Best AIO Placement for a Gaming PC

[@hanfo420]

you have two options: 1. your cpu heats your gpu 2. your gpu heats your cpu pick your poison

[@DabbathaHut]

Right lol I choose gpu heats cpu cuz a 5800x3d is cheaper than a 3080 😂

[@numnut1516]

AIO out the top for my gpu, AIO out the back for my cpu, intake on the front ant bottom of case. I pick no poison.

[@hanfo420]

@@numnut1516 me too, my front fans blow air over my oversized cpu and gpu heatsinks 🫠 and the back and top fans pull the hot air out

[@endmjwknj]

I mean, unless you go all out with 2 custom loops... but at this point, everything runs below 60° so it doesn't matter.

[@zoranmaricic7679]

@@DabbathaHut I agree my experience is that your GPU staying cooler is far better overall at least when it comes to gaming. Both my cpu and GPU usually stay in high 40s low 50s when playing games with it set up top, when it was on the front the GPU would peak into 60s and I did t like that

[@Makerr8]

Jayztwocents made this comment about the AIO on top: the hot air going through will be far cooler than the temp of the radiator even with it being warmer than the ambient temp. Also, having it on top helps to make sure the pump isnt the highest point in the loop.

[@professorhubertj.farnswort4559]

He’s been my favorite for like a 1000 years

[@ste11ar]

this is true, ZTT is talking about min-maxing (best possible situation) here though which isn't entirely wrong. front-mounted push-pull with barbs on the bottom is the best possible scenario, but any other orientation works just fine. personally i recommend people with 10+ core CPU's to not mount it on the top since their rig would be more cooler-dependent.

[@samwilson5058]

Also doesn’t overheat your gpu if your cpu runs hot. If you’re doing extensive gaming top mounting the gpu makes much more sense.

[@mtheoverlord7840]

​@ste11ar A top mounted CPU AIO cooler should still be able to handle 10+ core CPUs. I run a 12900k Overclocked and have an AIO top mounted, with no issues. Max my Temps get too are 70ish at load. In my own opinion, unless you are hard overclocking the best of the best in terms of hardware, top mounting will work just fine. If it isn't, you've either got a bad cooler or you may need to look at other cooling options (Custom Loop or a larger AIO, for example).

[@BamBam0141]

While true, side or front mount with tubes at the bottom do the same thing while also letting it be an intake. This is the best setup you can do for temps. But as ZTT said, if your temps are fine, then it's just aesthetics.

[@JumpyWizard1001]

The highest priority should be not killing your water pump

[@PeenTip]

Right people keep talking about the best placement for temperature…. In reality you do this because idk physics… and that’s the best way for water to pump

[@hansoktane]

the correct answer lol

[@Mr.Wiksila]

Cant bealive its 2024 and ppl still think side mounting will kill your waterpump...

[@goldenhate6649]

I learned the hard way with my last case, having the AIO as intake, TERRIBLE FUCKING IDEA. Makes the exhaust way hotter to the point of being physically uncomfortable to be near the PC during operation. At least, if you have a CPU with a 360mm rad requirement (13700kf in my case). I do not, and will never understand how people sit in the same room as a 14900...

[@smileydude12]

@@goldenhate6649 Genuine question: Were you running it as a push pull through the AIO on the side of the case? Idk if that would make a difference in your case, just wondering.

[@ClearAlera]

"Hot air rises" is one of the most often used phrases in PC cooling that sounds like common sense but it doesn't actually matter compared to how fast fans can move the air. If you open your windows while speeding down the freeway you're not going to be able to tell which way the wind is blowing because the speed of the car is so overwhelming it doesn't matter. A more extreme example, but it's the same concept.

[@Nazareeni]

Tell that to the Silverstone Raven 2-evo

[@calgar42k]

Your analogy and comment are so wrong 😂

[@daheinz27]

Yeah I know I was just thinking this. The convection of the warm air is not enough to make the air rise quickly. It’s the difference in temperature that matters here it’s not like the inside of your case is 200 c and the outside is 0 c. Also air is not very dense which I believe also reducers the convection force because the atoms don’t hit each other very often. In a liquid like water there are more interactions between particles meaning the convection forces are greater

[@ClearAlera]

@@daheinz27 You are correct sir. The flow from the fans is far greater than the natural convection of the temperature difference. The only thing that really matters in terms of PC cooling is to not exhaust the hot air beneath the case, because that will eventually rise into the intake fans again. But within the case, you can make your fans blow the hot air wherever you want so long as it's eventually going out the top or sides!

[@ClearAlera]

@@Nazareeni Do you have one? Have you tried flipping it on its side and measuring the temperature difference? This may surprise you, but marketing sometimes exaggerates performance claims. The RV02 was a great case because it had 3 big fans that pushed tons of air, not because of the direction of the airflow. Natural convection from "hot air rising" maybe improved temperatures by a tiny fraction of a degree.

