Does Radiator Placement Matter? Hint: YES 

best place to put radiator : outside of the case. outside the house if possible.

I just have my radiator hanging out the case in a bucket of ice

Great experiment. Just the answers I was looking for at 2 am in the morning even though I have no intention of building a PC. LOL. Great video tho :D

Even tho this video is 3 years old it still helped me because I'm about to build a pc

the benchmark results start at 7:45

If you are building a PC right now and want to know the answer 12:10 thank me later when your PC is build 10 minutes sooner

Front mounted radiators should have the tubes on the down side, so air bubbles gather on the radiator top. That will be most silent. Your front radiator is setup really bad because its ALSO lower than the pump is meaning air bubbles will gather in your pump

Thanks so much for putting this video out! I’m in the middle of building my first gaming pc and with my cpu cooler I bought I can only fit it to the front of my case which looks to be the better placement so that has calmed my nerves down! Thanks again!

.... *looks at his rear-mounted radiator* *cough* *quietly moves radiator*

Do a 212 evo style cooler horizontal vs vertical mounting temperatures.

12:10 - you came here for this.

Regarding the results at 12:08 - *It makes total sense why front is the best. The radiator has a big surface area (which means the heat is very spread out and "mild" at the radiator) and it has 2 or 3 big fans. The air therefore moves quickly through the radiator fins, so the air does not become significantly warmer since the contact is so brief. So the still mostly-cold air goes into the case, where the GPU eats it and loves it and then spits out very hot GPU air (definitely not something you'd wanna pull into an exhaust-radiator). You also wanna be sure to get all of the warmed radiator and GPU air out of the case in the rear/top sides so that it doesn't stay around in the radiator/GPU areas. This explains why the radiator should be the front-intake (preferably with a mesh-front case for airflow), and the other fans in the top/back should be the exhausts to ensure the hot air moves out and away from the components.*

This video made me subscribe, and here's why. I'm using an i7-6700k overclocked to 4.6Ghz with an EVGA GTX 1070 FTW - an open style cooler. My Captain 240 EX RGB's radiator was top mounted in push. I watch this video and think to myself, "This guy is full of shit." I then take the time to dismantle my fan and radiator setup, front-mount the radiator in pull, then set my top fans to push. I also set my rear case fan to pull. I fire the 'ol Magnum Opus (the computer's name) up, launch Open Hardware Monitor and Prime 95... and see my temperature has dropped from 77C under load to 68C. You're the man!

Have you tried adding more RGB?

Finally someone who tells me what I need to know without taking 5 hours to do so

OMG THANK YOU. I've been searching all over the web for an answer and it's 50/50 everywhere. This test is just what I needed and I can finally move on to the next steps. Keep up the good work :D

THANK YOU! This is exactly the kind of test I've been looking for and while the video is a year and a half old this is still very useful information.

you have no idea how much this video helped me. liked, subbed and notifications

Would like to see the same test with and without top exhaust with the front rad and a single rear exhaust. Does the top exhaust make much difference!

[Looks at computer] *_"Well shit; no way i'm changing the placement now with all those hard drives in the way..."_*

Except if you have an AMD rig, in which case the thermonuclear radiator is located in the CPU socket.

Was the graphics cards fans running at the same rpm all the time? Since the temps was identical?

Hey Kyle, did you remember to change the fan direction on the radiator when placing it from top to front and vice versa ? Since front mounted requires intake and top mounted requires exhaust ?

One of the most interesting videos on this topic and it simply makes sense, as the radiator will receive cold air from the exterior instead of hot built on the case interior. Thank you

Does Kyle respond

Incredibly thorough and well articulated info. Great video!

I wanted mine on top but this was my first PC build and didn't notice my ram stuck out to much so tried a front mount to try something different and I guess it wasn't as bad as I thought. I knew my cpu wouldn't be bothered but I was worried about other things. Thank you for the video :)

I had a top mounted radiator with open card and it was causing my cpu to overheat. I changed to front mount like this video described and have had a significant drop in temps and no issues with crashing during intensive applications.

