Production Sliger SM550/560/570/580 (2 and 3 slot riser layouts, with air and liquid cooling variants)

[BucDan]

I know some people have been discussing ventilation etc... hot air does rise, but slowly, and forced air goes in the direction of the fans following the enclosed space. However any change in direction or obstacle in its way slows it down, so exhausting air out the bottom will result in somewhat slow moving air all around the case, which might get re-circulated back through the top, if in a room with stagnant air anyway. If you're doing that I would place it in-between the supply air vent and the return for the room to get cross ventilation.

Exhausting out the top will throw the hot air away from the case and let it continue rising up and away.

Also, has anyone tried putting the NZXT logo right-side up, with the hoses at the back? Are they too short?

That was my thought as well. With the top down, there's going to be a hot spot between the PSU exhaust and the radiator, I think, as the air flow may not be as strong when it moves through the fins into the case.

That's sort of what I'm wondering with the Corsair H100i I was planning to use in my 580- most builds/pictures of the 570/580 have the AIO hoses coming out on the left, nearest the memory. Is there any reason you couldn't orient the AIO so that the logo is right side up with the hoses coming out towards the right towards the back plate and just winding them up to the radiator? I'm guessing that's just a question of tube length/flexibility?

For water, I believe by design of the case, the hoses have to be up front. I think Sliger stated that somewhere.

 

[wkarma]

That's sort of what I'm wondering with the Corsair H100i I was planning to use in my 580- most builds/pictures of the 570/580 have the AIO hoses coming out on the left, nearest the memory. Is there any reason you couldn't orient the AIO so that the logo is right side up with the hoses coming out towards the right towards the back plate and just winding them up to the radiator? I'm guessing that's just a question of tube length/flexibility?

The config I have there seemed more "natural" for the hoses without fighting them. It also has the advantage of keeping the fan spider and usb power cables towards the bottom of the case where they are easier to hide, instead of ending up right in the middle of everything.

 

[Borafuzzle]

I know some people have been discussing ventilation etc... hot air does rise, but slowly, and forced air goes in the direction of the fans following the enclosed space. However any change in direction or obstacle in its way slows it down, so exhausting air out the bottom will result in somewhat slow moving air all around the case, which might get re-circulated back through the top, if in a room with stagnant air anyway. If you're doing that I would place it in-between the supply air vent and the return for the room to get cross ventilation.

Exhausting out the top will throw the hot air away from the case and let it continue rising up and away.

Also, has anyone tried putting the NZXT logo right-side up, with the hoses at the back? Are they too short?

There is absolutely no way with forced air for there to be any recirculation unless the fans are so incredibly weak they barely move any air in the first place. Air from the PSU will be pushed out and around the PSU with very little turbulence due to there being a flow path out. This entire concept of hot air rises, therefore it's natural is out the window once convection is thrown into the mix. What will happen is exactly like @KSliger said, Intake through the top will result in lower CPU temperatures, exhaust will result in lower GPU temperatures.

 

[Blizzbray]

I've looked at both of my h110i Rads and they are the square type ( got them both within the last 18 months). Im debating on either waiting to order a case on the next run when that is fixed (unless thats gonna take like 6 months) or im just gonna mount the fans up top as a spacer for the rad! does anyone know if it would be effective to do a push/pull set up with slim fans? that might look cool and keep it cool. i just have no idea if they are effective enough for cpu cooling

 

[Megaman0025]

I would have a look at the Strix as well.

Which exact Strix model are you thinking?

 

[CountNoctua]

When you buy a car, do you want it to work and start the first day or do you want to put it in the workshop to use it?

Regards

Sure, the car manufacturer might be to blame in that scenario and certainly they are responsible for factory defects, but this why advice like "don't buy the first year of a new model or redesign" exists, and why you buy Toyota and not Pagani* if reliability and availability are your concern. Both things can be true: business should be responsible for accurately conveying the features and limitations of the product, but the consumer should also have realistic expectations of the product, especially where low-run and new products are concerned.

That said, it's an unfortunate issue, but I'm glad you are resolving it.

