What's the thinking on this one - do fat rads offer better performance? For example if you take a PE240 and compare it to an XE240. Would the XE perform better? Obviously both together would perform better than just say the XE on its own, but are we talking 1 or 2 degrees better or 5+ degrees better? I have a conundrum where by I have an XE240 and a PE240 in an InWin 101. With this cases layout, soft tubing, and a EK D5 140, it's proving a tight squeeze. So my thinking was to drop the PE completely and rely purely on the XE to cool an overclocked 8600k and GTX 1060. But I'm in two minds if this is the way to go or to try and make it all fit.
From what I recall from tests years ago it doesn't necessarily make a massive difference and in fact some thin rads can perform better than thicker rads at certain fan speeds. This is from a very old test and much of the info on the site has disappeared. A lot depends on the intended fan speed, the rad design and fin density. Edit: I've just seen your intended use. I think you'll be pushing it with an overclocked CPU and GPU on a 240 rad even with high speed fans and medium to high fin density.
Nice thanks, I'll have a read. The GPU is only a 1060, so nothing too hot, but I may see if I can move things around and make it fit or even put a 120mm in there to give me some more overhead.
The temps will largely be very similar as you won’t be able to saturate that entire loop with that config. You will however be able to run the fans at a much lower RPM due to the increased surface area. You should, generally speaking, give yourself 120mm per component, and any more is effectively wasted unless you’re looking to silence your rig.
Here's something else that might help - LINK It details testing of radiator fan orientation and fan shrouds.
