Different Water Cooling Fan & Radiator Sizes (An In Depth Look):
This guide is a 4-Part Series to building a Complete Custom Water Cooling Loop, this will be the radiator section.
So some of you are probably wondering what water cooling is, and why would I want a bunch of water running through tubes in my electrical computer system. The answer is that normally you wouldn’t, that is unless you are looking for a way to cool it down. Now I know what you are thinking, “All our parents and teachers always told us not to mix water and electricity”, so why the heck are we doing it now? Well they would be wrong, see every single component in computers run on electricity, and as they run on electricity they produce heat, so naturally they need to be cooled. Basic law of science right, well that’s an easy concept to understand and if you can understand that then you will be able to understand what I am about to teach you with water-cooling. Let’s put it this way if it was 100 degrees out would you rather have a fan on you or be surrounded in water? I would take water hands down, same thing with computers, all air does in a case full of heat is move it around enough so it “looks” like its cooling it down, but really isn’t, water cooling is the solution to that, because it actually cools down the system rather then move heat around. Now this guide is going to be how to pick out your pieces and insure that they already fit, before you even buy them. This is NOT a guide to show you how to install all of the pieces, but rather find the pieces and know they fit before you even order them. This guide will have pictures to go along with all of the explanations that I will give you along the way. First off we have some basics of the water cooling system to cover, this part of the tutorial will focus on the radiators, specifically the different styles and the different fan sizes that work with these radiators.
I will be updating more tutorials on other parts of picking our water cooling parts and each page will have links to different sections on the forum (This page would be really really really ungodly long if i didn't do it this way).
Fan Sizes:
What you need to know about fan sizes is first on our list. This will explain the difference between the more common fan sizes:
Common Fan Sizes:
120 mm: This is the standard size for the newer style cases.
140 mm: This is the size up from the 120 mm.
200 mm: This fan size is the biggest normally found in cases (new and old)
Other (Not so Common) Fan Sizes:
40 mm: This is the smallest size of fan you will probably find (older computers especially)
80 mm: This is the standard size for the older case fans.
92 mm: This is the size in-between the 40 mm and 80 mm.
180 mm: This is the size in-between the 140 mm and the 200 mm.
Things to know about all fans:
The bigger the fan, the more air it will move (generally speaking), and the slower it will have to spin to move that amount of air. Example would be a 140 mm fan spins slower to move the same amount of air as a 120 mm fan. The other advantage to having bigger fans is that because they spin slower generally they are a lot quieter. Plus an added perk to having bigger fans is that (generally speaking) is that they have higher RPM’s when needed.
Also in order to know which fan you have in your system you will have to measure it, the easiest way to do this is both with a tape measure or a ruler, you will measure the height and the length, and it should come out to one of the following measurements (80, 92, 120, 140, 180, or 200 mm)
Other Water Cooling Basics:
Some of the basics of water cooling are sometimes the hardest to understand. The standard size for normal water cooling pieces (Radiator, Pump, RAM Cooler etc.) is called a g ¼” fitting, and they have all different size elbows, straight pieces that will comply with the g ¼” fitting.
Radiators:
When dealing with radiators in pairs it’s always the radiator size divided by fan size to figure out how many fans it will hold on one side (or your fan size times the number of fans it will hold). Same thing goes with triples and quadruples. Most radiators, come with a standard female g ¼” fitting where a connector can be connected to let you cooling liquid into the tubes. The dimensions around the actual radiator (length, width, & height of the radiator) will actually differ, depending on the type of radiator you buy, and I would also strongly suggest measuring these dimensions to insure that they will fit into your case before making a single purchase.
Some Examples:
Example of that would be a 280 mm radiator (2x140 mm fans) or dual 140 mm fans would be the same thing as the 280 mm radiator.
Another example would be a 420 mm radiator (3x140mm) or triple 140 mm fans which would be the same thing as a 420 mm radiator (or rad).
They do make singles, and not that the most famous configuration for a radiator is called the “Push-Pull Method” where a fan on the one side pushes air through the radiator and the fan on the other side of the radiator pulls the air in, on an exhaust it would be reversed. One fan would push the hot air out of the cage and through the radiator, while the other pulls the cooled air out of the case completely.
