mounting rad on bottom of case...

[sobepmp]

I would assume I would have the fan sucking air from outside the case into the radiator but most of the pics I have seen with rads mounted on the bottom of the case appear to have the fans blowing air from inside the case to the outside. Anyone know whats the best way to mount my thermochill to the bottom of my case?

[bigben2k]

Air blowing out, to prevent sucking up dust bunnies.

[csimon]

Why not just mount it outside of the case altogether. That way you can avoid excess system heat.

[sobepmp]

Originally Posted by csimon

Why not just mount it outside of the case altogether. That way you can avoid excess system heat.

The only place I have room is on the bottom of my case .

[Pyrotechnic]

Just as long as you have an intake vent or fan(s) near by, like in the front the case or on the side panel, it will work fine to have the radiator mounted on bottom with the air blowing out the bottom.

[RnRollie]

the question is what happens with the air?

if it is expelled thru the bottom, where does it go? does it rise up along the sides of the case and then obviously sucked into the case again at some point? Or do you have means to get rid of that air? If you cant get rid of the air, i'ld advise against it, as you would be sucking the warmer air back into the case. Also, you're going against the natural flow (rising/convection) of warm air.

If you have enough clearance at the bottom and a filter and can provide enough 'cool' air, i would suck the air into the case thru the rad.

Although the air would be warmer after going thru the rad, it will not 'jump' 10-15 degrees C up from room temp to water temp (the rad is not efficient enough for that) and thus still be cooler then the expelled air which is sucked in again.
And if you can expell the air at the top again (eg thru the power supply) you'ld have anice airflow thru the case.

Now, the most efficient would be to mount the rad sideways against the right panel or the door and then shroud the whole thing in such a way that the air gets sucked in through the rad and expelled at the other side of the case. Thus no hot air gets spilled into the case at all.

A bit like the 'tunnel' at the bottom of an Antec P180 case, but instead of from front to back, air coming through left to right. Of course this would mean some (extensive) modding of your pannels. If that is not a good idea, then have the rad flat on the bottom and shroud/tunnel/guide the air away out of the case far away from any intake fan. Unless you can provide a lot of really cool air towards the intake at the bottom , see my windtunnel project posted elsewhere (shameless plugg of own posts )


BTW: sucking air thru a rad is more efficient then blowing anyways