Not cooling as well as expected

[occamsblade]

what i7 do you have they range from 93w to i think like 150w!? the 2080 is 215w so if the "i7" is a 9700k that's 95w, you are at 305w right at the cusp of what is recommended for a 360mm radiator they generally recommend 120mm of radiator per 100w, more if you want it quiet AND cool.

The software is picking the processor up as an i7-9700K. So I am assuming that is what it is. Thanks for figuring that out for me. I did not know the wattage of either part before. Please correct me if I am wrong, but I am guessing I can not / should not overclock it on the slim 360. The fans are pretty quiet during normal usage. They get going a little when I play, but I still don't think I have ever seen them max out. The pump speed is one thing I don't know much about. I have it plugged in to the CPU opt slot, but I am not liking that, as it does not respond to GPU temps, and the GPU temps are the ones that vary more with usage / are closer to problematic.

While I am not prone to overclocking it, I feel like its stupid to have a water cooled system that can't be overclocked. So, my guess is that I will probably add more radiator to it, even though I really am not sure the cost is justified given my usage pattern.

 

[Zerileous]

Yeah without OC you're right on the cusp. Once you start overclocking those parts you'll want another rad.

I really can't comment further on airflow other than to say experiment or maybe find some other forum posts on a different forum since this is a popular case. I know "experiment" can be a tough pill to swallow once you have a rigid loop. What you want to avoid is recycling air that has passed through one rad through another. Don't get me wrong it will still improve performance, but it's not as good as feeding each rad fresh air.

The case has the same style of fan grill everywhere, so I don't think placement matters in that regard. I wouldn't bother with cutting them out tbh, I don't think it's worth it when you have such an aesthetically focused build. I suppose you could cut the bottom one out without anyone noticing, and just use the magnetic filter as a guard if intake or a less restrictive guard for exhaust (I'd definitely use something, I'd hate to see what a random pen shoved under there would do to your rad).

 

[occamsblade]

Yeah without OC you're right on the cusp. Once you start overclocking those parts you'll want another rad.

I really can't comment further on airflow other than to say experiment or maybe find some other forum posts on a different forum since this is a popular case. I know "experiment" can be a tough pill to swallow once you have a rigid loop. What you want to avoid is recycling air that has passed through one rad through another. Don't get me wrong it will still improve performance, but it's not as good as feeding each rad fresh air.

The case has the same style of fan grill everywhere, so I don't think placement matters in that regard. I wouldn't bother with cutting them out tbh, I don't think it's worth it when you have such an aesthetically focused build. I suppose you could cut the bottom one out without anyone noticing, and just use the magnetic filter as a guard if intake or a less restrictive guard for exhaust (I'd definitely use something, I'd hate to see what a random pen shoved under there would do to your rad).

There are two components to the side vent that are different that the top / bottom. One, there is a larger gap between the end of the fans / rad and the grill. This seems to lead to extra turbulence and lower overall flow. Two, the grill on the side is a half inch narrower than the top or bottom, so part of the fan is overlapping with an area of the side that is not grill at all. I do think that cutting it out would probably not be the most aesthetic option, but it is an option. I think I might have come up with a good way around it. Split it into two loops. Put a 240 rad on the side and a 360 up top. GPU on the 360, cpu on the 240. The 240 is such overkill for the CPU that the air flow reduction becomes a moot point.

As much as I dont like it, I think the top is probably the best place for the 360, will play with layouts.

 

[Zerileous]

Yeah you could do two loops, although really two rads in one loop will be similar in performance. There may however be less heat introduced from using a rad as an intake if it's only cooling the CPU.