More Rads = Better?

OutS|der · Aug 24, 2004

k would increasing the number of raditors in my setup lower cooling by a good amount?
thinking of adding a black ice micro 2 and may even have room for another black ice micro
would that be worth the extra $200 i'd spend on it with fans and stuff?
and how would i set it up best

SysCrusher · Aug 24, 2004

Why not one bigger rad? General rule of thumb is, more surface area the better. So, yes what you propose will work. But, a bigger rad will do the same if not better and be cheaper. Is it worth it? Depends on you I guess, to me it wouldn't be worth it. If your tight on space and comfortable spending that dough, then go for it.

lithker · Aug 24, 2004

just though about it URL

my cost would be a lot cheaper though 17 bucks for a hc and say 7 bucks for a 120mm fan

what im going to do be for i do any cutting is when i take my system about for mantinace ill check current flow then if its alright check flow with both heatercores

Como · Aug 24, 2004

i say the extra $200 is worth as much as $200 is worth... to ME, thats more than you can probably imagine, if your considering spending it on those rads

More rads is better, but they add more restriction. Your better off with a high flow rad (heatercore) thats large....and a-lot cheaper.
$50 in heatercores could knock those $200 in rads flat in performance, if done right....with less noise.

OutS|der · Aug 24, 2004

ya i know a heatercore would be better and i undertsand the concept more surface = better cooling but i am limited on room in my case so was wondering if adding in a micro2 and a micro would increase performance in a worth while amount........would it also allow me to go with smaller tubing since there would be 3 rads?
i'm looking at what i can fit in my case that would give the greater increase of cooling, cant fit anywhere else any rad or heatercore that takes 120mm fans so was looking at rads that took 80mm fans as i may be able to fit those in my case with my curent setup
i'd look into diff heatercores but dont really know where to find them and if i'd have to mod them after i got them cause if so then i'm feble so that would be beyond my abilites.......any ideas on a multi rad/heatercore setup would help

johan851 · Aug 24, 2004

More rads is better, but they add more restriction. Your better off with a high flow rad (heatercore) thats large....and a-lot cheaper.
$50 in heatercores could knock those $200 in rads flat in performance, if done right....with less noise.

Exactly. Maybe you could mod your case?

A couple things to keep in mind:

Radiators have diminishing returns. You can never make it below ambient.
Radiators add more restriction and more of a tubing mess, which is known to have a big impact on temps.

What kind of radiator setup do you have now?

SureFoot · Aug 24, 2004

As long as you still have some flow, any extra cooling surface area is a win. So more rads = better. (hint: to save flow try putting the rads in parallel)

Como · Aug 24, 2004

actually my heatercore required little modding...just cutting the pipes shorter.
Anyways, you dont want smaller pipes...
Multiple rads, i say split the pipe and run it to both rads in paralell...especially with restrictive ones like that.

Vengance_01 · Aug 24, 2004

depending on the number of blocks, the pumps head, and the amount of heat be dumped in the loop. I say for a 3 block system with a decent pump, a single dual 120mm HC should be fine.

Como · Aug 24, 2004

unless you are a friend of overkill, and nice, happy temps on a quiet system.

OutS|der · Aug 25, 2004

all i have now is a jr-120 mounted on the top with 2 120mm silen-x fans
am just looking into options to reach my friend overkill cause more is better
the temps i had last time i checked where low 30's idle....the 1/2" tubing is b|tch to cram in so was wondering if adding 2 more rads but with smaller tubing improve it much or would i reach the point of limited returns
btw how is parallel set up

ls7corvete · Aug 25, 2004

I definetly would not do that. You will hurt your flow too much to see any benefits, several people have done what you are mentioning and gotten WORSE temps after spending 200$ on rads.

the JR is good, how is your shroud? maybe one thick fan pulling instead of a sandwhich? from what i hear sandwhiches dont work well.

what is your load temps?

From what i hear I dont think you should need much more cooling.

johan851 · Aug 25, 2004

from what i hear sandwhiches dont work well.

Where did you hear that? Push/Pull config is the best way to go if you have the space. At least, that's the last I heard...

ls7corvete · Aug 25, 2004

better but not that much better than just pull. have you tried it just pull?(too lazy to look up posts..)

gungeek · Aug 25, 2004

From what I recall of BillA's testing, adding a second fan (of the same type) would increase airflow roughly 30% versus a single fan. If both fans were undervolted (to 7V), then the airflow would be about the same as a single fan at 12V, but the overall noise would be less.

I would only go push/pull if I couldn't add another rad and needed to get a little more performance from a single rad.

ls7corvete · Aug 25, 2004

Eh, let me clarify what I am saying.

Step up your airflow some, I would go with one thick fan pulling. Those silen-x fans dont push that much so one thick fan should out performe those two. Of coarse two would be even better but sence you have those quiet fans in there now I doubt that you would want the extra noise.

OutS|der · Aug 25, 2004

ya right now with fan noise i'm under 24dba with 6 fans
was only thinking of 2 more rads cause more ussally = better but would have to reduce tube size to fit 2 of em in my case
only way to add another would be to take out a hd bay and thats a bit beyond my skills right now but maybe one day
am adding 2 coolshrouds from cooling works thier like 1.25" deep so they should improve my temps a bit
am gonna test it all by the end of the week

BeerHunter · Aug 25, 2004

This is good question OP...

More rads is better, but they add more restriction. Your better off with a high flow rad (heatercore) thats large....and a-lot cheaper.

That begs the question, are you better off with two "high flow rad (heatercore) thats large"? Also when does the restriction outweigh having two cores? At what point does demishing returns kick in?

SureFoot · Aug 26, 2004

You won't have diminishing returns by putting rads in parallel ! Actually you may even get better overall flow !

lclark2074 · Aug 26, 2004

SureFoot said:
You won't have diminishing returns by putting rads in parallel ! Actually you may even get better overall flow !

Yes your right it will better flow

but with smaller tubing it will be worse :argue:

More Rads = Better?

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