Stacking radiators

Soldato
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Anyone ever stacked rads and if so did it work ok?

By this I mean one rad on top of another with a fan in between, and probably a fan on one side too.

I want to add another rad to my loop and I think it's the only place that I can fit one in my case.

Thanks
 
I've got two 120mm radiators stacked with a fan between at present, just trying to find a photo of it. I know there's one on these boards somewhere.

Two photos from this thread
2q8zksj.jpg

2cyjevs.jpg



The performance is fairly similar to a 240 radiator, though probably a bit worse. Hard to judge in my case as the stacked one has shrouds either side and the 240 has no shrouds. I've got a 38mm fan waiting to be installed which I think will work very well with these two. However I'd be reluctant to try this with 30mm thick radiators as the high fin density would require very high pressure fans.
 
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Brilliant info, thanks Jon. Have you just got one fan in the middle with a spacer either side of it?

I'm glad you touched on the fin density as that was going to be my next question. The rad that I have already is a TFCxchanger the same as the one you have there. I was wondering if there is a 25-30mm rad that has low density fins? I seem to remember a Swiftech one I used to have was like that.

I'll probably only have room for a rad, no spacers or anything. Should still be better than one rad, which is the important thing.

Edit; thinking of the XSPC RS120. Looks in the pictures like the fins aren't too dense.
 
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The RX120 is much better is you have room for the extra width (designed for lower airflow).
Can you use a PA160? (great rads)

Nice rads JonJ - good use of shrouds

Edit: MagiCool SLIM SINGLE 140 MC Radiator - might be worth a look - low profile / low airflow design (or so they say)
 
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The RX120 is much better is you have room for the extra width (designed for lower airflow).

Possibly but I'd have to check. I suppose I'd get another TFCxchanger though if I was to put a double depth one in.

Can you use a PA160? (great rads)

Definitely not. Way too big!

Edit: MagiCool SLIM SINGLE 140 MC Radiator - might be worth a look - low profile / low airflow design (or so they say)

Pretty sure that would be too big. Worth a check though me thinks.

Thanks for the suggestions. Any recommendations on a fan? I've got a noctua on the TFC at the mo but I doubt that would be much use sandwiched between two rads. I like the sound of a 38mm deep one, has to be quiet though.
 
I have an RS240 here, and the fins are quite dense when compared to thicker rads like the Thermochill PA series, or XSPC RX rads..

OK, thanks. I'll have see if I can get a thicker rad in then and it'll mean that I'll almost certainly have to stick with a standard depth fan.

It's always going to be a compromise with my case but I'm sure that adding any rad will be an improvement.
 
I use two PA120.3 "stacked" vertically in the front of my case to cool my dual 4870X2.

I found the best setup was to have the following:

|InsideCase| -> |Fan|RAD2|Fan|Fan|RAD1|Fan| -> Outside Case

Prior to this I had 1 of the Rads in the roof (now have my CPU/NB/MB Rad there) and the stacked RAD's are around 1-2c better at idle and 3-4c better at load. I suspect this is mainly due to going from 2 Rads with 6 fans to 2 rads with 12 Fans tho :)
Loop is:

PUMP|4870X2|4870X2|RAD1|RAD2|RES|
 
You DO like your fans, don't you Pneumonic :D

Not sure a noctua is the best fan for a rad (especially stacked)
gentle typhoon's seam to be rated very highly (but fans aren't really my thing - don't have any on my PA120.3 ;))
 
You DO like your fans, don't you Pneumonic :D

Not sure a noctua is the best fan for a rad (especially stacked)
gentle typhoon's seam to be rated very highly (but fans aren't really my thing - don't have any on my PA120.3 ;))

I do but... I am only using Enermax UCCL12's (the white LED ones!) and to be fair unless gaming the rig runs with all the fans off?! apart from 1 rear intake (crazy for me I know!)
 
Have you just got one fan in the middle with a spacer either side of it?

That's a 1600rpm scythe s-flex with a hollowed out fans either side. It'll be replaced by a 38mm san ace next time the loop is drained, which won't be very quiet at 12V but should spin fine at 3V.

I'm glad you approve SS. It has a couple of nice features which I'm sufficiently pleased with to describe. Normally airflow is lost out to the sides when the fan tries to push air into a resistance, in this case it's sealed on both sides and the edges (electrical tape, making gaskets proved too awkward) so no airflow is lost. Shrouds partially remove the dead spot behind the hub and allow enough space to use normal compressions to fit the thing together. Second it has something like a kilogram of mass hardmounted either side, so vibrations are damped excellently. With the san ace thoroughly undervolted I hope this will be inaudible.

@Pneumonic that's an excellent approach. Is there too little space for shrouds?

@OP What sort of space do you have to work with, and how much do you care about noise?
 
Sound like for non-gaming use we have a simular system then Pneumonic :)
Are you sure it's just one fan - psu? CPU? or is there another loop in that case of your ;)
But back on topic.

wolvers is this to fit in that very nice silverstone of yours?

Edit linky for JonJ of wolvers excelent build log
 
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@OP What sort of space do you have to work with, and how much do you care about noise?

