To shroud or not to shroud?
 

I have the pa160 and was wondering if by using a sealed rad box with one 120 in the rear exhausting, and the pa160 in the front without fan or shroud would be worse or the same when using the shroud?

Im using the same fan for both situations. 120 Panaflo M1a

Re: To shroud or not to shroud?
 

I think I understand what you are trying to do here. IMHO:

It appears you want to use both radiators and you have a fan that can push a decent amount of air. I'd mount the PA120 in the front of the rad box with no shroud or fan and then mount the PA160 in the back of the rad box with the shroud so that the fan is sucking air out of the box.

I doubt that second rad will help much. It actually might hurt the way it appear you want to use it (it will reduce flow rates). Another option would be to mount a second fan on the PA120 so it is also sucking air out of the case (use a shroud) and then make sure you have slits or holes in the side panels of your rad box. This will cause air to come into the sides and exhaust out of the front and back. Configuring the system this way would give you the best temps (for what you have on hand).

Re: To shroud or not to shroud?
 

Sorry if im confusing, im using one radiator, the pa160.

I tried with and without the shroud and like i thought the pa160 is obviously designed for optimal performance using the shroud.

Its not that i dont like the shroud its just that it projects the fan noise out the front of the case.

Re: To shroud or not to shroud?
 

You would be far better off with NO shroud in that situation, unless the shroud makes the rad easier to mount i suppose. Sounds like you are building the rad box the 'proper' way.

Re: To shroud or not to shroud?
 

the box is actually a sealed off section inside my case that runs from front to back, i should take pictures. Its pretty well sealed.

Only reason im experimenting is to get the best cooling i can with as little noise as possible.

Seems like the shroud works better, possible because it has a focus stream of air over the fins?

When i run the computer non overclocked with a 65F ambient temp and without a fan on the radiator its not even the slightest bit warm to the touch, even after 5-10 min and im cooling both the gpu and cpu.

Re: To shroud or not to shroud?
 

Actually the shroud works because it eliminates/minimizes the "dead-spot" around the motor hub of the fan. Makes the airflow more effective. What are your system specs and what sort of CPU temps are you getting?

I misunderstood your first post. If only using one rad (PA160) mount it at the front, without the shroud, and mount the fan at the back of the case so that is exhausting air out the back.

Re: To shroud or not to shroud?
 

Specs are:

an8 ultra
3000+@290x9
x800xl
1gb mushkin pc4400
storm
50z
dd g4
1 x pa160

Speed fan says between 22-24C at idle, which everyone knows is unreliable. The ambient is about 70F
here are some pics just incase u were interested

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...n/DSC00014.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...n/DSC00013.jpg

Re: To shroud or not to shroud?
 

Is that an old PC 7? Looks like one given the fan config. Looks like you got a pretty good setup there (in terms of airflow), though I think the placement of the rad in you loop might be hurting performance (pump->rad->cpu->gpu instead of pump->cpu->gpu->rad).

Re: To shroud or not to shroud?
 

Its actually a pc7077 :)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811112049

Any particular reason why the pump should go to the block first? Only reason i could see is pressure reasons?

Re: To shroud or not to shroud?
 

Go pump > rad because the highest temperature in the loop will be after the pump adds it's heat. Thus the rad will see the greatest temperature differential between the water and air and will be the most efficient. This is a miniscule temperature differance, but the increaced efficiency is free!

You seen confused about pressure and flow rate. While there are differing pressures in different parts of a loop, there pressures have no influence on flow. Flow is only related to the pressures just before and after the pump...and these can only be changed by changing the pump or other components in the system., not the order of the componentes.

Re: To shroud or not to shroud?
 

Hmm, I thought you were doing an external rad box. With the setup you've got above, i would seriously stick a fan on the rad with a shroud, in pulling mode.

Re: To shroud or not to shroud?
 

I was but decided i would rather have it this way, contained all in one box but completely seperate from the rest of the computer. :)

Only reasoning for trying other stuff is sound. The shroud causes the sound from the fan to travel out the front of the case.