HWLabs SR-1 480 or 560?

[Bun-Bun]

So I am building an external rad enclosure complete with reservoir and pump and I want it to be overkill. No real objective here just something to do for fun and to cool pretty much anything that I can think of. My original plan was two SR-1 480's but now I am thinking of two SR-1 560's...

I just ordered a SR-1 480 as I want to set up a bench/oc station (so that I stop tieing up my main rig with stress testing) thinking that I will just use this rad with my external enclosure project. Well after thinking about it I realized that a tripple 140mm is ~ the same as a quad 120mm. The biggest reason I didn't go 140mm is the lack of fans and that I really like the gentle typhoons which only come in 92 and 120mm currently. But I just got to thinking this morning that why couldn't I use 120mm fans on a 140mm fad with a shroud and adapter?

I already ordered the 480 though and 4 1150rpm gentle typhoons... but I could keep that around for future projects or sell it.

Opinions? Thoughts? I plan to use 1450 or 1850 rpm gentle typhoon's on a fan controller or modded to my desired noise level. Can't decide that until I have the rad's fans, and the enclosure at least partly built. I bought the 1150's for now cause there are no 1450's or 1850's in stock anywhere and all of mine are currently in use...

[prtuc2]

Since the SR series is optimized for low fan speed, so even 140mm fans selection are not the greatest it will provided more performance than the 480 counterpart. If you still don't think that is overkill enough you can always get the Mo-Ra 2 pro or 3 to use lower fan speed and still get a lot cooling potential.

[Bun-Bun]

Most of the 140mm fans I have found are sleeve bearing. I ditched useing sleeve bearings a long time ago due to reliability. Sure they are quiet when you first get them but that quickly changes.

There is nothing about the Gentle Typhoon's that I dont like. Hence why I prefer to use them. No other fan can compare when it comes to power consumption, noise, and reliability.

This is the closest ive seen to a 140mm fan I might get... http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=51389&vpn=X-Silent-140&manufacture=Thermalright

But I would have to get one and see how it performs first. And I have no idea how it stands up to being on a rad.

[Aedubber]

I have 4 gts on my 480 rad and they are awesome !!! My ek pump hums louder then my fans that are over 1k rpm .. I honestly forget I have fans, that's how silent they are :) ..

[prtuc2]

Maybe you should check out this fan (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233036).

[Bun-Bun]

I have 4 gts on my 480 rad and they are awesome !!! My ek pump hums louder then my fans that are over 1k rpm .. I honestly forget I have fans, that's how silent they are :) ..

I know, they are awesome. I bought one to see what the rave was about and immediately replaced all the fans in my computer with them. They are the only fan that I can put up against honeycomb mesh without getting crazy air turbulence noise. If I didn't know any better I might just call them magic...


Maybe you should check out this fan (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233036).

That does looks like a good fan. Though I can not find any specifics on exactly what that bearing is nor any performance data when put against a rad.

Guess I will just have to buy a couple different 140mm fans and compare them.

Though I don't see any reason I can't just use a shroud and/or adaptor to put 120mm GT's against a 140mm rad.

[Aedubber]

Hey u know the term if it ain't broke don't fix it !? Lol only way I will ever change to diff fans is if inhabent fact sheets in front of me :)

[Bun-Bun]

Yeah I know. And I have spent so much money on various fans trying to find something that I like and there is nothing I dont like about the GT's. Why change it?

[alexjpn]

you know that with 140mm to 120mm holes. seem to be good.
http://www.dospara.co.jp/5goods_parts/parts_detail.php?h=d&f=d&m=parts&ic=153323&lf=0

[MagisD]

120 gt's on 140's seems like a perfect idea .. I was going to do that on the Single fan holes inside my corsair jut not enough room sooo i went a little bit with my current build.

I an adaptor/shroud Should give you enough extra that it work as well or better then 140 fans on it.

[Bun-Bun]

Well I found these things

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9004/duc-49/Bitspower_Low_Profile_140mm_To_120mm_Fan_Adapter_-_Black_BP-FA140120-BK_.html

And I dont see why this wouldn't work. Think pull might give better coverage with the different size fan but not sure.

I contacted DD and Performance PC's to see if I could change out the rad and mounting hardware I ordered for the 140mm variants.

[Tetrafluorometh]

Have an SR1-560 and Yate Loon 1000 RPM and it's a cooling giant and total silent

[Bun-Bun]

Yate's are all sleeve bearing's... not?

I am waiting to hear back from danger den and switching my order to the SR1-560. If they can then I will order some of those 120mm to 140mm adapters and as well one of those xigmatek fans and compare them to 1150 and 1450 rpm gentle typhoons. Wont do any rad performance comparisons but general impression and subjective noise. I assume the 1000 rpm 140mm will out perform any gentle typhoon on the rad by a small margin.

