Rad advice

Soldato
Joined
29 May 2012
Posts
3,395
Location
Dorset
Hi guys slowly getting together a few bits but im after some rad advice.

Im going to be cooling my 2 670s and my 3770k in a switch 810, so loads of room, ive already filled it with 140 nzxt fans. My question is rad size thickness im looking at a 420 in the roof and a 280 up front and can fit anything up to a full sized 80mm thick rad, obviously i want to be as cool as possible.

which would you go for?

The monstas 80mm of goodnes
Ek XTC 420 60mm
Hardware labs gt xtream / stealth
XSPC EX420

Is the simple rule bigger the better?
 
An 80mm in the roof might clash with the motherboard, it's certainly a tight fit if you have big heatsinks on the mosfet area.
 
Im pretty sure the sabertooth leaves enough clearance available for 80mm rads, is that the way forward then the bigger the better?
 
the bigger the better generally for cooling performance, but tbh do a little research in terms of which radiator will perform best for the fan speed you are looking for. That way you get what best suits your needs :)
 
You need to think about fin density as well on the thicker rads as some need high static pressure fans running fast to get the air flow which can get noisy.
 
Oh, so would an xtc 420/280 combo be better then than the full 80mm rads? the fans im using are rated at

Air Pressure: 0.56-2.2 mm-H2O
Air Flow: 49.1-98.3 CFM

and i do run them off a recon fan controller at the lowest speeds based on temp probs which ill be attaching directly to the rads. Im not denying the 60mm rads will be cheaper and easier to fit but what im asking really is will there be a noticeable temp difference?

the xtcs are 10fpi cant find anything on the alphacool site listing the fpi of theirs
 
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Well ive narrowed it down to either the monsta or the ek. Any thoughts on either of these 2 rads?
 
with a fan speed of 800-1200rpm the monsta's will be around 10-15% cooler (water over ambient), which translates in to about 1-2C of temp difference

so it depends if you think an extra £30 is worth it for 1-2C difference

I personally would probably go for the EK's as they'll be easier to fit and save you £50-60

(well actually I'd go for a phobya 1080 but that's a whole different discussion)
 
if its only going to be 1 or 2 degrees different then yeah its not worth the extra cost when im already a touch overkill on radage anyway and anything is going to be better than the stock cooling ive currently got.
 
I have no specific love of the alphacool stuff, infact id rather order ek stuff as i can get it here im already having to go elsewhere for the blocks as i want the heatkillers which ocuk dont stock, although i do have an outstanding product request regarding them.
 
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