Position and Fan for DD Cube

[Rav]

Hey everyone,

Me and my dad have been working on our watercooling design, and are debating where the best place for the cooling cube would be. My original idea was to have it inside the case, above the PSU at the top of the case, with a 120mm on the outside, pulling through from inside. In the top 2 5 inch bays there will be 2 HDDs with a pair of fans mounted infront of them, with a combined CFM a little higher than the 120. The idea is for that to create a nice current of air through the top. I don't know how much heat the HDDs will add (7200 and 5400) and how much heat from the rest of the system there will be up there to worry about. I was even thinking of sealing the top and bottom off from each other.

The other ideas are mounting it outside, on top of the case, which would work, but wouldn't look as good, and will probably be more noisy, or mounting it outside, on the back, above the PSU, with the pipes pointing downward. The idea with that one is the warm air will go up with the fan helping. The problems there are that there will be warm air coming up from PSU and bottom case exhaust, and that there will be more strain on the pump, even though it is pretty powerful (Danner 700).

And finally (yeah I'm almost done), what should I aim for as far as CFM through the cube? The panaflo's look quiet and put out 70cfm, but I dont know if thats enough. Maybe a pair of them?

Thanks
-Rav

 

[Neptune]

I have a DD Cube and a Sunon 120mm Fan with it in my setup. I did what is outlined in your first proposition. I have it sitting on top of my PSU, with a fan on the back side of the case pulling air through the cube. I used a 120mm holesaw to cut out the back of the case for better airflow, if you do it this way you'll definately want to do this too. I have a 80mm Sunon fan across the way in 2 of my 5 1/4 bays. I just took two of the plastic inserts and cut a hole in 'em and slapped a fan on it. I also have another 120mm fan at the bottom of the case. This setup seems to work good for me, and is definetly the "cleanest" of your options.

 

[William]

there are two thoughts on this. One is too put it at the top of the case. The problem is the air is warmed somewhat in the case. If you put it at the bottom pulling in cool air, then you raise your case temps a few degrees from the rad. IMO, your system is more stable if your cpu is a few degrees cooler even if your system temp is a few degrees higher.

 

[Colin]

My Cube is on top of the PSU with a fan on the outside of the case pulling air through it and a fan on the inside pushing. Air is drawn through the case. My case temps are within 1C of ambient so I believe it’s possible to do a clean installation and keep things nice and cool too.

BTW, for the hot Kalifornia summer, I have switched to a bong cooler.

 

[Colin]

One more thought, it's nice to see a father and son project.