The Common Misconception About Water Cooling and Radiators

A common misconception about water cooling is that it produces a completely dead silent system. However, this isn't always the case. While a well-designed water cooling system can indeed be quiet, it requires careful consideration of several factors, including fan speed, radiator size, and design.

When it comes to radiators, there's a common myth that higher fan per inch (FPI) density means greater cooling performance. However, this isn't entirely accurate. FPI density is not a linear measure of cooling capacity, but rather a reflection of the radiator's design and construction. In reality, increasing FPI density beyond a certain point can actually lead to reduced cooling performance due to the limitations imposed by physics.

Split fin designs are often touted as being more efficient than traditional fin designs, but this isn't entirely accurate. While split fins do offer some advantages, such as increased durability and reduced fragility, they're not necessarily more effective at dissipating heat. In fact, the structural rigidity provided by core rows and fins can actually limit cooling performance. Radiator manufacturers often compromise on FPI density to accommodate these design considerations.

Therefore, the best approach is to focus on finding a radiator that fits your specific needs and case constraints, rather than getting caught up in FPI density debates. A larger radiator with more surface area will generally provide better cooling performance, even at lower fan speeds. This can lead to significant improvements in system noise levels and overall quiet operation.

One key factor to keep in mind when selecting a radiator is the impact of dust accumulation on cooling performance. Radiators with higher FPI density are more prone to dust buildup, which can significantly reduce their effectiveness over time. As such, it's essential to maintain your radiator regularly to ensure optimal performance.

Another important consideration is fan speed and configuration. By carefully designing your fan setup, you can create a quiet and efficient cooling system that meets your specific needs. This may involve running multiple smaller fans rather than a single larger fan, or using a combination of high- and low-speed fans to achieve the desired noise level.

In my own experience with water cooling, I've found that a well-designed radiator setup can be incredibly effective at achieving quiet operation. By carefully selecting radiators with the right FPI density and design, combined with thoughtful fan configuration and maintenance, it's possible to create a system that is not only efficient but also remarkably quiet.

Ultimately, the key to successful water cooling lies in understanding the complexities of radiator design and fan configuration. By taking the time to research and carefully select the right components for your specific needs, you can create a system that meets your performance requirements while minimizing noise levels. With the right approach, it's possible to build a custom loop that is not only effective but also incredibly quiet – making it perfect for applications where noise reduction is paramount.

The Importance of Radiator Selection

When it comes to selecting a radiator, there are several factors to consider beyond just FPI density. While FPI density can provide some insights into a radiator's cooling performance, it's not the only factor at play. In fact, many radiator manufacturers sacrifice FPI density in favor of other design considerations that prioritize durability and structural integrity.

One key consideration is the core rows and fins used in the radiator design. These components work together to create a robust and efficient heat-exchange mechanism, but they can also limit cooling performance if not designed correctly. Radiators with split fin designs, for example, may be more prone to dust buildup due to their increased surface area.

Despite these limitations, I still highly recommend considering split fin radiators in your selection process. The structural rigidity provided by core rows and fins can offer several benefits, including improved durability and reduced fragility. While this may not directly impact cooling performance, it can lead to a longer lifespan for the radiator and reduce maintenance needs.

When selecting a radiator, always prioritize finding one that fits your specific case constraints and needs. This may involve considering factors such as space availability, fan compatibility, and overall design aesthetics. By taking the time to carefully evaluate different options and choose the right radiator for your application, you can create an efficient and effective cooling system that meets your performance requirements.

The Role of FPI Density in Radiator Design

FPI density is often touted as a key factor in determining a radiator's cooling capacity, but this isn't entirely accurate. While higher FPI density can certainly provide some benefits, such as increased surface area and reduced thermal resistance, it's not the only factor at play.

In reality, FPI density is more of an indicator of a radiator's design philosophy than its actual cooling performance. Radiator manufacturers often compromise on FPI density in favor of other design considerations that prioritize durability and structural integrity. For example, split fin designs may be used to reduce fragility and increase longevity, even if they don't provide the same level of cooling performance as traditional fin designs.

