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#1
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Cooling the radiator: intake fan or exhaust fan?
What kind of a temperature difference would there be between cooling my radiator with an intake fan versus cooling it with an exhaust fan? In my previous system I had my radiator sitting outside the case, but this time I'd like to get it mounted in or on the case in some way. I've got a case with a 120mm intake on the front and an 80mm intake on the side, but no exhaust fans. I'd like to put a 120mm exhaust on the back and was wondering if it would be smart to mount my radiator on that exhaust fan. If I go that route then how badly can that hurt my temps? Thanks!
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#2
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Air passing through the intake will be cooler than air passing through the exhaust, so it would be my assumption that cooler cpu temps will be achieved by mounting your rad infront of your largest air intake.
However, mounting a rad on the intake has the downside of dumping CPU heat back into the case. As far as I have seen it's a simple trade off that leads you in more complex directions. |
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#3
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#4
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The real answer to this question is: It wont make a difference. Becuase the most major heat sources will be watercooled, you will notice that the radiator is now the heat source. If it is placed on an intake and dumps heat into the case, this doesnt matter because whatever this impacts is watercooled. Likewise, if it is placed on the exhaust, there will be very little heat inside the case because the CPU is watercooled, and therefore the air going into the exhausting radiator will not be hot.
We are splitting hairs with this question, there will be little to no difference. |
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#5
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Your ram, harddrives, optical drives, VPU ram, mobo mosfets, SB, and others wont think the extra internal case temp is a great thing. If you are pushing a serious OC the ram, and mosfets will be hitting pretty high temps as it is. The best thing is an external enclosure, usualy on top of the case that takes in cool outside air and exhausts it outside of the case. Its easy to do, takes a few more inches of tube than a regular top mount rad and only adds about 6" max to the height of your case.
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#6
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You should NOT have a fan blowing on a radiator if you're only going to have one fan running. For starters it will dump that extra heat into your case, which will (at least slightly) effect other components that aren't/won't be water cooled. Secondly, when you decide to blow air on a radiator you start to run into the same issues as you do with a air cooling HSF.....you'll have a deadspot of airflow down the center of your rad/heatercore. The best way to set things up with a single fan is to get a shroud to put between the rad and the fan and have the fan sucking off of the radiator. It is up to you where to place the rad, but with the fan sucking off of it, the most logical place would be the top of your case, between your 5.25" bays and your PSU...so that the fan can exhaust the air directly out of the case.
Let me just say (before anyone starts calling me on this) that having the single fan sucking off the rad as opposed to blowing on it IS the better way to go...I should know, I finally have an h2O setup to try it with...and my temps went down about 2C having it suck off the heatercore. Idealy you could set the radiator up with one shrouded fan blowing on teh radiator from one side, and a second fan sucking off/through it from the other side.....but MOST of the time you can just get a slightly "bigger" fan for the exhaust and it shouldnt need help from the other side. A better way to setup the rad is actually ontop of the case, with the hoses passing through, back down into the case. Doing this you are able to keep the rad at nicer temps....as it'll basically be surrounded by room temperature air, and it wont be effected by the warmer case temperature. This is also a very nice solution for someone like myself in a smaller case, as my 16" Lian-Li midtower was just a LITTLE to cramped right now for the heatercore I got, as its a great deal larger then a 120mm fan, and it wasn't gonna fit between the PSU and the cdrw. Once again, single fan radiator setups should have a fan sucking off of them, not blowing on.....and there's usually about a 2C difference or so. People can argue the fact and try and preach the fact that it should be blowing cooler air from outside the case onto the rad....but they're wrong.....sry, but I'm finally speaking from experience here. |
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#7
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#8
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If this is the case, then I have a question to add to this discussion.
If you are going to be using a dual 120mm set-up and mounting it inside at the top of the case, is it then still better to blow out, suck out, or suck in. Would it not be unstable to mount the radiator to the fans and then the fans to the top of the case? Quote:
__________________
"The BEST solution is to sink a 55 gallon drum full of water 40-60 inches under ground and use the earth as a heat sink. It'll keep you VERY chilled." -Tempus www.ultimategamingforums.com |
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#9
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#10
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That was my plan exactly cornelious_o. I just was not too keen on hangin the heavy radiator from the fans. I did find some nice bolts at the local hardware shop though that look like they will give me plenty of support.
BTW, can't wait to see the final results of your project.
__________________
"The BEST solution is to sink a 55 gallon drum full of water 40-60 inches under ground and use the earth as a heat sink. It'll keep you VERY chilled." -Tempus www.ultimategamingforums.com |
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#11
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#12
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