The Different Size of Radiators:
These are the more common sized radiators (I will be going over the extreme ones after this section):
80 mm Radiator:
(Thanks to Frozen CPU for this picture all credit goes to them)
This picture above me has an 80 mm radiator in it, as you can see it’s slightly bigger in the width, measuring at approximately 84.00 mm, instead of the 80 mm (this in to allow for the bigger surface area for the fan to operate). Also note that it has 107.00 mm overall height, which allows for the fittings to be on top (standard G ¼” fittings). Also notice that there is a tank at the opposite side of the fittings. Now fans can be mounted on both sides of this radiator, to create the push/pull effect we talked about earlier. With that being said, lets take a look at all the different types of radiators that are available for your computer. This single 80 mm radiator will fit any standard 80 mm fan, these are useful if exhaust openings, or places where only a single fan can fit. This will use a single 80 mm fan.
Dual 80 mm (160 mm) Radiator:
Notice that this radiator it is a dual 80 mm (160 mm) radiator. This radiator includes the standard female (G 1/4" fittings) and the tank on the opposite site. This radiator will use two 80 mm fans to move cold air throughout your computer.
92 mm Radiator (Single):
This is a single 92 mm radiator, which will fit any standard 92 mm fan, these are useful if exhaust openings, or places where only a single fan can fit. This is a 92 mm (Single bay) radiator, which has the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This radiator uses a standard single 92 mm fan.
Dual 92 mm (184 mm) Radiator:
This is a dual 92 mm (184 mm) radiator, which will use two 92 mm fans. Also it comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings.
120 mm Radiators (Single):
This is a single 120 mm radiator, which will fit any standard 120 mm fan, these are useful if exhaust openings, or places where only a single fan can fit. This is a single 120 mm radiator, which has the standard female G 1/4" fittings.
Dual 120 mm (240 mm) Radiator:
This is a dual 120 mm (240 mm) radiator, which will use two standard 120 mm fans. Also this radiator has standard female G 1/4" fittings.
140 mm (Single) Radiator:
This is a single 140 mm radiator, which will fit any standard 140 mm fan, these are useful if exhaust openings, or places where only a single fan can fit. Comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings.
Dual 140 mm (280 mm) Radiator:
This is a dual 140 mm (280 mm) radiator, and this will use two 140 mm fans to move cold air throughout your computer. This radiator comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings.
180 mm (Single) Radiator:
This is a single 180 mm, like the previous ones, this one will use one standard 180 mm fan, which will move cold air throughout your computer system. This radiator comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings. Notice that this one comes with four G 1/4" threads, meaning that since it is different style then the ones we previously talked about, we now have 4 options of how to run the 2 or 4 adapters depending. The first way is you could have 4 fittings and have 2 for the intake of water, and 2 for the leaving water (which would be the best), the second would be to have one intake and one out-take and leave the screws in the other two. Either way this one offers more customization then the previous versions we have talked about so far.
Dual 180 mm (360 mm) Radiator:
This is a dual 180 mm (360 mm), like the previous ones, this one will use two standard 180 mm fans, which will move cold air throughout your computer system. This radiator comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings. Notice that this one comes with four G 1/4" threads, meaning that since it is different style then the ones we previously talked about, we now have 4 options of how to run the 2 or 4 adapters depending. The first way is you could have 4 fittings and have 2 for the intake of water, and 2 for the leaving water (which would be the best), the second would be to have one intake and one out-take and leave the screws in the other two. Either way this one offers more customization then the previous versions we have talked about so far.
200 mm (Single) Radiator:
This is a single 200 mm, like the previous ones, this one will use one standard 200 mm fan, which will move cold air throughout your computer system. This radiator comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings. Notice that this one comes with four G 1/4" threads, meaning that since it is different style then the ones we previously talked about. The only way to use this radiator is to have 4 fittings and have 2 for the intake of water, and 2 for the leaving water.
Dual 200 mm (400 mm) Radiator:
This is a dual 200 mm (400 mm), like the previous ones, this one will use two standard 200 mm fans, which will move cold air throughout your computer system. This radiator comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings. Notice that this one comes with four G 1/4" threads, meaning that since it is different style then the ones we previously talked about. The only way to use this radiator is to have 4 fittings and have 2 for the intake of water, and 2 for the leaving water.
