104 replies to this topic

[Stonerboy779]

From what I've seen you're better off not stacking radiators, ever. The hot air from the first radiator makes the second radiator extremely inefficient at shedding heat.

Not entirely true. if you had the option of a thick vs stacked thin rads the performance can come close to equal but this is stacking two thick rads to make the most of the space.
If you had the option to keep them separate you could but staking them isn't going to make your performance worse it just wont scale perfectly.

[Waco]

Not entirely true. if you had the option of a thick vs stacked thin rads the performance can come close to equal but this is stacking two thick rads to make the most of the space.
If you had the option to keep them separate you could but staking them isn't going to make your performance worse it just wont scale perfectly.

http://www.realredraider.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=5043

The first, shocking realization is this: The stacked rads always perform worse than the solo rad with the same number of fans. The rest of the data is as expected: Two separate rads perform best, more fans are always better and the airflow going from warmer to cooler rad is slightly worse than the other way around.

Unless you're going to be running fast 38mm fans you're better off using a single radiator (and since space is an issue...you're not going to be using those thick fans). What's the point in watercooling if it's stupid loud anyway?

[red1776]

I am wondering how a pair of 240mm's with fans pulling to the outside, with a 140mm fan blowing right down the middle of them from the outside will perform.

[NikoDG]

Will need a very high airflow 140mm fan to keep up with four 120mm fans, even if they do have to move the air through a radiator, and will probably need to leave a large amount of room in the middle of the radiators.

[Waco]

I bet you'd need less than you think. Even a 25 mm gap between the two of them would be perfect. The 140 mm wouldn't have to keep up with all of them - it would really just help keep your case pressure closer to neutral.

[NikoDG]

Well, you probably want something better than stock at least

[red1776]

You beat me to it.

If you put fans on the inside as well Niko, they have to draw the same amount of air from the same location in the case, and the 140mm is still there regardless. If the case pressure/flow isn't up to par, any arrangement is going to suffer .I just did a rough layout and with the outside fan arrangement, i get the full width of the 140mm fan for a wind tunnel/feed.

I am betting that fans pulling to the outside with a 140mm pulling cold air in and down the middle will yield good results, and save some fan noise. The last thing i want is for this thing to get noisy.

[NikoDG]

Hey Red, exactly how much room is there under the bezel?

[red1776]

Hey Red, exactly how much room is there under the bezel?

To where the end of where the top rad would end in back, it is 1.75" (44mm) to the inside bottom if the case bezel.

[NikoDG]

Oh, I mean between the top of the case and the bezel, how much height?

[red1776]

Oh, I mean between the top of the case and the bezel, how much height?

That is what I meant as well

[NikoDG]

Oh, haha, I was hoping it would be more
I guess that's not so bad though, should be able to fit a Swiftech MCR320, which is actually really decent, considering that's between the case and bezel.

Edited by NikoDG, 13 January 2012 - 04:55 PM.