360mm radiators

[basToRNutO]

I'm a water cooling noobie and don't want to mess this up so I have to ask.

 

I need 2 360mm radiators, I will be running the Noctua NF-F12 fans on them.

They will cool 1 OC CPU and 1 OC GPU.

I have a lot of space in my case, so going a tiny bit thicker than usual is cool.

 

From what I know going high on the fin density isn't a good idea in this case, so looking for something in the middle ("standard").

I would love to learn, so if you could explain what to look for it would be great. For example what materials to not mix the radiators with.

[Marinatall_Ironside]

Just now, szwagi said:

I'm a water cooling noobie and don't want to mess this up so I have to ask.

 

I need 2 360mm radiators, I will be running the Noctua NF-F12 fans on them.

They will cool 1 OC CPU and 1 OC GPU.

I have a lot of space in my case, so going a tiny bit thicker than usual is cool (40mm?)

 

From what I know going high on the fin density isn't a good idea in this case, so looking for something in the middle ("standard").

I would love to learn, so if you could explain what to look for it would be great. For example what materials to not mix the radiators with.

Never mix aluminum with copper. Only use one or the other in the entire loop (fittings, blocks, radiators, etc.). Brass and copper are perfectly okay.

 

For radiators, the housing which the fins, tubes, and tanks are stored in, are typically made of either steel or aluminum, or a combination.

 

Fin density for 40mm thick radiators tend to be between slim and thick radiators from what I've looked up before.

 

@W-L can help you through the rest.

[Damascus]

I can (along with pretty much anyone else) recomend hardwarelabs without reservation.  They make the best radiators on the market

 

GTX

Highest performance, 55mm

 

GTS

Extrememly high performance fo a 30mm radiator, will require a stong pump.

 

SR2

High performance and designed for ultralow rpm fans 60mm

[airdeano]

2x 360 is kinda overkill for a CPU/GPU loop.

a single 360 can do the job, but if silence is the motive, then a 360/240 is more than enough.

for silence, most want to keep FPI under 12 fins per inch.

for performance with some fan noise 20FPI under 2000rpm.

for extreme 25FPI or more, but the fans must have fan speed and pressure (mm/h2o), no silence LOUD.

[DarthSmartt]

14 minutes ago, szwagi said:

I'm a water cooling noobie and don't want to mess this up so I have to ask.

 

I need 2 360mm radiators, I will be running the Noctua NF-F12 fans on them.

They will cool 1 OC CPU and 1 OC GPU.

I have a lot of space in my case, so going a tiny bit thicker than usual is cool.

 

From what I know going high on the fin density isn't a good idea in this case, so looking for something in the middle ("standard").

I would love to learn, so if you could explain what to look for it would be great. For example what materials to not mix the radiators with.

I would reccommend going with ek’s kit a240g. Everything is aluminum, it comes with tubing concentrated fluid and the beat fans on the market. You can also get the 360 expansion pack and another expansion if you want to switch out the 240mm one that comes stock. I’m building my pc with it as we speak. Expansions are $90 and the kit is $250.

[Tech22]

3 minutes ago, Damascus said:

I can (along with pretty much anyone else) recomend hardwarelabs without reservation.  They make the best radiators on the market

 

GTX

Highest performance, 52mm

 

GTS

Extrememly high performance fo a 30mm radiator, will require a stong pump.

 

SR2

High performance and designed for ultralow rpm fans 60mm

GTX is 57mm, not 52.

[Damascus]

3 minutes ago, Tech22 said:

GTX is 57mm, not 52.

We're both wrong, 54mm or 55mm depending on where you measure from.

http://hardwarelabs.com/nemesis/gtx/360gtx/

[Tech22]

Just now, Damascus said:

We're both wrong, 54mm or 55mm depending on where you measure from.

http://hardwarelabs.com/nemesis/gtx/360gtx/

One said 54, and another said 56.6. I usually measure with 54, but might as well overestimate just in case. 

[Damascus]

3 minutes ago, Tech22 said:

One said 54, and another said 56.6. I usually measure with 54, but might as well overestimate just in case. 

Fair enough, though I usually don't count the g1/4" mounta in the height

[basToRNutO]

1 hour ago, airdeano said:

2x 360 is kinda overkill for a CPU/GPU loop.

a single 360 can do the job, but if silence is the motive, then a 360/240 is more than enough.

I would go with 360/240 but my case is designed for two 360 rads, also, I might go SLI in the future 

 

1 hour ago, Damascus said:

I can (along with pretty much anyone else) recomend hardwarelabs without reservation.  They make the best radiators on the market

I'll take a look at their radiators, what radiator thickness would you recommend? Is 55mm overkill? What is the "standard" thickness?

[Tech22]

7 minutes ago, szwagi said:

I would go with 360/240 but my case is designed for two 360 rads, also, I might go SLI in the future 

 

I'll take a look at their radiators, what radiator thickness would you recommend? Is 55mm overkill? What is the "standard" thickness?

There really isn't any standard thickness. What RPM would you run your fans at? If <800 RPM and can fit a thick rad go with HardwareLabs SR2 (60mm). If you run your fans at >800 RPM and can fit a thick rad go for HardwareLabs GTX (54mm). If you run your fans at >1800 RPM, will use push/pull, and have room for a thick rad and both sets of fans go with HardwareLabs GTR (60mm). If you can only run a slim rad and/or like to run >1000 RPM go for HardwareLabs GTS (30mm). 

