To Pull or to Push...

[Dorky]

With the radiator fans, to pull or to push?

:bounce:

[Beenthere]

Most conventional PC fans are better at pushing than pulling air.

[Elisha]

pull for sure.

[STEvil]

Push and pull for optimal performance.

Push otherwise. Pulling takes a fan that can create high vaccuum and most fans your find for PC use are do best at high pressure applications.

Shroud and mount the fan at least 1" away from the rad is a good idea, too.

[Karnivore]

Push and pull for optimal performance.

Push otherwise. Pulling takes a fan that can create high vaccuum and most fans your find for PC use are do best at high pressure applications.

Shroud and mount the fan at least 1" away from the rad is a good idea, too.

Good advice..

[Nazaar]

so you best put 2 fans on the rad (1pushing and 1 pulling) ??

[Master_G]

Pull, ideally with the fan a small distance from the rad, it creates the least amount of dead spots in the rad, which gives best cooling performance.
Pull push is optimal, but louder, and the temp gained for the increase isnt performance isnt worth it for most ppl (Although that aint tru for most of the ppl on here :D)

G

[Rippthrough]

Pull - with a standoff
pulling is much more effiecent for most PC fans.

[LANjack]

Topic has been covered in detail. Search function. ;)

Boils down to your individual setup / specific radiator. Test Push, Pull, and Push Pull configurations and measure your temps. Pick the lowest. Oh and most of the benefit in a push/pull combo comes from being able to run the fans at a lower speed and thusly lowering overall (perceptable) noise levels.


Edit: Btw :welcome: and awesome name, lol.

[Dorky]

Why thank you,

I have a ThermoChil 120.3, two pulling, 1 pushing?

[Zeus]

Why thank you,

I have a ThermoChil 120.3, two pulling, 1 pushing?

Nah, 3 pushing and 3 pulling, don't forget the earplugs. :D

[Torin]

3 pulling or 3 pushing and 3 pulling.

[Dorky]

Jokes.

Thanks for your advice so far...

My other 3 fans will be silent 120mm ones, for when im just browsing...The Akasa ones.
3 loud ones pulling, 3 quite ones pushing?

[Torin]

Roger.

[Craig]

Jokes.

Thanks for your advice so far...

My other 3 fans will be silent 120mm ones, for when im just browsing...The Akasa ones.
3 loud ones pulling, 3 quite ones pushing?

If push=>pull is to be used the fans should be balanced in performance for best result, maximum performance.

I'd suggest a good reobus if you intend to go push=>pull with a 120.3. 6 high pressure & high flow fans will overwhelm you with noise if you don't. Nice to have them on a reobus where you can have all out performance when you wish, and sane nosie levels the rest of the time.

I'd suggest you not use any fans over 100cfm, it'll be a waste to have 6 fans stronger than that, noise for no purpose.

[MaxxxRacer]

Sorry I didnt see this earlier. But pull is the best option if you arnt doing a push pull. It should noted that push pull does not give you much gains in performance.

Pull with a shroud is the best you can do without going push pull. You may argue, but the "experts" agree that this is the best performance. Im not claiming to be an expert. The tests were done by billa of swiftech cooling solutions and I think also by cathar, but I cannot be sure if cathar did or not. So dont quote me on cathar. but billa did do tests on it.

[STEvil]

Got links?

All i've seen is mickymouse's.

The point i'm trying to make is that it depends on the design of the fan whether you want to go with push or pull..

[saratoga]

In theory pull is supposed to be better since the air coming out of the fan is much more turbulent/has more angular movement then that going in. So a fan pulling sees less resistance then one pushing.

I don't know how much it really matters, or if anyone has ever done any rigiorious testing. BillA might have done something during all those radiator/fan tests he did years ago, but I haven't seen it if he did.

[Holst]

It depends on if you have a shroud or not.

Trying to pull air off the rad without a shroud wont work at all...
So if you dont have the space for a shroud your best of just trying to push the air through..

But its much better to have a decent shroud (one that dosent leak, seal it with tape) and the fans pulling the air through the rad.
This wll be quieter as there will be less turbulant air.
It will also perform much better for the same ammount of fans.

I recently tried a push/pull system on my rad and saw no real gains over just pulling.. this might be different with more heat load, but for my rig two 120mm fans at 7v is all I need.

[LANjack]

Both:
I prefer to push the envelope, but always pull out early.

:rimshot:

:D

[moosturdsoed25]

pulling is def better than pushing