[@thegamingnerd274]

Another important thing is ensuring that there is a part of your AIO that is above your cpu. That way, air can't get caught in the cpu pump

[@arnone1862]

Gamers Nexus did a video on radiator placement. placing the rad at the front or side with fans as intake will technically affect the temperature of the graphics card.

[@MoreBollocks-ui2zs]

"Technically" placing this anywhere in the case will affect the temperature of the graphics card...

[@Honerkamp]

​@@MoreBollocks-ui2zs It won't if it's the exhaust.

[@ronniekregar3482]

You always want the air from the radiator to be pushed out of the case. I get some cases force you into certain orientations, but you never want the air going through your rad and into your pc case.

[@nocturnal101ravenous6]

​@@ronniekregar3482ok look at Linus tech tips they did an experiment with like 5 thick boy radiators they laid them out creating a lop and got numbers, then they connected them all back to back, difference is 1c thermodynamics is tricky but it works like it wants to not how you think it should be.

[@jamesm568]

So can changing fan directions as there's so many variables in a build.

[@SUPERMAR10312]

Or a 3rd option. Mount the radiator outside the case. Fresh air for both CPU and GPU

[@bball39us]

Like the giant radiator Bang4BuckGaming uses

[@BlockThrone]

That's how water cooling used to be done, back in the day, before AIOs were a thing.

[@man-hw5jb]

or a 4th option: air cooler

[@xXx_Regulus_xXx]

@@BlockThrone that's what those circular holes in older PC cases are for, you can run the pipes out of the case.

[@theworkshopwhisperer.5902]

The counter argument is the hot air is already rising so leapfrog that shear flow is better than overall efficiency.

[@Ayu.2077]

Damn

[@TheUglyBastard]

Since you are changing it from outputting hot air to inputting cold air, you might as well use the previous input fans as output on the top

[@Pensnmusic]

Hot air rising is a very weak pressure compared to what the case fans are doing. Negligible.

[@tarrker]

My wife's PC had a side exhaust for pretty much this exact reason. In my opinion it's unnecessary but, it definitely makes it so that her machine is basically impossible to over heat. Of course, she still refuses to overclock it. LoL :P

[@ronniekregar3482]

​@@Pensnmusiclolol, how is the literal #1 property of heat negligible??? People need to stop parroting this dumb talking point.

[@aron1980s]

Something to keep in mind as well that isn't a massive issue but is something to take into consideration is putting the radiator up front can cause more strain on the AIO pump which could cause it to fail quicker. Putting it up on the top of the case make sure that gravity is feeding the water back into the pump reducing the pumps operational load.

[@vash-f3k]

you do realize the pump still has to push the water back up the tubes against gravity to return the water to the rad, so that makes no difference

[@GilangD21]

Its not only about "aesthetics" the benefits of top placement is to make sure the air bubble cant get into the pump, thus, minimize the possibility of pump failure.

[@earlygrayce3200]

I live in the Australian desert and my office regularly sits above 30c so top mounted AIO saves my GPUs ass. It meant the two fans on the old CPU cooler are now extracting heat rather than just moving it around inside the case.

[@tartopom2669]

Bro casually said "I live in the Australian desert"

[@guska5523]

@@tartopom2669 and? What of it?

[@FiresPaper]

He casually said it 🗿

[@ShinyChimpee]

@@guska5523 It's a shthole.

[@calgar42k]

There is no benefit to a top mount, GPU are less sensitive to temp increase than CPU 😂

[@Zindoviev]

For the AIO the best position is on the top of the case, in that case the air left in the AIO will stay always in the radiator instead going into your pump and killing it.

[@xxFobioxx]

In the front mounted position the radiator is still above the pump and the air can't escape into the pump because the tubes are on the bottom. And you also get fresh cool air as an intake through the aio

[@jordanwardle11]

@@xxFobioxx you dont want the heat from the cpu to affect the gpu, the gpu is affected by heat far more than the cpu is

[@kYnTso]

Actually its at the front/side with the tubes on the bottom and only gets better when u got it with push/pull and a separate source of air for the gpu like in most fish tanks.

[@PaulKrawitz94]

Is there a second pump on the other side, somewhere in between the radiator and the fans? Or does it simply use gravity as a secondary pump? I've only ever had laptops, so I have absolutely no experience.

[@miseee007]

@@PaulKrawitz94 Why would you need a secondary pump? its a loop it goes in one direction. The two tubes u see are not separated they are in a loop.

[@jamesbiser858]

gpu temperature was considered and that seems to be the most important temp

[@AleksCoreBY]

Usually difference too low to consider it at all. It is ONLY aesthetics.

