passive + actively cooled rad?

Digital Viper-X-

[H]F Junkie
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Dec 9, 2000
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How would a setup work, with 1 double rad on the top of the case, and 1 single rad with a 120mm silenx fan cooling it on the back of the case all on the same loop.8800GTX or Ultra with a Q6600

I'm guessing CPU->GPU->Passive Rad->Active?
 
Why would you go passive? 2 Yate loons at 5v will triple your heat capacity and be quieter than the Silenx fan.
 
It seems to me it would not work very well.

The rads need to be designed for passive cooling or they plain do not work well enough because normal rads are designed for and depend on decent airflow over the fins to work properly and natural convection is not part of the design of "normal" rads.

In my opinion it would not work much if any better then just the 1x120 with fan.

Now if your computer sat under a ceiling fan set to blow down and would hit that top mounted rad, like you lived in the bahamas (lucky bastard) eh.

I guess the good news is you can give it a try and slap some fans on later. Or move to the bahamas.
 
The setup you’re asking about is EXACTLY what I'm running now in my new build.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1202084

You can see my current system specs, and temps in my sig.

Keep in mind I do have an Antec 900 case, and the "Passive" rad is on top of a 200mm fan at full speed. Yes, it's still silent.

Hope this helps...

-V
 
well, I sit about 3 feet from the PC at eye level.... ... Nope... Don't hear it!

:)

-V
 
Different people have different definitions for silent, plus it's so subjective because of other environmental noise.

My old Vantec Tornado is 'Silent' compared to the sound emitted by my 2 year old when he doesn't get his way. :D
 
Good point, and I agree.

Anyway, the point of my post was to answer the original question if one of the rad's "could" be passive. From my experience the answer is yes. I have plenty of cooling, with room to OC more if I get the desire.

It would probably be good to point out, I keep my house at a nice 20C.

-V
 
Good point, and I agree.

Anyway, the point of my post was to answer the original question if one of the rad's "could" be passive. From my experience the answer is yes. I have plenty of cooling, with room to OC more if I get the desire.

It would probably be good to point out, I keep my house at a nice 20C.

-V

haha yea Im a bit picky, I can hear the 200mm fan @ the lowest setting in my 900 :)
 
What about using thermally controlled fans? Anyone here using variable speed fans with thermal sensors? If so, what did you attach the probes to (radiator? cpu block? something else?)
 
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