Solved Looking for some advice on choosing suitable parts for a Kolink Void RGB Tempered Glass Case.

Hi,

I am currently looking into purchasing a moderately priced gaming PC and ideally I would like to use the Kolink Void RGB Tempered Glass Case

due to the aesthetics, however the case only comes with 1 x rear fan included which has me worried that the system will run too hot if I don't install extra fans so I had some questions for you guys about that and the parts I am hoping to put into it.

I am in Australia so I am planning to purchase from PC Case Gear using their customizable feature which gives me some limited choice over which parts to mix and match with the case.

The parts I am currently considering are:

• Intel Core i5 12600 Processor
• MSI MAG B660M Mortar Wi-Fi DDR4 Motherboard
• ASUS GeForce RTX 3060 KO Gaming LHR 12GB
• Team T-Force Delta RGB 16GB (2x8GB) 3200MHz CL16 DDR4
• Team Cardea Z44L M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD 1TB
• Corsair RM650x Gold Modular 650W Power Supply V2
• Kolink Void RGB Tempered Glass Case Black

One option I am considering is to get a better CPU and Motherboard:

• Intel Core i7 12700 Processor
• ASUS ROG Strix B660-A Gaming Wi-Fi DDR4 Motherboard

So based on either of those specs do you recommend that I need to add additional fans? There is no option to have more fans installed as part of this template so I would have to do it myself after I get the PC. The case is advertised as having space for 3 x 120mm fans at the front and 2 x 120mm in the top. How difficult is it for someone with zero PC building experience to install extra fans?

Apart from case fans would I also need to consider a CPU cooler?

One final question I have is regarding the ASUS ROG Strix B660-A Motherboard paired with the Intel Core i7 12700 Processor. Would this be a suitable pairing for that processor regarding things like VRM?

Thanks for your reply.

I will give it a go at installing some extra fans myself if I end up going with that particular Kolink case. It would be easier to just go with a different case that already has extra fans included but I just really like the look of the Kolink Void. It's a shame that PC Case Gear doesn't include the option to have more fans and cooling options with that particular template. I will check out Umart as well to see what their options are. Thanks for the tip.

and the fan header on the motherboard to power it from, so make sure whatever mobo you get has SYS_FAN1, SYS_FAN2, etc for the number of extra fans you require.

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I had a look for the fan header information for the ASUS ROG STRIX B660-A GAMING WIFI D4 but I can't figure out how many fans that particular board is capable of. Are you able to help me find that particular information. On the ASUS website it says "ASUS-exclusive Aura Sync RGB lighting, including one RGB header and three addressable Gen 2 headers" Is that the ones you were referring to? And what is the difference between an RGB header and a Gen 2 header?

as to the CPU fan, the stock cooler they come with a surprisingly effective, but if over-clocking or where you know it'll be under heavy load for long periods, I'd get am after market one, say from Noctua.

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Ah I see it comes with a stock cooler that's good. They really don't make that information very clear in the online listings for those CPU's. I won't be overclocking so I think I will just stick with the stock cooler.

Thanks for the info.

RGB and Gen2 headers are for LED lighting

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Are those RGB and Gen 2 headers compatible with ARGB fans?
I was hoping to use the Kolink Umbra Void ARGB PWN 120mm fans (Yes I like the rainbows, even better fans with infinity mirrors in them )

I was initially hoping to have four chassis fans but if there are only 3 headers with this motherboard where do you suggest is optimal to install them. The Kolink case I want to use says it can support three fans in the front and two at the top. Here is a diagram of what I was hoping to do showing four fans installed but if I can only have three which one should I omit from the build?

After doing some research I have decided I am going to build the whole PC myself and use an AIO liquid cooling system like you suggested.


I ordered everything yesterday so here is my completed parts list:

Case: Kolink Void RGB Tempered Glass Case Black

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Strix B660-A Gaming Wi-Fi DDR4 Motherboard

CPU: Intel Core i5 12600 Processor

RAM: Team T-Force Delta RGB 16GB (2x8GB) 3200MHz CL16 DDR4 Black

SSD: Team Cardea Z44L M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD 1TB

PSU: Phanteks AMP PH-P750G 750W Modular Gold Power Supply

Rear Case Fan: Kolink Umbra Void ARGB PWM 120mm Fan

Top Case Fans: Cooler Master MasterFan MF120 HALO 120mm ARGB Fan Kit

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL240 Flux Liquid CPU Cooler


I was initially going to go with the ASUS GeForce RTX 3060 KO Gaming LHR 12GB for my GPU but I have held off on ordering the GPU for now until I can fit the motherboard and front radiator and fans to measure. The Kolink Void case says it can support Graphics cards up to 310 mm but that isn't accounting for the radiator and fans at the front and the ASUS GeForce RTX 3060 KO Gaming LHR 12GB that I initially wanted is 275mm long so it might be a snug fit. Also I probably don't need a 12GB GPU so probably will do more research into a smaller form factor 8GB GPU.

