Space constraints

[maeveth]

I have a Cosmos S case and I am trying to fit 2 radiators for dual loops into with 80mm of clearance. Radiator size is 3x120. I was originally going to use MCR320s however they are 34mm thick each which gives me 68mm, add in a set of fans and we get 93mm.

The total setup is actually 2 sets of fans however one of the sets sits on the top of the case under a mesh facade that is built into the case.

Any ideas of either high performance thin fans or high performance thin radiators?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Arcygenical]

Black Ice Pro radiators, at 25mm thick... And a 38mm panflow L1 would come in at 88mm and should be enough to cool up to 350-400w per radiator...

That's about your best bet IMO.

 

[BillParrish]

Trouble is that while a manuf might call something "high performance" the truth is that a rads ability to remove heat depends very much on the surface area of the fins and "thinner" is not better in any way shape or form. There are some rads that have a more "dense" layout of fins so if you can get the same amount of air pushed through them as a rad with a more open layout it should work as well if the dense rad was thinner but then you need a more powerful fan and the same thing applies basically to fans. Thicker fans have bigger blades and move more air for a given rpm and handle pushing air into restrictive/high static pressure areas better. So you get stuck. A thin fan works best with a rad with larger openings in the fins and for a thin high density fin rad you need the thicker fan to really push the air through. Of course if you can stand the noise you can try a thin high rpm fan.

So the problem becomes one of what is your design goal, low as possbile load temps and damn the noise, low noise by trading off some temp performance or a balance between temp and noise. Without knowing what you are shooting for it is difficult to recommend something specific. I would recommend high rpm fans on a controller so you can dial in the noise vs temp performance that suits you.

I found these, as thin as it comes in 120mm. (12mm) I recommend the high speed ones but have never used them myself and while it is a decent brand name have no idea if they come even close to working as the specs would indicate. I have never used that shop either. That is the trouble with fans, the specs other than dimensions and rpm are pretty useless most of the time. Maybe someone here has some first hand experience. With 2 of the black ice 25mm rads above you have room to install 2 sets of fans 25mm +25mm + 12mm + 12mm and have a few mm left for "slop:" in your 80mm thickness requirement.

http://www.coolerguys.com/slipstream12.html

Little confused as to how you are going to lay out the rads, if you are going to sandwich them rad/fan/rad expect performance to suck. I dont understand why the rad on the top of the case could not use a nice normal fan pulling cool room air through the rad. Apparently you are going for a "look" and do not want a lot of stuff exposed on the top of the PC ? (which is fine but limits your performace, its a personal call, I am just trying to understand what you are up too so that someone might think of some better solution to your space issue)

 

[maeveth]

Little confused as to how you are going to lay out the rads, if you are going to sandwich them rad/fan/rad expect performance to suck. I dont understand why the rad on the top of the case could not use a nice normal fan pulling cool room air through the rad. Apparently you are going for a "look" and do not want a lot of stuff exposed on the top of the PC ? (which is fine but limits your performace, its a personal call, I am just trying to understand what you are up too so that someone might think of some better solution to your space issue)

There is actually 3 120s on the "outside" of the case. They are under the top shroud of the Cosmos S but outside the internal structure of the case. I am actually thinking now of just using those 3 external fans and no fans sandwiched between the 2 radiators inside the case.