Cooling Bad idea to add passively cooled radiator to bottom of cas? Cougar QBX

[Mortis Angelus]

Here is a side-view of the Cougar QBX:

I've been playing with the idea of water cooling this case for a while now. My two ideas so far are:

1: 1x sidemounted 240 mm radiator with fans + 2x 120 mm fans on the bottom (like in the pic) for intake and perhaps also 2x 120 mm in the top as intake (not sure they would be necessary). Airflow: Top and bottom --> side + front + rear

2: 1x sidemounted 240 mm radiator with fans + 1x 240 mm radiator passively cooled (if 2x120 mm slim fans would fit, I would perhaps consider that too) + 2x 120 mm fans at the top for intake. Airflow: Top --> side + rear + front + bottom

Do you reckon there is any benefit of the second option if I want maximum cooling at lowest noise?

Planned hardware: Ryzen 2600X/3600X + GTX1070/1070ti/Vega56 (more or less). All water cooled

 

[Supercluster]

In my experience, more radiators is preferred to more fans when water-cooling. (used 2 x 360 mm with one passive)

However, in your case, you will be able to use even the bottom one with slim fans. A water-cooled card is only one slot. You will have more than one slot (20.32 mm) with a thin bottom radiator (there are copper radiators as thin as 24 mm on Aliexpress). Actually, you might just be able to squeeze a full thickness fan, though you should mind the proximity of the blades to surfaces to avoid potential turbulence induced noise.

 

[BaK]

@jaruri managed to fit a 240mm rad with slim fans on the bottom: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/cougar-qbx-kaze-custom-loop-build.7221/

But for max clearance, that's maybe a good opportunity to test a thin XSPC TX240 (20mm) and a slim Noctua NF-A12x15 (15mm) fan?
Would be even better to put that combo on top, but from the picture I guess a few mm will be missing...

 

[Mortis Angelus]

@jaruri managed to fit a 240mm rad with slim fans on the bottom: https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/cougar-qbx-kaze-custom-loop-build.7221/

But for max clearance, that's maybe a good opportunity to test a thin XSPC TX240 (20mm) and a slim Noctua NF-A12x15 (15mm) fan?
Would be even better to put that combo on top, but from the picture I guess a few mm will be missing...

Oooh! Nice! Thanks for the tip. The only issue with the XSPC TX240 is that I would prefer to use the all aluminum kit(s) from EK to keep it cheaper and lighter. But I might have to re-think that. This build is still very much in a planning phase.

 

[vex_sb]

where in europe we can buy this case ?? looks ok for some modding hehe... amazon.de offering for whopping 146€ . That is almost 3x more than in USA

 

[Smanci]

Geizhals is a good site. Might also want to have a look at Core 500 etc. for smarter layout and better availability.