Does an 80mm rad need push-pull?

VanGoghComplex

VanGoghComplex

2[H]4U
Joined
Apr 5, 2016
Messages
2,286
So I'm dream-planning the next iteration of my rig, and the case I'm eyeing has room for a 560mm rad. It's also got room for that rad to be extra thicc, so I'm toying with the idea of an Alphacool Monsta.

There's three bits of conventional wisdom I've seen with radiators:

1.) Go as big as your case will allow
2.) Thicker means more surface area for dispassion

The third bit is what I'm worried about, because I do not want a push-pull config.

3.) Thicker rads are harder to get air through, and lose efficiency if under-fanned.

Will an 80mm thick radiator cool less effectively than a 30/45mm radiator, assuming the same FPI and push-only fans?
 
maybe a bit but isn't this what SP fans are for? with that much cooling you prob won't even notice/realize it.
 
VanGoghComplex said:
2.) Thicker means more surface area for dispassion
Click to expand...


I have one of the thickest radiators made (Alphacool Monsta) yet I am as dispassionate as ever :p

More seriously though, while thicker radiators do help, they don't help as much as people think. As the air travels thorough the thickness of the radiator, it gets warmer and warmer, and the closer the air gets in temperature to the water inside, the less effectively it cools, until in a very long radiator, the temp eventually is equal, and no further cooling happens.

Greater swept area will always do WAY more for you than greater thickness.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
I have one of the thickest radiators made (Alphacool Monsta) yet I am as dispassionate as ever :p

More seriously though, while thicker radiators do help, they don't help as much as people think. As the air travels thorough the thickness of the radiator, it gets warmer and warmer, and the closer the air gets in temperature to the water inside, the less effectively it cools, until in a very long radiator, the temp eventually is equal, and no further cooling happens.

Greater swept area will always do WAY more for you than greater thickness.
Click to expand...
Okay, that said, what would you consider the "sweet spot" for a low-FPI rad with a goal of quiet fan speeds? 45? 60?
 
VanGoghComplex said:
Okay, that said, what would you consider the "sweet spot" for a low-FPI rad with a goal of quiet fan speeds? 45? 60?
Click to expand...


I don't have enough testing under my belt to say what the sweet spot is, but I have read reviews that suggest radiators like my Monsta 280 actually perform worse than their 45mm model.

If I were doing it all over again, I'd probably just stick with 45mm radiators.

I'm using the force a little bit here though, as I don't have solid data.
 
The wrinkle to the testing is that the Monsta has a very low FPI of 10. ST30 has the highest at 16 FPI, XT45 has 12 FPI, and UT60 has 10 FPI. Therefore, the only equal testing with equivalent fin count is between the Monsta and the UT60.

The HWLabs GTX series of radiators utilize a back-to-front or front-to-back depending on inlet/outlet configuration, which is better able to take advantage of thickness than the traditional U configuration.
 
Tsumi said:
The wrinkle to the testing is that the Monsta has a very low FPI of 10. ST30 has the highest at 16 FPI, XT45 has 12 FPI, and UT60 has 10 FPI. Therefore, the only equal testing with equivalent fin count is between the Monsta and the UT60.

The HWLabs GTX series of radiators utilize a back-to-front or front-to-back depending on inlet/outlet configuration, which is better able to take advantage of thickness than the traditional U configuration.
Click to expand...

Yeah.

In my current configuration I have a 420mm xt45 in push configuration blowing out the top, and the Monsta 280 in push-pull blowing out the front. I use the back and bottom as intakes.

All of my fans are Noctua iPPC-2000 models. At the time they were one of the only 140mm fans I could find with any kind of static pressure.

Not optimal at all, but it gets the job done. With the fans maxed I can keep a fully loaded overclocked Pascal Titan X under 30C at all times at winter indoer temps of about 18C, but that gets kind of loud so I usually don't, especially since as long as you keep the GPU under 40C it doesn't seem to ever throttle, and lower temps don't appear to improve overclocking at all.

Normally I run older titles with the fans at about 650rpm and it is pretty silent. Newer more demanding ttitles during the warmer summer months may require fans dialed up as high as 1100-1250rpm.
 
Last edited:
VanGoghComplex said:
Can you elaborate? Or is it basically the same reasons listed above by others?
Click to expand...

They weren't that high performing especially for the premium and thickness. The thickness was actually a hindrance before adding fans. I get better performance from a thinner pair of EK XE rads. But re: thickness... surface area is king. For mm rad surface over thickness ftw.
 
I hear the new GTR series from HWlabs is a good performer with higher rpm fans(1600+)

might be a good upgrade to my old school, destroyed, 60mm GTX480
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top