More Extreme Versions of Radiators:
These in the next section are going to be the more extreme versions of radiators, which aren't going to usually be used by people that do normal computing, but rather by computer and over-clocking enthusiasts, and extreme modding of the computer case. Most of these radiators will not fit inside a normal Mid-tower case, some may fit inside of a full tower case however. If you have a case that was designed for water cooling however it might fight.
***Make sure you always measure the dimensions of your case before ever doing a single purchase***
Triple 120 mm (360 mm) Radiator:
The is a triple 120 mm (360 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use three 120 mm fans.
Quadruple 120 mm (480 mm) Radiator:
The is a quadruple 120 mm (480 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use four 120 mm fans.
Triple 140 mm (420 mm) Radiator:
The is a triple 120 mm (420 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use three 140 mm fans.
Quadruple 140 mm (560 mm) Radiator:
The is a quadruple 140 mm (560 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use four 140 mm fans.
840 mm (6 x 120 mm) Radiator:
The is a 840 mm (6 - 120 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use six 140 mm fans.
Triple 180 mm (540 mm) Radiator:
The is a triple 180 mm (540 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use three 180 mm fans.
***This is only the first part of learning a water cooling system, the following is list of what would be recommended to build a custom water cooling loop:
1. Radiator
2. Pump
3. Reservoir
4. Tubing
5. CPU block
6. Fittings
7. Funnel (Recommended)
8. Coolant Fluid
Optional Things:
1. GPU Block
2. RAM Cooler Black
3. North Bridge Water Block
4. South Bridge Water Block
5. Hard drive Water Block
6. Anti-kink coils
7. Anti-leak Sensors
8. Display 5.25 Inch Front Panel Monitor
9. Voltage Water Block
These is a basic list, there is a ton more out there but that is a basic understanding, most of this can be accomplished (bear minimum) would be around 400 to 700 dollars, with the most expensive being, the bottom of your wallet. I hope this guide helps, and i will be doing a guide for each of the following as well in time:
1. Radiator (All ready done)
2. Pump/Reservoir/Tubing
3. Water blocks
4. Fittings
Thanks.
This guide is a 4-Part Series to building a Complete Custom Water Cooling Loop, this will be the radiator section.
So some of you are probably wondering what water cooling is, and why would I want a bunch of water running through tubes in my electrical computer system. The answer is that normally you wouldn’t, that is unless you are looking for a way to cool it down. Now I know what you are thinking, “All our parents and teachers always told us not to mix water and electricity”, so why the heck are we doing it now? Well they would be wrong, see every single component in computers run on electricity, and as they run on electricity they produce heat, so naturally they need to be cooled. Basic law of science right, well that’s an easy concept to understand and if you can understand that then you will be able to understand what I am about to teach you with water-cooling. Let’s put it this way if it was 100 degrees out would you rather have a fan on you or be surrounded in water? I would take water hands down, same thing with computers, all air does in a case full of heat is move it around enough so it “looks” like its cooling it down, but really isn’t, water cooling is the solution to that, because it actually cools down the system rather then move heat around. Now this guide is going to be how to pick out your pieces and insure that they already fit, before you even buy them. This is NOT a guide to show you how to install all of the pieces, but rather find the pieces and know they fit before you even order them. This guide will have pictures to go along with all of the explanations that I will give you along the way. First off we have some basics of the water cooling system to cover, this part of the tutorial will focus on the radiators, specifically the different styles and the different fan sizes that work with these radiators.
I will be updating more tutorials on other parts of picking our water cooling parts and each page will have links to different sections on the forum (This page would be really really really ungodly long if i didn't do it this way).
Fan Sizes:
What you need to know about fan sizes is first on our list. This will explain the difference between the more common fan sizes:
Common Fan Sizes:
120 mm: This is the standard size for the newer style cases.
140 mm: This is the size up from the 120 mm.
200 mm: This fan size is the biggest normally found in cases (new and old)
Other (Not so Common) Fan Sizes:
40 mm: This is the smallest size of fan you will probably find (older computers especially)
80 mm: This is the standard size for the older case fans.
92 mm: This is the size in-between the 40 mm and 80 mm.
180 mm: This is the size in-between the 140 mm and the 200 mm.
