Radiators: Thick or Thin?

[Arya]

I'm in the final stages of rebuilding my Liquid Cooling system. Quite honestly I jumped in without understanding the science or doing enough research. It was a good learning experience, and I'm putting it all right now.

The final major decision I need to make is radiator choice. I previously bought a 360 Ultra-Think radiator, with a 60MM thick core and a high Fin Density. Coming off Heatsinks, I assumed the greater surface area would directly improve the core's performance and that it would be much more effective than a conventional 360 rad.

Having now taken a deep-dive into cooling performance, I'm regretting that choice. Thinner rads actually seem to be more efficient, due to how radiators transfer heat to airflow.

My question is simple; should I stick with my almost impractically massive Coldstream XE or replace it with something a little more normal-sized? And if so, what's the sweet-spot for a push/pull config?

I'm running an Intel i7 8700K and my goal is pure performance. My case can mount any radiator thickness necessary, and budget isn't a problem.

[igloosfolly]

When placed behind a restrictive fan filter, they can lose up to half of their airflow, and noise will increase if the filter is very close to the fans.

Read more: https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/8562/corsair-ml140-pro-rgb-140mm-magnetic-levitation-review/index.html

OEM Fan Profile Corsair. The differences between the two are as follows:The h105 has a 38mm thick radiator and h100i is 27mm thick. The fans on the h100i are 77 CFM while the h105's are 73 CFM. So it appears at first glance that we are looking for a fan that can produce high volumes of air movement.

[[☥] - CJ -]

The DG-87 is actually the case ill be getting when i do a new build
a family member had just gotten that case for a 8600k build along with a Corsair AIC, cant remember which

i had to install everything for him so i have some experience with it
Its a HUGEEE case with Hella air cooling and AIC capabilities

But yeah, the front of the case or on top of it with the plastic housing off would be the only way for something so large

[Arya]

☥ - CJ -님이 먼저 게시:

The DG-87 is actually the case ill be getting when i do a new build
a family member had just gotten that case for a 8600k build along with a Corsair AIC, cant remember which

i had to install everything for him so i have some experience with it
Its a HUGEEE case with Hella air cooling and AIC capabilities

But yeah, the front of the case or on top of it with the plastic housing off would be the only way for something so large

They're a great case for Air Cooling. I'm running mine with an interum Noctua NH-D15 with some aftermarket upgrades and it's doing a pretty good job. Were I running closer to factory clocks it would be a great setup. But I always intended to overclock - the original goal with 5.0 GHz. And that's not going to be possible for me with this combo.

I'm probably going to a Thermaltake View-71 instead. It's a nice looking case, and I love the idea of the side-mounted radiator. I don't fully trust Thermaltake's build quality, but I've never actually used them before and don't know. That's based purely on old experiences - Thermaltake were a budget brand specializing in Plastic Fantastics when I started and that's left a lingering bias.

[[☥] - CJ -]

hes doing 4.7GHZ with a Corsair somethingV2 with 2 120mm fans that came with it
Temps are in the low 60s

whats more idiotic is all he does is browse and watch jewelry shows n crap, way more power than he needs, but he needed a new build after he screwed his FX 9590 system

[igloosfolly]

The NH-D15 is rated for 180~200 watts or something like that you will have to step up to 280mm on the water cooling side to do better. Based on graphs.

[Arya]

igloosfolly님이 먼저 게시:

The NH-D15 is rated for 180~200 watts or something like that you will have to step up to 280mm on the water cooling side to do better. Based on graphs.

140MM fans have a terrible reputation as Radiator Pushers. You're better off with a 360, nearly any Full Tower can mount one and the cooling performance is a lot better. And you really should have a Full Tower for a build like that.

[Monk]

The big benefit of 140mm fans is they tend to be alot quieter, even if they don't have quite the static pressure of their little 120mm siblings.

I know my build is far from what I'd call quiet, though my controllers mean the fans can't go below 40%, but, hey, 11 fans were never going to be quiet.

[igloosfolly]

I was quiet until i got a Cooler Master Jet Flow for a intake but it is worth the noise. I did not install the speed reducers. For my el cheapo Coolermastellite 120 AIO i used Silencio 120 in push pull. The other three fans are Excalibers love the fact they pop off for cleaning and wish they still made them. Not having much room I needed something to get the air out from under my tiny work area.

[Malygos]

Depends on the cooling you want but id say delid is better than beefing uo to a thick rad especially since you wanna maintain 5ghz long term

[Worple]

Thicker rads need higher rpm fans to cool. Thinner longer rads cool with low fan speeds. I have two xspc tx480 thin rads and only have to run my fans at 50% on load

[Worple]

The whole point of water cooling is to lower fan noise speeds so small thick rads make no Since whatsoever

[_I_]

ticker is better, but takes better fans to push/pull through a thicker rad

<30mm thick rads are easy enough for a single sp fans in push or pull config
at the 60+mm you will need push+pull

thicker rad = slower coolant flow = more time to cool, and much more surface to remove heat from the loop

[Worple]

the Thicker the Rad the less Performance you get out of the space used. your better off with a 280 x 30mm Rad then say a 240 x 45mm
reason is is the exposed surface Area. the less exposed surface area you have the less space Efficient your setup is.
Adding a thicker Rad forces the air to travel a longer Distance. which yes it can pick up more heat along the way.

BUT its going to Basically "heat soak" the Air to the Point that the last few mm is not doing you any good. the air is already Carrying all the Heat it can. the only way to get more Efficiency out of a thicker Radiator is to increase the Airflow.

the 280x140x30mm Rad has 39200mm Total surface Area Exposed to fresh Cool air lower Total Volume
the 120x240x45mm Rad has 28800mm Total surface Area Exposed to fresh Cool air Higher Total Volume.

Another Side of this is a Higher FPI*(means you can Build a Thinner Rad. and have an Even Greater Surface area)
*Fins Per Inch

Assuming airflow and pressure on both setups is the same: a 16FPI Rad at 30MM will outperform a 8FPI Rad at 60MM Purely do to more fresh air exposed surface area

the Ideal space would be to Use case panel with a very Thin Rad with a Huge Amount of Exposed Surface area and a high FPI (think Entire top Panel) Duct it with about 10mm of space to Avoid Hot spots and interference noise then Mount 2 of the Largest, Slowest Turning fans you can Find that Have enough static Pressure. to Easily Pull Air through. (Silverstone makes some I think)

assuming we could Fit 2 180's on that Array, you could Cool most any PC setup in damn near Silence.

im not going to lie, there are things I don't know Perhaps Someone can throw some math at this and Prove me wrong. but this is the way I size out a Rad setup on a Build and I get very nice and Low temps with pretty much only pump noise.

[_I_]

air has a horrible heat conductivity (air is an excellent insulator), but an excellent heat conveyor (ability to move heat)

a thicker rad can make the air hotter, as hot as the rad itself
if the air leaving the rad is cooler than the rad, a thicker rad can be used

noise depends on the fans, pump, hdd and other components (including coil whine)
you could get quieter with a larger thicker rad with quieter fans that are lower airflow