Radiator thickness

Andrius · 10 Jun 2020 at 14:36

Hello guys,
I need advice from more expierenced people. I want to build first my custom loop. First about components which i will use in the build.
CPU 8700K will be OC G
2070 MSI armor 8G will be OC
Mainboard Msi z370 a-pro
PC case TT core p5,
Pump from Alphacool eisbecher d5 wih 250ml reservoir ( VP755)
Fans Fractal's HP/S 12.
I know that in this case i can mount only one radiator max 480mm size, but i found 3d printed top mounts for one more 480mm xflow radiator. I know it's overkill but i want tu run fans on almost minimal RPM. The question is which thickness radiator i schould use, 30 or 45? I was considering to buy it from alphacool. Thanks for advice.

Shac · 10 Jun 2020 at 15:23

Thicker dumps more heat which i think answers your question.

Chris Beard · 10 Jun 2020 at 15:40

If you're running fans at low RPMs I would go for a thinner radiator - but frankly with a square meter of radiator surface area I doubt it matters much!

ttaskmaster · 10 Jun 2020 at 17:12

Thicker dumps more heat IF your fans are up to the job...
If you go too thick (especially 60mm), your fans will only impact the top half of the rad and the lower half will result in an inefficient loop.

30mm is best if you can only have fans in Push or Pull.
45mm is an approximate middleground, but will start to show considerable benefits if you go to Push-Pull.
60mm is too thick for a single bank of fans, even in Pull and really needs a complete Push-Pull setup.

pugheaven · 13 Jun 2020 at 00:10

Well, I've literally just done my first watercooling rig, it's runnning in my sig... and CPU won't go above 59C now on OCCT full load after 15 minutes, loop is running 23.1C and the GPU t Junction max is now 76c and it used to be 104C... so that's running 2x240mm radiators... the radiators are 30mm thick mate with bottom one pulling off the rad and the top push... not sure if it helps, but there we go.

AnthonyA85 · 13 Jun 2020 at 00:23

Sorry to hijack this, but i do have a sort of related question as the OP,

I got a H100i AIO for my new system i'm building soon (Mobo should arrive tomorrow, then all i'll need is an internal usb hub which i'm also waiting for), and it's radiator thickness is 27mm, the case i'm putting it all in (mATX), according to the specs on the box it came in, has 23mm of clearance at the top. Now the fans are (i'm assuming, haven't measured them yet) 25mm thick, add that to the rad and that's 57mm. Will that cause any clearance issues with the ITX board i'm going to be fitting? I've seen videos of people fitting AIOs in the top of this particular case, so i'm assuming no, but i just want to be sure.

pc-guy · 13 Jun 2020 at 11:57

AnthonyA85 said:
Sorry to hijack this, but i do have a sort of related question as the OP,

I got a H100i AIO for my new system i'm building soon (Mobo should arrive tomorrow, then all i'll need is an internal usb hub which i'm also waiting for), and it's radiator thickness is 27mm, the case i'm putting it all in (mATX), according to the specs on the box it came in, has 23mm of clearance at the top. Now the fans are (i'm assuming, haven't measured them yet) 25mm thick, add that to the rad and that's 57mm. Will that cause any clearance issues with the ITX board i'm going to be fitting? I've seen videos of people fitting AIOs in the top of this particular case, so i'm assuming no, but i just want to be sure.

If your case supports 240 rad then it will fit. Most common AIO are 25mm so if the Corsair ones.
Itx boards are tiny already in an matx should have plenty space, what case is it?

AnthonyA85 · 13 Jun 2020 at 14:07

It’s the Gamemax Kamikaze Pro ARGB case, it’s about half the size of my current case (which has an intel system in it, I’ll be reusing the ram, gpu and psu)

pc-guy · 13 Jun 2020 at 23:05

AnthonyA85 said:
It’s the Gamemax Kamikaze Pro ARGB case, it’s about half the size of my current case (which has an intel system in it, I’ll be reusing the ram, gpu and psu)

Oh I see sorry misread your issue. You basically gonna put itx board in matx case so you get a bit more clearance thus hoping the AIO can go to the top of the case. Can you not find out what the difference in itx and matx boards are? And download the manual for the case see where the screw fixings are at for itx and matx then you know for sure.

If the screws are aligned to the top then you only got clearance for a fan as there is only 25mm in it.

If the screws are aligned at the bottom then you are in luck right.

LuckyBenski · 14 Jun 2020 at 02:09

pc-guy said:
Oh I see sorry misread your issue. You basically gonna put itx board in matx case so you get a bit more clearance thus hoping the AIO can go to the top of the case. Can you not find out what the difference in itx and matx boards are? And download the manual for the case see where the screw fixings are at for itx and matx then you know for sure.

If the screws are aligned to the top then you only got clearance for a fan as there is only 25mm in it.

If the screws are aligned at the bottom then you are in luck right.

They're always aligned at the top though right. Because the I/O shield is always in the same place, and relative to the expansion slots.

pc-guy · 14 Jun 2020 at 09:03

UnLuckyBenski said:
They're always aligned at the top though right. Because the I/O shield is always in the same place, and relative to the expansion slots.

Good point! Ya it’s not gonna be able to fit rad and fan if there is only 25mm.

alternative is to fit fan outside the case but that will look pretty ghastly

Chris Beard · 14 Jun 2020 at 09:19

pc-guy said:
Aternative is to fit fan outside the case but that will look pretty ghastly

I did this - was a real pain finding screws the right length!

LuckyBenski · 14 Jun 2020 at 16:07

pc-guy said:
Good point! Ya it’s not gonna be able to fit rad and fan if there is only 25mm.

alternative is to fit fan outside the case but that will look pretty ghastly

Chris Beard said:
I did this - was a real pain finding screws the right length!

Alternatively if you don't mind drilling some holes, do this (build isn't finished but it will have external rads here):

To be honest though I think watercooling builds start with the case and go from there. So have a think either you're set on the case, maybe don't mind a little modding, or would prefer to swap.

AnthonyA85 · 14 Jun 2020 at 17:07

The Gamemax pro ARGB case doesn't have a manual. Period. But, i did take a quick look inside it the other day, and i think i'll be ok mounting the rad in the top, i'll just have to double check. And it's not a custom water loop, it's an AIO.

pc-guy · 14 Jun 2020 at 17:18

UnLuckyBenski said:
Alternatively if you don't mind drilling some holes, do this (build isn't finished but it will have external rads here):

To be honest though I think watercooling builds start with the case and go from there. So have a think either you're set on the case, maybe don't mind a little modding, or would prefer to swap.

Love the mod!