a thick boi 120mm rad with fine fins?

cdoublejj

Gawd
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Apr 12, 2013
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i see thicc radiators but, they all have low fin count. are there thick 120mm rads with finer fins?
 
Have you looked at the thick XSPC 120mm rads? They seem to do a good job for my needs (I've bought 5 in the last couple years)

On Amazon it's listed as:

XSPC RX360 Radiator V3, 120mm x 3, Triple Fan, Black​

 
Generally thick radiators don't add much benefit for two reasons.

Firstly it is harder to force air through them (which is why most if not all of them are low fin count) but also, because of how the Delta-T between the air and the coolant in the radiator decreases as the air moves across the radiator.

Heat transfers faster the higher the Delta-T is, but as the air enters the radiator it starts absorbing the heat and rising in temperature. As it does this, the Delta-T for the remainder of its trip through the radiator is lower, causing less efficient heat transfer. At some point if a radiator is thick enough you get to the point where the air is practically the same temperature as the coolant, and any increase in thickness beyond this point results in no additional cooling (and may actually reduce cooling if it impairs airflow)

This is why 30-60mm thick radiators tend to be the sweet spot. Above that you start seeing significant diminished returns.

I have an Alphacool Monsta 280 I no longer use for this reason. At 87.5mm thick (if memory serves) it just wasn't doing me any favors, even in a push-pull configuration with powerful industrial Noctua fans. It's been sitting on a shelf unused for a couple of years now.

If space allows it is much better to get more thinner radiators than fewer thick ones.
 
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The older Black Ice and some Koolance radiators were the go to for high FPI radiators as I recall. The old Black Ice GTX was 54 mm thick and had 20 FPI, while Koolance HX radiators are 54 mm thick and 30 FPI.
 
Generally thick radiators don't add much benefit for two reasons.

Firstly it is harder to force air through them (which is why most if not all of them are low fin count) but also, because of how the Delta-T between the air and the coolant in the radiator decreases as the air moves across the radiator.

Heat transfers faster the higher the Delta-T is, but as the air enters the radiator it starts absorbing the heat and rising in temperature. As it does this, the Delta-T for the remainder of its trip through the radiator is lower, causing less efficient heat transfer. At some point if a radiator is thick enough you get to the point where the air is practically the same temperature as the coolant, and any increase in thickness beyond this point results in no additional cooling (and may actually reduce cooling if it impairs airflow)

This is why 30-60mm thick radiators tend to be the sweet spot. Above that you start seeing significant diminished returns.

I have an Alphacool Monsta 280 I no longer use for this reason. At 87.5mm thick (if memory serves) it just wasn't doing me any favors, even in a push-pull configuration with powerful industrial Noctua fans. It's been sitting on a shelf unused for a couple of years now.

If space allows it is much better to get more thinner radiators than fewer thick ones.
AH! I remember this when shopping for a radiator for my Dodge, my dad was saying anything past a 3 row might actually start making things warmer, and that a big wide 2 row was probably the sweet spot.

so then I did good on my personal rig where i used 2 39mm low fin count Formula mod rads and 1 extra thin rad! Guess on this current project i might as well stick with the 240rad and leave it dangling out the back lol. assuming any material is left after cleaning it with Primo rad clean. (some stuck a 240 on a AIO pump and put distilled water in it)
 
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