[@henry3397]

Tests have shown that GPU temp difference between top mount and front mount AIO is negligible. But there is a CPU difference as Zach pointed out

[@salmanrasyid5799]

There is some case that have mesh panel on bottom panel for intake air to make gpu cooler tho

[@ronniekregar3482]

Thats never made any sense to me. CPU temps are wayyy more important than GPU temps.GPUs are so efficient at cooling now

[@apotato5563]

Most GPU's run @70 degrees (unless you have a 5700 XT Refrence) A lot of new CPU's run way hotter than that while they are basically the same sillicon. I would say CPU thermals are more important and if you are worried about your GPU temps you can always just make your fans run faster using MSI afterburner

[@Priest75]

Jay told me put it at the top so the loop doesn’t ever stop flowing I’m listening to jay

[@Ignibus]

Up top will allow the air in your loop to be spread more evenly, and places it above the pump to ensure the air doesn't circulate through the loop. Front is better, but only if the tubes can be at the bottom. If not, then top is better.

[@viscellera]

This is why i love the O11 dynamic. Enough fan space for both a front AIO position and exclusive fan intake for the GPU on the bottom.

[@goldenhate6649]

I technically have full reverse flow. The rear is intake, as well as the bottom. The Top and Front (Side) are outflows. Never have any issues. I do get some dust, but nothing an occasional shutdown (discharge), and then light dusting can't fix. If I really wanted to, I could cannibalize a mesh from another case and slap it on the back, but I am lazy.

[@Bronyboiiiii]

Just make sure that the pump *IS NOT* the highest point in the water cycle! Or else air will end up in the pump it can't pump water anymore and can even brake in the worst case.

[@tryingto.WIN1979]

So glad someone fucking said it....

[@mineinmonkey9787]

Break

[@arbiter1]

Only if you don't know what you are doing to get the air outta the pump in to the top of the rad before install.

[@DaChickenKing1]

Yes your right never put the pump high, infact make it the lowest possible point possible cause if a connection blows it's likely to happen at the pump and turn your PC into a very pretty aquarium. But also, did you not bleed the system? You gotta bleed the air out or else you'll burn out the motor in the pump and have worse cooling

[@Psychoticjem]

its not even water btw

[@LOKO22Bach]

For anyone who's struggling to understand (that's okay btw), the computer overall produces heat that you need to move away from it, maximizing the order in which you do it is squeezing the last drops of efficiency, not that important as long as everything is properly cooled.

[@user-kp6ud7ht4z]

WRONG Bringing air in through a rad into your case heats up every other component much more except for your CPU over time due to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Why would you saturate every single other one of your components just so that a single one can stay slightly cooler when instead you can give up a small amount of CPU cooling efficiency in order to dramatically increase the cooling efficiency of every other component? This is why most major AIO manufacturers recommend top mount only. And if you wanna refer to NZXT, remember that they are the last people you want to take advice from regarding efficiency. Their business model seems to be more geared toward planned obsolescence so that you can buy more of their trash. Listen to companies like Lian Li and Tryx instead.

[@MechaniGhoul]

My rig has the radiator in the front pulling in, then top and back fans pushing out. It's how I've run it for years, and it's still going strong like this.

[@ChristopherYeeMon]

Gamers Nexus also explained that this is best for the life of the AIO. Least amount of air bubbles getting in over time

[@gtf600]

Two disappointing points with this advice: 1. A CPU will almost always tolerate more heat than a GPU, so having the GPU use warm air from the AIO on the front, would likely negatively impact temperatures/performance more 2. The "hot air rises" argument is objectively invalid unless it's a passive system - the airflow from even slow RPM fans will always completely negate any natural convection (with PC heat levels)

[@judecruz1565]

Yeah exactly I'd rather have the CPU run warm cause I'm mostly gaming and that doesn't utilise 100% cpu all the time

[@ronniekregar3482]

That's insane. CPU temps are wayyyyy more important than GPU temps.

[@ronniekregar3482]

Lol, the literal #1 property of heat is most certainly not objectively invalid. People need to stop parroting this dumb ass talking point.

[@gtf600]

@@ronniekregar3482 what would I know, I'm only an electrical and mechanical engineer 🤷 and no, the "literal #1 property of heat" is not that it rises 🤦

[@ronniekregar3482]

@@gtf600 okay Mr engineer, dense molecules don't go to the bottom as soon as heat is produced?

[@atavax311]

heat naturally rising has a very insignificant impact on the cooling. Radiator on top is best for lifespan of pump.

[@ronniekregar3482]

The #1 property of heat is not insignificant lol....its always best to have your rad on top in an exhaust orientation.

[@nostrum6410]

@@ronniekregar3482 did, just stop

[@Honerkamp]

GPU cooling matters more than CPU cooling.

[@75ur15]

Until I got this freaking stovetop 14900k

[@PuhlReshaped]

​@@75ur15bruh get liquid nitrogen

[@proxyhx2075]

​@@75ur15 A very expensive mistake right there..

[@75ur15]

@proxyhx2075 still faster than my 9900k...6700k....2600k.....amd 6400 x2 3800+.....Dell dimension 4300 was my first ....from 2 gigs (or 4? I'd have to check my fecords) to 128....always faster...from 32mb video ram..to 24 gigs now ;)

[@ConsciusVeritasVids]

@@proxyhx2075 Ryujin III 360 will fix that right up. $350 AiO + $600 CPU

[@enderblazebeyond2452]

Unless it is in an excessively ventilated room, the temperature of the air coming out of the case will rapidly equalize with the ambient air. Having the radiator as an intake will have the air inside your case that is meant to cool your RAM and Motherboard (Chipset/VRM) and usually GPU is already significantly above ambient.

