Enough rad airflow?

Breach · 05-04-2005, 11:31 AM

Well, im trying to decide on a good 120mm fan to mate with my BIX. My requirement is that it be near silent as I hate loud computers and I have become a quiet comp enthusiast over the last couple of years. Im going for a good mix of performance and quietness.

So far im eyeing the COOLER MASTER Neon LED TLF-S12-EB 120mm, rated for 44cfm at 21dB. I was hoping for opinions on whether this is too little airflow to properly cool everything. The loop i have planned is a TDX and Maze4 GPU from DangerDen cooling a Radeon9800 Pro and a 3000+ 64.

So any testemonials would be really helpful

bobkoure · 05-04-2005, 12:41 PM

I'm sorry to say that the BIX isn't really the right radiator for semi-silent operation (a bit too much resistance for low noise fans that don't generate much pressure - particularly if they're under-volted or PWMed to lower speeds).
You might want to read The Top SPCR Quiet 120mm Axial Fans Compared + 120mmAC Fans and you might also want to read this thread - mostly just Cathar's comments about radiators in air-series (and a thicker rad can be thought of as thinner ones in air-series).
Although some folks (like BillA and Ph) say that push-pull is a waste of time, I've found that fan stacking can improve efficiency-for-noise (best luck with fans stacked on the pull side with a spacer between them rather than push/pull with fans on either side of the core). This may or may not apply to your situation, depending on how low-noise you're looking to be.

Breach · 05-04-2005, 01:36 PM

mostly im looking for something that wont bore a hole through my head and give me decent performance. Im just curious at what point the cfm going through the rad wont matter, as in where the water stops being cooled anymore than it is. As a technically screwed example, if you get maximum cooling with something that pushes around 50cfm lets say and you have one that puts out 70 or 80 with a huge noise penalty, its not doing any good to have anymore.

Granted i could be totally wrong about that. Just trying to gather a sense of where the falloff in performance starts.

Chew_Toy · 05-04-2005, 01:59 PM

I would suggest reading BillAs tests of the thermochill rads (the 120.1 should be quite similar to the BIX in performance) to give you an idea on how various fans work on that type of core.
Link to graph with different fans

Link to whole article

05-04-2005, 11:31 AM	#1
Breach Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Washington Posts: 93	Enough rad airflow? Well, im trying to decide on a good 120mm fan to mate with my BIX. My requirement is that it be near silent as I hate loud computers and I have become a quiet comp enthusiast over the last couple of years. Im going for a good mix of performance and quietness. So far im eyeing the COOLER MASTER Neon LED TLF-S12-EB 120mm, rated for 44cfm at 21dB. I was hoping for opinions on whether this is too little airflow to properly cool everything. The loop i have planned is a TDX and Maze4 GPU from DangerDen cooling a Radeon9800 Pro and a 3000+ 64. So any testemonials would be really helpful

05-04-2005, 12:41 PM	#2
bobkoure Cooling Savant Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: USA - Boston area Posts: 798	I'm sorry to say that the BIX isn't really the right radiator for semi-silent operation (a bit too much resistance for low noise fans that don't generate much pressure - particularly if they're under-volted or PWMed to lower speeds). You might want to read The Top SPCR Quiet 120mm Axial Fans Compared + 120mmAC Fans and you might also want to read this thread - mostly just Cathar's comments about radiators in air-series (and a thicker rad can be thought of as thinner ones in air-series). Although some folks (like BillA and Ph) say that push-pull is a waste of time, I've found that fan stacking can improve efficiency-for-noise (best luck with fans stacked on the pull side with a spacer between them rather than push/pull with fans on either side of the core). This may or may not apply to your situation, depending on how low-noise you're looking to be.

05-04-2005, 01:36 PM	#3
Breach Cooling Neophyte Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Washington Posts: 93	mostly im looking for something that wont bore a hole through my head and give me decent performance. Im just curious at what point the cfm going through the rad wont matter, as in where the water stops being cooled anymore than it is. As a technically screwed example, if you get maximum cooling with something that pushes around 50cfm lets say and you have one that puts out 70 or 80 with a huge noise penalty, its not doing any good to have anymore. Granted i could be totally wrong about that. Just trying to gather a sense of where the falloff in performance starts.

05-04-2005, 01:59 PM	#4
Chew_Toy Cooling Savant Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 120	I would suggest reading BillAs tests of the thermochill rads (the 120.1 should be quite similar to the BIX in performance) to give you an idea on how various fans work on that type of core. Link to graph with different fans Link to whole article

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