Looking for advice on my first build in regards to heat management.

[Timo9000]

Hail O Wise Computer Masters.

I have all the parts for my first home built computer on the way. I have just a few first time builder questions that I would like to put out there and see what the PCPER forums have to say.

My Parts List: (Based strongly dream system on the HW Leaderboard)
Intel Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition Sandy Bridge-E 3.3GHz
ASUS Sabertooth X79 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 140mm and 120mm SSO CPU Cooler
Patriot Extreme Performance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Hybrid RS-D00-SPHA-D3 1300W Intel ATX
Intel 520 Series Cherryville SSDSC2CW240A3K5 2.5" 240GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
PNY VCGGTX680XPB GeForce GTX 680 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Pioneer Black Internal BD/DVD/CD Writer SATA BDR-207DBKS
Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D Fatal1ty Professional (70SB135600000) 5.1 Channels PCI Express x1 Interface Sound Card

Throwing these parts into:
COOLER MASTER HAF X RC-942-KKN1 Black Steel/ Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Questions:

1. Since this is my first build I was a little wary of my water cooling for my CPU so I went with the big ol Noctua. Space allowing, would it make the most sense to have it pointed up vertically so it vents into the 200mm fan at the top of the case?

2. Should I remove the stock thermal past that comes with the CPU cooler and apply Arctic Silver myself?

I had the means to buy higher end parts and plan on running them at stock speeds until I feel more comfortable.

Please let me know if you see an issues that I may not have forseen.

Many Thanks

Tim

[mmettin]

<chop>

1. Since this is my first build I was a little wary of my water cooling for my CPU so I went with the big ol Noctua. Space allowing, would it make the most sense to have it pointed up vertically so it vents into the 200mm fan at the top of the case?

2. Should I remove the stock thermal past that comes with the CPU cooler and apply Arctic Silver myself?

I had the means to buy higher end parts and plan on running them at stock speeds until I feel more comfortable.

Please let me know if you see an issues that I may not have forseen.

Many Thanks

Tim

1. No provided you have enough air flow

2. I would

[zirik]

if you plan on removing the thermal paste i highly recommend using arcticlean made by the same people that makes arctic silver. it is a two step process. the first liquid removes thermal paste without scratching the mirror finish of your heatsink. the second prepares the surface by removing the residue left behind by the first liquid. the smell makes me think they are just repackaging the citrus oil used by goo gone and selling it at a higher price.

[Frank1946]

if you plan on removing the thermal paste i highly recommend using arcticlean made by the same people that makes arctic silver. it is a two step process. the first liquid removes thermal paste without scratching the mirror finish of your heatsink. the second prepares the surface by removing the residue left behind by the first liquid. the smell makes me think they are just repackaging the citrus oil used by goo gone and selling it at a higher price.

Use Goo Gone to remove the old paste then warm water to remove the Goo Gone residue making sure the surface is dry and lint free before applying the Arctic Silver.

[Yeah]

Hail O Wise Computer Masters.

I have all the parts for my first home built computer on the way. I have just a few first time builder questions that I would like to put out there and see what the PCPER forums have to say.

****SNIP

Questions:

1. Since this is my first build I was a little wary of my water cooling for my CPU so I went with the big ol Noctua. Space allowing, would it make the most sense to have it pointed up vertically so it vents into the 200mm fan at the top of the case?

2. Should I remove the stock thermal past that comes with the CPU cooler and apply Arctic Silver myself?

I had the means to buy higher end parts and plan on running them at stock speeds until I feel more comfortable.

Please let me know if you see an issues that I may not have forseen.

Many Thanks

Tim

It was suggested you use goo gone to remove the old thermal paste that comes with the CPU cooler. Well since none of them (veterans) checked out that cooler - they would have seen that it comes with a tube of NT-H1 cpu thermal compound.

There is nothing wrong with that thermal paste. If you already have arctic silver you can use that instead, but you should NOT need to clean anything off if this cooler is brand new.

I would also like to mention that there are some very corrosive versions of goo gone now available and suggesting goo gone without specifying the proper kind to use is a bad Idea. I would NOT use goo gone anyway. My opnion of course.

I use 98% rubbing alcohol you should be able to get from drug store or photo store. You can use coffee filters as ' the rag' as coffee filters leave behind no residue.

Take your time putting your pc together. There is nothing wrong with shooting the exahaust of the cpu cooler to the top where it can be quickly removed from your system. In fact it is the way I would do it.

Noctua fans are the best, I love them- very quiet. If you find your pc is loud from fan noise, replace the fans in your pc with Noctua.

[kbohip]

1. Since this is my first build I was a little wary of my water cooling for my CPU so I went with the big ol Noctua. Space allowing, would it make the most sense to have it pointed up vertically so it vents into the 200mm fan at the top of the case?

I see you are using the CM HAF X case. It's a wonderful case, by far the best I've ever used in my many builds. One thing that is very important though. Make sure you take out the filters on the top vents. They keep a lot of air from getting out I found.

[gordong11]

I just built a similar build, as was worried about heat management as well, but in the end it was no issue at all. I have 1 incoming stream of air through my H70 cooler setup at the rear of the case and one 120mm corsair (stock w/ 400r case) at the top pushing air out. Playing skyrim at ultra settings @ 1920x1200, I still need zero extra fan rpm's, and everything stays cool. See my build... has pics w/ data

http://forums.pcper.com/showthread.php?t=478884

[zirik]

I would also like to mention that there are some very corrosive versions of goo gone now available and suggesting goo gone without specifying the proper kind to use is a bad Idea. I would NOT use goo gone anyway. My opnion of course

didnt know there are different types of goo gone. the one i was referring to works on removing tree sap from car paint without damaging the clear coat finish. what are the corrosive versions name? i need to know so that i can avoid them.

also, i didnt bother looking at the heatsink he was talking about because his second question was if he should remove the thermal paste. my suggestion was how to remove it. not whether or not he should remove it. i thought he knew that he was buying a heatsink with no pre-applied paste.