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Originally Posted by Mathelo
I do realize that but I can't get over the idea that if the CPU is putting off a 100+ watts of heat, it would be better for the rad to be outside of the case no matter the temp. delta on the rad.
Has anyone done the math on this? Has anyone compared the cooling performance of the same system but with the internal on one and external on the other?
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No math, but let's take a look at the issue.
Without water cooling air is already moving through the case with a hot CPU heatsink. So, even if the radiator exhaust is into the case, there can be no more heat in there than if we were air cooling.
But wait! Water has a much higher specific heat capacity than air, meaning the water is not heated as much as the air would have been. So we're going to be better than air even if we blow our radiator exhaust into the case, because it isn't going to be a warm as the air in the case if we were air cooling.
Certainly we could be cooling more efficiently, but we're already doing better than air cooling. At this point the question is what works.
I'd reckon that pretty much any rig has had compromises made (knowingly or unknowingly) that reduce their effectiveness in certain terms. The thing to remember is that a VW Bug, Ferrari sports car, Hummer (HMMWV type, not the new H2 crap), and Semi all get from point A to point B on the highway at the legal speed limit despite different gearings and design choices (cheap to produce, high performance in terms of speed and handling, off road performance, cargo capacity).