upgrading radiator

[ecthellion]

I've been thinking about ugprading my radiator to https://www.amazon.com/Alphacool-Ne...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00BEZORUY, and am looking for some good fans for the thing. I have some delta EFB1212SHE's laying around from my old heater core, are there fans in 140mm that are comparable, and if so does anyone know of a good fan controller i could use with them. thx!!
i just realized that that particular radiator has a low fpi and is more suited for low speed fans. does anyone know of a good thick radiator with a high fp and all copper construction? was looking at high fpi for better cooling, but not sure if a low fpi rad could perform the same.

 

[caddi daddi]

that's almost the same as my phobya g-changer, 9 fpi, about any fan works, what are you cooling?

 

[ecthellion]

im cooling a core i7 6850k, and have been thinking about coolling the mobo as well, they all run really hot,i have no fans in my case, im using a thermaltake p7 which is why im considering cooling the motherboard compents with watercooling. i currently have a heatkiller iv pro with a ek coolstream xe 360 but i want something with more cooling capacity and i really like that big thick bulky look of the the one i linked, also i read that those are made out of all copper parts which is hwy i was considering that one. I also have a heatercore laying around but these newer rads are just easeier to mount. i dont like the current temps im getting with the rad im using as well

 

[maxfly]

ugh i hear ya. my 6850 is a friggin space heater. im running dual 360s and i still have a hell of a time getting anything above 4.7 because of the heat. honestly your current rad is a great choice. altho i understand completely why your checking the monsta out! its a sweet rad. Your right its an all copper rad. i think alphacools st30/45 ut60s and monstas are all full copper rads. if you can find the space for the monsta i say do it! ive had a soft spot for the monsta rads ever since i first saw them haha. heck i like all of the alphacool copper rads. i just dont need another rad yet! but if i did... go big or go home i say.
if your current fans are pwm i would grab a fan controller and just keep them running at a lower speed. if you know what kind of rpms you want, if you want leds/rings etc your looking for we can hook you up.

 

[ecthellion]

maxfly i have an open case and the radiators just bolt on to the sides so space isnt an issue, its finding the right rad for this thing, sometimes i can get spikes as high as 30 to 40 degrees on certain cores under load, not mention if i want watercool the voltage regs and chipset because those run hot and i currently dont have cooling for those. i really like the alphacool rads too, im just trying to decide should i go with the monsta or something with a higher fpi, or use the monsta in a push pull config.

 

[caddi daddi]

I have a 4x180 rad and a 9x120 rad i can plug into, thick rads, i like almost as much as thick legged womens!!!!! gotts ta luv em......

 

[ecthellion]

hahaha, hells yah caddi daddi, your speaking my language
Caddi would it be possible to link pics of your rads so i can get an idea of what you have. i have also being eyeing the alphacool monsta 560 and this guy as well http://www.aquatuning.us/water-cool...b/aquabus-stainlesse-steel-side-panels?c=6566 but without the pump, ihave pumps already. also what fans should i use with either of those, also what about a fan shroud, i noticed when i broke down my rads for maintence, we live in very dusty climate, there were dead spots on the rads and would like to elevaite that.

 

[Lochekey]

What radiator are you running currently and what is your deltaT? Going to a different rad may not really buy you much if the ccurrent rad is "sufficient.

I went from a 360 rad and low speed pump to a 1260 rad and high speed pump. This took my delta T from around 8 degrees down to around the 1 degree range. Unfortunately it did zero as far as overclocking potential for my chip(6700k). I am not saying that you will not see gains from a new radiator just make sure your expectations of your gains are realistic.

 

[||Console||]

Thick in general doesn't do as much as larger size Ex a thick 3x120 vs a 4x120 the 4 will prob cool better . High FPI will give better cooling but needs faster fans . Because you have the room I would go for more rads with slow fans .

 

[ecthellion]

for my cpu i have a very hot 6850k, i have a ek coolstream xe360 rad right know with 2 ek vardar fans, the ones that came with the kit one of the fans was doa, and a corsair fan(something i got from frys not sure the exact model) i was thinking about get a 560 rad and going in a push pull config. my cpu waterblock is heatkiller iv pro. the cpu under usually runs about 69 to 74, but i have seen it spike as high as 79 on some of the cores while overclocking, i also want to water my board and possibly memory as i have no active cooling for those due to my open case

 

[Lochekey]

Changing your rad will net you some gains but you are probably talking single digit gains. If that is worth it to you go for it. As I said earlier I just like to make sure people have a realistic expectation of what they are going to get from their investment.

 

[||Console||]

Spot fans might be better ( easier ) then watercooling the board unless there is a ready made mono block for the MB .The returns ( more oc ) will be small . Is the MB running hot now ? If it is some small fans zip tied can go along way ( maybe change the TIM/thermal pad used )

 

[ecthellion]

Changing your rad will net you some gains but you are probably talking single digit gains. If that is worth it to you go for it. As I said earlier I just like to make sure people have a realistic expectation of what they are going to get from their investment.

so is there any advantage to using thick rads at all? would there be any cooling performance using 120mm fans vs 140mm fans?

 

[Lochekey]

Thick rads have there place and do perform better than a slimmer counterpart but the gains of a thick over a thin rad are not a night and day difference.

For instance if you have a small case that can only fit a 240 rad. I would put a thicker 240 rad in to make up for the limited space. If on the other hand my case could fit a 360 rad I would tend to go for a slimmer 360 rad over a thicker 240 rad in the same price range.

