If you like that, then you should hear about how I got the other XB271HU in my main build. I bought a used one from some guy who found it in a storage locker he inherited. I specifically asked about dead/stuck pixels and was told it was clean. Well, I got it and it had quite a few of both -- I'd never seen a panel with so many defects before. I told the seller and he just said to keep it and refunded me entirely, so I basically got it for free.
But then a while later I thought about trying to RMA it, even though I bought it used. It took a couple weeks, but it worked and they sent me back a brand new one with no dead/stuck pixels.
That's how I got a brand new XB271HU IPS for free.
Man, you messed up with the 120mm AIO. If you had gone with a 240mm or 280mm in push/pull you would have had used up every bit of available space in that case
Thank you!! Here's the GPU support bracket that I used (they can engrave any logo) and here's the bracket I used to mount the fans below the GPU. I haven't done actual testing to see how much of a difference the additional fans make, but they supply enough air to keep the GPU temps in the 40s under light load with the GPU fans off!
Thank you so much!! The Obsidian 500D is such a great case choice -- I really feel spoiled being able to access the internals so easily. One notable change I've made since posting is switching the RAM from Trident Z RGB to Corsair Vengeance PRO RGB. I think Trident Z looks better, but being able to consolidate its RGB control into iCUE was worth the switch. I guess my one tip would be to try and consolidate the RGB into as few controller softwares as possible -- it really makes your life much easier.
To answer your question, I used this kit to mount the fans below the GPU. It actually works surprisingly well, too. The air from these fans is actually sufficient enough to keep the GPU fans from turning on at all during idle and light load.
The ASUS adapter uses an AC 8260 card while the card I linked separately is an AC 9260. It has a higher max speed and supports Bluetooth 5.0 vs 4.2 on the ASUS card. There might be more differences, but I'm not sure.
It works perfectly fine. But, if I had to do it over again, I would buy an adapter, like this, and a wireless card, like this, separately. The ones I linked will provide better performance for less money than the adapter that I have.
I think the big plate is just showing off a GPU backplate, which they also sell -- that's sold separately and not needed.
I guess whether it rests on the bracket or not depends on your GPU. My Strix is is surprisingly rigid for how long it is but it does sag a little, so the bracket does partially support it.
Thanks! Yep, that's a bracket to keep the GPU from sagging. I also like it because I have two USB adapters in the PCI lanes below the GPU, which the bracket conceals. Here's the link to the bracket from jmmods -- they can customize it with pretty much any logo/design!
1) Did you add fans to the back of your radiator? If so why (Also did you keep the ML fans that came with the radiator or switch them to the LLS
Yes, there are fans on the back of the radiator and they are all LL120's. The fans on the front of the radiator are called being in push configuration, because they push air through the radiator. The fans on the rear are called being in pull configuration, similarly because the pull air through the radiator. Having fans on both the front and back of the radiator is called a push/pull configuration and it has the best performance because the front and rear fans are working in unison to move air through the radiator much more effectively.
I did it for the following reasons:
it keeps CPU temps down and my 8700k is a mediocre overclocker, so I wanted to give myself as much thermal headroom as possible
it increases total airflow for the entire case, which is important because the intake for the entire case has to move air through the resistive radiator
it helps maintain positive pressure, which is otherwise disadvantaged by the exhaust fans having a higher airflow capacity than the intake fans would
I should also mention that I'm using this radiator gasket for the rear radiator fans. This helps prevent the fans from sucking in air through cracks between the fan housing and the radiator, rather than through the radiator itself.
2) it looks like you have 12 fans total, is that correct? Was it hard to make them all work together? Is it two node pros and one commander?
It's actually currently at 11 fans -- 9x LL120 and 2x LL140. But I recently discovered that you can replace the 500D top fan tray with a 570x front fan tray, which allows you to mount 3x LL120 fans in the top, rather than just 2x LL140. So, I have received all of the parts and will make that change this weekend. At that point, there will be 12 fans -- all LL120's.
It's not difficult to get all of the fans working together, as far as the controller software is concerned. But the biggest challenge is just dealing with all of the extra cables. Each fan has two cables, one for RGB and one for power, so having 12 fans adds 24 cables to deal with.
I'm just using a single Commander Pro for all of the fans. The CoPro has two RGB headers, which are each filled by a 6-fan RGB hub, giving me RGB control for up to 12 fans. It only has 6 fan power headers, so I have to use multiple splitters to connect all 12 fans to only 6 slots. This limits my ability to control each fan curve individually, but this is okay since many of the fans only need to be controlled at the group level, anyway.
I do have a Lighting Node Pro, but that is just used to power 6x LED strips.
3) Did adding the two fans underneath your GPU make a big difference? I have not seen that before
Thorough testing of how big of a difference those extra fans make is on my to-do list. I did do a quick test with them on versus off by letting the temperatures stabilize in Unigine Heaven, and I want to say that I remember the temps being ~6-8C lower with them on. I do believe they make a noticeable difference in both pushing away the hot air expelled by the GPU, as well as just increasing overall case airflow. I also just like they way they look -- it's hard to find little upgrades like these that make your build unique.
4) Does the case tint take away from the rgb lights or balance it out?
The tinting is definitely pretty dark. I had a 460x previously, which also had tinted glass, and this seems noticeably darker. I think LEDs tend to be overly bright, so I very much like it the darker tint. I don't have a very good eye for these sorts of things, but I don't think it distorts the colors much.
Overall great, but you really should have each set of push/pull fans on the same curve. If the corresponding push fan is operating at a different RPM than the pull fan, the efficiency is going to plummet. You want them to push/pull in unison.
You can edit the parts to reflect the prices you paid. I keep two saved parts lists with the same parts -- one has the prices I paid and the other has lowest current prices. I deal-hunted for months and like to see how much money I saved
Ya I was looking at that -- I couldn't tell if they were staying in place like that because of the zip ties or if you twisted the block a full rotation. I think I'm going to try using the zipties on mine -- thanks!
How is that working? I can see the advantages being ensured positive pressure and cool air for the cpu but was is absolutely necessary to remove the top dust filter and how's the noise?