[@theterminator3907]

Hey there, been studying pc building a long time. Do not put your AIOs below or equal to your cpu, although they are vacuum filled to the brim, they eventually go through water precipitation and water turns into steam through the hose, some are better or worse for this. Eventually you have a water bubble at the top of the Radiator, resulting in the pump struggling to pull the water.

[@escafoide]

The gpu will generally heat the most, and also is the most heat-sensitive piece of hardware (vrams especially) so you want to prioritise the cold air from the front panel to the gpu, thats 1 of the 2 reasons why the radiator goes on top

[@Lorentz_Driver]

Is this bait

[@leonidastankiangaming]

​@@Lorentz_Driver It's not bait. It's the truth. Based on all the repairs and new builds I've done and all of the tests I've done while checking thermals, top mount radiator really is the best way to go. Other than that, air bubbles get trapped in the highest point of the loop of an AIO. When you front or side mount with intake, you are not only dumping a bunch of heat into the case, but you are also trapping air bubbles into the point of the radiator with the tubes if they are on top of the radiator standing up vertically, so those air bubbles are making their way back into the pump and shortening the lifespan of the AIO pump. You are also restricting airflow into the case if you front or side mount it for intake while at the same time chocking other components with unnecessary heat. This is especially bad when your case only has front intake and a solid front panel. Zack really just posted a whole bunch of misinformation just now. There's plenty of sources that explain this far better than he would, such as Gamers Nexus, which I highly recommend you check out.

[@SomewhatObscureFurry]

This was actually really helpful, my new PC components are about to arrive and i was just gonna put the radiator up top, but i gotta get out every degree with the 14th gen i9 KF, thanks!

[@metak-metak2010]

What gpu u have?? Gpu is probbly more expensive than cpu so u dont want warm air blowing on ur gpu.. Rather risk few c° more for cpu than blow hot air on rest of components

[@SomewhatObscureFurry]

@@metak-metak2010 ASRock Radeon RX 7900 XT 20g Phantom Gaming OC. But i'll use the pc mostly for music production, it's a studio build. But thanks bro!

[@SomewhatObscureFurry]

@@metak-metak2010 Besides, music production is way more CPU than GPU intensive, so i gotta prioritize my CPU, but thanks!

[@christine-no8ml]

safer at the top since inside the radiator there is liquid and air. To keep the air as far as possible from the pump is to put the pump lower than the radiator.

[@ichigo3223]

Ran this configuration with my Corsair H100 for 13 years and never had any issues. Just have good intake fans on the front (or bottom) of your case.

[@Nost2682]

Hot air does not rise if fans are installed in a case; the fans control the direction of the air flow.

[@Dorraj]

1. If the ambient temp of your case is causing your liquid cooler to heat up, you need more case fans 2. Making sure the pump is not the highest point in the loop is way more important. 3. Exhaust on the top case can be very useful cause most dust comes from above, tho that's negligible compared to the rest of the intake spots.

[@LawyerSlays]

The top is best because there isn’t much hot air in the case. The gpu gets hot but front fans keep that air in the bottom half of the case. Ive done front intake, top exhaust, side intake, side exhaust with a corsair 5000d and 360 aio and all temps for my 13900k were the same. Top is best though because the hot air produced from the aio goes directly out the top of your case. If you do front intake aio your gpu, motherboard, ram, etc will all get the heat from your cpu blown on them… not ideal. Also never install an aio in the front like that. Having the pump (usually found in the aio waterblock) above the ends of your tubes can cause bubbling and damage your water cooler.

[@henry3397]

Many tests have shown that top mount significantly increases CPU temps (5+ degrees celsius is significant) versus front mount AIO. The temp difference between the two for the GPU is negligible though. So no reason to not mount in the front

[@LawyerSlays]

@@henry3397 not for me. Front mount made my computer case considerably hotter. The hand test on the glass panel told me all I needed to know. My i9 13900k (you know, the hot one) idled at 30 degree no matter which way I mounted it with load temps the same as well… I’m sticking with top mount, makes the room less hot also.

[@salmanrasyid5799]

And there's case that have mesh on the bottom panel and fan mounting too, so it comes back to preference imo

[@ronniekregar3482]

​@henry3397 nope...take all "testing" with a grain of salt. Top mount rad in an exhaust orientation 100% of the time, obviously if your case allows it.

[@macronevicktor]

@@LawyerSlays doesnt top mount usually means the air bubble in the aio floats into the pump causing reduced cooling and significantly shortened aio lifespan?

[@Zonjiru]

Since CPUs usually generate less heat than GPUs, it makes sense to have the AIO as intake, while having a couple of bottom fans blowing fresh air into the GPU. That way both major components get fresh air and the secondary components that require a bit of cooling like the RAM, chipset and drives, can rely on the slightly warm intake air without any issue.

