Posted September 6, 2013 Hi, I made my first water cooling rig this year to cool my CPU using a dual 120mm radiator with a push/pull configuration for the fans. I'm thinking of extending to 2 quad radiators to cool my video cards and CPU and I've been asking myself the question if it was at all necessary to go for a push/pull configuration for that particular configuration? How many degrees less would I got? I've seen discussions on the web where people say that a pull configuration only was sufficient and others say that push/pull is the best but with no actual data to back that up. A push/pull configuration isn't cheap and needs some special hardware (fan controllers) to support all that good stuff.. So I was wondering if anyone did the test and is it that in a PULL configuration it would be enough to cool everything down? I would appreciate your comments and experience on this matter.. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 6, 2013 push pull typically adds 30% to radiator performance. Less on rads with low FPI. I would stick with a single layer of fans, it's not worth the extra cost of £120 just to gain a small amount of performance. 8 rad slots is a massive amount and is definitely all you will be needing for any two single GPU plus a CPU. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 6, 2013 It depends on your rads to be honest. The amount of overall fin space, the fans that you get, and overall airflow of your case will effect it. As long as you have more air coming in than going out, you should be fine, but as always, the more fans to dissipate the heat, the better. you could probably reduce the temp of your loop by 1-10 deg cel, depending on those factors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 6, 2013 Linus did an episode on this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyC3lZ5WFMk hope this helps!! ~james Check out my current projects: Selling site (Click Here) If($reply == "for me to see"){ $action = "Quote me!"; }else{ $action = "Leave me alone!"; } Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 6, 2013 Author Thanks for the replies... My rads will be the slim XSPC 480 mm radiator : http://www.dazmode.com/store/product/slim_high_density_quad_120mm_radiator_xspc_ex480/ which uses copper tubing. I want to get 2 of those, one if the bottom of my case and another at the top. My case is a Corsair 900D so sufficient space. I don't know if any of you are familiar with these rads, it has multiple fins and the DUAL 120mm I have right now has been working great but I haven't really done the test personally of removing one layer of fans, which I should probably try. The equipment I am cooling is this : - AMD FX-8350 octal core - Eventually a GTX 770 from nvidia. I am thinking of adding a second GTX 770 in the future but not sure about it... In the event that I do, probably a second layer of fans for the bottom radiator would be good... So typically just a 30% more or less with a second layer, still that sounds like a significant gain to me? As per some of your experiences, would a PULL or PUSH configuration be better for a single layer of fans? Thanks for the link James, I'll be sure to check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 6, 2013 "Is Push /Pull necessary?" "I would Make the argument NO!" "Get a proper fan." "Run in pull!" "Within margin of error......It pretty much performs the same" ~ Linus Sebastian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 6, 2013 Author Thanks for the input draindoc. The fan I am thinking of using would run between 1800 to 2000 RPM max. Is that sufficient for a pull config? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 6, 2013 Are the fans you are using, "Pressure Optimized Fans?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 6, 2013 Author I was thinking of using Thermaltake's AF0032 : http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/products-model_Specification.aspx?id=C_00001472 Pressure for these are 2.41 MM-H20 Or cooler master's R4-L2R-20AC-GP with a pressure of 3.04 .. But based on personal experience these fans rattle a lot so I'm trying to avoid them even though they have a higher air pressure. Is the thermaltake AF0032 good enough? Otherwise what other choices would recommend or additional choices of fans? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 6, 2013 go with gentle typhoons or noctuas. hard to go wrong with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 7, 2013 Thanks for the replies... My rads will be the slim XSPC 480 mm radiator : http://www.dazmode.com/store/product/slim_high_density_quad_120mm_radiator_xspc_ex480/ which uses copper tubing. I want to get 2 of those, one if the bottom of my case and another at the top. My case is a Corsair 900D so sufficient space. I don't know if any of you are familiar with these rads, it has multiple fins and the DUAL 120mm I have right now has been working great but I haven't really done the test personally of removing one layer of fans, which I should probably try. The equipment I am cooling is this : - AMD FX-8350 octal core - Eventually a GTX 770 from nvidia. I am thinking of adding a second GTX 770 in the future but not sure about it... In the event that I do, probably a second layer of fans for the bottom radiator would be good... So typically just a 30% more or less with a second layer, still that sounds like a significant gain to me? As per some of your experiences, would a PULL or PUSH configuration be better for a single layer of fans? Thanks for the link James, I'll be sure to check it out. first off, welcome to the LinusTechTips forum, i am puzzled about the radiator choice for the case optioned for. 900D and 35mm thick radiators. availability or what, but the RX480 would be a better choice with a lower fin per inch (lower fan speed/quieter build) extra capacity of thermal control, and "fills" the 5-acre space inside the 900D. a single set of 800-1200rpm fans will be sufficient to keep it cool 'n' quiet (see what i did there used an AMD pun there?) with one GPU or two with 2x 480 radiators. airdeano Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 7, 2013 I was thinking of using Thermaltake's AF0032 : http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/products-model_Specification.aspx?id=C_00001472 Pressure for these are 2.41 MM-H20 Or cooler master's R4-L2R-20AC-GP with a pressure of 3.04 .. But based on personal experience these fans rattle a lot so I'm trying to avoid them even though they have a higher air pressure. Is the thermaltake AF0032 good enough? Otherwise what other choices would recommend or additional choices of fans? The AF in the Thermaltake fans stand for Air Flow. They are really not optimized for radiator use. Don't get me wrong they will work, they just aren't going to have the same performance as a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) fan. Such as the Noctua NF-F12's very pricey and not very pretty. But arguably the best on the planet. If you use theThermaltakes, use them in push/pull and buy ear plugs! If you get Noctua's, use in pull only, it will be just fine for performance and you wont need ear plugs! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 7, 2013 Author Hi guys, Thanks for all the good advices... As for my choice of a 35 mm thick radiator was to further optimize the space in case I should have to go with a push/pull configuration.. A thicker radiator would have put the base fans in the way of the motherboard (part of it).. But reading what you guys said makes a lot of since. I didn't consider those factors and indeed a radiator with better fins will allow me to use a single row of fans that are air pressure optimized and add those to a thicker rad.. Should make my system quieter and still achieve the performance.. Now I have to decide on my choice of fans.. Those Noctuas sure are very ugly but seem to be very good.. Ideally I need some fans that are pressure optimized with blue LEDs.. Even if they will be on the outside, it will still show on the sides for an overall nicer look of the case.. I see that Linus recommends the silverstone air penetrators.. They have blue led ones and seem to be very performant.. Are there any other choices you guys would recommend beside the Noctuas and Typhoons? Corsair seem to make some decent ones but have no leds.. If I would go for a LEDless configuration of fans, that would probably be my choice (SP120 from corsair).. What do you think? Any other recommendations? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 7, 2013 Author Anyone every tried these fans from Xigmatek : http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233102 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Posted September 7, 2013 Author Well I think I found the perfect fans... I will have to do without the blue leds in favor of performance, long life, low sound emission and PWM : Cougar vortex 120 mm fans http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=69266&vpn=CFV12HPB&manufacture=Cougar&promoid=1449 I think this with 2 RX480 would do me quit nicely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
