Antec Nine Hundred & H80 Positioning Question

[wisconsinated]

Hey all, I was able to check out the airflow guide that might be quite old but still relevant on the forums here and I was curious as to how I should position the H80 radiator and fans in the antec nine hundred case Im getting to maximize airflow.

You may be familiar with the Antec Nine Hundred but heres an image of it for my question.

Red arrows-exhaust hot air
Blue arrows-intake cold air
Yellow arrows-possible locations for H80 radiator and fans

So the problem is to get the best cooling possible for the H80, corsair suggests you setup the fans so they blow into the case, using the cooler outside air to cool the radiator, which of course makes sense. I don't want to use the back fan shown through the glass side because I want to use the default setup of the case by exhausting air out the back and through the top of the 200m big boy fan while drawing air in from the 2 front fans, so the direction of the airflow goes from front to back and up, since hot air rises.

I wasn't sure whether I should put the H80 radiator (permitting that it would fit) in the front behind one of the front fans, or whether I should leave the front fans and put the radiator and fans for the H80 in the 'optional' side window. The obvious advantage I see right off the top is that the cool air would blow across the video cards, but I'm wondering if it may screw with the proper airflow of the case if I put the H80 radiator and fans there. Any suggestions to how you would do it?

Thanks for your time

*updated post to include picture of case illustrating airflow to make it easier to read*

[Extium]

Yea, late answer. I assume you don't need an answer anymore but gonna reply my idea IF anyone else has something similiar in mind. My idea is that you would mount the H80 next to the rear IO. I actually don't see any other good place for it

[joeyck]

u wanted to put the h80 on the side? or am i reading this wrong?

[THRiLL KiLL]

i would say the rear exaust as well.

the front location you mentioned, is to far away.

the side position is just bad, as you would have to take it off every-time you went into your case, and if you have a video card, there wouldn't be enough clearance.

[Extium]

i would only consider the front if i were to use a dual 120 radiator, and even then it might not be an option as it could take too much space so the hard drive cages wouldn't fit anymore

[Capitan Harlock]

like the others says the rear is the only best option,if you think in the future to go liquid with dual radiator take a look at another case like the fractal design arc midi , cooler master carbide 300r ,400r and 500r for example or you mod the case xd.

[Hood]

Originally Posted by wisconsinated

Any suggestions to how you would do it?

The obvious answer is to mount the H80 at rear blowing OUT, and take the existing rear fan and mount it on the side panel. That way your case airflow is similar but stronger. Forget what Corsair says, the temps will be the same or lower this way, and the rad is out of your way. I have my H100 blowing out the top with no problems, with all the airflow the air inside the case is no warmer than the outside air anyway. To do it Corsair's way you'd have to reverse every fan in the system, and your filters would be useless. So maybe your CPU would be a little cooler, but everything else would run hotter.