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Old 09-21-2009, 08:28 AM   #1
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Effectiveness of fan shrouds?

Has anyone read any reviews, or have experience with the effectiveness of fan shrouds on radiators and cooling, do they help diminish the dead spot from the center of the fans?

Reason I am asking, is because I just ordered two new rads (magicool elegant triples) to replace my Swiftech doubles, and was wondering if I should bother with the shrouds, and if so, any recommendations on a brand or type?

Right now on my doubles, I cut the guts out of 4 old 120mm fans and used them as shrouds, I never tested with and without them so I don't know if they are doing anything other than taking up more space.

thx, any input would be greatly appreciated.
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Old 09-21-2009, 08:31 AM   #2
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Yes, shrouds do help - there's a reason folks invented them. Shrouds will increase your airflow through your rads without increasing noise levels, but there's no exact formula to tell you exactly what to expect. For 120mm fans, the optimum shroud distance is from memory somewhere between 20 and 40mm - so old 120mm fans work just fine, no need to buy custom built shrouds when you can cheap out for the same benefit.

The important thing is to make sure that you're getting a good seal, though, so you have a sealed airflow pathway all the way to the rad surface. Air leaking out the sides is going to dramatically decrease performance, and may even give you worse performance than without the shroud.
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Old 09-21-2009, 08:34 AM   #3
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Shrouds are a waste of space, just put another set of fans on the other side and enjoy better temps. In cases where space is a premium shrouds are a NO NO.
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Old 09-21-2009, 09:28 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fafeifa View Post
Shrouds are a waste of space, just put another set of fans on the other side and enjoy better temps. In cases where space is a premium shrouds are a NO NO.
Totally disagree.

Take a look at this report/test of Martin's

http://martin.skinneelabs.com/Radiat...ng-Review.html
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Old 09-21-2009, 09:33 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Equinediver View Post
Totally disagree.

Take a look at this report/test of Martin's

http://martin.skinneelabs.com/Radiat...ng-Review.html
+1
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Old 09-21-2009, 09:34 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fafeifa View Post
Shrouds are a waste of space, just put another set of fans on the other side and enjoy better temps. In cases where space is a premium shrouds are a NO NO.
Enjoy better (~.6C) temps at the cost of doubling the noise vs. adding a shroud. Hmm, that's a toughie.
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Old 09-21-2009, 12:15 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Equinediver View Post
Totally disagree.

Take a look at this report/test of Martin's

http://martin.skinneelabs.com/Radiat...ng-Review.html
Great review.

The shrouds also help to remove that dead spot that the fan hub creates.
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Old 09-21-2009, 12:23 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fafeifa View Post
Shrouds are a waste of space, just put another set of fans on the other side and enjoy better temps. In cases where space is a premium shrouds are a NO NO.
If you got the space it's a noise free performance increase. Push/pull will make more noise.
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Old 09-21-2009, 01:50 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fafeifa View Post
Shrouds are a waste of space, just put another set of fans on the other side and enjoy better temps. In cases where space is a premium shrouds are a NO NO.
B4 u guys lash reread his statement.

Because from my point of view he's correct, and all you other guys are wrong.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Equinediver View Post
Totally disagree.

Take a look at this report/test of Martin's

http://martin.skinneelabs.com/Radiat...ng-Review.html
So a push pull is less effective then a pull + shroud?

Umm no... push + pull > Push or Pull + shroud.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DeathWalking View Post
Enjoy better (~.6C) temps at the cost of doubling the noise vs. adding a shroud. Hmm, that's a toughie.
No, your assuming that your gonna run both the push and pull fans @ the same voltage of the single fan + shroud.

This is false because u will get almost 2x the pressure off the fan combo.
So in essense each fan will be turned 1/2 to 2/3rds the normal voltage. So your noise wont be that much more noticiable.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jah View Post
If you got the space it's a noise free performance increase. Push/pull will make more noise.
No it wont because you will require less voltage to get the same performance. You guys arent understanding it from the net benifit point of view.

Think carefully, lets assume 1 fan puts out about 80cfm and after the rad u get a 50cfm @ 12V.
Now u add 2, so you have 2 fans puts out 160 cfm, however the loss after the rad is smaller because of the push pull, so you get around 130cfm.

Do you really need 130cfm? the answer is NO. So you will turn down your push pull to mirror the 50cfm, which translates to both fans putting about 80-90cfm, which means each fan will be at 45 CFM.

Noise is 45cfm x 2 vs 1 80cfm. <--- u still think its louder?