[@user-kp6ud7ht4z]

WRONG GPUs get significantly hotter than CPUs, so you wouldn’t prioritize cooling your CPU over your GPU because by placing your AIO on the front/side-front, you’re literally pushing heated radiator air INTO YOUR GPU AREA. Whereas if you used AIO as exhaust and normal fans as intake on front and bottom, you’re pushing cool air into your GPU/motherboard area while only slightly giving up heat dissipation capacity for your CPU.

[@TheTruthBeToId]

In a car radiator, you pull air in from outside because it's cool and exhaust it underneath the car. In this case, you should be pulling outside air from the top and exhausting thru the back so there's equal pressure in the case for better cooling.

[@jonathanlee6444]

The gpu does a good job of venting itself. They did a test on fans and gpu and CPU temps. As long as you have an intake and outtake it didn’t make any difference.

[@samuraijaydee]

Having the pump at the bottom of the loop is optimal for its survival.

[@goldenhate6649]

Just make sure the tubes are above the pump and you are fine.

[@LETSGOGAMBLING535]

Air cooler all the way no pump failures!

[@Jsp-hf3mn]

air cooler all the way cuz I'm poor

[@gigalar1248]

​@@Jsp-hf3mnrelatable

[@sebastian_1569]

Freezer all the way im too broke and i dont have a case

[@Mr0_0Gaming]

There is a few aio that has the same price as air cooler In my country there is 360mm aio the same price as thermaltake peerlees assassin 120 ​@@Jsp-hf3mn

[@ultramasterultra5724]

Well yeah unless you have a top of the line cpu which get toasty

[@dalehammers4425]

More than just aesthetics though, you also have it above to guarantee no air bubbles potentially get in the system.

[@corie_1032]

If you mount it up front. Make sure the tube's connecting to the radiator are up top!

[@Jay-jayy-n9u]

If the tubs are up too then the air bubbles would get stuck near the tubes

[@CokefishR]

That case where you had the radiator in front, the hoses are supposed to be higher than your pump block, as you don't want air getting trapped in your pump and slowly destroying it.

[@pSycHoXiFiCaToR]

Aren’t the front fans supposed to pull in the cool air? That’s what the aio fans suck in. Plus the exhaust fan at the back.

[@amlenk]

The GPU exhausts some hot air into the case, so the AIO won’t be picking up as cool air as possible

[@MrChocobit]

@@amlenkNo, the gpu cent heat the air so fast which got blown into the case from the front panel fans. front intake bottom intake top is out and rear is out plus more intake than out

[@amlenk]

@@MrChocobit The GPU will pick up air and exhaust it throughout the card. The heat won't just "disappear", it will rise (heat rises) to the top of your case and be picked up by the top mounted AIO and exiting your case. Depending on how much load the GPU is under, it will very much heat up the air. The thing is, air doesn't instantly become cool once it exits the case, it will eventually recirculate back into the PC and if you don't have sufficient cooling in your room, the room will become warm and the once "cool" intake air has warmed up.

[@MrChocobit]

@@amlenk @amlenk No, this only applies if you don't have enough intake. In addition, the three fans of the GPU are not sufficient to outperform three front fans and three bottom fans thermally. As long as you get more air in than is being processed inside, it will not be able to run as you have written.

[@amlenk]

​@@MrChocobit Positive airflow doesn't negate the existence of the second law of thermodynamics. In a PC system, it means that despite having cool intake air, internal temperatures will stabilize between the cool intake and the heat generated internally. Hence why exhaust temperatures will typically be warmer than intake temps due to this equilibrium. Let me clarify, I am simply stating that AIO placement DOES affects temperature, but not saying that it is significant enough to impact performance.

[@DataStorm1]

It's ALL baloney, air rising from heat is a TINY force that fans will overpower 10.000x in lowest rpm. Also hot air? you have water cooling on the CPU and a GPU without there. THINK about it. you EITHER throw out the "hot" air (I get back to it) with exhaust fans THRU the radiator, or throw "hot" air IN the case for the GPU to munch... It makes no difference. With the amount of fans in that white case, air won't be longer in there then 1-2 seconds.. good luck in heating that so fast. Direction doesn't matter, as long as you make sure the heated air is going in a direction that won't get sucked back into the case. In general that is to be on top, and back, and intake from bottom and front. (while in winter you might like hot air over you, in summer you don't.

[@OmniMontel]

@@DataStorm1 You don't have a water block on your GPU? I am not really understanding this hot air for your GPU comment. When you build your loop you generally don't have any serious heat sources in a modern system, yeah ram and some mosfets on the motherboard as well as your drives put off some heat but nothing that won't be handled by standalone heat sinks and general case airflow unless you went for one of those silly glass box cases that were big 2017 till nowish, but that was for the I buy boutique gamer systems for rgb LED set, not people who care about cooling.