When it comes to understanding FPI density, it's essential to recognize that it's not a linear measure of cooling capacity. In fact, increasing FPI density beyond a certain point can actually lead to reduced cooling performance due to the limitations imposed by physics. This is because higher FPI densities often require thicker tubes and more complex heat-exchange mechanisms, which can increase thermal resistance and reduce overall efficiency.

Ultimately, the best approach is to focus on finding a radiator that fits your specific needs and case constraints, rather than getting caught up in FPI density debates. By carefully evaluating different options and choosing the right radiator for your application, you can create an efficient and effective cooling system that meets your performance requirements.

The Importance of Fan Speed and Configuration

Fan speed and configuration play a critical role in determining the overall noise level of your water cooling system. By carefully designing your fan setup, you can create a quiet and efficient cooling system that meets your specific needs.

One key consideration is the type of fans used in your system. High-velocity fans may provide better airflow rates, but they often come at the cost of increased noise levels. On the other hand, lower-speed fans may be quieter, but they may also struggle to maintain adequate airflow rates. By carefully selecting a fan configuration that balances airflow rates and noise levels, you can create a system that meets your performance requirements while minimizing noise.

Another important factor is the number of fans used in your system. Running multiple smaller fans rather than a single larger fan can provide several benefits, including improved cooling performance and reduced noise levels. This approach allows you to create a more complex and nuanced fan configuration that takes into account the specific needs of your application.

