Do Thermochill PA radiators benefit from Shrouds?

Exsurgo · 26 Apr 2011 at 14:32

Well I have a shroud for one of my Thermochill PA 120.3 radiators. I will be using Xilence and Zaward fans on it and am wondering, with the fans on bios rpm control from 700~1200rpm would I see a benefit to using a radiator shroud, or could I see a performance loss?

I know Shrouds are prefered on high CFM fans, but can't seem to find any info on low-medium speed fans?

OLDPHART · 26 Apr 2011 at 14:54

Don't see why not all the shroud does is move you a bit farther away from the rad face, so improving the area of the air flow through the rad ie: the closer you are the fan only push's air from the the outer edge of the fan, due to the fan centre being so close to the rad face, as you move away with the centre of the fan not being so close, the fanblades push more air towards the centre of the rad face.

Hope that makes sense m8.

Marvin · 26 Apr 2011 at 14:58

I'm fairly sure that all radiators benefit from shrouds, though the optimum thickness might vary depending on the fan RPM and the radiator.

It'd be worth reading up on Xtreme Systems.

OLDPHART · 26 Apr 2011 at 15:03

Forgot to mention the least thickness you want should be the thickness of your fan ie: fan 25mm thick > shroud at least 25mm thick, this was in a article about them.

dynamis_dk · 26 Apr 2011 at 15:12

when the PA first landed it was said my thermochill that they do benefit from a shroud. I was cheap so i gutted 3 old 120mm fans from old PSU's and used them between the fan and the rad. Not perfect but no doubt helped a little.

Ideally I'd go with thermochill's own shroud for the PA range.

OLDPHART · 26 Apr 2011 at 15:18

Hi, just use the Shrouds you made you get about 2'c off temps, why waste money.

dynamis_dk · 26 Apr 2011 at 15:26

no I just mean from a new buyer point of view.

I got rid of my gheto ones ages ago when i switched cased... have been meaning to do it again but never got round to it.

Exsurgo · 26 Apr 2011 at 15:28

The 2nd hand PA 120.3 already came with a shroud, so it was basically free. Looks good aswell. Its 25mm spacing, but from reading around 4 screws will be more than enough to mount it to the top inside of the case.

The reason I asked the question is a while ago someone on the XS forums said that fans with less than 1250rpm are better without a shroud.

The shroud is 40mm thick, and PA radiators have a 10mm gap between the fins and the fan, so effectively it will a 50mm shroud. I might test some fans on it pushing a bit of paper about just to be sure it makes a difference for the better

OLDPHART · 26 Apr 2011 at 15:30

Yer, good idea, it will give you a rough guide.

pastymuncher · 26 Apr 2011 at 19:10

dynamis_dk said:
when the PA first landed it was said my thermochill that they do benefit from a shroud. I was cheap so i gutted 3 old 120mm fans from old PSU's and used them between the fan and the rad. Not perfect but no doubt helped a little.

Ideally I'd go with thermochill's own shroud for the PA range.

Nothing wrong with that. If i remember right one company (may have been Feser) was selling just a bare fan frame type thing as a shroud a couple of years ago.

I have a Thermochill Shroud on my PA120.3 with three 120x38mm Yate Loons running at 700rpm. Performance is excellent.