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Best fans for pull

arielfall
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Go to solution Solved by CowsGoRoar,

@arielfall Yes, SP for push and AF for pull is surprisingly more effective than just SP for push/pull. However, for single fan configurations, whether push or pull, use SP.

 

Here's a video of Linus talking about it: 

Posted

So I was thinking if I have static pressure fans in push why use SP fans for pull? They aren't fighting against a radiator so wouldn't airflow optimized fans give you better performance?

 

The Push fans wouldn't have to go through the restriction of the flatter blade design of an SP fan?!

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So I was thinking if I have static pressure fans in push why use SP fans for pull? They aren't fighting against a radiator so wouldn't airflow optimized fans give you better performance?

 

The Push fans wouldn't have to go through the restriction of the flatter blade design of an SP fan?!

I (and Linus) generally advise against push-pull unless it's in a situation where you don't have the SP in the first place to do either one with just one set of fans. I recommend the Cougar Vortex honestly due to being cheap and having a HUGE 300,000 hour MTBF.

Software Engineer for Suncorp (Australia), Computer Tech Enthusiast, Miami University Graduate, Nerd

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I am confused, do you want 2 different fans on the radiator? because that is a bad idea

 

 

I (and Linus) generally advise against push-pull unless it's in a situation where you don't have the SP in the first place to do either one with just one set of fans. I recommend the Cougar Vortex honestly due to being cheap and having a HUGE 300,000 hour MTBF.

I want to use two SP fans for push and two AF fans for pull.

 

My question is, wouldn't an AF fan be better in a pull scenario?

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I am confused, do you want 2 different fans on the radiator? because that is a bad idea

I agree. One fan might pull a lot of air, while the other one can't pull more than a few CFMs.

 

I want to use two SP fans for push and two AF fans for pull.

 

My question is, wouldn't an AF fan be better in a pull scenario?

Not exactly. SP are suited for pressure, like dense radiators with high fins per inch. AF fans can't really pull through dense radiators.

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I agree. One fan might pull a lot of air, while the other one can't pull more than a few CFMs.

 

Not exactly. SP are suited for pressure, like dense radiators with high fins per inch. AF fans can't really pull through dense radiators.

but what OP is saying is that the AF fans wont have to really pull through the radiator since the push fans which are SP will have already done the heavy work of getting the air through the radiator.

 

i am gonna say this is theoretically correct. but could be wrong. fans arent that super expensive so maybe pick them up and do a test and report back your findings.

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I agree. One fan might pull a lot of air, while the other one can't pull more than a few CFMs.

 

Not exactly. SP are suited for pressure, like dense radiators with high fins per inch. AF fans can't really pull through dense radiators.

 

 

Why aren't AF fans good for pulling air through? Isn't that what they are made for? The flatter blades of an SP fan I think would be a larger restriction for the push fan which is also SP to go through. The AF fan if it was in pull shouldn't make it any worse considering the air coming through the radiator already is at some velocity.

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That is not how fluid dynamics works.

The fans on one side of the radiator are working just as hard as the fans on the other side. The force necessary to move air through the radiator is balanced between the fans on either side. If you use SP fans on one side and AF on the other, you will get less performance than using SP on both sides because the pressure of the AF fan is less than that of the SP. Pulling air through a radiator needs the same force as pushing air through it.

 

Think of SP fans as having 2 units pressure, and AF fans having 1unit pressure.

If you have SP on both sides you get a total of 4 units. If you use SP on one side and AF on the other, you get a total of 3 units. If you use AF on both sides you get a total of 2 units.

 

The reason why you should not use AF fans on a radiator is because the fan needs to run at a higher RPM to get enough static pressure to move air through the radiator, which in turn causes lots of noise.

On the other hand, SP fans can run at a low RPM while still having enough pressure to move the air.

 

So simply put, SP fans on both sides will be quieter and perform better.

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Why aren't AF fans good for pulling air through? Isn't that what they are made for? The flatter blades of an SP fan I think would be a larger restriction for the push fan which is also SP to go through. The AF fan if it was in pull shouldn't make it any worse considering the air coming through the radiator already is at some velocity.

AF fans pull the air. They may pull a lot of air, but it's really no good if it doesn't have high static pressure. SP fans have stronger motors, so they can pull more air through densely packed radiators.

"If it has tits or tires, at some point you will have problems with it." -@vinyldash303

this is probably the only place i'll hang out anymore: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/274320-the-long-awaited-car-thread/

 

Current Rig: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600, Abit IN9-32MAX nForce 680i board, Galaxy GT610 1GB DDR3 gpu, Cooler Master Mystique 632S Full ATX case, 1 2TB Seagate Barracuda SATA and 1x200gb Maxtor SATA drives, 1 LG SATA DVD drive, Windows 10. All currently runs like shit :D 

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Why aren't AF fans good for pulling air through? Isn't that what they are made for? The flatter blades of an SP fan I think would be a larger restriction for the push fan which is also SP to go through. The AF fan if it was in pull shouldn't make it any worse considering the air coming through the radiator already is at some velocity.

Generally you're right about putting AF fans in pull to ACCENTUATE a weak push scenario, and these people are crazy. You won't break either set of fans by having AF doing a pull. If anything that just lessens how much the SP fans have to push. The one claiming knowledge of fluid dynamics assumes the AF fan will be a point of resistance, which is laughable.

 

For just trying to run Pull you'd still use SP fans. I use an SP fan to pull air into my case through a filter, for instance.

Software Engineer for Suncorp (Australia), Computer Tech Enthusiast, Miami University Graduate, Nerd

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So according to Linus the most effective layout was in fact SP fans for push and AF fans for pull.

 

I already have SP fans in push I was just wondering if I should get another set of SPs for pull or get AFs and it seems like AFs are better for pull when you already have SPs in push.

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