Radiator in or out?

maloflora

maloflora

maloflora

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Joined
19 Aug 2007
Posts
68
Hi all,

I'm about to embark on my first water-cooling project using the Swiftech H20-220 Ultra Plus kit. I'm unsure whether it's better to mount the radiator inside or outside the case. I won't be moving the PC anywhere so that's not a problem.

Presumably outside provides better cooling? But might be more noisy?

If I go for outside I'll probably go for a Lian Li PC A16B case. If people recommend inside, I'd be very grateful for recommendations for a case that can take a 120.2 radiator inside without modding.

Thanks very much for all your help!
 
There are very few cases that will take a radiator inside without modification. Even with the Lian Li A16B - the pre-cut tubing holes on the back only line up with one type of radiator (Black Ice) without modification. It is possible to use the Lian Li mounting brackets to put a thin 120.2 radiator in behind 7 of the 9 slots in the front of an A16, but then you've only got space for one HDD (with 5.25" adaptor) and one optical drive. The Lian Li PC343 will take a 120.2 in the roof (the roof plate is an optional extra) or a 120.3 in the RHS bay column. The only downside the the cost - you're looking at almost £300 for the case and radiator.

There are plenty of places that will sell you a case with pre-cut holes in the roof for any fan you like, fillports etc. Have a look in the water-cooled case gallery as there are plenty of ideas there. Then I usually e-mail the photo to my modder (Like this please) and he buys a case in from OcUK and cuts it for me. The going rate seems to be about £12 per 120mm blowhole so I was charged £25 to mod the case for a PA120.2 or £35 to cut it for a PA120.3. Good bases to start from in my experience are Akasa Eclipse or Lian Li V1200+ (PA120.2) or Lian Li G70 or Lian Li S80 for PA120.3 radiators.
 
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Rads on the outside of the case, ie in thier own rad box are going to be better as there is no extra case heat effecting air flow to the rad and or other components.

Swiftech rad box's offer easy installation but IMO they look naff.

I went for a rad at the front of my case, but now I need an extra case fan as system temperatures have skyrocketed.
 
From a functional point of view it's always better to have the radiator outside the PC, but from an aesthetic point of view inside is sooooo much better.

Have you looked at proper external solutions like the Cape-Cora 10, the Preytek Serenity, Zalman Reserator II etc? They are generally pretty decent if you don't need extreme cooling solutions and even if you you can get 2 Preytek Serenity units for the same price as a Zalman Reserator II and they'll work better either in series or parallel.
 
Mounting the rad on the back of the case will make little difference from mounting inside as it has the heat exiting from the pc to contend with (PSU/exhuast fans) and is usually the hottest place outside of the pc.
 
Mine is mounted outside of the case, on the rear. Its great as it means i need no case fans (except 1 inlet at the front) and I think it looks kinda cool on the back.
 
Thanks very much for all the comments. I've found somewhere where I can get a Lian Li V2000 with a Thermochill 120.3 preinstalled inside. That presumably would be enough to cool a E6750 and a 8800GTS?
 
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