A few random thoughts... 1. I notice that you always have your fans in push config, rather than pull config, have you tried this same test reversing that? 2. Have you tried a different case? A full tower with more vertical space, or a smaller compact case might be completely different. 3. Did you try setting the Corsair Link software to performance mode? I have tried this and found CPU temp can drop quite a bit, at the price of more fan noise. 4. Have you considered a Corsair H115i 280mm? Quite a bit larger fans and surface area, may bring those temps down. 5. Finally, 1.4 volts on 14nm is a lot in my opinion, I generally won't go over 1.3 myself, temps climb quickly with voltage (as you well know). 4.8GHz on 1.3 volts might be a better choice than 5.0GHz on 1.4 :) My concern is long term (5+ years) stability rather than does it work this month.

so front mount is actually better... interesting, seeing as how everyone was tearing the s340 apart for its lack of top radiator support...

I loved this, super helpful. I have to go move my radiator now!

Couple big mistakes in this video that people should know... Top radiator: that radiator should be mounted 2/3rd's towards the front (as opposed to towards the rear as in this video), so that the radiator fans are sucking in air from the front fans and NOT the hot air directly above the CPU & GPU as is shown in this video. A 3rd exhaust fan would be mounted in the rear-most space (360mm total fan space), next to the radiator fans, 90° from the primary rear exhaust fan. Consequently, the majority of air flow will pass through the case and to the two perpendicular exhaust fans. The radiator fans, with mitigated vacuum due to the radiator's interference, will be exposed to fresh air from the front intake fans while having negligible influence on the overall flow and in the end, there should be a roughly positive pressure inside the case. This is an optimal setup. Secondly, with the CPU pump mounted at the highest point in the AIO system, it is effectively a noisy, gurgly heat pipe or a pneumatic AIO because all the air inside that system is up in the pump. Most AIO systems contain 5-10% air. All around, those numbers should have been substantially different.

Glad I watched this video. I'm about to get my liquid cooler and I was surprised to see a huge difference in temp. according to where you place it.

This really is one of my favorite videos (at least when you get to the point! :P ). I'd love to see someone with a custom cooling loop that cools both the CPU and GPU run a comparison of front vs top radiator mounting. Alternatively, how a top mounted radiator to cool the CPU along with a rear radiator and water block for the GPU would compare in your setup.

In our experience with custom pc's, yes, front is better with almost 10-20°C. Push-pull is also a good option if the case let you do it. And, another important thing: the exaust vents on the case matter a lot!

Oh the irony of RU-vid automatically playing this video after watching a GamersNexus video explaining why you should not mount radiators on the front with tubes up or mount the front radiator below the pump. There's always some air in an AIO, and it will make its way into the pump if mounted like this. Kyle did both of these things wrong.

The results are at 12:11

Video starts at 7:04

Would have liked to see a push and pull setup for comparison. Much more air coming in not sure if that would push more hot air at the GPU or not.

Would be interesting to see how the front mounted radiator compares with the tubes at the bottom. In theory; the air inside the radiator would be sitting at the top with your current setup and obstructing the inlet/outlet tubes. Pretty sure you’d see a further thermal improvement with the tubes at the bottom :)

Thank you! This video alone has helped me feel better about an imminent new build in a Phanteks P400s Tempered Glass. Slapping the AIO in the front as intake.

Very much so. I was overclocking my 4790k with the radiator on the back blowing out. I had it stable and decided to try a benchmark. Once the graphics card got going it obviously heated the cases internal temperature. 5min in and it blue screened. So I moved the radiator to the front - pulling only cold air from the outside. No issues and was able overclock even further. A good 20 degree drop.

Well I'll be swapping the layout now then. Makes a lot of sense but it didn't occur to me to do it until now. Thanks.

This is the first video of yours I have ever seen Kyle. Good video and you are a good performer. I enjoyed what you had to say about placement. Thank you.

I did this comparison myself last year and i got much better temps on my 6700k! Moved my rad from top to front in my Fractal Define S. GPU was essentially unaffected but CPU could breathe again. Dropped 12c.

this video made a whole lot of diiference to my machine temps, thanks kyle, love you bro

Great video, great demonstration - answers questions for me as a novice looking at my first AIO cooling system.