In my own experience with water cooling, I've found that careful fan design is essential for creating a quiet and efficient system. By carefully selecting fans and configuring them in a way that balances airflow rates and noise levels, it's possible to create a system that meets performance requirements while minimizing noise levels.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey what's going on everybody js2 sense here and we're going to talk today about a topic that I've touched on quite a bit in the past but I've never actually done a dedicated video to it and I think that it deserves one because when it comes to selecting the components for your water cooling Loop each individual component has its own set of perimeters that can make things much more complicated as it is for instance if you wanted a 360 mm radiator you're kind of like okay cool I got 360 mm worth of space I can deal with it got three fan slots but then you got to start looking at the thickness of the radiator and then and more importantly the fpi in the radiator so what the heck does fpi mean and how do you accommodate that and work it into your systems well let's go and talk about that today whether you're looking for a pump reservoir custom GPU block or a complete Loop in a box Alpha Cool's wide range of products can make your next water cooling Adventure an easy one click the link in the description for more details so in my hands right here I have two pretty similar respect radiators in that they are both 240 mm uh radiators which means you can put two 120 mm fans on either side or both sides if you want they both are 30 mm thick uh which means on the surface they're going to seem very very similar in cooling capacity they've also both got 12 rows of coolant flow going on in here so what makes these two radiators so different well it really comes down to the fpi or the fins per inch now radiators uh have one job and one job only that is to absorb the heat out of the coolant moving through those rows and moving that heat into the atmosphere or exchanging that heat uh it's happening through the movement of water the fins and the rows are absorbing that heat and then the fans are pushing air through there transferring that heat from the water to the air and then out to wherever the cooling situation is in your room cuz remember that heat leaves the case and goes into the room if you don't have room ventilation then your room's just going to get hotter and hotter and hotter I think you guys have noticed that but these two radiators are also very different in the fact that they have two different numbers of fpi as well as different types of fins so that's what we're going to focus on today now the alpha cool nexos st30 right here uh is an 8 fpi radiator now what that means is that in one inch of space per row there are going to be eight fins on here that are going to be touching each one of these rows and transferring the heat into the atmosphere like I said now over here on the Nemesis GTS uh a 240 r Ator this is a 16 fpi but not only is it 16 fins it's also a split fin design so what the heck does that freaking mean these are the things that start to confuse a lot of newbie Builders when it comes to water cooling selection because you're really going to be wondering to yourself do I need 8 fpi do I need 16 fpi do I need 20 fpi because I mean there are 20 and greater fpi radiators out there in fact the uh swifttech extreme is a 20 fpi radiator uh so you have to really start asking yourself what do you need in your system what are you cooling now on the surface both of these radiators will perform very very similar if you are cooling things like just a CPU in fact you might see very little if any difference in temperatures whatsoever now the difference at fpi plays is the amount of capacity that the radiator is going to be able to dissipate because what these fins are actually doing is adding surface area to the radiator now not only can you get more surface area for cooling by having a longer rad radiator but also by having more fins crammed into that radiator so what that means is this Nemesis GTS with it 16 fpi split fin design is going to be able to handle a greater load generally than an 8 fpi standards fin uh would be right here with the nexos st30 now you can kind of see too as I hold them up right here in front of the monitor how easy it is to see through this radiator you can see just how wide those fins are if I hold the GTS up here you're still going to be able ble to see through it but you notice how you can't really see quite as much through there you can kind of get an idea of just how close together those FS are now there's going to be trade-offs to this that means if you're running smaller cases you can run fans that have greater fpi and are going to allow you to be able to get better cooling if you're adding multiple components to it if you're just going with a standard CPU and you're not adding a GPU or multiple gpus or even doing a lot of overclocking then you could get away with a low fpi radiator some of them are even advertised at as sub eight fin which means less than eight fins they don't actually say how much you can measure that yourself and account for it pretty easily I've seen some go as low as six uh but you're not going to see much difference because the overall uh amount of TDP that this radiator can dissipate uh is going to be greater than the load being put on it if that makes sense so what that means is regarding of the regardless of the fpi the cooling capacity of both these radiators would be greater than cooling something like your average 6700k or something of that nature because the amount of Watts having to be cooled in heat is less than the radiator can handle now where it starts to matter is when you start to add more and more components like you have here with Skunk Works three of these Titan X's is being cooled by one of these radiators in a 560 mm equivalent which is 4 140 mm fans as well as a 280 version of this and it puts a lot of heat into the room now one of the things that fpi really comes into play is noise not just the amount of cooling that you can do with the radiator and the amount of Headroom