Radiator Comparison

[faint545]

Two radiators. Lets say that they are the same except one of the two has a depth that is twice the amount of the other. Would the one radiator that has twice the depth cool better than the other? Each one having the same exact fan attached to it.

[Dia]

If the depth allows the cooling to stay long inside of the radiator definately. Also make sure you have good fans with CFMs ratings that are high.

[hagatha]

The more surface you have to dissipate the heat... the cooler the temps will be...

hagatha

[faint545]

I guess my question is... will a deeper radiator not cool as well as the thinner because it has twice the amount of water in it but only has one fan. I would think, the more liquid, in a small area such as this, the more cooling would have to be involved for it to work well. It would be different for dual radiators since you would have two fans on it.

[HaloAddict19]

The thicker radiator has a larger surface area for heat to transfer from the metal the radiator is made of to the air passing through it. The only down side to a thicker radiator is that you need to get a fan that can push a good amount of air since there will be more resistance to the air's movement. So if you have 2 radiators of different thicknesses and air is traveling at the same speed through both of them the thicker one will perform better. But in order to get air moving through the thicker one at the same as the air going through the thinner one you will need to have a more powerful fan.

Also, CFM is not everything, you will also need good static air pressure to move air through a radiator.

Edit: After rereading you original question about the two using the same fan, it really depends on the radiators and the fan. If you are using a high CFM/static air pressure fan the thick one will. But if its a slower fan you have slower air movement in a thicker radiator or faster air through a thinner radiator. You would really have to try both to see which works better.

[faint545]

gotcha. thanks :)