[@DataStorm1]

@@OmniMontel My post is all about the TINY force of slightly warmer air that will rise, any fan overpowers that by 100.000x. Hence I say its baloney. And I meant the PC in the video doesn't have a water block on the GPU... The whole idea that air needs to exit thru the top because of hot air rising is bs, if you want it thrown out of the bottom, its fine, the back? sure is fine too. Just don't put intake and outtake next to each other, for the one pulling in will suck in what the other is throwing out.

[@brandoncampbell9794]

Aesthetics over 5 degrees? You crazy.

[@venticore]

I think in long usage the delta between the liquid inside the radiator and the system will reach an equilibrium even if you put the rad as an intake after the loop is soaked with heat it will start heating the fresh air from they environment into the case

[@DarthYeeterYT]

3rd option, get a Corsair 7000D and get 8 fans for your side and front panel and run the AIO as exhaust. That's what I do and seeing as I never breach 50C under load, I think it may be an option.

[@LivelysReport]

Having the AIO at the top, helps in making sure that the pump is lower then the radiator.. ensuring it always gets water.. plus, while it is using air from inside the case blowing it through the radiator and out the top, there is also a reason for having more fans in-taking fresh air into the case, like them front case fans blowing in fresh air, and there is also another exhaust fan at the back of the case.. hence I see putting the rad at the top is better over all.. the fans at the front blow across that GPU and CPU area pushing most of that hot air to the back of the case where most of it will get flushed out the back of case via the exhaust fan on the back..

[@Debzzzzzzzz]

I prefer to keep my CPU slightly warmer than my GPU to ensure the GPU receives cooler air. This helps maintain optimal GPU temperature, which in turn supports better clock speeds and overall performance.

[@Numbertwo22]

One rule of thumb to keep is more fans intake than outtake, that keeps positive pressure which is better for dust :)

[@OfficiallyOrca]

Mount your radiator at the top directly or indirectly depending on what your radiator instructions suggest. Remove the dust filter on the top and have your pump tubs facing 3 or 6 o'clock.

[@siderbrighthelm]

Holy crap this is something I've been curious about for a while, thanks

[@reaperzxxtj8759]

Top mount, if you want to prolong the life of your AIO and not heat up your GPU. Why would you want to force hot air into your PC through a radiator and feed your already heat sensitive GPU more heat.

[@hyprvoiton]

Make sure that if you are installing the radiator anywhere lower, the ports for the tubes are above the cpu mount, otherwise air bubbles could accumulate within the mount and cause hot spikes.

[@squiffzor]

Placing your radiator up top is best, it's because the air in the loop rises to the highest point. If the rad is below or the same level as the cpu block the air can collect inside the cpu block causing an air gap which drastically lowers the cooling efficiency and causing excess eroding and oxidisation

[@justinbiondi]

It's better to exhaust your hot air out of your case. The tiny efficiency loss to the individual radiator doesn't offset raise the overall temp inside the case.

[@danecarpenter8735]

The hot air rises only matters in PCs if you are doing fanless radiant cooling. De8auer shows pulling air in from the top is ideal since it cools the heatsinks around the CPU

[@Expensive_Rectangles]

Having tested both positions in the H9 extensively I think letting your CPU AIO blow directly out the top is consistently cooler, unless you're using the Elite which is perplexingly designed with a greenhouse space. Intake fans at the bottom, fans on the card radiator and an exhaust at the back sufficiently kept the GPU cool (im vertically mounted). Meanwhile cool air from the front intakes got pulled up through the CPU AIO almost immediately and exhausted at high temp out the top. What I noticed is that in the first maybe 5-10 minutes of a front configuration, the temperature of the CPU was lower but crept up to a higher maximum point vs a top mounting which remained stable.

[@imniallg]

Its less about the pulling cold air through to cool the radiator, and more about getting rid of the hot air as quickly as possible.

[@thesingularbean]

Highest priority is air pressure, as long as you have enough intake and enough exhaust regardless of where, you’re fine.

[@Specialll_K]

If you are going to put the rad in the front, the tubing should be at the top of the radiator. you want the tubing to go up from the pump so that air bubbles dont collect in the pump.

[@itspizzatime8622]

I want that glass front case PC so bad 0-0 I’ve been going crazy for a new PC recently and watching this channel has been driving me NUTS!

[@Xorthis]

Don't also forget the issue of air inside the loop. Putting the AIO at the top is going to ensure that no trapped air finds it's way into the pump. Yes, you can achieve the same with front mounted radiator, tubes down, but sometimes, the tubes aren't actually long enough for that, and top mounting is the best alternate.

[@fiddlemyfoddle6374]

Some cases actually have a little compartment at the top so you can set your fans as intake and still have the aio at the top. Mine was set that way for a while until I got a new aio and realize it was thicker than the last one and couldn't pull my wires through anymore.