that you have in terms of TDP uh but what's going to be happening here is you are going to have more fins which is going to mean you need higher static pressure and higher RPM fans to push the air through it especially if you start to get thicker and thicker radiators lower fpi radiators are perfect for those that are looking for a much quieter solution don't need nearly as much head room for overclocking or water cooling you could easily cool a CPU and a GPU off of a single 360 mm uh you know st30 or even an st45 and have no problems whatsoever it in the Alpha language the St um number is referring to the thickness you've got st30 st45 st60 and st80 are like the monster red which is freaking huge but what that means is I can put a slower speed fan on this radiator and have plenty of air moving through it versus putting a slower speed fan on this radiator and I would have a lot less efficiency in the amount of cooling because having all these fins won't do any good if I'm not properly pushing air through the damn thing so what that means is more noise because as the air is going through these fins there's going to be more turbulence that air which is going to be wanting to go off at an angle if you guys have ever seen the way that uh smoke blows through a fan it doesn't blow straight up it blows out at an angle at the same degree at which the deflection of the fins are against the air so air goes through the fan and comes sideways out of it usually or diagonal but these fins are going to rest straighten that air back out as it goes through the radiator so that's going to create some sort of noise turbulence these right here having a wider set fin means that there's going to be more room in there for that air to make that turn and it's not going to be bouncing as much off the walls of the fins or creating that very choppy air noise that you can get with radiators now that's a common misconception a lot of people have with water cooling is that it is dead silent well it can be it can be dead silent but that means that you're going to have to run as as big of a surface area as you can at the lowest fpi that you can so that you can get away with very slow speed fans but you need a lot of them split fin designs are actually not about getting more fpi in that space it's more about the durability of the fins because they're not as long and they're not going to be as fragile or have as much opportunity to get something down in there and smash them so they're actually a lot stronger uh I would definitely recommend a split fin radiator if you can swing one they tend to be a little bit more expensive they're more expensive to produce and manufacture because there's extra tooling and Manufacturing going in there uh but at the same time I do like the structural rigidity you get with the core the rows and the fins on there but when it comes to cooling you're generally not going to notice a whole lot of a difference between these two still until you start reaching the thermal limits of the radiator so the recommendation is still to always get the biggest radiator that you can fit in terms of number of fans if you've got a case that's got 3120 mm exhaust fans on the top and you can fit the distance you need before you hit the motherboard or the drive cages to fit a 360 up there by all means do it uh same thing with the front of the case if you're putting a front mounted rat on there and you've got room for a 240 or even a 280 do it because having more surface area means like I said you can make it quieter by slowing down the fans and keeping things much more acoustically pleasing if you will that's one of the reasons why you don't really hear Skunk Works in my videos even though I'm sitting right next to it um and not just because I have a have mic but because of the fact that I'm running massive radiator surface area with fans that are only running at 50% so it keeps things nice and quiet not to mention it helps a lot with dust and stuff you're not getting as much forced dust in there um that is one thing to also keep in mind too when it comes to high fpi density um radiators is the fact that there's a smaller space in there which makes it easier for dust to collect so you're going to definitely want to keep these things as clean as possible now one last thing I want to address is I've seen some people refer to fpi as uh kind of a linear number meaning this thing having 16 and this thing Having Eight means this can cool twice as much that's not true whatsoever it's just a different design when it comes to physics and the way that the air and the heat is transferring or exchanging the heat out of the radiator into the air uh it's not a linear curve by any means it tends to taper off quite a bit as fpi increases rather than getting steeper it tends to taper off quite a bit where it's not going to give you that linear 8 fpi is half of 16 it just doesn't work that way anyway guys I hope this video has helped you I know it's more of a just a talking head video I'm still preparing for some builds that I'm going to be doing I'm still dealing with unpacking a lot of stuff and it seems like every time I get the shop arranged how I want it something comes along that makes me have to move things around or take up space and it's just taking me longer to get that going but I hope this video has at least helped you guys understand um one additional stat when it comes to radiators and how to shop when it comes to building your custom Loops again I still highly rely on you guys to help me understand what topic content you guys want to see especially when it comes to the niche topic of water cooling so let me know what you guys want me to do in things like Twitter comments or Facebook messages or just the comments here on this video anyway time to go what radiators are you guys using did I miss something do you think there was something important here I should have mentioned that I neglected to do I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case I neglect to do things all the time gets me in trouble with the wife too the amount of things that I accidentally neglect to do and that's not a sexual joke I guess you could sort of take it that way but