You also hit a point of diminishing returns on amount of reads.

If you are cooling a 100 watt load we typically say you need a 120mm rad. If you go to a 240 rad instead you will see a drastic change in temperatures. If you then go further to a 360 rad you will see an improvement over the 240 but not as much as you saw from going to the 240 from 120 rad. You will eventually get to a point where adding rads will basically do nothing for your temps as you are keeping the water temperature within 1-2 degrees of ambient.

I am speaking in generalizations here and not your specific system so your heat load will be greater than 100 watts but it is easier to explain this way.

If you were building this system from scratch I would say good with the biggest rad you can afford and fit(within reason). When trying to upgrade a rad it gets hairy as you can have a big investment for very little gain.

 

[ecthellion]

Thick rads have there place and do perform better than a slimmer counterpart but the gains of a thick over a thin rad are not a night and day difference.

For instance if you have a small case that can only fit a 240 rad. I would put a thicker 240 rad in to make up for the limited space. If on the other hand my case could fit a 360 rad I would tend to go for a slimmer 360 rad over a thicker 240 rad in the same price range.

You also hit a point of diminishing returns on amount of reads.

If you are cooling a 100 watt load we typically say you need a 120mm rad. If you go to a 240 rad instead you will see a drastic change in temperatures. If you then go further to a 360 rad you will see an improvement over the 240 but not as much as you saw from going to the 240 from 120 rad. You will eventually get to a point where adding rads will basically do nothing for your temps as you are keeping the water temperature within 1-2 degrees of ambient.

I am speaking in generalizations here and not your specific system so your heat load will be greater than 100 watts but it is easier to explain this way.

If you were building this system from scratch I would say good with the biggest rad you can afford and fit(within reason). When trying to upgrade a rad it gets hairy as you can have a big investment for very little gain.

i really like the alphacool stuff and prbly should have gotten one of their rads when i built this system, is there anything you could suggest as far as better performing rads, or is pretty much all gonna be the same even if i move up to quad radiator?

 

[GTXJackBauer]

If you wanna go high FPI because you love the noise, have at it. Koolance and BlackIce come to mind but not sure how high certain rads go or if they've discontinued them but doesn't hurt to try looking. If I recall, their high FPI lines ranged from 20-30 FPI. In the old custom water cooling days, the only rads you could find were 30 FPI with fans that screamed at 3000 RPM since that's what it took to push air through. Sure the temps were nice but you can do that with a much quieter build with a bit more rad to compensate the difference.

Are your ambient temps any good? Is your water flow up to par? Case air flow? Good seating to the CPU? You see, there are lots of variables that can add up and make a difference. If I may, throw up some images of your rig so we can see what you have at hand.

Before I forget, you were only running two rad fans on a 360 or am I misreading this? If so, I would test it out with 3 fans and than push and pull to see the difference, assuming the rest of the variables are up to speed.

As I've read so far, these CPUs like to run hot so any of these variables, plus matching it with the right amount of rad which I believe you have but could go for more to knock of a few temps could play a difference.

 

[ecthellion]

If you wanna go high FPI because you love the noise, have at it. Koolance and BlackIce come to mind but not sure how high certain rads go or if they've discontinued them but doesn't hurt to try looking. If I recall, their high FPI lines ranged from 20-30 FPI. In the old custom water cooling days, the only rads you could find were 30 FPI with fans that screamed at 3000 RPM since that's would it took to push air through. Sure the temps were nice but you can do that with a much quieter build with a bit more rad to compensate the difference.

Are your ambient temps any good? Is your water flow up to par? Case air flow? Good seating to the CPU? You see, there are lots of variables that can add up and make a difference. If I may, throw up some images of your rig so we can see what you have at hand.

Before I forget, you were only running two rad fans on a 360 or am I misreading this? If so, I would test it out with 3 fans and than push and pull to see the difference, assuming the rest of the variables are up to speed.

As I've read so far, these CPUs like to run hot so any of these variables, plus matching it with the right amount of rad which I believe you have but could go for more to knock of a few temps could play a difference.

No 360 rad has 3 fans on it, but it was from one those ek kits, which im currently replacing piece by piece. the kit came with one of the fans DoA so i had to get a replacement for it. ill get some pics of my system up in a bit. at ambient depending on the temps here the cores usually run between 19 and 22 degrees, but when i do any sort of stress testing i see them spike as high as 80 degrees, something just doesnt seem right. should i take a pic of the cpu with the waterblock off as well and if so do i need to reapply tim i just put this thing together two weeks ago after tearing down my old rig for maintenance and putting together the thermaltake p7, i was using a dangerden torture rack before.
3000 rpm fans would be very noisy, the fans i posted at the start of this thread are what i was using for my heatercore, which is why i was gonna go with that really big rad, i was thinking more surface area to cool, but than i saw the fpi on it and wasnt sure if it would do the job
the cpu waterblock im using is a heatkiller iv pro and in order to mount it its uses springs and 4 metal washers, on one of the installs of the block i accidently put 2 of the metal washer on one of the mounting bolts could this have possibly damaged the waterblock.

 

[ecthellion]

the other pics i need to resize, what is a good resolution to post at so they arent so big?

 

[ecthellion]

- - - Updated - - -

this is what im working with currently

 

[ecthellion]

Hey locheckey i was ready another thread you posted in and you said you had a build that could dissapate around 900w of heat, what is that and do you have pics of that? would love to see what that is