Best 120mm SINGLE Radiator OR heater core

Discussion in 'Die-hard Overclocking & Case Modifications' started by MisterWhippy, Jan 12, 2010.

  1. MisterWhippy

    MisterWhippy Guest

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    I bought a new server rackmount a year ago, and never bothered to do my math. The case has 2x 80 mm fans in the rear, and so I purchased a dual 80mm rad. My mistake was that the clearance added by the top/bottom of the radiator made it logistically impossible to mount. Infact a 120 is the only rad that I can mount without a severe case mod, which I do not want.

    Ive gotten sick of it just literally tucked in the top of my case (Out dated motherboard, but same setup), so I decided to find a 120 single which SHOULD fit right up to the fan in the front of my case. This would be optimal because It would then look like it belonged, and give me an option to move my case or change the layout.

    My math keeps telling me that a single 120mm rad will have more total surface area than an dual 80mm...not by much, but a bit more...so to me a 120 solves more problems than it creates.

    Also, I was eyeballing his 120mm heater core and shroud...would this cool better than one of the "High performance radiators", because honestly I would feel quite comfortable bending copper tubing and soldering it right in place all the way up to the pump and cpu block.

    All I will be cooling is my cpu, and It craps out at 4.0ish, so heat is not terribly concerning. Ill clock based on heat.

    Thanks in advance for the advice.
     
  2. MM10X

    MM10X Guest

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    the feser xtreme one gets my vote, seeing as i have the 120.3 and its quite epic.
     
  3. kwak

    kwak Ancient Guru

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    the best depends on what kind of fans you are going to be using. according to the test on skinneelabs(the triple rads ones, but i think the singles are in the same order), with fans under ~1400rpm, the hwlabs sr1 series looks like the best, with speeds over that, its a tossup between the xspc rx, thermochill pa and tfc xchanger
     
  4. maxfly

    maxfly Ancient Guru

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    ive had great luck with the thermochill pa160. altho they changed the name to 120.1 if i remember correctly. the pa160 was pretty expensive when i bought it(100-110?) so you may want to look into a rad box and 120.2 to get the best bang for the buck. another option could be to stack a pair of swiftech MCR120-QP STACK <--alot less expensive but hard to find right now.

    frozencpu has them in stock
    http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8...ackable_120mm_Radiator_-_MCR120-QP-Stack.html
     
    Last edited: Jan 13, 2010

  5. MisterWhippy

    MisterWhippy Guest

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    + Rep for you good sir.

    That is the final solution. If one is not enough, I shall have 2. Also, its a great price. Thanks for that info Max.

    Im right now preparing tubing, and will test without all the 90 degree fittings.
     
  6. MisterWhippy

    MisterWhippy Guest

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    ok. I redid my whole water loop this evening. I removed all the 90 degree fittings, and removed some tubing as well. Im still sitting in at 38c idle...at stock clocks and volts. at 3.8ghz I sit at 42 idle and hit 56 under load....

    It made absolutely no difference in temps. Seeing how this rad and pump kept a 3.8 ghz PhenomII 550 less then 45 under load I have a few possible solutions:

    Replacement of waterblock
    Replacement of Rad and pump
    Zalman Super huge cpu cooler

    Ill probally opt for the Zalman, and pawn off the water loop. Im slowly fading away from the overclock scene. a 3.2ghz quad core is more than sufficient.
     

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