I have to say the most difficult challenge with putting this whole build plan together has been the case. A lot of extra effort and checking due to the case being more aesthetic and also a mid tower. Would have been easy to do if I had a regular vented full tower or something but I wanted the challenge of getting it to work for this case.

I will post an update if I have more build questions or hopefully to show the completed build some time soon.

my only, slight concern would be the CPU.
budget permitting, have you considered the benefits in extra cores, threads and Hz if you jumped up level to the i7 or i9 ranges?

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I did give the CPU some thought and was initially going to go with the i7 12700 but I decided to go down a level to the i5 12600 for a few reasons. Firstly when considering my use case my graphical goals are for 1080p at 60fps and no higher than that. Also I have quite an extensive backlog of games which I am focusing on finishing first so I won't be using it for the most high end current games.

Because of the somewhat poor ventilation of this case and also thinking about gaming in summer heat in Australia I decided I would rather have the i5 due to it running cooler. I am hoping that the i5 with that 240mm AIO cooler should be nice and cool all the time. And also budget wise the i7 was putting me a little bit over what I was planning to spend for this build.

Longer term in a few years when I am ready to step up to 4k gaming and playing the more current gen games I will want to do another build anyway designed with that in mind.

Bruce said:

Initially I had a stock cooler that kept it in the high 50's, then I got a NZXT 120mm radiator AiO water cooler and it now never gets above 42, and that was about three weeks ago when QLD had the mini heatwave and the outside temps got into the high 30's and the humidity was mid 90's.

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That sounds promising then. I'm sure the AIO will do a good job in summer.

I had a question about the AIO radiator and fan installation at the front of the case so I drew up a diagram to make it easier to explain.

So is it correct that the goal of a front mounted radiator / fans is to intake air into the front of the case? And to intake using the right side option in the diagram you would have to turn the fans around and have the backs of the fans visible when looking into the side panel of the case?

And can the fans go on the front side of the radiator or the back side? (if they were on the front they wouldn't be visible when looking into the case). Is there an ideal configuration for which side of the radiator the fans should go? Ideally I want to see the RGB fans when looking into the case.

Also is it better to have the radiator mounted with the hoses at the top like in my diagram or flipped around with the hoses at the bottom? I have read about the recommendation for the top of the radiator to be higher than the top of the pump which I think it should do with both positions.

Thanks for all this help. I appreciate it.

So will the air going through the radiator cool the liquid coolant in the fins and then exit the radiator into the case hotter than it was outside the case? Does that only happen if the fans are on the left side sucking the air through the radiator rather than on the right side blowing the air through?

I also have to take into consideration (yes again the problematic aesthetic case) that having the fans on the right hand side will have the top fan sitting flush against the back area of the V infinity mirror, essentially against a wall. If the radiator was against that V shaped wall instead would those gaps in the radiator fins moving away from that wall create a larger space for the top fan to move more air through?

I initially was going to just use a single fan 120mm AIO cooler instead mounted at the bottom of the V where there is better air flow but then I fell down the rabbit hole on Youtube of people saying you have to have the top of the radiator above the top of the pump to avoid air bubbles, so then I thought ah well I can just put the radiator and fan at the top then, until I noticed that it would just be sitting against a wall, so that became a dead end.

Before that I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out tower cooler stack height compared to the width of my case which didn't seem it would fit well in a mid size case (some would fit but they would almost be touching the glass), so then I started down a path of using the Cooler Master i70C LGA1700 RGB CPU Cooler but ended up with probable RAM clearance issues with the 49mm very tall T-Force RAM I had chosen and then trying to find RGB Low Profile RAM sticks like the Hyper X Fury RGB that I found, but all of those types have been discontinued it seems so no luck there. Again I know I'm making more problems for myself at every turn because I want the nice rainbow lights everywhere but that is part of the challenge I want to overcome with this build.

Another question I have is because I bought the Cooler Master MF120 3 x fan kit I will have one spare fan that I could possibly mount below the front radiator to cool the lower part of the case. The Kolink Void case can have three fans mounted at the front so might be good to put that one in too. Do you think that would help balance the general air flow and negate some of the warm air coming from the radiator? And would that lower fan help to cool the PSU? It could balance out having 3 x Intake Fans and 3 x Exhaust Fans so maybe a neutral pressure system. I will have to wait and see once the radiator is installed if any parts of the radiator would block that fans mounting point though. I drew up a diagram to illustrate my current idea of how it might work so can you please have a look over it to see if you notice any issues with it?

