mass debating on radiators/fans

yiannit · 11-03-2009, 08:47 PM

this will be my first watercooling setup and i've come to the decision on these 3 different radiators

hw labs gtx480
hw labs sr1 480
or the feser xchanger 480

and fans either sflex 1900s or typhoons 1850s (only problem with thes is theyre molex connector)

any suggestions or reasons i shouldnt get this?

this will be to cool i7 920 and x2 5870s with swiftech 355

Kibbler · 11-03-2009, 08:57 PM

For those fans go with the GTX480, especially if you plan to run them at full 12V.

Others will probably say GT1850 is better in terms of noise/airflow/pressure than S-Flex and although I'm keen to agree, I have no 1st hand experience with both so cannot say for sure.

Hondacity · 11-03-2009, 09:02 PM

480gtx + gt1850 push pull

shazza · 11-03-2009, 09:33 PM

Agree - the GTX is a good choice for those fans ( although all the radiators will work fine).

Not sure what you mean about the fans being connectied via molex. Are the 1850 GTs different than the 1450s?

woffen · 11-03-2009, 09:49 PM

At least my GT 1850's are all connected with a 3pin. Molex connectors are included though.

primer · 11-04-2009, 03:06 AM

Is there much diff in temps between GT 1850 57cfm and GT 1450 50cfm?

zipdogso · 11-04-2009, 03:26 AM

Im sure if you can find Martins test on rads and fans all will be revealed, in a quick search I couldn't seem to find it but I sure someone will have the link.

BTW don't say the title of the OP's post too quickly...you might get a surprise double meaning ...

Sadasius · 11-04-2009, 04:51 AM

If your sensitive to sound then get the rads with the greater fin spacing. If your into performance and put fans on high or have them on a controller to have them high from time to time then the GTX is your rad. Other rads just don't touch it about a certain RPM level. I have two 240 GTX rads with the fans in my sig. I usually have the fans set on 2500 RPM but they can each go to 6000 RPM and that is at 260 CFM of air EACH. I would do that on no other rad then the GTX as it has a tighter fin density and the dual pass is over and under instead of side by side. To me it is the superior designed rad.

Ketzer7 · 11-04-2009, 07:40 AM

Sadasius, which side of the GTX do you have your fans blowing on? The hot side or the cold side? Same question with fans in pull; pull from cold side or hot side?

In my head, it seemed that you would want fans to push on the cold side, so heat is going away from it, and pull on the hot side so again heat is moving away from the cold one. Is that right?

yiannit · 11-04-2009, 07:54 AM

thank you for the help

what does his mean? from the hw labs sr1

Yields up to 30% more heat exchange capacity than the Black Ice® GTX in ultra-stealth operation mode up to 2000rpm.

i made a mistake on the gt fans they are 3 pin. and i'll be using the bigng fan controller

Ketzer7 · 11-04-2009, 08:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yiannit

thank you for the help

what does his mean? from the hw labs sr1

Yields up to 30% more heat exchange capacity than the Black Ice® GTX in ultra-stealth operation mode up to 2000rpm.

i made a mistake on the gt fans they are 3 pin. and i'll be using the bigng fan controller

The SR-1 is optimized for better heat transfer at low fan RPMs by way of it's low fins per inch (FPI) specification which I believe is 9 FPI.

The GTX series of rads on the other had are optimized for high RPM speed fans with more static pressure as they have a fairly high FPI of ~20.

As a result the GTX doesn't perform as well at low fan RPM speeds because with it's high FPI it's more restrictive to airflow through it so it's not cooling the water passing through as effectively as it would be with a low FPI rad like the SR-1 which is less restrictive to airflow through it.

If you want to see tests showing the effect of this, I suggest taking a look at skinnee's site and look at the test results between several different makes of rads to get an idea of their performance:

http://www.skinneelabs.com

Sadasius · 11-04-2009, 08:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ketzer7

Sadasius, which side of the GTX do you have your fans blowing on? The hot side or the cold side? Same question with fans in pull; pull from cold side or hot side?

In my head, it seemed that you would want fans to push on the cold side, so heat is going away from it, and pull on the hot side so again heat is moving away from the cold one. Is that right?

I have them on both sides in push/pull on both rads. Let's just say I am always within 3 degrees of ambient (water temp) and I have everything on one loop with 2 pumps.

ChielScape · 11-04-2009, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yiannit

thank you for the help

what does his mean? from the hw labs sr1

Yields up to 30% more heat exchange capacity than the Black Ice® GTX in ultra-stealth operation mode up to 2000rpm.

i made a mistake on the gt fans they are 3 pin. and i'll be using the bigng fan controller

they say the SR-1 will beat the GTX in all fanspeeds up to 2000 rpm, where the largest difference is 30%, that doesnt mean the 30% is at that 2000 RPM. if that 2000 rpm figure is accurate, thats where they will be roughly the same. practice shows however, that for most different rads, that point is around 1200-1500 rpm, and the SR-1 is most likely no different. that 30% is easy to believe around the 600 rpm range. and up from there the difference gets smaller untill the GTX gets the upper hand. they say that happens at 2000, i say it does at 1200-1500 with similar rads doing the same. (XSPC RX, Thermochill PA... they all lose to the GTX over 1200-1500 RPM)

yiannit · 11-05-2009, 12:04 PM

wen placing the fans to pull does it matter which side on the radiator the fans are?