Things to know about all fans:
The bigger the fan, the more air it will move (generally speaking), and the slower it will have to spin to move that amount of air. Example would be a 140 mm fan spins slower to move the same amount of air as a 120 mm fan. The other advantage to having bigger fans is that because they spin slower generally they are a lot quieter. Plus an added perk to having bigger fans is that (generally speaking) is that they have higher RPM’s when needed.
Also in order to know which fan you have in your system you will have to measure it, the easiest way to do this is both with a tape measure or a ruler, you will measure the height and the length, and it should come out to one of the following measurements (80, 92, 120, 140, 180, or 200 mm)
Other Water Cooling Basics:
Some of the basics of water cooling are sometimes the hardest to understand. The standard size for normal water cooling pieces (Radiator, Pump, RAM Cooler etc.) is called a g ¼” fitting, and they have all different size elbows, straight pieces that will comply with the g ¼” fitting.
Radiators:
When dealing with radiators in pairs it’s always the radiator size divided by fan size to figure out how many fans it will hold on one side (or your fan size times the number of fans it will hold). Same thing goes with triples and quadruples. Most radiators, come with a standard female g ¼” fitting where a connector can be connected to let you cooling liquid into the tubes. The dimensions around the actual radiator (length, width, & height of the radiator) will actually differ, depending on the type of radiator you buy, and I would also strongly suggest measuring these dimensions to insure that they will fit into your case before making a single purchase.
Some Examples:
Example of that would be a 280 mm radiator (2x140 mm fans) or dual 140 mm fans would be the same thing as the 280 mm radiator.
Another example would be a 420 mm radiator (3x140mm) or triple 140 mm fans which would be the same thing as a 420 mm radiator (or rad).
They do make singles, and not that the most famous configuration for a radiator is called the “Push-Pull Method” where a fan on the one side pushes air through the radiator and the fan on the other side of the radiator pulls the air in, on an exhaust it would be reversed. One fan would push the hot air out of the cage and through the radiator, while the other pulls the cooled air out of the case completely.
The Different Size of Radiators:
These are the more common sized radiators (I will be going over the extreme ones after this section):
80 mm Radiator:
(Thanks to Frozen CPU for this picture all credit goes to them)
This picture above me has an 80 mm radiator in it, as you can see it’s slightly bigger in the width, measuring at approximately 84.00 mm, instead of the 80 mm (this in to allow for the bigger surface area for the fan to operate). Also note that it has 107.00 mm overall height, which allows for the fittings to be on top (standard G ¼” fittings). Also notice that there is a tank at the opposite side of the fittings. Now fans can be mounted on both sides of this radiator, to create the push/pull effect we talked about earlier. With that being said, lets take a look at all the different types of radiators that are available for your computer. This single 80 mm radiator will fit any standard 80 mm fan, these are useful if exhaust openings, or places where only a single fan can fit. This will use a single 80 mm fan.
Dual 80 mm (160 mm) Radiator:
Notice that this radiator it is a dual 80 mm (160 mm) radiator. This radiator includes the standard female (G 1/4" fittings) and the tank on the opposite site. This radiator will use two 80 mm fans to move cold air throughout your computer.
92 mm Radiator (Single):
This is a single 92 mm radiator, which will fit any standard 92 mm fan, these are useful if exhaust openings, or places where only a single fan can fit. This is a 92 mm (Single bay) radiator, which has the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This radiator uses a standard single 92 mm fan.
Dual 92 mm (184 mm) Radiator:
This is a dual 92 mm (184 mm) radiator, which will use two 92 mm fans. Also it comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings.
120 mm Radiators (Single):
This is a single 120 mm radiator, which will fit any standard 120 mm fan, these are useful if exhaust openings, or places where only a single fan can fit. This is a single 120 mm radiator, which has the standard female G 1/4" fittings.
Dual 120 mm (240 mm) Radiator:
This is a dual 120 mm (240 mm) radiator, which will use two standard 120 mm fans. Also this radiator has standard female G 1/4" fittings.
140 mm (Single) Radiator:
This is a single 140 mm radiator, which will fit any standard 140 mm fan, these are useful if exhaust openings, or places where only a single fan can fit. Comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings.
Dual 140 mm (280 mm) Radiator:
This is a dual 140 mm (280 mm) radiator, and this will use two 140 mm fans to move cold air throughout your computer. This radiator comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings.