* actually, I have no idea how Pagani is reliable in practice (and that's part of my point, really, that even Toyota's least popular models are fairly well-known quantities versus a boutique car maker, though even Toyota has to issue plenty of recalls), but you get the idea

 

[Rmorrison]

for cooling the 560, bottom exhaust and gpu exhaust, correct? for the 580, im thinking that the top will be exhaust as well. intake from top or bottom will interfere with the gpu fans, so maybe intake on the gpu and exhaust top and bottom? cant wait to test shit out

also, vented panels ftw!

 

[KingSpades]

Anyone else thinking of using Phanteks halo + Noctua Chromax combo? ?

 

[CountNoctua]

for cooling the 560, bottom exhaust and gpu exhaust, correct? for the 580, im thinking that the top will be exhaust as well. intake from top or bottom will interfere with the gpu fans, so maybe intake on the gpu and exhaust top and bottom? cant wait to test shit out

also, vented panels ftw!

My take: Intake from bottom, exhaust out top. The more you get air to go in a single direction, unimpeded by parts or cables or bends, into and out of the case while passing over critical components, the better - particularly if you are maxing out fan capacity with good 140mm fans. Front-to-back is ideal, in my opinion, but in a case like the 580 with the mounting points at top and bottom, obviously that's where you'll be setting up intake and exhaust. Set up like this you'll be cooling all the components and VRMs fairly well, and the ventilated panels will be drawing in enough cool air, too, as well as having the PSU help in exhaust. As pointed out earlier, the GPU will be better cooled than CPU, but it's not going to be putting out enough heat in the direction of the CPU to cause it to heat up enough to pose a problem, especially if using a good AIO for the CPU. Bottom line is that if you maximize airflow, everything cools better, though some parts may cool more effectively than others.

I also don't like exhausting out the bottom in most cases because there's typically not a ton of clearance, and it's best to eject hot air away from the system.

 

[CountNoctua]

Anyone else thinking of using Phanteks halo + Noctua Chromax combo? ?

I've done that before and it's good. Would be doing that for current build as well if I weren't deliberately showcasing Noctua colors.

 

[Rmorrison]

My take: Intake from bottom, exhaust out top. The more you get air to go in a single direction, unimpeded by parts or cables or bends, into and out of the case while passing over critical components, the better - particularly if you are maxing out fan capacity with good 140mm fans. Front-to-back is ideal, in my opinion, but in a case like the 580 with the mounting points at top and bottom, obviously that's where you'll be setting up intake and exhaust. Set up like this you'll be cooling all the components and VRMs fairly well, and the ventilated panels will be drawing in enough cool air, too, as well as having the PSU help in exhaust.

I also don't like exhausting out the bottom in most cases because there's typically not a ton of clearance, and it's best to eject hot air away from the system.

wont that interfere with gpu fans if intake is hitting them from the bottom?

Im also going to be modding my desk with a couple of 140mm holes with sheet metal vents just for the reason of exhausting out the bottom.

 

[CountNoctua]

wont that interfere with gpu fans if intake is hitting them from the bottom?

Im also going to be modding my desk with a couple of 140mm holes with sheet metal vents just for the reason of exhausting out the bottom.

Not really; with open-air GPUs the idea is to draw cool air onto the heatsink - which they do very effectively in a side-vented, vertical GPU scenario setup - and spit out the hot air into the case as well as out the back of the card, and let the system fans deal with the added heat inside the case, which they will be (pushing it up out of case in the given config). With blower coolers, cool air pulled into the blower from the side or the bottom (which is the scenario in normal horizontal GPU setup in other cases) directly helps, as they push air out the back of the case.

As long as you have halfway decent airflow in the case, case fans will deal with open-air GPU heat just fine. Most modern GPUs aren't dumping a ton of heat into the system, not unless you are running a monstrous overclock or have a multi-GPU setup, or using a tinier, unventilated case. The SM580 has great options for its size, so airflow really shouldn't be a problem.

If you are modding your desk then a bottom exhaust is more viable, though I wouldn't go that far just to accommodate that type of cooling setup (though a cool mod and project, regardless ).

 

[Rmorrison]

ill be running a ftw3 card. so youre saying intake on the bottom and the gpu and exhaust out the top?

 

[CountNoctua]

ill be running a ftw3 card. so youre saying intake on the bottom and the gpu and exhaust out the top?

Yes, unless you are running a particularly hot CPU with a lower-end HSF, where a few degrees temp difference *might* be an issue. Ideally, you don't want to put yourself in that situation to begin with, though, and that's more of a concern in smaller cases with less ventilation.