[Church]

Bun-Bun: check yate loon site .. they have most of their fans with ball bearings aswell. Often seen in some PSUs. Though i've yet to see even once direct head to head noise/performancy comparison of their ball bearing fans vs sleeve bearing ones (eg. D12SH vs D12BH), so even while YL claims in listed specs same noise/performancy as for their sleeve counterparts, i hadn't yet stumbled upon trusty 3rd party review to prove that. I'm shure, that if it realy were so, people would know / tell that already, so that makes me a bit cautious/distrustful for ball bearing Yates (would be nice to hear someone proving my guess wrong, knowing that there are no Gentle Typhoons of 140mm size :( ).

[aerial]

Imo there is plenty of decent 140mm fans. If you are going external witht his rad, there is no reason to pick smaller rad.

[Bun-Bun]

Bun-Bun: check yate loon site .. they have most of their fans with ball bearings aswell. Often seen in some PSUs. Though i've yet to see even once direct head to head noise/performancy comparison of their ball bearing fans vs sleeve bearing ones (eg. D12SH vs D12BH), so even while YL claims in listed specs same noise/performancy as for their sleeve counterparts, i hadn't yet stumbled upon trusty 3rd party review to prove that. I'm shure, that if it realy were so, people would know / tell that already, so that makes me a bit cautious/distrustful for ball bearing Yates (would be nice to hear someone proving my guess wrong, knowing that there are no Gentle Typhoons of 140mm size :( ).

Yeah I am a little leary as well with the lack of direct comparisons with them.


Imo there is plenty of decent 140mm fans. If you are going external witht his rad, there is no reason to pick smaller rad.

Yeah, I switched out my order. I have a SR1-560 on the way and some 120mm to 140mm adapters. I will use the GT 1150's on it for now and try out some 140mm fans along the way and see if I can find something I like.

EDIT:

Looking into 140mm fans some more. Noiseblocker also lists there bearings as long life which are confirmed sleeve bearing. Wonder if that is the same for the xigmatek? The thermalright has a liquid bearing... wonder if that means sealed ball bearing. Problem I have with the Thermalright x-silent 140mm is they claim 60cfm at 900RPM while other 140mm fans are doing 50-60 @ 1000 RPM. Comparing DB values a Gentle Typhoon 1450 out performs 140mm fans around the 1000RPM mark. 1150 RPM GT will be quieter then a 140mm at 1000RPM but bit less air flow...

Hmm just saw this... http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36_316_843&products_id=28382 Enermax TB Silence 140mm. 750 RPM ~46 CFM @ 15db. If those specs can be beleived then that would be a great alternate choice to the GT 1450 and obvious choice over teh 1150 rpm model.

[Church]

All i can say - wait for comparison tests by some trusty 3rd party with good testing methodology (eg. Martin / Jordan). There is no other way to objectively choose best fan, as everybody already got used with gaming of specs manufacturers do. I've heard that performance/noise wise Thermalright TY-140 are good (in one test which is still in progress they bested fans like NB PK2/PK3 and Noctua NH-P14 , but i don't know how good they might do on rads them being round (so probably air pressure loss in edges, if you don't close 'em) and with 120mm mounting holes.

[Bun-Bun]

Yeah I know the specs are impossible to go by and that the performance of the fan against a radiator is what is important.

Hence why I really think I should stick with Gt's with adapters. I know the performance of these fans and that they do well against rad's and are quiet.

However I e-mailed Xigmatek about the bearings in the XLF-F1455 fan and this was the reply.


Hi Andrew,

Sorry for the confusion.
Is a special designed long life hydraulic bearing.

Thanks!
Dohn

[Waterlogged]

Yeah I know the specs are impossible to go by and that the performance of the fan against a radiator is what is important.

Hence why I really think I should stick with Gt's with adapters. I know the performance of these fans and that they do well against rad's and are quiet.

However I e-mailed Xigmatek about the bearings in the XLF-F1455 fan and this was the reply.
Hi Andrew,

Sorry for the confusion.
Is a special designed long life hydraulic bearing.

Thanks!
Dohn

Yeaaah, that makes things a bit clearer. . .NOT!:rofl:

Ball bearing?, sleeve bearing?. . .both are bearings and both can be hydraulically lubricated.

[Bun-Bun]

Hydraulic Bearing is a specific type of bearing which is a modified version of a sleeve bearing. Much like the S-FDB bearings by Sony or the ones used by Noctua.

So no it's not just a sleeve bearing... but still no hard data on the performance of these fans. I can give a subjective comparison on noise when I get mine but that's about it.

