Cooling suggestions?

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wjogert

2[H]4U
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Sep 11, 2007
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Hello!

Currently running a crystal clear case with embedded LED's creating a fiber optic effect throughout the case. It's one of my favorite cases ever. My only issue with it is that it only has one 80mm fan at lower front, and one 80mm fan at center rear. My Coolmax PS has 120mm fan.

Since PC is in the family room, I prefer to keep it as quiet as possible. Running HDD coolers @ 7V and installed Thermaltake fans (w/temp probes) to keep the noise level down unless necessary. Current AthlonXP setup runs average 52C at about 30% fan speed.

I am building up my next rig, Opteron 185, and I'm questioning if there's enough airflow through this box. I'm not planning to o'c... at least, not right away! ;) I'm wondering if WC'ing would be better? I would be restricted to an 80mm radiator. Would like to incorporate the Thermaltake fans into the WC. VGA=ATI FireGL X3-256 AGP. Not sure if I would replace the factory hsf with a cooling block. Do they make HDD coolers for WC?

Any comments? suggestions? recommended products?
Thanks in advance!
 
A single 80mm radiator can cope with around 90w of heat with a 4000rpm fan... Not exactly all that quiet.

But, you have an acrylic case... These are very easy to disassemble and modify to accommodate a large radiator.
 
Thats it eh? hmmmph.

I actually looked at my case during last build, considering adding at least 1 extra fan mount. Remember thinking there wasn't much room for modding. I'll have to look at it again to see what I can do. Maybe there's room for a top exit. I can say, I hate the idea of external WC more than I dislike the idea of switching cases, so it may just be time to retire this one.

Any recommendation on the best / most efficient radiator in a small(est) footprint?

Thanks again!
 
Best radiator in the smallest footprint would be a Thermochill PA120.1 or PA160.
 
The PA160 can easily deal with about 175w of heat... Although I've never tested or used one myself, so take that with a grain of salt.

It's, of course, 160mm large, with spots for a 120mm fan... make sure it'll fit in your situtation.

Have you considered mounting an external radiator?
 
Arcygenical said:
The PA160 can easily deal with about 175w of heat... Although I've never tested or used one myself, so take that with a grain of salt.

It's, of course, 160mm large, with spots for a 120mm fan... make sure it'll fit in your situtation.

Have you considered mounting an external radiator?
Click to expand...

Thanks! I looked at the website, but didn't seem to see any dissipation capabilities listed.

No, I really didn't think much about external radiator. I really was against the idea, but the more I think about it... maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Guess I'd have to see some examples.
 
how many large drive bays you got?.... if you want a use a internal rad top mounted you can useually fit a 2x120 and in 1-2 of the 5.5in drive bays with rad and fans.. so 2-3 bays with one open below rad for air .. thats if you case is a standard design and your willing to cut the top for fan intake

performance pcs has black ice rads in 1x92mm and 2x80mm


...heres my black ice 2x120 top mounted.. i now have a thermochill 2x120

i have 4 drive bays and notice i could still use 2 bays and 1 hard drive


and the black ice rad is about 11inch long so you would need from the front of your case 11inches of room befor you hit your powersupply cables



p.s. its fitting the pump in thats the fun part lol
 
wjogert said:
Thanks! I looked at the website, but didn't seem to see any dissipation capabilities listed.

No, I really didn't think much about external radiator. I really was against the idea, but the more I think about it... maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Guess I'd have to see some examples.
Click to expand...

They're not listed on the site... Figures are obtained by external testing.
 
Arcygenical said:
The PA160 can easily deal with about 175w of heat... Although I've never tested or used one myself, so take that with a grain of salt.

It's, of course, 160mm large, with spots for a 120mm fan... make sure it'll fit in your situation.
Click to expand...
PA160's (with a shroud preferably) are just about equal to a PA120.2, so I'd say it can handle more heat than that without coolant temps rising more than 10*C over ambient.

In your case wjogert, I'd second looking at an external solution, or multiple internal radiators.
 
ikellensbro said:
PA160's (with a shroud preferably) are just about equal to a PA120.2,
Click to expand...

Marci says 2 PA160's are equal to a PA120.3... So, by that logic I assume each PA160 = 1.5 PA120.1s... I guess a figure of around 200w would have been better to quote.

No idea whether or not he did any testing, as I didn't see any, I'm just going by one of his posts.
 
Thermochill advertised the PA120.1 as the more efficient successor to the PA160.

So, shouldn't it be PA120.1 = 1.5 PA106's? Or are you saying that the PA160 is in fact the more efficient radiator??
 
wjogert said:
Thermochill advertised the PA120.1 as the more efficient successor to the PA160.

So, shouldn't it be PA120.1 = 1.5 PA106's? Or are you saying that the PA160 is in fact the more efficient radiator??
Click to expand...

No, it mean it works almost as good as a PA160 while being smaller.

 
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