Your opinions on radiators and fans

[Deshman]

It's been a while since I've asked you all for some advice but the time has come again whereby I need some of your wisdom to point me in the right direction.

It's nearly time for the yearly fluid change and I thought while I've got the loop drained why not carry out some upgrades. Firstly I want to get rid of the ghastly Tt standard rad which has been the thorn in my side for a while now and replace it with something a bit more up to the job.



Rad

Both the fans and the rad must fit into a space of ~120-125mm width by 60mm depth, 25mm of which will be taken up by my 2 existing Xilence fans (they're not the best in the world but I've got some left over from another build so I can't justify Noctuas). That leaves 35mm for the rad, possibly a couple of mm more if I stretch the fittings. I've been out of the loop (no pun intended ) so long I have no idea what to go for when it comes to rads.

A quick look at Watercoolinguk heralded only 1 result in stock that would fit:

XSPC RS360 Black - £39.99 - 121mm x 35mm

Aquatuning had a few results, only a couple of which were small enough width:

Aquacomputer airplex PRO 360 - £33.82 - 120mm x 30mm

Black ICE Radiator GT Stealth 360 - lite - £39.13 - 120 x 29.6mm

I'm assuming the aquacomputer rad would be the worst choice.

I've looked at fitting larger rads but that would involve me modifying the existing rad mounting braces (by rebending the metal and drilling new mounting holes) and I don't have the tools necessary to do so

Does anyone have an opinion as to which would be the better choice? - If you really think it would be worth the purchase of some metal drillbits and bending equipment for the larger rads please say so.

Tubing

As a side note I'll be replacing the tubing whilst I'm at it. I assume there's no real difference in performance between different manufacturers, or at least none I can make out from these:

3/8" ID - 1/2" OD Clearflex 60 Hose - £2.29

3/8" ID - 1/2" OD Hose - Clear - £1.99

Masterkleer 3/8" ID - 1/2" OD Clear - £ 2.19



Fluid

I'm assuming Feser1 is still the king of non-conductive UV fluids:

Feser One UV Acid Green Coolant 1lt - £8.09

Fans

Also if anyone knows of any 12cm LED fans which don't look like a swastika when lit up (those LED fans with 4 LEDs in the housing often tend to refract in the blades making it look a bit nazi and I'd rather the front of my case wasn't projecting that) and which aren't SilenX (I learned my lesson after all 6 of those I bought previously ended up going back when they shattered) I'd be very interested to hear from you.

 

[I Hunta x]

im pretty new to the water scene and ium still planning my first loop but ive seen some good things about the masterkleer tube iirc, also for the fluid might i recomend some clear liquid and some of mayhems dye? he has a fs&w thread up if you have the rights to look at fs&w. his dyes have awsome color, tho he's on holiday till sunday iirc so there wont be a reply unless he goes to a net cafe/steals some wifi

 

[tinytomlogan]

You need to make sure if you just use water and dye you add biocide and a corrosion inhibitor to keep the loop clean.

Masterkleer is good, reasonable priced hose, just get what ever suits your barbs.

The XSPC rad will be the best one for your needs, and tbh all led fans look like a 'swastica' rofl

 

[Deshman]

Thanks but I prefer to use non-conductive- I've too much hardware and data to lose if water started spraying around inside my case. Premix has always kept the temps at a fairly decent level given the existing rad.

 

[Freak]

Mayhems die is better than any premix. Look at a certain brands blue. It goes almost clear after a few days in your loop and leaves gunk behind.

Mayhem has tested his and it works like its meant to, with propper colours and more to the point; is cheaper.

If you use de-ionised water then i think that its non-conductive.

 

[tinytomlogan]

Dionised IS conductive. And for a 1st time user premixed is safer

The only dye with problems is primochill blues and greens.

 

[Deshman]

Well my past two fills have been using FluidXP+HP Green Premix and after a year it's still green and there's no gunk whatsoever. Perhaps the cheaper ones leave a mess but tbh for £8/year it's not that expensive.

@tinytom:

I'm no first time user but I'm not looking to push my system so far that I care about the exact balance in my coolant, changing the radiator will have a much bigger impact on my temps.

 

[tinytomlogan]

It will indeed, thermaltake should be banned from making watercooling products, just make sure you change the pump aswell.

 

[Deshman]

Pump's already changed, got rid of that and the CPU block last year, replaced them with a Laing DDC Ultra + XSPC Top and D-Tek Fuzion. This time it's the turn of the rad and just for fun- the tubes.

 

[tinytomlogan]

Good man, get rid of that tat

 

[Deshman]

Just had some Americans highly reccomend a Swiftech rad to me:

Swiftech MCR320 - QP - £52.18 - 410 x 128 x 34mm

It's just a little too wide (3mm) but with a bit of bending it MIGHT be possible. I've seen swiftech about for a while but never really heard or read any pro or anti arguments or reviews. Is this just the yanks being overly patriotic to their products or are they really talking sense here?

 

[tinytomlogan]

Swiftech are ok yes dude, just think about prices and sizes, go with what works best for you.

 

[Deshman]

Hmm I'm tempted- is the performance worth the extra £12 and a bit of a fiddle with the mountings?

Being able to empty the loop from the rad sounds extremely useful though

 

[tinytomlogan]

If its going in the door you are going to struggle for space matey.

 

[Deshman]

Yup, hence this thread

The swiftech one is 3mm over-size though so I shouldn't struggle all that much if it came to it. I won't be getting any Black Ice Extreme rads in there though, far too fat and expensive

I'd love to mount it elsewhere but the case is pretty much designed with front mounting in mind and it's still in good nick so I can't justify buying a new one.

 

[tinytomlogan]

Thats why Im not a Tt case fan... oh and the quality lol

 

[Deshman]

Hehe i can't knock the quality, it's taken a fair few bumps and it's still solid as a rock. It's fairly heavy like but I didn't expect a full aluminium case with watercooling for the price I paid

Whatever case I bought I was gonna end up ripping all the fans and everything out of anyway so I went for one which allowed for watercooling but actually looked good and the front view of this case still looks fantastic with the lovely black honeycombe mesh grille.

 

[I Hunta x]

i can see why you would want non conductive, mabey if you want to deepen the color a bit have a look at mayhems stuff, very nice colors

 

[meticadpa]

The best radiator in there is the RS360. It works best with low speed fans, by the way.

Now, as far as tubing and barbs go, you'll want 1/2" barbs on everything, and 1/2" ID (Inner Diameter) tubing. If you want to run clampless, get 7/16" ID tubing.

Fans: I'd get the Yate Loon Low Speed fans, they're great for radiators like that, and provide plenty of static pressure.

 

[Deshman]

Already running a 3/8" setup and it's not worth uprating that to 1/2" for the extra 1-2o I'd gain in water temps. Besides which I need flexibility and that's offered in greater amounts by 3/8" tubing than 1/2".

Yate Loon fans are neither LED (to resolve the borked/potentially racist fan problem) nor such great performers that they warrant replacing the already existing and working Xilence Red Wings.

Worst case scenario is I replace the busted LED fans with more Xilence fans from the stockpile but it would be nice to replace them with decent LED fans as the style of the Xilence fans really add to the overall look due to the LEDS being in the center of the fan; the center front fan for instance was directly behind the winged front grille badge so it became illuminated from behind. It wouldn't work with standard casing-mounted LED fans.

Could you tell me why the RS360 would be a better choice than the Switech resrad?