 

I would recommend going as thick as you can fit but also keeping in mind fan RPM and a noise level you want. 55mm is not overkill: overkill in radiators only really applies to length in radiator not thickness. Overkill = 4 X 560 (30mm+ thick) radiators. Overkill ≠ 1 X 560 radiator at 80mm thick. 

[Damascus]

25 minutes ago, szwagi said:

I would go with 360/240 but my case is designed for two 360 rads, also, I might go SLI in the future 

 

I'll take a look at their radiators, what radiator thickness would you recommend? Is 55mm overkill? What is the "standard" thickness?

It really depends on your case, I'll be using a gts 420 and PE 360 in my case, 30 and 38 mm respectively.  If you have more space for with thicker radiators, simple as that.

[W-L]

41 minutes ago, szwagi said:

I would go with 360/240 but my case is designed for two 360 rads, also, I might go SLI in the future 

 

I'll take a look at their radiators, what radiator thickness would you recommend? Is 55mm overkill? What is the "standard" thickness?

For raditors the Hardware labs ones as mention are very good for performance, if your looking for extremely low fin density rads the Alphacool ones are a good option only if you don't plan to run your fans very fast, say <1000RPM. 

[Chiru]

5 hours ago, szwagi said:

I'm a water cooling noobie and don't want to mess this up so I have to ask.

 

I need 2 360mm radiators, I will be running the Noctua NF-F12 fans on them.

They will cool 1 OC CPU and 1 OC GPU.

I have a lot of space in my case, so going a tiny bit thicker than usual is cool.

 

From what I know going high on the fin density isn't a good idea in this case, so looking for something in the middle ("standard").

I would love to learn, so if you could explain what to look for it would be great. For example what materials to not mix the radiators with.

It's important that you measure the actual space for the rads. Not all 360mm rads have the same length. Also you should check how much space in terms of thickness you have.

 

There are also X-Flow rads the ports are not parallel but positioned diagonally.

 

Best thin rads are HW Labs or Magicool if your budget is tight. Then around 50mm thickness XSPC. In terms of performance and quality.

 

 

 

 

[Chiru]

13 hours ago, szwagi said:

I'm a water cooling noobie and don't want to mess this up so I have to ask.

 

I need 2 360mm radiators, I will be running the Noctua NF-F12 fans on them.

They will cool 1 OC CPU and 1 OC GPU.

I have a lot of space in my case, so going a tiny bit thicker than usual is cool.

 

From what I know going high on the fin density isn't a good idea in this case, so looking for something in the middle ("standard").

I would love to learn, so if you could explain what to look for it would be great. For example what materials to not mix the radiators with.

It's important that you measure the actual space for the rads. Not all 360mm rads have the same length. Also you should check how much space in terms of thickness you have.

 

There are also X-Flow rads the ports are not parallel but positioned diagonally.

 

Best thin rads are HW Labs or Magicool if your budget is tight. Then around 50mm thickness XSPC. In terms of performance and quality.

 

Ek's Rads are good for highspeed fans, so not really for silent builds. Mostly because they sell fans up to 3k rpm.

 

Alphacool's rads are mediocre in terms of performance and also in terms of quality. They don't really get factory cleaned so a lot of dirt inside the rads

 

Price/performance are defo Magicool, cheaper than Alphacool and better. In fact they are an OEM brand.

 

 

 

[basToRNutO]

10 hours ago, Chiru said:

It's important that you measure the actual space for the rads. Not all 360mm rads have the same length. Also you should check how much space in terms of thickness you have.

Woah, thanks for reminding me about this.

I checked and it turns out I can only mount up to 45mm thickness radiators, what would be the best radiator for me in this case?

 

The case is Lian Li PC-O11WGX, looks like most people use the 38mm radiators from EK in it.

[Chiru]

52 minutes ago, szwagi said:

Woah, thanks for reminding me about this.

I checked and it turns out I can only mount up to 45mm thickness radiators, what would be the best radiator for me in this case?

 

The case is Lian Li PC-O11WGX, looks like most people use the 38mm radiators from EK in it.

Magicool copper radiator Ultra III

 

Should also be quite cheap

 

Is 46mm thick

 

The small bonus is the rad uses metric screws, much better than UNC and easier to find. 

[Tech22]

On 1/2/2018 at 5:35 AM, szwagi said:

Woah, thanks for reminding me about this.

I checked and it turns out I can only mount up to 45mm thickness radiators, what would be the best radiator for me in this case?

 

The case is Lian Li PC-O11WGX, looks like most people use the 38mm radiators from EK in it.

I would go with 3 X HardwareLabs GTS radiators. In the Top, bottom, and motherboard panel. If you have the WGX model (ROG), there is room for 3 360mm radiators. 

[Chiru]

3 hours ago, Tech22 said:

I would go with 3 X HardwareLabs GTS radiators. In the Top, bottom, and motherboard panel. If you have the WGX model (ROG), there is room for 3 360mm radiators. 

3 HW labs 360 gts are a bit much in terms of restriction. They are very restrictive rads, it is the down side of their outstanding performance for being so slim.

[Tech22]

56 minutes ago, Chiru said:

3 HW labs 360 gts are a bit much in terms of restriction. They are very restrictive rads, it is the down side of their outstanding performance for being so slim.

A D5 should be enough. I plan to use a GTS 560 and another 45mm thick rad with one D5. And a second loop with one D5 and a GTX 480 rad. I think they are better than you think for that. A GTS drops the pressure by ~1.4GPM at full speed. A D5 pump has ~6.6 GPM. 

 

OP, if you use 2 radiators, put one of them on the mobo tray. And another on the top or bottom.