Radiator Fan?

[Galatian]

Hey guys,

I'm in the process of planning my custom water loop. I'm stuck on which fans to use. I will be using a 4x120 Monsta Radiator at the bottom of the Phantek Enthoo Primo Case. Anandtech suggested the Enermax Magma Fans. Are they still good to go? Also I'm based in Germany so I can also get Scythe Fans in case that matters.

Thanks for all the answers.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Hey guys,

I'm in the process of planning my custom water loop. I'm stuck on which fans to use. I will be using a 4x120 Monsta Radiator at the bottom of the Phantek Enthoo Primo Case. Anandtech suggested the Enermax Magma Fans. Are they still good to go? Also I'm based in Germany so I can also get Scythe Fans in case that matters.

Thanks for all the answers.

I'd flirted with Enermax fans of a different sort. From years of visiting fan specs from various sources for even more various fans, and for sampling many different types, I know "enough" but it's hard to keep up. The one solid conclusion: it's a very competitive niche in the parts industry. All the manufacturers leap and jump to keep up with evolving requirements.

I was less than satisfied with the 120x25mm Enermax fan that I tried as a CPU fan. That was at least 7 or 8 years ago -- and it was only one fan and one particular model.

From the "egg" site, I can see these have low noise, reasonable throughput. For radiators, it may be great. Me? I've placed an order for two 140x25 Akasa Viper 140 R units. They also have them in the 120x25 size. The Vipers have a high (30's) noise rating at their full-bore RPMs. I'll only find out after Monday if the noise levels are much lower at reduced RPMs.

If you can control a slightly noisier fan thermally using CPU and Mobo temperature sensors, the utilitarian value is either higher or the same depending on what you want to do.

I suppose you want to hear from people who use the Enermax fan with firsthand reports, so I invite them to join the séance and speak!

 

[Tweakin]

Hey guys,

I'm in the process of planning my custom water loop. I'm stuck on which fans to use. I will be using a 4x120 Monsta Radiator at the bottom of the Phantek Enthoo Primo Case. Anandtech suggested the Enermax Magma Fans. Are they still good to go? Also I'm based in Germany so I can also get Scythe Fans in case that matters.

Thanks for all the answers.

What is the FPI of your rad? This may require to purchase "higher" output fans.

 

[Galatian]

What is the FPI of your rad? This may require to purchase "higher" output fans.

I'm looking at the Alphacool 4x120 Monsta Radiator and other then saying it has a bigger FPI to let more air through, it's not very specific. From test I see that it is best when used with 800-1200 RPM fans.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Yate Loons?

 

[Tweakin]

I'm looking at the Alphacool 4x120 Monsta Radiator and other then saying it has a bigger FPI to let more air through, it's not very specific. From test I see that it is best when used with 800-1200 RPM fans.

I would go with some Gentle Typhoons if I had the money, or Yate Loons as they are really cheap. I use Med speed Yate Loons on all my rads and run them at 7v.

 

[dma0991]

I'm looking at the Alphacool 4x120 Monsta Radiator and other then saying it has a bigger FPI to let more air through, it's not very specific. From test I see that it is best when used with 800-1200 RPM fans.

The Monsta seems to have the standard low FPI style but you need to consider that the thickness (even thicker than usual double thickness radiators) also affects how fast the air will pass through.

In such cases, high static pressure fans like Scythe GTs or similar are highly recommended. I think you could definitely see improvement with even higher RPM as 800-1200 RPM is low despite it being a low FPI radiator.

 

[Galatian]

The Monsta seems to have the standard low FPI style but you need to consider that the thickness (even thicker than usual double thickness radiators) also affects how fast the air will pass through.

In such cases, high static pressure fans like Scythe GTs or similar are highly recommended. I think you could definitely see improvement with even higher RPM as 800-1200 RPM is low despite it being a low FPI radiator.

From test it looks like 800-1000 RPM are actually already enough to show an advantage to different sizes. I will still take you up on the suggestion of the Scythe Gentle Typhoons. I will get the 1450 RPM ones. That way I still have some "reserve" if temperatures get to high.

 

[CropDuster]

I've got a quick question myself. I have an Asetek 510LC with two Corsair SP120 fans in push/pull on it exhausting out the back of my case. Would it be better to turn them around so that they are bringing in outside air over the rad? My i7 950 at 3.6ghz tops out at 68*C on core 1 using the P95 Small FFT test.

 

[BrightCandle]

Its almost certainly going to drop the loop temperature a bit to use cool air to cool the radiator. However pushing hot air from your CPU into your case will also warm the ambient temperature of the case itself. Depending on the cooling present in the case you may or may not see a benefit.

Based on the data at xtremesystems if you are targeting < 1200rpm the Gentle Typhoons are the best fan you can get. They are discontinued unfortunately but they still outperform pretty much anything else in actual noise volume for cooling provided, but some people aren't fans of the noise and the fans aren't all that reliable.

Yate loon do cheaper models that perform at about the best of the rest of the pack for a third of the price of the GT's, and they are sold widely.

 

[dma0991]

Would it be better to turn them around so that they are bringing in outside air over the rad?

They will provide better performance but it will also increase the dust accumulation in the case. Dust will more likely to land on the top of the case, even more so if you have fans that suck in air at the top. I have my radiator fans setup this way but I have filters on them. Filters will affect the performance but its a trade off that I'm willing to make.