it wasn't intended to be that way all right I'm going to get out of here before I put my foot any farther in my mouth and with that thanks for watching guys and I will see you in the next videohey what's going on everybody js2 sense here and we're going to talk today about a topic that I've touched on quite a bit in the past but I've never actually done a dedicated video to it and I think that it deserves one because when it comes to selecting the components for your water cooling Loop each individual component has its own set of perimeters that can make things much more complicated as it is for instance if you wanted a 360 mm radiator you're kind of like okay cool I got 360 mm worth of space I can deal with it got three fan slots but then you got to start looking at the thickness of the radiator and then and more importantly the fpi in the radiator so what the heck does fpi mean and how do you accommodate that and work it into your systems well let's go and talk about that today whether you're looking for a pump reservoir custom GPU block or a complete Loop in a box Alpha Cool's wide range of products can make your next water cooling Adventure an easy one click the link in the description for more details so in my hands right here I have two pretty similar respect radiators in that they are both 240 mm uh radiators which means you can put two 120 mm fans on either side or both sides if you want they both are 30 mm thick uh which means on the surface they're going to seem very very similar in cooling capacity they've also both got 12 rows of coolant flow going on in here so what makes these two radiators so different well it really comes down to the fpi or the fins per inch now radiators uh have one job and one job only that is to absorb the heat out of the coolant moving through those rows and moving that heat into the atmosphere or exchanging that heat uh it's happening through the movement of water the fins and the rows are absorbing that heat and then the fans are pushing air through there transferring that heat from the water to the air and then out to wherever the cooling situation is in your room cuz remember that heat leaves the case and goes into the room if you don't have room ventilation then your room's just going to get hotter and hotter and hotter I think you guys have noticed that but these two radiators are also very different in the fact that they have two different numbers of fpi as well as different types of fins so that's what we're going to focus on today now the alpha cool nexos st30 right here uh is an 8 fpi radiator now what that means is that in one inch of space per row there are going to be eight fins on here that are going to be touching each one of these rows and transferring the heat into the atmosphere like I said now over here on the Nemesis GTS uh a 240 r Ator this is a 16 fpi but not only is it 16 fins it's also a split fin design so what the heck does that freaking mean these are the things that start to confuse a lot of newbie Builders when it comes to water cooling selection because you're really going to be wondering to yourself do I need 8 fpi do I need 16 fpi do I need 20 fpi because I mean there are 20 and greater fpi radiators out there in fact the uh swifttech extreme is a 20 fpi radiator uh so you have to really start asking yourself what do you need in your system what are you cooling now on the surface both of these radiators will perform very very similar if you are cooling things like just a CPU in fact you might see very little if any difference in temperatures whatsoever now the difference at fpi plays is the amount of capacity that the radiator is going to be able to dissipate because what these fins are actually doing is adding surface area to the radiator now not only can you get more surface area for cooling by having a longer rad radiator but also by having more fins crammed into that radiator so what that means is this Nemesis GTS with it 16 fpi split fin design is going to be able to handle a greater load generally than an 8 fpi standards fin uh would be right here with the nexos st30 now you can kind of see too as I hold them up right here in front of the monitor how easy it is to see through this radiator you can see just how wide those fins are if I hold the GTS up here you're still going to be able ble to see through it but you notice how you can't really see quite as much through there you can kind of get an idea of just how close together those FS are now there's going to be trade-offs to this that means if you're running smaller cases you can run fans that have greater fpi and are going to allow you to be able to get better cooling if you're adding multiple components to it if you're just going with a standard CPU and you're not adding a GPU or multiple gpus or even doing a lot of overclocking then you could get away with a low fpi radiator some of them are even advertised at as sub eight fin which means less than eight fins they don't actually say how much you can measure that yourself and account for it pretty easily I've seen some go as low as six uh but you're not going to see much difference because the overall uh amount of TDP that this radiator can dissipate uh is going to be greater than the load being put on it if that makes sense so what that means is regarding of the regardless of the fpi the cooling capacity of both these radiators would be greater than cooling something like your average 6700k or something of that nature because the amount of Watts having to be cooled in heat is less than the radiator can handle now where it starts to matter is when you start to add more and more components like you have here with Skunk Works three of these Titan X's is being cooled by one of these radiators in a 560 mm equivalent which is 4 140 mm fans as well as a 280 version of this and it puts a lot of heat into the room now one of the things that fpi really comes into play is noise not just the amount of cooling that you can do with the radiator and the amount of Headroom that you have in terms of TDP uh but what's going to be happening here is you are going to have more fins which is going to mean you need higher static pressure and higher RPM fans to push the