180 mm (Single) Radiator:
This is a single 180 mm, like the previous ones, this one will use one standard 180 mm fan, which will move cold air throughout your computer system. This radiator comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings. Notice that this one comes with four G 1/4" threads, meaning that since it is different style then the ones we previously talked about, we now have 4 options of how to run the 2 or 4 adapters depending. The first way is you could have 4 fittings and have 2 for the intake of water, and 2 for the leaving water (which would be the best), the second would be to have one intake and one out-take and leave the screws in the other two. Either way this one offers more customization then the previous versions we have talked about so far.
Dual 180 mm (360 mm) Radiator:
This is a dual 180 mm (360 mm), like the previous ones, this one will use two standard 180 mm fans, which will move cold air throughout your computer system. This radiator comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings. Notice that this one comes with four G 1/4" threads, meaning that since it is different style then the ones we previously talked about, we now have 4 options of how to run the 2 or 4 adapters depending. The first way is you could have 4 fittings and have 2 for the intake of water, and 2 for the leaving water (which would be the best), the second would be to have one intake and one out-take and leave the screws in the other two. Either way this one offers more customization then the previous versions we have talked about so far.
200 mm (Single) Radiator:
This is a single 200 mm, like the previous ones, this one will use one standard 200 mm fan, which will move cold air throughout your computer system. This radiator comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings. Notice that this one comes with four G 1/4" threads, meaning that since it is different style then the ones we previously talked about. The only way to use this radiator is to have 4 fittings and have 2 for the intake of water, and 2 for the leaving water.
Dual 200 mm (400 mm) Radiator:
This is a dual 200 mm (400 mm), like the previous ones, this one will use two standard 200 mm fans, which will move cold air throughout your computer system. This radiator comes with standard G 1/4" female fittings. Notice that this one comes with four G 1/4" threads, meaning that since it is different style then the ones we previously talked about. The only way to use this radiator is to have 4 fittings and have 2 for the intake of water, and 2 for the leaving water.
More Extreme Versions of Radiators:
These in the next section are going to be the more extreme versions of radiators, which aren't going to usually be used by people that do normal computing, but rather by computer and over-clocking enthusiasts, and extreme modding of the computer case. Most of these radiators will not fit inside a normal Mid-tower case, some may fit inside of a full tower case however. If you have a case that was designed for water cooling however it might fight.
***Make sure you always measure the dimensions of your case before ever doing a single purchase***
Triple 120 mm (360 mm) Radiator:
The is a triple 120 mm (360 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use three 120 mm fans.
Quadruple 120 mm (480 mm) Radiator:
The is a quadruple 120 mm (480 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use four 120 mm fans.
Triple 140 mm (420 mm) Radiator:
The is a triple 120 mm (420 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use three 140 mm fans.
Quadruple 140 mm (560 mm) Radiator:
The is a quadruple 140 mm (560 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use four 140 mm fans.
840 mm (6 x 120 mm) Radiator:
The is a 840 mm (6 - 120 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use six 140 mm fans.
Triple 180 mm (540 mm) Radiator:
The is a triple 180 mm (540 mm) radiator, which comes with the standard female G 1/4" fittings. This particular radiator will use three 180 mm fans.
***This is only the first part of learning a water cooling system, the following is list of what would be recommended to build a custom water cooling loop:
1. Radiator
2. Pump
3. Reservoir
4. Tubing
5. CPU block
6. Fittings
7. Funnel (Recommended)
8. Coolant Fluid
Optional Things:
1. GPU Block
2. RAM Cooler Black
3. North Bridge Water Block
4. South Bridge Water Block
5. Hard drive Water Block
6. Anti-kink coils
7. Anti-leak Sensors
8. Display 5.25 Inch Front Panel Monitor
9. Voltage Water Block
These is a basic list, there is a ton more out there but that is a basic understanding, most of this can be accomplished (bear minimum) would be around 400 to 700 dollars, with the most expensive being, the bottom of your wallet. I hope this guide helps, and i will be doing a guide for each of the following as well in time:
1. Radiator (All ready done)
2. Pump/Reservoir/Tubing
3. Water blocks
4. Fittings
Thanks.
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