[@Chris-cv1ll]

The cpu isn’t typically the limiter, it’s the gpu. Letting it cool with fresher air is good to give you the boost you need

[@tupcho33]

Front mount is also more likely to cause your pump to sease up because of air build up

[@Ephoros]

Moving the radiator up top maybe make only 5° difference, but you didnt take into account that the cat will now treat it as his personal heated bed, and that makes around 8-10 degree difference.

[@haovan5273]

Heat can go in any directions. Hot air is lighter so it's being pushed up by colder air.

[@adriancoanda9227]

Not only if it's on top of the pump breaks, but it will still cool not as fast, but it will work

[@vorkev1]

If you have a properly cooled case the front fans should blow in rear out top out no heat can build up enough to make a change

[@z3ntropy]

Lian li lancool cases have a mesh psu enclosure side panel and you can put fans on the bottom, inside the main chamber. This essentially acts as a secondary fresh air source that ports cool air straight into the GPU, couple that with front facing cpu aio and beefy exhaust fans to keep mobo and ram from cooking themselves and you have the "META"

[@rabbit859]

GamersNexus ran a pretty extensive experiment on this point a couple years ago. Top vs Front AIO usually only amounts to 1-2 degrees C difference.

[@Cookies4Wookiees]

Even better when you add a fan per side of the AIO radiator.

[@BlueStarBRS]

Always put on top! Because the temps are general better and you lill the airflow by add rad in front

[@jumpyjeffrey]

Perfect example of someone hearing something once and running with it outside of the previous scenario. Convection doesn't matter in a wind tunnel. Air filter placement and pump orientation are the 2 most important factors.

[@AgnarBurnsAll]

depends on what the case has for fans and flow design to be honest. some cases the number of fans you get pulling air in will offset most of the efeficieny lost so it really comes down to looks , fitment, and best position for avoiding potential airbubbles running through the AOI pump

[@CombatGrunt2Fast4u]

Actually keeping the hoses on the radiator of the AIO as low as possible is best for the long term use of the AIO. The problem is that you can’t refill your AIO(normally) which means you want to make sure the pump doesn’t get dry and keep running with just air which will burn out the pump.

[@CombatGrunt2Fast4u]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJOqoKCsZp5oqc0si=EoUNei_6Ifv0pJr7 Gamer’s Nexus went into the weeds on this topic, with a customized AIO to prove every tidbit of information.

[@ch3vali3r72]

Don't forget the little bit of air trapped in the aio if the pump is placed above the radiator you can get vapor locked so it's safer to run the radiator above the pump

[@cbrown596]

Fun fact, it ultimately doesnt matter. What is more important in my opinion is having more intake flow than exhaust. This ensures a positive internal air pressure, which ensures you arent sucking air in through cracks in the panels where unfiltered air can cake everything in dust.

[@2drpeppersplz]

NOT FOR HONORR BUT FORRR YOUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[@cbrown596]

@@2drpeppersplz In my time, there'll be no one else~ Crime, it's the way I fly to you I'm still in a dream, Snake Eater~

[@PanzerWeeb3305]

TBH, as long as your fan configuration doesn’t rely on static pressure, but high flow rates, then it really doesn’t matter. If it matters to you, then which configuration you choose is entirely dependent on whether you want to prioritize cooling your CPU or your GPU.

[@TheMaw365]

GPU bound system. Recommends prioritising the cooling of the CPU over the GPU. You're a tech youtuber? Heat rises? You have any idea how fast the air in that case would have to rise to overcome the verticle mounted intake fans? What are we doing here, defying the laws of physics?

[@aamm07]

The best config is outing the radiator on the front with the tubes up that way bubbles won’t reach the pump posibly damaging it.

[@luxuryshine8507]

aio's are known to get air inside after some fair use, mostly several years. The reason to have the radiator above the pump's level is that the pump won't get air in and keeps it's effectiveness and lifespan. On that note, the front aio in this short is installed wrong, putting the in+out on the radiator on the low side. This needs to be on the high side, above the pump's level, just to pull air out of the pump if there is getting air in at some point and thus preventing damage to the pump.

[@Darkenz000]

Just install them as intake with a filter. I have 3 fans in the front, 2 on the top from the AIO and it works perfectly. The CPU doesn't generate that much heat that would cause issues inside the case. Just do custom fan curves and it's golden.

[@Mostlyharmless1985]

“Hot air rises” matters if you are building a passively cooled system. Otherwise, you are making a hot box inside a cold box. It will always be colder outside the hot box no matter the basic thermodynamics indicate. That’s what fans are for.

[@Nazareeni]

Good to keep it flat anyway so any air that builds up over time is evenly distributed rather than conglomerating at one end of the radiator.

[@clouts8973]

To be optimized you should put your radiator exhaust fans in the front and have the exhaust gpu in a chimney set up so the hot air is only between both fans before getting exhausted immediately

[@DDcasanova]

The most important thing here is that in many cases the water pump is at the highest point of the loop and this causes noise and damage to the pump due to air in the loop, so the best position, or the safest, is on top... if you report something, do it well.

