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Should I add an extra Radiator?

TheRandinator211
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Hey gents,

 

I'm planning out a custom loop. As of right now I'm thinking of going with two Alphacool rads. One dual 140mm and one triple 120mm. I have enough space to put in another dual 140mm and I wanted to get some opinions on whether or not I should fit in the third one or save the space? And if any one has immediate experience with going from 2 to 3 rads, did you notice a significant temp change to warrant the extra cost of the 3rd rad with fans?

 

Thanks in advanced guys!

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Hey gents,

 

I'm planning out a custom loop. As of right now I'm thinking of going with two Alphacool rads. One dual 140mm and one triple 120mm. I have enough space to put in another dual 140mm and I wanted to get some opinions on whether or not I should fit in the third one or save the space? And if any one has immediate experience with going from 2 to 3 rads, did you notice a significant temp change to warrant the extra cost of the 3rd rad with fans?

 

Thanks in advanced guys!

 

i would do it if it improves the looks of your system! :P It also depends on what hardware you are using...

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R5 5600X - Cryorig C7 - Asus ROG B350-i - EVGA RTX2060KO - 16gb G.Skill Ripjaws V 3333mhz - Corsair SF450 - 500gb 960 EVO - LianLi TU100B


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R9 3900X - Peerless Assassin 120 SE - Asus Prime X570 Pro - Powercolor 7900XT - 32gb LPX 3200mhz - Corsair SF750 Platinum - 1TB WD SN850X - CoolerMaster NR200 White - Gigabyte M27Q-SA - Corsair K70 Rapidfire - Logitech MX518 Legendary - HyperXCloud Alpha wireless


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Oh man, I should have specified the components, lol.

I'll be cooling a 4770K OC'd @ 4.5Ghz, and 2 x MSI N770 Lightings in SLI running at MSI OC'd speeds. I may slightly OC the video cards more, but I haven't decided on that yet.

I'll be using Corsair SP120 fans on the triple 120mm. I may reduce the dual 140 to a dual 120 so that I can use the SP120s for consistency and to maintain the aesthetics.

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Yea, I decided to stick to the 120mm all around. But I'm still not sure whether or not I should add the 3rd one.....

If you add another fan you will be able to have a quieter system at idle and you will be able to reach higher overclocks or simply have a quieter system at the same overclocks because the fans can be turned down to achieve the same temp.

 

It depends if that "quietness" factor is worth the price to you.

Feel free to PM for any water-cooling questions. Check out my profile for more ways to contact me.

 

Add me to your circles on Google+ here or you can follow me on twitter @deadfire19.

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Well in my current set up I have a single 120mm dual rad running 4 SP120s in push/pull, 2 AF120s, and 2 200mm regular OEM case fans all running at 100% and the sound doesn't bother me. So I think I'll just stick to the 2 rad set up instead of adding the extra rad.

Thanks for the help guys! Once I have everything ready to go and to start purchasing and modding, I want to do a build log, it'll be my first one. 

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Like ghost said, quiet operation. Worth it in my opinion. If u have the money do it.

This is my Lightsaber.          {[=]////]"[¬'/\Y/#####################################
This is my other Lightsaber. (T!!!!!!!T=:"|[\#####################################  #killedmywife 

 

 

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FluffyNuggets, on 26 Jun 2013 - 12:45 AM, said:

Why can't you mix rad sizes? Is it purely for aesthetics?

You can, but, if you want to use a Corsair SP fan for example then there is no 140mm equivalent.

Personally I think it doesn't matters anyway as the fan is under the rad which means you can't see it. I can't think of any other reason not to use different size rads, and even that isn't really a reason not to use them.

Feel free to PM for any water-cooling questions. Check out my profile for more ways to contact me.

 

Add me to your circles on Google+ here or you can follow me on twitter @deadfire19.

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You can, but, if you want to use a Corsair SP fan for example then there is no 140mm equivalent.

Personally I think it doesn't matters anyway as the fan is under the rad which means you can't see it. I can't think of any other reason not to use different size rads, and even that isn't really a reason not to use them.

That's what I was thinking. I'd love if Corsair came out with SP140 fans but it's not a big deal for me. 

 

If I had to do it all over again I would have bought a 120.3 radiator instead of a 140.3 only because the fan choices for 140mm sucks. 

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That's what I was thinking. I'd love if Corsair came out with SP140 fans but it's not a big deal for me. 

 

If I had to do it all over again I would have bought a 120.3 radiator instead of a 140.3 only because the fan choices for 140mm sucks. 

 

yes, the 140 fan market blows bubbles, not air flow.. there are a limited number of

140 fans to choose from and aesthetics isn't one of them. yeah a yellow or white blade

assembly, woot - woot but fan chassis styling is way behind the 120 market for sure.

 

one thing i learned doing my arc midi build was the front 140 rad fans were great, but

absolute PITA to match or small step + to distro with 120 fans. match flow, noise and

harmonics were a genuine PITA. get the noise down and the case got too hot or

negative case pressure occurred. you can easily cheat with 120 as (you pretty much

using the same fan) you either use the rear i/o for intake or exhaust or eliminate it.

 

airdeano

 

airdeano

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yes, the 140 fan market blows bubbles, not air flow.. there are a limited number of

140 fans to choose from and aesthetics isn't one of them. yeah a yellow or white blade

assembly, woot - woot but fan chassis styling is way behind the 120 market for sure.

 

one thing i learned doing my arc midi build was the front 140 rad fans were great, but

absolute PITA to match or small step + to distro with 120 fans. match flow, noise and

harmonics were a genuine PITA. get the noise down and the case got too hot or

negative case pressure occurred. you can easily cheat with 120 as (you pretty much

using the same fan) you either use the rear i/o for intake or exhaust or eliminate it.

 

airdeano

 

airdeano

Yep, I'm having the same issue now trying to find different fans. Luckily the Cougar Vortex fans look the same for 120 and 140. The only thing is they emit a buzzing sound if you undervolt them which is annoying as hell. Might have to buy some ugly Noctuas if some decent 140's don't come out soon. 

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