[Waterlogged]

Hydraulic Bearing is a specific type of bearing which is a modified version of a sleeve bearing. Much like the S-FDB bearings by Sony or the ones used by Noctua.

So no it's not just a sleeve bearing... but still no hard data on the performance of these fans. I can give a subjective comparison on noise when I get mine but that's about it.

Isn't it just oil impregnated bronze?

[Church]

Bun-Bun: Hydraulic? First time hearing those bearings called this way. Shouldn't it be Hydrodinamic or Fluid dinamic bearings? Well, anyway, at least hd bearings like ball bearings IIRC should be better then common sleeve bearings in horizontal mount position.

Waterlogged: IIRC hydrodinamic / fluid dinamic bearings are similar to sleeve, but modified in way so that they suck lubricant to friction contact place by bearing motion (instead of lubricant always being there in common sleeve bearing), resulting in good lubrication at normal designed speeds, but bad at start/stop and low speeds +higher startup voltage at start because of increased friction then. If you don't start/stop them often should have long life.

[Bun-Bun]

AMC also calls there bearings' hydraulic. AHB (Advanced Hydraulic Bearings) actually.

Found another fan...

Noiseblock NB Black Silent Pro, 1200rpm, 55CFM, 20 dba
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=36_316_844&products_id=27343

Specs are more believable. Data, background, detail, all look good. Possibly a winner? Expensive... volt mod it to run ~1000 rpm and I think it would work though.

[Bun-Bun]

Alright... got the SR1-560 today. This thing is HUGE!

http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/9292/dsc01271280.jpg

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/2880/dsc01281280.jpg

http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/3367/dsc01291280.jpg

Can't wait to get the rest of my stuff and try this thing out!

The fat boy barbs it came with though don't screw in very easy. All my other barbs work find but I can't get the fat boy's to screw all the way down and seal...

[Cornelious0_0]

Crazy crazy stuff man, just goes to show why I'm gonna need more than my PC-7 to find a home for a 420. ;)

[Bun-Bun]

Yeah man... I couldn't imagine trying to fit these things into a case... seriously.

[Torks]

^^^^

Thats what I'm working on now, 2 560s internal. They are massive and are proving to be a difficult fit, but I've already got them mounted internally!

I'm also struggling to make a decision on the fan selection...I saw your other post in air cooling and have since been checking out the fans you mentioned. I'm liking the Enermax, but I really wanted to get a high RPM fan that I could tune down to sub 1000 most of the time. I think the NBs or Noctuas might be the best choice with that in mind...

You can follow my success (or failure? :P ) in the worklog section.

[Bun-Bun]

I will definitly check out your worklog. I will start one when when I start building my external box.

So far I think the best choice is the Noiseblocker 1200rpm and then volt mod it to 900-1000 rpm. But... they are expensive.

The enermax looks like a good choice as well.

Noctua's in the past have not performed well when put against a rad. Vapor's reviews show this.

The problem is there is no good third party testing of a bunch of 140mm fans. The only reason I look to the noiseblockers is the close involvement of that german forum in there design. Good bearing, realistic statistics. Obviously taken user input into mind on a lot of things. Comes with more mounting hardware and a extension cable as well. But dang they are expensive...

[Bun-Bun]

And the fun begins...

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic... was too lazy to go get my camera.
Best method ive found for cleaning rads though! Well better would be to boil distilled and run a loop with that... but this is much easier.

http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/9090/sspx01681280.jpg

And cleaning/leak test loop running.

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/8558/dsc01311280.jpg

[Bun-Bun]

More fiddling tonight. Cleaned up my old D-Tek Fusion block. Not sure what to do with it... but I cleaned it up and threw it in the loop for fun.

http://img704.imageshack.us/img704/3234/dsc01421280.jpg

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/8997/dsc01431280.jpg

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/7348/dsc01451280.jpg

The xigmatek is disappointing. It looks really cool but it is constructed out of a really flimsy plastic. I also couldn't mount it cause the corners are closed and I couldn't get my screws in as a result. Being that the fan is so flimsy I wouldn't want to cut out the corners. Also there is some bearing noise that resonates through the radiator when you put the fan up against the rad. Gentle Typhoon 1450 wins hands down. Subjectively they felt like they moved about the same amount of air open and the gentle typhoon was able to push more throught the rad. So xigmatek is a no go.

I like the bitspower 120mm to 140mm adapters. Wish they were metal though.

about a 1/8" gap between fans on this rad. Will need to find or make a gasket of some sorts.

Also these rad's are horrible as passive excahngers. Though that is already common knowledge. I just didn't realize it was so bad that they can't even dissipate the heat of the pump lol.