If I did do that setup I think I would have to use a fan splitter cable (which may come with the kit) to put all three Cooler Master fans into one header, like CHA_FAN2 from my picture. With just the 5 fan option I would be able to use a separate fan header for each fan which appeals to me for simplicity but I don't suppose it would be that much harder to chain those 3 fans together. Can three fans be daisy chained together like that and run from a single fan header without any issues?

but in this scenario, I wonder how it would go if;

• the back fan sucks cool air in
• the radiator is on the front of the case with the fans towards the front
• but the fans are mounted backwards, drawing air in from the case, over the radiator, and out the front

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A reversed air flow system? That is really getting down the rabbit hole there. I think I would struggle to get my head around it as a first time builder, considering how much difficulty a regular direction flow system is giving me with this particular case. Would be interesting to look if any others have posted builds like that online though. Intriguing idea.


One final question regarding choosing a GPU:

PC Case Gear emailed me back and told me that "the chosen graphics card (ASUS GeForce RTX 3060 KO Gaming LHR 12GB) will obstruct the installation of the radiator from the CPU cooler" so I am going to go for a smaller sized card now, and maybe 8GB instead of 12GB, maybe a RTX 3050 instead of 3060. I have seen some much shorter GPU's like the 235mm long MSI GeForce RTX Ventus 2X OC 8GB. Or do you think I am better off paying a bit more for a 3060 for my use case? Any other video cards you can recommend? For some reason I feel kind of wary of the Gigabyte brand but that might be unfounded. I just have it in my head that ASUS or MSI would be better. Is Gigabyte a good quality brand that I should consider as an option?

Hey there, thanks for checking.

Have just been patiently waiting for all the parts to arrive and the final lot was all delivered today so I have it all ready to start building tomorrow nice and fresh. Going to take my time with each step and make sure I'm doing them in the optimal order.

I ended up going with an Asus GeForce RTX 3050 Dual OC 8G Graphics Card. Found a good price at Umart for $428 and should have more than enough power for what I need. Also has a really nice small form factor at only 20cm long compared to a lot of the 27cm long alternatives so it should fit in the case nicely.

Also had enough left over in my budget to afford the Roccat mouse, keyboard and mousepad that I had wanted to pair with this new PC.

Hopefully it all comes together tomorrow but if I hit any snags I will be sure to post on here with any questions I have. If it all goes smoothly then I will instead post some completed build pictures and some benchmark results.

Update: It's going well so far but I decided to stop about half way through the build today because its too hot in Adelaide (38c) and I don't have air con so I was starting to get tired and worried that I might drip some sweat onto the motherboard or something. Also doesn't help having such heat when I am getting flustered by some particular detail or problem that I have to solve. Going to be a nice cool change for tomorrow and weekend so hope to have it done either by tomorrow evening or some time Saturday.

Took my time earlier in the day to open all the boxes, check all the contents and read every manual. Disassembled the Kolink Void Case (was a bit scary having to pull hard on the front panel to pull it out of the peg holes). So far I have successfully mounted the CPU to the motherboard, installed the RAM and the M.2 SSD stick (had to double check to make sure I was putting the graphene sticker on the right side).

Then I decided to install the front radiator and fan and struggled with it for a while. I realized I had to install it with the hoses at the bottom because the screw hole for the hose side was 3cm away from the edge of the radiator while the other side was only 2cm away from the edge. Radiator would only fit with the 2cm clearance so that's okay. Also a bit of a struggle to get the radiator fan cables routed through the back of the case without them getting in the way of the screw holes but I got there in the end. Radiator was definitely a tight fit in such a small form factor case but it worked out okay.

I also replaced the rear fan that came with the case with a Kolink Void fan and that created a query for me so was wondering if you have advice for me?

The fan that came pre-installed in the case was connected to a male 3 pin 5v cable coming out of the front infinity mirror section. Because I wanted to put a different fan in the back I removed that and took note of it to look into further. The working theory I have is that it was daisy chained to the front infinity mirror LED's. Should I just daisy chain the new rear fans 3 pin 5v cable to that plug? Or if I wanted to put the rear fan directly to the motherboards 3 pin header is it okay to just ignore that 3 pin plug coming from the front LED panel and just tuck it away somewhere?

One other question I have about the LED front panel is that it comes with a female 3 pin 5v connector which I will attach to one of the motherboards ARGB headers but it also comes with a small plug labelled VDG. I have no idea what that is supposed to plug into or if it is just supposed to be ignored if I am using the other plug next to it. Do you have any ideas?

Next thing I'm planning to do is install the two top fans which I think will be easier if the motherboard isn't in the way before finally attaching the AIO pump with thermal paste to the CPU, locking that down and then installing the motherboard. Coming along okay so far just following the steps and trying to troubleshoot a few things I don't understand before I have to plug everything in.