Radiator Questionm plz plz

Bon3thugz43v3r · May 27, 2003

What do you guys (girls) recommend when you run a single fan radiator?
A. Fan pushing air through the radiator (acting as a front intake)
B. Fan pulling air through the radiator (acting as an exhaust)

Just wondering because as I was viewing watercooling setups, I saw some of both. Thanks

tyshy · May 27, 2003

good question...i would be curious to know as well...i suppose you could try both and then share with the rest of us which is best. My guess would be that pushing air through is the best but i could be wrong. At least with a shroud it seems like it would be best.

Since87 · May 27, 2003

Theoretically speaking, there are advantages and disadvantages both ways.

The only way to know for sure what will work best for your particular setup (in terms of noise as well as cooling) is to try both arrangements.

If you don't want to try both, then rest assured that someone will tell you that the way you didn't choose is better.

arnoldma · May 27, 2003

use 2 fans, cant go wrong there

lrlucas · May 27, 2003

Generally speaking you can SUCK more air through a radiator than you can BLOW through it. But, I'm sure, you can find instances where the opposite is true.

surlyjoe · May 27, 2003

lrlucas said:
Generally speaking you can SUCK more air through a radiator than you can BLOW through it. But, I'm sure, you can find instances where the opposite is true.

definitly the case

Bon3thugz43v3r · May 27, 2003

Hmmm.. I am gonna try to pull air through, as its pushing now. Ill let you know how it gos.

anvil82 · May 27, 2003

I'd say blow cool air from outside your case through the radiator.

If you suck through the radiator, the air on the otherside of the radiator probably isn't as cool as air from outside your case.

my .02

surlyjoe · May 27, 2003

I dont think the question is which way the air flows, but which side the fan is on

altec · May 27, 2003

Why not do both in a push/pull setup so you get constant airflow through the fins?

TheGhengisKhan · May 27, 2003

well, I can say firmly that pulling the airflow instead of pushing works better for me, I read this thread, decided to try it out, turned my fans (3-80mm generic ones) to pull through my rad instead of pushing, and within 15 minutes, my CPU temp dropped by 2 degrees even though my case temp went up by 1 degree.

Since87 · May 27, 2003

TheGhengisKhan said:
well, I can say firmly that pulling the airflow instead of pushing works better for me, I read this thread, decided to try it out, turned my fans (3-80mm generic ones) to pull through my rad instead of pushing, and within 15 minutes, my CPU temp dropped by 2 degrees even though my case temp went up by 1 degree.

Interesting results.

Axial fans can generally push more air through a restriction than they can pull through the same restriction. That's consistent with your case temperature going up if the overall airflow through your case is reduced.

However, when the fans are pushing air through the heatercore, the fans heat the air up before it reaches the rad. This decreases the rad's efficiency. So moving the fans from pushing to pulling is consistent with lower CPU temperatures.

There are a lot of unknowns here, and there may be other issues as well, but these results make some sense.

Radiator Questionm plz plz

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