Thin Rad + Push / Pull vs Thick Rad Single Fan

ChrisLoudon · December 22, 2023

Hi guys,

Pretty simple question but what is likely to perform better between a thin rad with fans in push / pull or a thicker rad with a single bank of fans.

Build is gonna be in an o11 D XL EVO with EKs Quantum Surface Rads and Lian-Li Uni 120 fans.

I have a choice between a 360S with 6 fans for both the top and bottom or go for the thick boy 360X with 3 fans.

Cheers

C

emosun · December 22, 2023

45 minutes ago, ChrisLoudon said:

what is likely to perform better between a thin rad with fans in push / pull or a thicker rad with a single bank of fans

it would depend on the air temperature , and fan speed

lot of people aren't aware that sometimes water cooling isn't even any better than air cooling if the air temps are poor. basically an air cooler that has cold air works better than a water cooler using hot air.

also if you have the fan speed set too low becuase the machine is directly next to the actual station the person sits at and they want less noise , then it'll run hotter as well.

Do you plan on running the machine with decent fans speeds in a climate controled room?

ChrisLoudon · December 22, 2023

6 minutes ago, emosun said:

Do you plan on running the machine with decent fans speeds in a climate controled room?

Thanks for the reply.

This is my bedroom PC so chances are a warm room when it comes to ambient temp (21C). 4090 + 13600 OC'd.

Acoustics aren't of huge importance as I don't have it on when I'm using it but my girlfriend might be in bed reading whilst I'm gaming with my headphones on so not wanting it to sound like a damn hairdryer.

C

emosun · December 22, 2023

2 minutes ago, ChrisLoudon said:

Thanks for the reply.

This is my bedroom PC so chances are a warm room when it comes to ambient temp (21C). 4090 + 13600 OC'd.

Acoustics aren't of huge importance as I don't have it on when I'm using it but my girlfriend might be in bed reading whilst I'm gaming with my headphones on so not wanting it to sound like a damn hairdryer.

C

then in that case just run less fans at a higher speed. if the fans are at a decent speed then you don't need a push pull config.

ChrisLoudon · December 22, 2023

35 minutes ago, emosun said:

then in that case just run less fans at a higher speed. if the fans are at a decent speed then you don't need a push pull config.

Cheers!

alyen · December 22, 2023

I personally think thinner rad with higher fin density is better than a thicker rad with fewer fin density for cooling performance, but could be noisy. Maybe its the other around for something more quiet, but would require more radiators if you were trying for something more towards silence.

thrasher_565 · December 23, 2023

hard to say thin can be good with 25mm+ fans a mid size say 45mm rad meh not much but a 60mm rad can also be good. but advoid thin fans when posable like 15mm fans... i would do a thiner rad with 25mm fans in that case.

some thicker rads then 65mm+ might need better fans and posably push pull but doing push pull on thinner rads is a wast of money. maybe if there cheap fans then w/e.

cheaper fans work better on thinner rads too.

buying 2 thinner rads vs one thicker rad is also better if you have space form em.

ChrisLoudon · December 23, 2023

5 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

hard to say thin can be good with 25mm+ fans a mid size say 45mm rad meh not much but a 60mm rad can also be good. but advoid thin fans when posable like 15mm fans... i would do a thiner rad with 25mm fans in that case.

Thanks for the info.

Doing a bit of a weird dual loop build in an O11 D EVO XL.

Got a Quantum Surface S240 on the rear of the case. Kinda push / pull but only single Uni Fan SL-INF holding it to the case but 2 of them on the inside surface.

With the Mobo tray dead centre, in the bottom I can get a EK QS S360 with 6 x Uni Fan SL-INF in push / pull or an EK QS X360M with 3 of them just pulling. I'm not sure about the top of the case yet as I'm still waiting for the upright GPU bracket kit to arrive and I don't know how it mounts to the case and what options are available. It all depends on how much of the GPU is gonna be obscured by a rad at the top.