You can certainly run the opposite setup of top to bottom - and there's some argument to be made for alternate configs with exhausting both out of top and bottom or intake both top and bottom, but mainly that's for negative versus positive pressure layouts, which I think people make more of a big deal about than their effects in reality warrant (most cases are not closed off or filtered enough to make a significant difference), but I generally think maximizing a straight path in and out of the system is best, particularly as it can also help cool VRMs, RAM, and other components.

If you have enough good fans in your system, you really don't have to worry too much regardless of what you go with. You can test different configs if needed and you'll likely be good with any layout, the key is just airflow.

 

[Planck]

I've looked at both of my h110i Rads and they are the square type ( got them both within the last 18 months). Im debating on either waiting to order a case on the next run when that is fixed (unless thats gonna take like 6 months) or im just gonna mount the fans up top as a spacer for the rad! does anyone know if it would be effective to do a push/pull set up with slim fans? that might look cool and keep it cool. i just have no idea if they are effective enough for cpu cooling

There are several 140mm x 15mm fans, but most have 120mm mounting holes. Thermaltake has the Luna Slim 3-pin 140mm fan w/ 140mm mount but no idea on quality. I was thinking of ordering a set to test with, but I'm going to wait until I have my SM580 in hand to verify measurements. I looked and couldn't find any detailed reviews/testing on slim fan push/pull setups.

I'm also looking into an Alphacool Eisbaer LT based custom loop if I can find one stateside a a reasonable price. Anyone have any experience with Eisbaer LT w/ a 280mm rad? (same pump as Bequiet Silent Loop I believe) Does that pump really have the juice for a cpu and gpu loop?

 

[Bioforce]

There are several 140mm x 15mm fans, but most have 120mm mounting holes. Thermaltake has the Luna Slim 3-pin 140mm fan w/ 140mm mount but no idea on quality. I was thinking of ordering a set to test with, but I'm going to wait until I have my SM580 in hand to verify measurements. I looked and couldn't find any detailed reviews/testing on slim fan push/pull setups.

I'm also looking into an Alphacool Eisbaer LT based custom loop if I can find one stateside a a reasonable price. Anyone have any experience with Eisbaer LT w/ a 280mm rad? (same pump as Bequiet Silent Loop I believe) Does that pump really have the juice for a cpu and gpu loop?

Saw a Reddit thread in which someone claimed a Noctua rep said a 140mm x 15mm was coming Q4 of this year. When that releases (assuming it is true) it will likely be the best bet. For now though, I've heard a lot of good things about Prolimatech's 140 x 15 fan though as far as I know it is airflow optimized rather than pressure optimized.

 

[CountNoctua]

Saw a Reddit thread in which someone claimed a Noctua rep said a 140mm x 15mm was coming Q4 of this year. When that releases (assuming it is true) it will likely be the best bet. For now though, I've heard a lot of good things about Prolimatech's 140 x 15 fan though as far as I know it is airflow optimized rather than pressure optimized.

I was looking into this as well earlier. Agreed, Prolimatech Vortex is pretty much the best bet for 140mm slim, as it's slim pickings (no pun intended) and difficult to get high static pressure out of that thickness.

 

[Planck]

Saw a Reddit thread in which someone claimed a Noctua rep said a 140mm x 15mm was coming Q4 of this year. When that releases (assuming it is true) it will likely be the best bet. For now though, I've heard a lot of good things about Prolimatech's 140 x 15 fan though as far as I know it is airflow optimized rather than pressure optimized.

Thanks, Noctua 140mm slims would be great. Prolimatech 140 slim has 120mm mounts, no good for 280mm rad.

 

[tuanster1119]

So after weeks of tinkering with my SM560, I think I've gotten it to a state that I'm happy with. Contrary to what has been discussed in this thread, I actually get better temps when I have my fans running as intake. I'm using a 645LT with vented panels. I was seeing temps in the 70-75 range on my CPU, a 3700x, while gaming with my fans set as exhaust. I flipped both of my fans to intake and now I'm seeing load temps in the 60's. I do not recall if the previous findings were with air coolers but running the fans as intake may be a better potion for 645LT users.

 

[Borafuzzle]

Exhaust in that case is better for air coolers, yes. Intake with an AIO is always going to give better CPU temps.