I'd like to see this tested with a GPU AIO instead. Though it might be tough to reach the top with a radiator from one.

Nice Kyle! Your tips are always helpful!

Very interesting, I found this vid very informative, it's made me make up my mind how I will install my rads!

"im alone, im always alone" made me joke on my coffee LMAO

Thanks for the test! It would be great to see what the room temperature were at each test, since I'm assuming that might have gotten hotter after each subsequent test.

5:50 i see my long awaited Banu Merchantman in the background :D

You just found a new subscriber. Clear and to the point, great communication of information. Hard to find in tech vids with people trying to be funny or being pretentious and snobby.

thanks. it is a very helpful experiment as i was confused about front mount and top mount

Awesome video, straight to the point and very informal... thank you.

Pause at 12:08 for results

Hey Kyle. Post watching your video I got intrigued into testing it out on my own; especially since I have a similar config (only GPU) to what you were running your benchmarks on. My results are no where near as calculated as yours but they are still noteworthy. Config: (I havent overclocked anything. Running them just on the manufacturer's default settings) Processor - Intel i7 6700K GPU - Zotac GTX 1070 Amp Edition CPU cooler - NZXT Kraken x61 Cabinet - Corsair 760T Top mounted: CPU was in and around the 50 degree C temperature with I think a max of 56 (Didn't pay much attention during this test) GPU hovered around the 71 degree C temperature throughout Front mounted: CPU was averaging around 40 degree C with only a few sections where it reached about 51 (max) GPU hovered around the 74-75 degree C temperature throughout Thing to note is that during the Front mounted test my ambient temperatures were a bit higher (maybe around 4-5 degrees to when I had done the Top mounted test), so in maybe an identical ambient environment it might just have been lower.

Front rad & open card results are due to the combination of the top mount fans and the GPU fans pulling air in from other unrestricted openings in the chassis - probably a lot from the expansion card slots.

What if you took the front panel off of the case to allow for more air flow from the front of the case? With the solid front panel I would imagine the air pull on the intake would be hindered by that and your temps may go even lower with more air being pulled across the radiator from the open front panel.

I have mine as the following configuration: Open GPU, front as intake, RAD at top as intake, obviously creating a positive pressure inside of case and my CPU and GPU temps seem to be steady at 65C & 65C under heavy load.

um..didn't Jay do a video about this and he showed that it didn't matter?

I had the same problem due to my motherboard and casing issue , I can’t mount radiator on top. Thanks Kyle. Now I know.

im getting a new case my pc, i didnt even know about blower vs open shroud, this video really helped

Thanks sir. Gonna slap a 280 rad as front intake on my fractal design meshify c

I'm curious to see this video remade after watching GN's video on pump orientation and how water flow is hindered when the cooler is set up as it was in this video.

Thanks I was going to go with a case that top mounts but now i know to go front mounting.

Would be interested to see the temps if you had the fans on the front mounted rad in a push pull config in both directions

Can you test again with a rad in push/pull and with 2x open shroud GPUs? I ask because push/pull could really affect results if used as a front intake and 2x open shroud GPUs also drastically affects temps and airflow. Thanks!

Would have liked to see the top radiator configuration as an intake, instead of only an exhaust, with the open GPU card, combined with that heavy RPM rear exhaust fan. Wonder if a high volume case fan on the upper rear would be able to over power the natural effect of heat wanting to rise straight up, combined with the radiator fans pushing it's used air straight down.

Makes sense to me, the air coming out the back side of your radiator is going to be much cooler than what your GPU is running at. Therefore very much capable of providing cooling to all your components, pair with a well set up exhaust at the top and rear of your case and your golden .

Watching in 2020, thinking of getting an AIO after upgrading my chassis. I was really curious about any advantage of either placement (top or front mounting), but the video is pretty informative/helpful. Front will definitely work best but now Im worried about the length of tubing. Is there ever an instance where its too short to mount on the front and you HAVE to resort to top mounting?

I would love to see results for a setup where both the GPU and CPU have their own AIO water cooler.

I’m pretty shocked, I tried front mounting the radiator and got the exact same results. I’m very happy I watched this video!

