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Unread 06-02-2004, 07:02 PM   #12
Gooserider
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Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: North Billerica, MA, USA
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There are problems with thicker heatercores, namely increased airflow resistance and therefore reduced efficiency. As a practical matter, the limiting factor on most setups is more airflow than coolant flow. I've seen some threads that actually say the optimal thickness is actually more like 1-1.5", but we are constrained by what the industry offers us. (Since there really isn't a big enough market to justify creating computer optimised cores at a price competetive with what we can get from the car industry....)

In their original application, air was pushed through a heater core with a centrifugal blower, which can move a higher static pressure at a cost of more noise and lots of space demands. The axial box fans normally used in the PC world are more compact, and can be quieter, but don't make as much pressure, which limits their airflow (I use 50% of the free-air rating as a rough guide) This means that the typical 2" thick rad is actually going to offer more airflow resistance than the ideal, but it's acceptable. I wouldn't suggest going any thicker.

Gooserider
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Designing system, will have Tyan S2468UGN Dual Athlon MOBO, SCSI HDDS, other goodies. Will run LINUX only. Want to have silent running, minimal fans, and water cooled. Probably not OC'c
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