Thin or Thick Rads?

[Guest Storm10]

What is the difference between thin and thick radiators?

[Christopher_]

8 minutes ago, Storm10 said:

What is the difference between thin and thick radiators?

Price and cooling performance

[Guest Storm10]

Just now, Christopher_ said:

Price and cooling performance

Ok, I thought you were going to say one is thicker and one is not.

[Alesek]

1 minute ago, Storm10 said:

Ok, I thought you were going to say one is thicker and one is not.

one is thicker and one is not.

 

thicker have better cooling performance with push/pull config and/or higher fan rpm but worse cooling in low rpm

thinner have better cooling with low fan rpm but worse with higher rpm

[Splodge1231]

3 minutes ago, Storm10 said:

Ok, I thought you were going to say one is thicker and one is not.

Well I can say that - One is thicker and one is not.

[WereCat]

4 minutes ago, Storm10 said:

Ok, I thought you were going to say one is thicker and one is not.

One can contain more volume even though it doesn't make any sound.

[Guest Storm10]

2 minutes ago, Splodge1231 said:

One is thicker and one is not.

2 minutes ago, Alesek said:

one is thicker and one is not.

WHY!!!

[vong]

2 minutes ago, Storm10 said:

WHY!!!

Ask a dumb question, get a dumb answer. Be more specific next time.

[PrimeSonic]

So what exactly are you looking to get out of a thicker or thinner radiator?

 

30mm rads are usually enough to get the job done provided they are big/long enough for the job. (30mm of thickness is pretty standard and barely thicker than your typical fan)

 

If you have space constraints that prevent you from installing longer radiators but somehow still let you get thick ones, then that's your best option.

 

A radiator that's half as long and twice as thick won't give you as good heat dissipation than one that's twice as long and half as thick. (Think about that for a while.)

But it'll do when you really want to increase your rad space and you don't have any other way to pull it off.

[brandishwar]

In general, you're better served going with thinner radiators with more surface area compared to thicker radiators with less surface area.

 

Martin's Liquid Lab once did a comparison on different 360mm radiators, including the various thicknesses offered by AlphaCool (30mm, 45mm, and 60mm). At lower fan speeds, the difference was negligible. At higher fan speeds the thicker radiators performed better, but not enough to justify the added cost, in my opinion.