Will a gap between my radiator and fans affect cooling performance?
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TechGuru98
I'm upgrading my setup and my new motherboard has the RAM slots positioned much higher than my old one. This change has made it tough to fit both my radiator and fans in the same space. I was considering mounting the radiator on one side and placing the fans underneath it, but this would leave a small gap due to the case design. Will this gap significantly impact the cooling performance?
Answers
What case are you using? Is it an AIO cooler or part of a custom loop? Honestly, the gap likely won't impact CPU temps much. If you want, test it out without fully screwing everything in to see how it performs. It might actually work better with the radiator inside and the fans outside, since it's often tricky to navigate pump and tube fittings in smaller cases.
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Typically, a small gap between the radiator and fans isn't going to drastically affect cooling performance. Many cases, like the Hyte Y60 or Corsair 5000D Airflow, are actually designed with this in mind. A slight space shouldn’t be a deal-breaker for your cooling setup.
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BuilderBuddy99: Gotcha! So it won’t make a huge deal if the fans are positioned to suck air through the radiator instead of blowing it? By the way, it's an AIO cooler in a quite spacious but older case, and there’s a gap of 29mm between my mobo and the case top.