standard push VS. slim push/pull on radiators

[Stahlmann]

Hey everyone,

 

What do you guys think will perform better on a Nemesis Black Ice GTS 360? (Rad optimized for sub-800RPM fans for silent cooling)

 

3x Noctua NF-A12x25 as push

or

6x NF-A12x15 Slim as push/pull

 

My main concern is which setup will output less noise when cooling the same amount of heat.

[For Science!]

17 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

Hey everyone,

 

What do you guys think will perform better on a Nemesis Black Ice GTS 360? (Rad optimized for sub-800RPM fans for silent cooling)

 

3x Noctua NF-A12x25 as push OR pull

or

6x NF-A12x15 Slim as push/pull

 

My main concern is which setup will output less noise when cooling the same amount of heat.

I upgraded my NF-A12x15 slim push/pull to a single NF-A12x25 and happy with the results. I didn't do A/B comparisons as a whole lot of other things changed as well, but I think the NF-A12x25 are superior to the slim variant.

[AnonymousGuy]

Thicker fans are way better at making pressure than thinner ones.

[bowrilla]

I linked you the long elaborate radiator test at xtremerigs (even though its old). Slim rads (especially the GTS series) do not benefit much from push/pull. However you will double the fans resulting in more sources of noise.

 

Since you want low noise, you'll be running fans at lower fan speeds. At 750rpm the difference between push and push/pull for the 360mm GTS radiators is ~14W/10KΔT. So push/pull gives you ~7% more cooling but you have double the noise sources. I sincerely doubt 7% lower rpm (if it was all linear which it isn't) can make up for having double the fans. On the Alphacool Monsta it's ~22%.

 

About the same results (checked on only a few examples) at mid rpm and even at full blast. What we can see however is that thicker rads scale better with revs. From 750rpm to 1850rpm you'd gain ~89% more performance, the Alphacool Monsta gains over 100% in performance.

 

Again, you aim for low noise first and best performance second. That means the less fans the better.

 

 

[MaratM]

I have both type of fans running on 2 gts rads. a12-25 are a lot better than their slim brothers) a12-25 are almost unaudible up to 1000rpm and can go up to 2000rpm. Even if the price of a12-25 is a bit high it is still cheapper than 2 slim noctua fans. 

[Czargasm]

I have that exact radiator with 3x p12 arctic fans (in push orientation) and I can't see it doing much better if I added 3x more. If I max out the speed (which should be roughly the same as adding more fans) on them they really don't add anymore cooling power over when they are set at a super quiet mid range RPM.

 

Great radiator. I think you will be pleased. Mine was a bit gunky though when I took it out of the box.

[Stahlmann]

3 hours ago, Czargasm said:

I have that exact radiator with 3x p12 arctic fans (in push orientation) and I can't see it doing much better if I added 3x more. If I max out the speed (which should be roughly the same as adding more fans) on them they really don't add anymore cooling power over when they are set at a super quiet mid range RPM.

 

Great radiator. I think you will be pleased. Mine was a bit gunky though when I took it out of the box.

I even asked the Noctua customer service for advice with this. They said that the single NF-A12x25 is better than even 2 NF-A12x15 fans in push/pull. I'm running the push only setup now and i'm very happy with the results.