air through it especially if you start to get thicker and thicker radiators lower fpi radiators are perfect for those that are looking for a much quieter solution don't need nearly as much head room for overclocking or water cooling you could easily cool a CPU and a GPU off of a single 360 mm uh you know st30 or even an st45 and have no problems whatsoever it in the Alpha language the St um number is referring to the thickness you've got st30 st45 st60 and st80 are like the monster red which is freaking huge but what that means is I can put a slower speed fan on this radiator and have plenty of air moving through it versus putting a slower speed fan on this radiator and I would have a lot less efficiency in the amount of cooling because having all these fins won't do any good if I'm not properly pushing air through the damn thing so what that means is more noise because as the air is going through these fins there's going to be more turbulence that air which is going to be wanting to go off at an angle if you guys have ever seen the way that uh smoke blows through a fan it doesn't blow straight up it blows out at an angle at the same degree at which the deflection of the fins are against the air so air goes through the fan and comes sideways out of it usually or diagonal but these fins are going to rest straighten that air back out as it goes through the radiator so that's going to create some sort of noise turbulence these right here having a wider set fin means that there's going to be more room in there for that air to make that turn and it's not going to be bouncing as much off the walls of the fins or creating that very choppy air noise that you can get with radiators now that's a common misconception a lot of people have with water cooling is that it is dead silent well it can be it can be dead silent but that means that you're going to have to run as as big of a surface area as you can at the lowest fpi that you can so that you can get away with very slow speed fans but you need a lot of them split fin designs are actually not about getting more fpi in that space it's more about the durability of the fins because they're not as long and they're not going to be as fragile or have as much opportunity to get something down in there and smash them so they're actually a lot stronger uh I would definitely recommend a split fin radiator if you can swing one they tend to be a little bit more expensive they're more expensive to produce and manufacture because there's extra tooling and Manufacturing going in there uh but at the same time I do like the structural rigidity you get with the core the rows and the fins on there but when it comes to cooling you're generally not going to notice a whole lot of a difference between these two still until you start reaching the thermal limits of the radiator so the recommendation is still to always get the biggest radiator that you can fit in terms of number of fans if you've got a case that's got 3120 mm exhaust fans on the top and you can fit the distance you need before you hit the motherboard or the drive cages to fit a 360 up there by all means do it uh same thing with the front of the case if you're putting a front mounted rat on there and you've got room for a 240 or even a 280 do it because having more surface area means like I said you can make it quieter by slowing down the fans and keeping things much more acoustically pleasing if you will that's one of the reasons why you don't really hear Skunk Works in my videos even though I'm sitting right next to it um and not just because I have a have mic but because of the fact that I'm running massive radiator surface area with fans that are only running at 50% so it keeps things nice and quiet not to mention it helps a lot with dust and stuff you're not getting as much forced dust in there um that is one thing to also keep in mind too when it comes to high fpi density um radiators is the fact that there's a smaller space in there which makes it easier for dust to collect so you're going to definitely want to keep these things as clean as possible now one last thing I want to address is I've seen some people refer to fpi as uh kind of a linear number meaning this thing having 16 and this thing Having Eight means this can cool twice as much that's not true whatsoever it's just a different design when it comes to physics and the way that the air and the heat is transferring or exchanging the heat out of the radiator into the air uh it's not a linear curve by any means it tends to taper off quite a bit as fpi increases rather than getting steeper it tends to taper off quite a bit where it's not going to give you that linear 8 fpi is half of 16 it just doesn't work that way anyway guys I hope this video has helped you I know it's more of a just a talking head video I'm still preparing for some builds that I'm going to be doing I'm still dealing with unpacking a lot of stuff and it seems like every time I get the shop arranged how I want it something comes along that makes me have to move things around or take up space and it's just taking me longer to get that going but I hope this video has at least helped you guys understand um one additional stat when it comes to radiators and how to shop when it comes to building your custom Loops again I still highly rely on you guys to help me understand what topic content you guys want to see especially when it comes to the niche topic of water cooling so let me know what you guys want me to do in things like Twitter comments or Facebook messages or just the comments here on this video anyway time to go what radiators are you guys using did I miss something do you think there was something important here I should have mentioned that I neglected to do I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case I neglect to do things all the time gets me in trouble with the wife too the amount of things that I accidentally neglect to do and that's not a sexual joke I guess you could sort of take it that way but it wasn't intended to be that way all right I'm going to get out of here before I put my foot any farther in my mouth and with that thanks for watching guys and I will see you in the next video\n"