out - would you prefer better CPU/loop temps or better system temps (HDD, GPU, RAM, etc)

[Coors]

 

Heat rises, so of course you want to exhaust that heat.

 

 

I doubt convection in a computer case makes any negligible difference when you throw in good air flow.

 

 

When I was water cooling I had my 120.3 rad mounted on top as an exhaust with 2 intakes in back and 3 intakes in front. It worked pretty well. I also had all the fans on a controller so I could change on the fly from having a positive or negative air pressure. Neither really made a difference in temps but dust took a lot less time to build up with a positive pressure.

[Tjj226_Angel]

It depends on the type of fans you are using. If you are using fans that push a crap ton of air, then set it as an intake. You will in essence be getting cooler air to run over your radiator, but the performance gain is like 3 degrees. However, if you are pushing a high overclock, then every bit counts.

 

If your fans aren't anything special, then use it as an exhaust.

[Waco]

Intake. Why spend money on watercooling to have higher water temps?

[Andrewr05]

You guys bring up good points, I will redact my previous unfounded smartassery.

 

[Hyper]

Either way you will need to pay attention to the other fans in the case to make sure they support what every way you decide to set it up...

 

 

[MandoPatriot]

I guess I will try it both ways and see what works best. Spent a lot of money today, 3x Scythe GT 1850 fans, lots of wire sleeving items, and a Heatkiller GTX 680 Hole Edition Ni-Bl block (shipping from Germany). Gah, $300 in one day hurts. Hope my GTX 570 sells for a good amount, link in my sig..

[Boinker]

Use it as exhaust. If you do intake it will cause the system to flood heat down and cause a long term lingering heat issue.

 

Hafs are great for watercooling. I would grab some small fans for the vrms and everything else and that would help keep them coolaid.