Holy cow when do the comparisons and numbers begin in this video!?!

I wonder what the vrm and memory temps were tho during this testing?

I wish you could do the same test on a Crosair 4000D Airflow to see if its better on the front panel. i dont have aio but i plan to get one if someone did a test with a aio on front with that crosair 4000d airflow case.

In AIO manuals, It is most often written "we recommend to mount your radiator/fans as intake" (that is in front)

Very useful test, detailed (with various setups) and objective. Thank you for all videos you make!

I’ve always seen that people place their radiators at the top or with the hoses upwards of their placed in the front. I’ve heard that you should orientate it with the hose at the bottom to give it better cooling performance

Would be nice to see this with a Hybrid GPU

I've had incredible success with temps with a somewhat different setup. I have a h115i mounted on top, but its towards the front of the case, where one fan is actually pulling from the cool air from the intake fans instead of the motherboard. I have 3 140mm fans as intake on the front and have them clocking a higher rpm than the radiator fans. Also have the rear 140mm case fan clocking high as well. I think 80% or so of the heated air of the pc is being pushed out the rear exhaust vs going through the radiator.

What if i do front exhaust by aio and back suck ? What difference will it make?

Old video i know but still golden - great video as always

The only problem with what I see is, with your build of putting the radiator on the front lower portion of your case, is that the CPU cooler (which in a lot of units house the pump), is that it is higher than the radiator and would allow that CPU cooler/pump to collect air, which, from what I am seeing in other videos, can shorten the life span of your pump and/or reduce the efficiency of your cooling unit.

5:32 "Ginna" 😂 I died Idk why 😂😂😂

I flipped my H100i Pro to front mount from a top mount with an EVGA RTX 3090 which is open. It held my cpu temp on heavy load for 30 mins at 62 C vs top mount 76 C. I ran Godfall on full settings while streaming and playing music for both. Big help here, thank you for running these tests!

I used this video for reference not too long ago when I switched my pc case and upgraded to a 360mm radiator. I have a blower style card and when mounting the radiator on top, my temps showed similar correlation to the one in this video, cpu 75C and gpu 82C. But when I mounted my blower card vertically, my cpu temps jumped to 85-86C. So for anyone reading this, if you mount your blower style card vertically, you may see the same issue!

I initially went with my Corsair 100i in front. My 2080 super with three fans was throttling. Upon moving to the top of the case and putting three fans in front scattering air equally to cpu and GPU. I got the best of both worlds. I found getting as much air moving through the upper and lower portions of the case was my best overall temps so far.

You should have also tested pulling air through the radiator at the front. I know with high performance cars, the fans are always on the back pulling cool air through, NOT on the front pushing air through. Would be interesting to know if that made any difference.

Awesome video, however I do miss one with 2 radiators! It will completly change the rules also because its way harder to generate negative airpressure... all intake will be through a rad... or should both rad exhaust out? top and front?

Top search result in RU-vid genuinely helpful shock! Still useful 4 years down the line. I'm also better educated about where the fans should be, and in which direction the air should flow. Many, many thanks for sharing this.

Wonder if he'll revisit this topic with the added info from GamerNexus about making sure the pump isn't the highest point in the loop

After watching many videos I finally found one that answered my question... Awsome video Thank you

Perfect. Thanks for the info.

Can you put a 120mm liquid cooler on the back of the case?

I know this is an older video, but one point I would make, if you do put a rad at the front and not the top, make sure your pump is not the highest point in the loop otherwise air will settle in it.

Love the Banu Merchantman desktop background. Are you a Star Citizen backer?

I've got an interesting choice with the ITX build i'm planing.... Front intake radiator up to 280mm OR a side exhaust IMMEDIATELY BEHIND THE FRONT FANS but only 240mm.... Theoretically both positions should see cooler air hitting the radiator. I had been intending to go with the latter option hoping to keep the overall case temps lower.... but now i'm wondering if the benefit of the 280mm radiator could be much greater than worrying about the case temperatures. My card is a 1080ti founders (blower)

(Laughs in ITX) (Slaps top of case) "This bad boy can hold so many radiators"