Rubber or Plexi?

[phil128]

I'm looking to get a set of shrouds for my rad. Currently I only know that phobya do shrouds for 140mm fans, but they have a 7mm rubber one, and a 20mm plexi one.
Obviously I'd think that the 20mm plexi shroud would be better, but would the rubber 7mm one be as good as the 20mm plex?

Thanks

 

[koooowweeee]

not many people make them because what most people do is find the cheapest nastiest fans they can find and cut the insides out and use them. najes no odds what there made out of. the 20mm will be better tho

 

[JonJ678]

The rubber thing is more likely to be a gasket. The two things serve different purposes.

A gasket is to reduce airflow lost through the gaps around the shroud, or between the fan and radiator. Any air that is blow out sideways and not going through the radiator, or drawn in from outside bypassing the radiator, is unhelpful. There's various silicone based things for diy gaskets, I use pvc tape because there's always some lying around.

£6 for a shroud is probably a bit much, unless you particularly want it to be lit up somehow. Check the pricing carefully, if a new 140mm fan costs less than the shroud, consider buying that and ripping the middle out. Or buying a new, higher performance fan and gutting your current one.