Three Quick Questions( Rads, Res & Fans)

[Revan654]

I been going back and fourth with these choices for days(Res & Rads). I need some input on it. My Case is an Air 540 with about 2.7 inches from the front to my GPU without any Fans.

 

1. Hardware Labs GTS 360 & GTS 240 or AlphaCool XT45 360 & XT45 240 or XS-PC EX 360 & EX 240. Or if there's a better choice please add it.

    *Note* I don't think 60mm rads would fit in the front with my GPU.

2. I have a choice between XS-PC Photon 170 (Glass) & EK-RES X3 150.

     *Small Side note* I would need to do some small modding for XS-PC Res.

3. For Fans I know Gentle Typhoon are considered the best, I can't get them currently due to them being out of stock. Are the New Corsair Pro Fans (ML series) a good alternative?

 

[W-L]

13 minutes ago, Revan654 said:

-SNIP-

Both the Alphacool and GTS are great options for rads the GTS does have a double folded fin array so while it provides more surface area and potential cooling performance it tends to make more noise than a lower FPI (fins per inch).

 

The XSPC Photons units are quite nice I personally have one of their pump res units and it works quite well. 

 

As for fans some good options are Noctua NF-F12, Fractal Design Venturi's, EK Vardars, the new Corsair fans look to be quite good but hard to say until more details on them.

[0ld_Chicken]

1. I'd go with the alphacool personally, The HWlabs is great but the restriction is ridiculous and they are a bit noisier than most rads (I have a 360 gts xflow). 

 

2. I'd go with whatever looks best in your scenario or setup.  Both are great res's and I'd gladly use either in my builds. 

 

3. The new corsairs do look to be very promising!  They're rather pricey at 25$ a pop but the "basic" twin packs at 35$ seem reasonable.  I've been considering trying some out but my build isn't too conducive to swapping fans.  nf-f12's are always amazing (I really wish they'd make a redux version since the colors are more reasonable).  Vardar's are great but I've had a few noise issues with some of them personally but thats maybe an isolated case, otherwise I love em. 

 

in case you haven't read it yet

http://thermalbench.com/2016/07/12/corsair-ml120-pro-120-mm-fan/

 

 

[atomicus]

8 hours ago, 0ld_Chicken said:

1. I'd go with the alphacool personally, The HWlabs is great but the restriction is ridiculous and they are a bit noisier than most rads (I have a 360 gts xflow). 

 

How exactly can a rad alone be noisy? Surely this is fan dependent? The GTS XFlow is actually excellent in terms of flow restriction, beats many other rads, but in respect to overall cooling it performs noticeably worse than the non-XFlow GTS in all reviews I've seen. The non-XFlow does actually have poor restriction, but I have not been able to find an answer as to what impact that actually has in real-world performance or under what circumstances it would be an issue in a loop... any impact is surely negible in most instances considering how well it performs. This is somewhat of a contradiction perhaps, but I can only go on the data I've seen. Given that it still comes top in many group tests, I can only presume that unless you have some crazy loop design going on or a crappy pump, the flow rate should not be a problem.

 

I don't know, maybe I'm being a bit simple in my view here, but if a rad clearly shows superior cooling to other rads in a group test, all things being equal, what impact is the flow restriction actually having, and assuming those test conditions resemble to a fairly close degree the set-up in which you will be using it, why would you not opt for the rad with the best cooling performance?? How and when does flow restriction become a major decision factor??

[Revan654]

I went with one 60mm 240 radiator (XS-PC RX240) and I'll see if I need a second Rad. If I do go with a second I'll go with a 45 or 30mm Radiator.

[0ld_Chicken]

10 hours ago, atomicus said:

How exactly can a rad alone be noisy? Surely this is fan dependent? 

Spoiler

 

The GTS XFlow is actually excellent in terms of flow restriction, beats many other rads, but in respect to overall cooling it performs noticeably worse than the non-XFlow GTS in all reviews I've seen. The non-XFlow does actually have poor restriction, but I have not been able to find an answer as to what impact that actually has in real-world performance or under what circumstances it would be an issue in a loop... any impact is surely negible in most instances considering how well it performs. This is somewhat of a contradiction perhaps, but I can only go on the data I've seen. Given that it still comes top in many group tests, I can only presume that unless you have some crazy loop design going on or a crappy pump, the flow rate should not be a problem.

 

I don't know, maybe I'm being a bit simple in my view here, but if a rad clearly shows superior cooling to other rads in a group test, all things being equal, what impact is the flow restriction actually having, and assuming those test conditions resemble to a fairly close degree the set-up in which you will be using it, why would you not opt for the rad with the best cooling performance?? How and when does flow restriction become a major decision factor??

 

 

well yes, but it is a bit louder than some other rads with the same fans running the same speed is what I mean.  Surely not in all cases but I noticed it with Vardars at 1100 rpm, there was a decent difference between that and some of the other radiators I had running at the same time with the same fans/speeds.  I even thought it may be the case interfering so I completely removed any and all obstructions and it was the same airflow "noise".  It wasn't terrible or upsetting but I noticed it and I didn't think that would be the case. 

 

yeah the gts xflow is not the best performer, but it is very close (middle of the pack) and especially for an xflow.  I wanted/needed the fittings set up like that and I got a killer deal on it  

As far as restriction, The real world impact of the flowrate difference is negligible (1-2°c) until you get really low or really high, it also slightly depends on the block as far as how flowrate affects cooling, most aren't very dependent on it.  It would allow you to run a D5 about 20% quieter to keep the same flowrate though.  But honestly the real world impact is within a few degrees for most of watercooling's small decisions, like which radiator of same size is best.  There is a best, but most are pretty close if you ignore the low performing exceptions. 

 

the gts is great, I'm not bashing it.  It is one of, or the best slim radiators.   The xt45 for example though is always within a very small margin with the gts, sometimes winning especially at higher fan speeds.  The gts is afterall a slim rad and they are usually outperformed by their thicker counterparts, at higher fan speeds at least.