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Will a bigger radiator really help?

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xp3nd4bl3

2[H]4U
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Sep 25, 2004
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I just picked up an Opteron 165. The CPU idles at 43C with my 120mm BlackIce Extreme. I'm thinking of swapping out the radiator for a Thermochill PA 120.3. How significantly will the bigger radiator/more fans drop the temp on the CPU? Any insight would be appreciated.

I'm also throwing around the idea of switching back to air.

Eheim 1250 pump
Maze4 AMD64
 
Well, in addition to size of rad, you have to be sure to get optimal air flow for the rad type. The BIX requires way more airflow than a Thermochill PA will. But I would say that moving from a BIX 120 to a Thermochill PA 120.3 should improve temps signifigantly. Plus you won't need fans that blow so much air and make so much noise.
 
Thanks, I think that's what I'll go for. Which fans do you recommend for the PA 120.3? How about a good fan controller?
 
I'm not sure if this is up ur ally but...
i normally use sanyo denki 120's due to the wonderful static preasure. Previously i was using a couple of diodes on a switch to drop the volts on em to about 9v. well i got sick of this and just built a small linear voltage regulator.

suffice to say i can now ramp em from ~1.83v (dead still) to ~11.3v (effectivly full blast) and must say that at 5v/6v they are fantastically quite for the air they move :) highly reccommend.

If u are intrested in doing this. just make sure that u use a lm338 regulator and not the typical lm317 as the sayo's draw a fair wattage compared to most other fans :)
The regulator can be built for aud$20, simple looks cool (to me) in a small project box and i even had room to put a relay circuit for the iwaki pump and meanwell supply which i use for fans in my case. As a plus a linear reg doesnt have the problems that often affect pwm setups which often cause a whine in all but a few fans :)

verry fun :)

edit: make sure u throw a shroud on the rad no matter the fans. Not only do u get to use the whole rad then but i find that it reduces the sucking woosh sound from fans so close to the rad.
 
xp3nd4bl3 said:
Thanks, I think that's what I'll go for. Which fans do you recommend for the PA 120.3? How about a good fan controller?
Click to expand...
I have heard that yate loons are very nice.
 
If you want to buy a fancontroller, the Sunbeam Rheobus seems like a good choice. Although if you get quiet enough fans, you might not even need a controller. If you wanted to, you could always buy and install the fans to see how loud they run before you spring for a controller.
 
Something to think about when picking out a radiator. How they typically work is airflow X surface area = heat dissapation. You have a small radiator, then you crank up the airflow to make it have more heat dissapation. You get a huge radiator, and you need almost no airflow to get the same amount. You can help things along with a push/pull fan on each side of it. Make sure you put a filter on that bad boy because those fins are easy to bend, and not so easy to clean.

I had a single 92MM radiator and it blew out HOT air and I had to have a fan going 100% speed at all times. Then I got a triple 120MM radiator, and I barely have to fans on and the air coming out of it is cool, that is how much difference there can be. The standard ratings for radiators are in watts of heat removed with a 10 degree difference from coolant to air ratio. If you coolant is at 85F and your room is at 75F, it will put out whatever its rated for. It will be the same if the coolant was 50 F and your air was 40F, still the same amount of heat withdrawn. However if you had an AC unit pumping air into it, say your coolant was 80F and your input air was 60F, that would double its rated heat output. The thing is, with computers your coolant will almost never get only a few degrees above ambient temps so your efficiency really isn't all that great. Not sure you needed to know all that but I remember stuff better when I know things work the way they do. BTW I got all that info from someone else in these forums. Happy WCing!
 
A ThermoChill PA120.2 or PA120.3 will definitely help. I took Radical_53's and Creidiki's advice and bought (3) Yate Loons with a shroad for the pull and nikhsub1's advice and put (3) on the push side. You should undervolt them with a Sunbeam Rheobus fan controller or a T-Balancer BigNG if you have the extra money. Each Sunbeam can handle (4) 120mm fans. JMO
 
SiGfever said:
Each Sunbeam can handle (4) 120mm fans. JMO
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One could probably run two Yate Loons or other low speed fans via one of the Sunbeam's connectors, giving you the possibility of controlling eight fans in groups of two.

The Sunbeam controller is cheap and powerful but highly annoying. A word of caution!
 
phide said:
One could probably run two Yate Loons or other low speed fans via one of the Sunbeam's connectors, giving you the possibility of controlling eight fans in groups of two.

The Sunbeam controller is cheap and powerful but highly annoying. A word of caution!
Click to expand...
How so?
 
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