Planning on watercooling my personal PC "The Storm": Radiator debate

[Marinatall_Ironside]

Hello

 

I am having a mental debate on whether I should go with a 40mm thick radiator or a 60mm thick radiator. I intend to run my fans at as low of an RPM as possible while maintaining maximum cooling performance and minimal noise output.

 

Here's what I have so far: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tTckkGo7nHFtyigPFebapZHr45juxWThQlPOTcUzNes/edit?usp=sharing

 

What am I missing. Do note as well I have watched a good amount of watercooling videos as well. My go-to is Singularity Computers.

Edited November 13, 2016 by JurunceNK

[atomicus]

If you want to run fans at as low an RPM as possible, you want a thin rad with high FPI. Check out xtremerigs.net... lots of reviews and group comparisons there so you can pick the best one for the task.

[Marinatall_Ironside]

12 minutes ago, atomicus said:

If you want to run fans at as low an RPM as possible, you want a thin rad with high FPI. Check out xtremerigs.net... lots of reviews and group comparisons there so you can pick the best one for the task.

From the review of the EK-CoolStream XE 360, the radiator performs around average with 750 RPM fans, while taking first place in both 1300 RPM and 1850 RPM, according to xtremerigs.net

 

I'm willing to top out at around 1300 RPM to 1400 RPM, as the Corsair ML120 fans I have are already damn quiet with low RPM speeds.

 

Plus, do you think my list looks pretty good, or did I miss something?

[atomicus]

There are certainly better rads for lower speeds than the EK, such as Hardware Labs. It does simply come down to what speed/noise levels you are happy with.

 

Everything on the list looks good to me.

[Marinatall_Ironside]

11 minutes ago, atomicus said:

There are certainly better rads for lower speeds than the EK, such as Hardware Labs. It does simply come down to what speed/noise levels you are happy with.

 

Everything on the list looks good to me.

Thanks. Another option I have too is the Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis L-Series Xtreme 480 radiator, which is slightly thinner.

Edited November 13, 2016 by JurunceNK

[Theo]

i got 2 black ice sr2's and i run them with rpm around 500-600 and the temps are pretty good.

[Marinatall_Ironside]

18 minutes ago, Theo said:

i got 2 black ice sr2's and i run them with rpm around 500-600 and the temps are pretty good.

Cool. Me here I also want some wiggle room too. I know my current (the Corsair 900D) can fit that type of radiator, but I still want some accessibility to plugs and connectors on my motherboard.

 

I also changed my list, so please refer to this one and make sure I'm not missing anything before I go and pull the trigger: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Q5R05NZ3CO-UNHcstbKpRu4SghxMbNY4Icjilca1qFE/edit?usp=sharing

[Mick Naughty]

Depends on where the rads in the case. I prefer thicker rads. Also lower fpi especially if the rad is in the front as intake and you want lower fan speed. Running at low speeds and high fpi would cause my case to heat up. 

[Marinatall_Ironside]

9 hours ago, Mick Naughty said:

Depends on where the rads in the case. I prefer thicker rads. Also lower fpi especially if the rad is in the front as intake and you want lower fan speed. Running at low speeds and high fpi would cause my case to heat up. 

I plan on sticking the 480mm radiator to the top of my 900D. The radiator I plan on settling with is the Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis L-Series Xtreme.

[Mick Naughty]

1 minute ago, JurunceNK said:

I plan on sticking the 480mm radiator to the top of my 900D. The radiator I plan on settling with is the Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis L-Series Xtreme.

15 fpi, id get anything. What ever is in your budget or matches the build. af fans for the intakes to ensure everything else is cooled and all that excess heat off the gpu block.

af or sp fans for the rad. Doubt even at their lowest speeds it will matter. Just depends on the overall hardware being cooled.

[Marinatall_Ironside]

6 minutes ago, Mick Naughty said:

15 fpi, id get anything. What ever is in your budget or matches the build. af fans for the intakes to ensure everything else is cooled and all that excess heat off the gpu block.

af or sp fans for the rad. Doubt even at their lowest speeds it will matter. Just depends on the overall hardware being cooled.

I already have the fan situation taken care of. I plan on using my Corsair ML120s that's on my AIO liquid cooler as my radiator fans. My current intake comprises of a pair of Corsair ML140s, which came from a twin pack (as well as my liquid cooler fans, which I got two).

 

I intend to cool my CPU, and run that system as quiet as possible so that way my temps are low as well when I do some 3D rendering on my system. I also know that a) my overclocks won't be that much more amazing, as I'm running my CPU at 4.5 GHz, which is close to instability, and b) the radiator of choice is complete overkill, but I get that benefit anyway and the rad I'm looking at is only USD $97.99 on Performance PCs, so why the hell not?

[Mick Naughty]

Unfortunately the loudest thing in my main rig is my psu underload my the pump in my other rig. I'm sure yours will be silent as long as you make the profile for it. 

[Marinatall_Ironside]

1 minute ago, Mick Naughty said:

Unfortunately the loudest thing in my main rig is my psu underload my the pump in my other rig. I'm sure yours will be silent as long as you make the profile for it. 

Yeah. The pump I'm getting is PWM, so once I get everything assembled, I'll create the profile and tune it to my heart and ear's content