I reckon I've got about 50mm between the fan and where the hoses come out of the cpu block. I need to measure up properly at the weekend though and I'll post some pics with dimensions on.

Noise is very important as it's an HTPC so must be fairly quiet. I'm not looking for the levels of silence that SS goes for though!

I can't help but think that having a fan sandwiched between two rads will smother some of the noise from it meaning that I could run a slightly faster one, like 1200-1400rpm, and it still be pretty quiet.

wolvers is this to fit in that very nice silverstone of yours?

Yep. :)
 
Sound like for non-gaming use we have a simular system then Pneumonic :)
Are you sure it's just one fan - psu? CPU? or is there another loop in that case of your ;)
But back on topic.

wolvers is this to fit in that very nice silverstone of yours?

Edit linky for JonJ of wolvers excelent build log

I have two loops, the Graphics one above and then a separate PA120.3 which does CPU/NB/SB (CPU is a BE955 so not the hottest of CPU).

All the fans are motherboard speed fan controlled so even the rear intake runs at 500 - 600RPM normally.. PSU is a 1000 Watt Coolmaster silent pro.. is a very quite PSU, fan doesn't spin as far as I can tell on low draw only tends to spin up once the 4870X2's are pulling some power..
 
Ahh it's that one. Brilliant build, have read through it carefully before.

You might be pleasantly surprised by the space available, I could fit a 25mm fan and a 60mm radiator inside my case in that position, and just barely clear the ek supreme mounting bolts. It's a bigger case but socket location is relatively fixed so I think you'll be alright. Obviously you'll need the second radiator turned 180 degrees relative to the first so the tubing clears (very nicely done on the holes btw, quite tempted to move my sandwich to span the motherboard tray exhaust in similar fashion).

Can't say a Noctua would have been my choice either but they seem to be much loved. Probably not worth swapping it out.

A bit confused by the case. Are there holes at the front that I'm missing? It looks like the intake is the square holes over the pci slots in which case I can't see why the hard drives aren't cooking. If there is front vents, then you may find putting a piece of tape over the holes in the back panel improve temperatures, it'll force more of the air out through the radiator.

I'm looking closely for a way to fit a radiator over the psu, but it doesn't look practical and when I suggested this a while back it was considered a daft idea. I did want to mount it over the exhaust rather than over the intake of the psu though.
 
If it's like my old CW01 then there are air vents in the bottom of the case - but I did need to watercool my raptor at the time - was at 60ish on passive air! (F@H has lots of read/writes) was 32c in my Res2 single loop (cpu/nb/gpu/hhd)

Have you thought about an external passive rad?
Or even something like the sides of a mCubed case (lot's of work I know)
 
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Ahh it's that one. Brilliant build, have read through it carefully before.

Very kind of you, thanks. I'll be updating the thread soon as I've got a new mobo (trying to get 4ghz from my Q9550!), Intel SSD, Win7 and hopefully the cooling improvements (which will also include a full cover EK block for my 5850).

You might be pleasantly surprised by the space available, I could fit a 25mm fan and a 60mm radiator inside my case in that position, and just barely clear the ek supreme mounting bolts. It's a bigger case but socket location is relatively fixed so I think you'll be alright.

Sounds promising then. I'd certainly like a 55-60mm deep rad. :)

Can't say a Noctua would have been my choice either but they seem to be much loved. Probably not worth swapping it out.

I think I had it left over from a previous build so I'm happy to get a 1450rpm gentle typhoon to try out.

A bit confused by the case. Are there holes at the front that I'm missing? It looks like the intake is the square holes over the pci slots in which case I can't see why the hard drives aren't cooking. If there is front vents, then you may find putting a piece of tape over the holes in the back panel improve temperatures, it'll force more of the air out through the radiator.

Yeah, there's a 92mm fan on each side at the front under the HDD cages. The left hand one has no HDDs but a 92mm rad instead.

That's a good idea to block that vent at the back, it should stop the exhausted airflow from returning back into the case. I can't believe I never spotted that. Sometimes it's hard to though when it's right under your nose!! That's why I like to take the time to do a build thread here so that I can get other peep's input.

I'm looking closely for a way to fit a radiator over the psu, but it doesn't look practical and when I suggested this a while back it was considered a daft idea. I did want to mount it over the exhaust rather than over the intake of the psu though.

I like that idea, it would reduce the need for another fan for the rad. You'd have to put it on the intake side though IMO or the air going through the rad would be much warmer when the psu is fully loaded.

Have you thought about an external passive rad?

I had an external/remote rad briefly with my previous build but it doesn't really fit in well with my AV rack. That's why I got the new case, so that I could keep all of the kit integral with the case.

It did work really well though as you're guaranteed ambient temp air going through the rad. A friend on another forum has a PA120.3 and a reserator XT, remotely from his watercooled HTPC and it cools a 4ghz i7 and 4870X2 very nicely indeed.
 
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Well I've ordered an RX120 as the xchanger is 75mm deep, which I think is pushing it, and I trust JonJ's instinct that a 60mm deep rad will fit OK! :p
 
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