Antec 620 Radiator intake/exit configuration

[nightfly]

When viewing other people's systems with the pre built water coolers like the Antec 620, I see lots of them with both the hoses on top or bottom; wouldn't that make the fluid just go across the tank at the end of the radiator instead of throgh the fins? What's the correct configuration for the radiators? Hose connections both on top, on bottom, or on the side, and which side (as hot fluid should be designed to go into either top or bottom depending on how the system was designed)? I've been a car nut for a long time, and know coolant flow is critical for proper operation so I can't believe computer cooling is any different. Is there anyone here from Antec that can shed some light on this? In what position was the 620 radiator meant to operate most effectively, and if the answer is with the hoses attached on the side, which side up?

 

[Araxie]

thats a looong time discussion on all the forums on the web, and the conclussion its almost the same always: try always all the positions on your rig and choose the best who offer better cooling.. there are several theories, first when hoses are on top the air(yes the have ir inside T_T) inside the radiator can make bubbles when are pushed by the pump, that will decrease the cooling performance on the AiO kit, when the hoses are bottom the air remains in the top of the radiator allowing the pump only push water and not air, also that help the way the water get cooled the warm water out of the pump will up slower than the cool water returning to the pump by gravity force.. this appear to be the perfect mount for rear case radiators, however this have a bad point too.. when the hoses are on bottom will absorb part of the heat spreaded by the GPU, heat will warm the hoses and affect the cooling performance however this happens on the thin hoses used on first AiO kit, now are used thicker hoses that help a lot with this matter..... for me this its the best position..

about the side left or right position.. the only position that can make any change are that position that meet that above said "also that help the way the water get cooled the warm water out of the pump will up slower than the cool water returning to the pump by gravity force.." in this case the warm water should enter by the upper tube and return by the lower one.. so you have to know wich side provide this situation depending on wich hoses are intake and wich are output on the pump....

thats are just personal opinion, learned in tons of forums and by personal experience used in several AiO water coolers kit.. i'd mounted lot of this coolers, Kuhler 620-920 Hydro H50-H70 H60-H80/i h100/i

 

[nightfly]

Thanks for the response. What I'm trying to find out, is if the end tank with the hose connections has any baffle in the middle to prevent the hot coolant from simply going from one hose fitting to the other via the tank, bypassing the entire set of cooling fins nearly entirely. Of course, the best situation would be that there is a solid block in the middle of the end tank with the hose fittings, forcing the hot water to travel through the fins to the opposite end tank and then through the other side of fins to the exit. I'll play around with the two side feed/outlet configurations with a laser pointer thermometer if no one from antec has an answer for me, and go with whatever hose that returns hot coolant to be the one coming on top, with the cooled feed tube on the bottom, decreasing the possibility of large amounts of air getting into the coolant by keeping it in the top tank.

 

[W.Feather]

Easiest way to say this is, orientation does not matter. The flow path through the radiator moves it exactly like that though the radiator, not directly across.