Cooling Radiator + Fan Setup question...

...well, with the quest for a silent (well quiet) PC watercooling has become more and more interesting, and whilst daydreaming yesterday I had a couple of thoughts, that I thought I should best ask someone (or many) who actually knows what their talking about...

Well with a standard Radiator + Fan setup (as I believe running a rad without a fan could be quite dangerous) are there guidelines to wether the fan should be in a push or pull setup? theoretically, this should be determined by the manufacturer right??

...Also, would it not help leaving a gap between the fan and rad, for example by using some kind of shroud, so you have an enclosed volume where the Air pressure can build up before passing through the rad, or is this just a dumb idea coming from a watercooling n00b???

Cheers for listening...

 

The Shroud can help a lot, it removes the dead spot in the middle that the fan frame can create. So with a shroud it lets the whole rad get air

Don't think there is much difference between a push and a pull setup. IIRC, its not the fan that cools the rad, the fan only moves the warm (convected?) air from the rad away.

As for the pressure idea, I see what you mean, but I don't think that would happen how you mean.
Like I said above, its not the fan that cools the rad.


(I'm running a Pull in the front, and a Push in the back of my case this week.
Shouldn't see any problems)

 

cheers, well excuse the lame terminology, should have really said moving air through the radiator...

would you mind telling us how the pull in front,and pull at the back turns out for you, and also do you run any other fans in the system?? also how big are your rads??

and are two 120mm rads comparable with a double 120mm rad, or is that just another dumb question??

 

A ShadowedFury said, the shroud is primarily used to decrease the effect of the fan hub "dead spot".
I haven't seen any rigorous guidelines regarding shroud depth, so you're on your own there.

If you want to use two smaller rads instead of one larger one I'm not really sure which would have the advantage.
Certainly the twin rad setup would involve more tubing and you also have twice the number of 90 degree bends (where the barb enters the radiator plenum) to deal with, but the overall impact on your loop would probably be minimal.

Try 'em both and then you tell us.

 

Shroud depth is recommended to be somewhere between 8mm minimum, to one inch (25mm).

Rads tend to work slightly better with a fan in "pull", rather than "push" configuration. There tends to be only a degree or so in it, though.

Two 120mm rads would in principle cool just as well as one 2x120mm rad, but as clocker points out, you'd be dealing with twice the 90 degree bends of barbs connected to the plenum chamber, which causes loop resistance. Best avoided if possible, but not an unconditional no-no.

 

I'll let you know how I get on, sure
Only have those for Fans, and the PSU. (and silent 40mm on NB)