[@StevenHallOfGaming]

it's mostly for the air bubble issue in water cooling, the inside of your pc isn't going to be as hot as the CPU-GPU and if it is you have a massive problem, as long as the system is removing heat and putting in cool air your good

[@crowwingedwolf]

Good to know I actually have the good setup (which also has the absolute coolest visual down the front of my computer, all 3 are RGB fans, and I have a tempered glass front so they can glow)

[@dahboup]

I run a 12700k and a 7800xt, I don’t overclock either, but I push them pretty hard with a TT420 AIO on the cpu. For me, photography is my side hustle and I still have clients who want a disc with their photos/slideshows/videos. I know I can use a USB drive, but I prefer a SATA drive, it’s something I’ve always used. I’m still using my original Thermaltake Core V51 case from like 10 or so years ago. The case is a fricken monster. It’s a great size, sure it doesn’t really allow for front AIO because of its age, it wasn’t designed for it. But I do have 3 120mm intake fans on the front, the 420 AIO on top as intake, 2 120 exhaust fans on the bottom next to the PSU, the PSU is on risers and exposed instead of in a box creating more heat, and another rear 120 exhaust fan on the rear. I just got off for the night, for shits I did check my temps because this morning I did a thermal paste swap to MX-6. In a World of Warcraft 40 man raid at 1440p at ultra settings and 240 fps locked I was rolling at 35c on the cpu and 45c on the GPU and the exterior of the case was cold to the touch. I keep the feet of the case on additional rubber feet risers from Home Depot. I’ve been rolling like this for 10 or so years, since I bought the case and first built into it, I’ve upgraded inside of the same case through the years, I’ve never once seen temp issues. I don’t see the point to this min max top vs front AIO debate. Stop putting your PC in these tiny cases and you won’t have these issues. Buy an older designed case that was designed with airflow in mind, BEFORE there was all this new tech like rear wall mounted XYZ, front standing GPU, etc, and you’ll be fine… Oh and P.S. I also have a 6 hard drive bay tower inside the PC above the bottom exhaust fans in addition to the 2 hidden side panel SSD’s AND the motherboard mounted NVME’s. In total I have 10tb of flash storage that are easy as hell to get to. And before anyone says that’s excessive, remember, photographer. They’re storage drives for photos. I guarantee clients long term storage depending on what they pay for.

[@stephenyoung3909]

My Cooler Master Q500L microATX case lays on it's side due to our desktop set up. I have two 140mm intake fans on the front, a 120mm rear exhaust fan and got a Corsair H100x 240mm AIO in the "top" position pulling in. My CPU at full tilt runs in the upper 60's, lower 70's. Neither my CPU or GPU throttle, so YMMV. Just need to keep in mind how your case flows best.

[@Intxrval]

Me doing research on parts. Ordering parts. Builds PC. Watches you for the first time. Finds we have almost the same pc

[@checkers7730]

Room ambient temp is the real win here.

[@lonelymtbrider3369]

The highest priority is to keep the gpu at reasonable temps. Cpu can usually run pretty hot without issues anyway, the gpu can not.

[@Reign-o2b]

AIOs are a lose lose situation because you either mount it at the top and pull in hot air from the case or mounted at the front or side and heat up your entire case. Just get a regular heat sync they kick off the heat and don’t transfer it anywhere else besides out

[@efrenarevalo2025]

If the room is more humid than the Amazon rainforest, what would be the best cooling setup?

[@iansabrewolfe]

The CPU doesn’t see a big difference, but the GPU and other components do with top venting. So having the radiator up top IS better for the system as a whole, even if it isn’t the absolute best for the CPU in particular.

[@bruwy7370]

If you have fans at the bottom of the case blowing air up then it makes sense to have them in an exhaust position.

[@BackwardsCombatable]

for video games typically the gpu gets hotter than the cpu so radiater at the top in exhaust is usually best. some workloads like rendering require more cpu, in which case you would do the intake position. if you’re gaming this is already the optimal setup with the exhaust.

[@aliosanlou4425]

The best way is to mlunt the aio on the side (if u have a fish tank case) and put intake fans from bottom and the top and one exhaust in the rear ( i know that heat goes up and all that stuff but trust me inside of a case with an RTX 4080 is NOT THAT HOT that u might think and the main reason that we use fans inside the case is just for ventilation

[@TheLordNugget]

Acktwually the reason is air in the loop. You always want your pump to be lower than the highest point in the loop. Typically the pump is in the cpu block, so you will want the cpu block below the highest point of the radiator. The system would work with the pump being the highest point, at least right up until enough fluid has evaporated and the pump is trying to pump air instead of fluid. As the fluid also lubricates the pump, air in the pump will kill it far quicker than it would otherwise. All this means that you want the pump in your loop to not be at the highest point in the loop as that is where the air bubbles will end up.

[@everafter-elisa]

You're forgetting The GPU has its own cooling system that usually flushes out the back of the case. Yes, it does pull some heat from that, but you also have the exhaust round to the rear. So so you set up a case with higher pressure means you're going to have better cooling usually