Best thin 120.3 rad

macmodder · 18 Oct 2011 at 14:59

I'm looking into the feasibilty of building a watercooled rig in quite a small case. I have a limited amount of vertical space at the top but still want to put in a 120.3 rad. Various manufacturers (magicool, black ice etc.) make slim rads at or just under 30mm but which is the best?

(I guess this question may betray my inexperience with high density / low density rads etc. etc. so feel free to educate me!)

lrlcr · 18 Oct 2011 at 15:08

Personally I'd wait for the new xspc ex rad as it won't need silly high pressure fans to push the air through, or even the new ek one that is similar. Personally i'd go for the xspc as they tend to be better quality than the ek rads.

edit: that's 5mm too thick, you're probably stuck with something like the HWlabs GT stealth then, but you'll need high speed/pressure fans to get the most out of it.

macmodder · 18 Oct 2011 at 15:19

I did see them and get quite excited then noticed they were 35mm. I dn't have the case yet so it isn't certain that 35mm will be too big, but it would really be on the edge, so I'd like opions on 30mm rads for now.

lrlcr · 18 Oct 2011 at 15:53

The ek is way too fat.

You've only got the xspc if you want a low density (so you can use low speed/pressure fans for quietness)

macmodder · 18 Oct 2011 at 16:07

can someone explain (or link to somwhere that explains) exactly how radiator density affects what fans you use? How do you spot a radiator that is high/low density and how do you pick a fan for a high/low density radiator?

On a related note, if worst comes to worst I know Yate Loon do a 20mm fan that has reasonable specs (OC don't sell them so I can't link except to Yate Loon's own website which doesn't say much http://www.yateloon.com/index.asp?lang=2). What would be the best 30mm 120.3 rad for these fans?

rjk · 18 Oct 2011 at 16:09

xspc radiator is listed for pre order now.

lrlcr · 18 Oct 2011 at 16:13

Basically the more fins you have (usual listed as FPI) the denser your radiator is. This causes more restriction to airflow and requires a faster/high pressure fan to force the air through the restriction.

Yate loons are good fans but quite loud.

macmodder · 18 Oct 2011 at 16:25

Is density pretty standard? I.e. I don't have to worry about one manufacturers measurement of density being different from another's (like you have to do with fans cfm, dB etc.)?

dazzerd · 18 Oct 2011 at 16:58

It's usually measured in fins per inches so pretty difficult for them to lie about it when we can just get a ruler out and measure it

You're pretty much limited to Hardware Labs at that width there is a light version of the stealth GT which has fewer fpi than the standard from memory.

If you can fit a 35mm then your optiosn open up there is more out there than xspc and ek. Swiftech have some fabulous low fpi fans, so do koolance (I have 3) anything less than about 20 fpi is good for low/med speed fans. So really look for any brand but make your decision on price, most of these things are within a couple of degrees of each other anyway.

macmodder · 20 Oct 2011 at 09:19

Heres a question: would two 120.1 thick rads (say the Hardware labs Xtreme GT) be as good as / better than one 120.3 thin rad (say the Stealth GT)?

If so I could have the front and back as intake with the rads (with the benefit of fresh air) and exhaust out the top.