Why is it that everyone automatically assumes push/pull will be louder?
The truth is you will require less voltage to get the same objective from push/pull.
But people quickly forget that and assume your gonna run push pull on max.

Well if thats the case, get 38mm and end it.
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Last edited by NaeKuh; 09-21-2009 at 01:59 PM.
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Old 09-21-2009, 01:52 PM   #10
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Well I defiantly have the space ; )

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Old 09-21-2009, 02:05 PM   #11
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LOL if u guys wanna get into a fan war with me...

Here is my toy i was playing with to get the best fan layout:
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Old 09-21-2009, 02:20 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NaeKuh View Post
LOL if u guys wanna get into a fan war with me...

Here is my toy i was playing with to get the best fan layout:
LMAO, alright, you win!
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Old 09-21-2009, 02:47 PM   #13
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Naekuh, what's the top speed on that hovercraft??
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Old 09-21-2009, 04:08 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NaeKuh View Post
B4 u guys lash reread his statement.

Because from my point of view he's correct, and all you other guys are wrong.



So a push pull is less effective then a pull + shroud?

Umm no... push + pull > Push or Pull + shroud.



No, your assuming that your gonna run both the push and pull fans @ the same voltage of the single fan + shroud.

This is false because u will get almost 2x the pressure off the fan combo.
So in essense each fan will be turned 1/2 to 2/3rds the normal voltage. So your noise wont be that much more noticiable.



No it wont because you will require less voltage to get the same performance. You guys arent understanding it from the net benifit point of view.

Think carefully, lets assume 1 fan puts out about 80cfm and after the rad u get a 50cfm @ 12V.
Now u add 2, so you have 2 fans puts out 160 cfm, however the loss after the rad is smaller because of the push pull, so you get around 130cfm.

Do you really need 130cfm? the answer is NO. So you will turn down your push pull to mirror the 50cfm, which translates to both fans putting about 80-90cfm, which means each fan will be at 45 CFM.

Noise is 45cfm x 2 vs 1 80cfm. <--- u still think its louder?


Why is it that everyone automatically assumes push/pull will be louder?
The truth is you will require less voltage to get the same objective from push/pull.
But people quickly forget that and assume your gonna run push pull on max.

Well if thats the case, get 38mm and end it.
Wow very well said i couldn't explain it better myself but that is what i meant. I really don't see the application of a shroud because you can run push/pull with undervolted fans and be done with it.

The PA 120.3 shroud is like 40mm thick vs a 25mm fan. Of course the best is push -> shroud -> rad -> shroud -> pull but that is very cumbersome and would be very hard and inefficient to mount it internally for that matter i would rather have 2 radiators with their own set of fans. There are more things to consider rather than the best results from reviews because we are working with constraints when building a custom system.

Sometimes lab testing doesn't mean it works the best in real world, testing afterall give us ideas and guidelines, WC has limits that are easily attainable with couple good rads, fans and a strong or several pumps, the reviews to me are just a guideline and not to be taken word for word because 1C or 2C won't make my system fail and following the reviews word for word may bring more headaches than benefits.
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Old 09-21-2009, 04:12 PM   #15
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<snip>
Think carefully, lets assume 1 fan puts out about 80cfm and after the rad u get a 50cfm @ 12V.
Now u add 2, so you have 2 fans puts out 160 cfm, however the loss after the rad is smaller because of the push pull, so you get around 130cfm. <snip>
Series (push pull) doesn't work like that, it increases pressure but cfm is never more than one fans rating. at best it will cut you're loss from freeair to radiator cfm.
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Old 09-21-2009, 04:23 PM   #16
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Sheesh, that would need it's own PSU, cable management doesn't bear thinking about

What are you cooling, a nuclear power station?

For me, my shrouds and 25mm fans do the job nicely
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Old 09-21-2009, 04:37 PM   #17
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Series (push pull) doesn't work like that, it increases pressure but cfm is never more than one fans rating. at best it will cut you're loss from freeair to radiator cfm.
i was using a very general expression.

And your right using CFM was a very bad example, i should of used static pressure.

But overall i think it gets the message across.

You accomplish = for less when you pair up was the notion i was trying to get into.
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Old 09-21-2009, 05:24 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Equinediver View Post
Sheesh, that would need it's own PSU, cable management doesn't bear thinking about

What are you cooling, a nuclear power station?

For me, my shrouds and 25mm fans do the job nicely
What kind of shrouds are you using?
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