HPE-30 / 360 with Phanteks T30-120 or HPE-45 / 360 with Noctua NF-A12x25 ?

[UseThe4s]

Hello, I want to upgrade radiator/fan combo on my GPU only water loop for my Saphire RX6900XT Toxic Extreme. Since I am limited with space, I am able to instal only one of the following combos:

a) HPE-30, 360 with 3x Phanteks T30-120 fans
or
b) HPE-45, 360 with 3x Noctua NF-A12x25 fans

Important thing is that I WILL NOT run the fans over around 1500 rpm because of noise. The Phanteks fans can push a bit more air at the same noise level but can be only installed on 30mm radiator. Can you please recommend which of the two combos will have better cooling capabilities? Thank you in advance for any comments or recommendations.

Jiri

 

[Eddy]

Simple... HPE-30 with the Phanteks fans.

I'll just save myself a long and broad explanation here. That would only cause confusion.
Put simply, if you are aiming for lower fan speeds, a thin radiator is always better if the fans are positioned on one side. If you want to install Push&Pull, then I would go for the HPE-45.

 

[UseThe4s]

Thank you Eddy, that information is very helpful. As I have a limited space in the case, I am not able to put fans on both sides at the upper part of the radiator. Would it be beneficial for this cooling / noise scenario if I used the HPE-45 and put 3 fans on the push side and 2 fans on the pull side running them on all on the same rpm? Versus the HPE-30 plus 3x push fans?

 

[Eddy]

Don't go too crazy here. The temperature differences won't be huge. In the worst case scenario, we are talking about a 1-3° difference in water temperature. I would simply recommend a radiator and a fan on one side. The constellation with 3 fans on one side and two fans on the other looks pretty strange. Is that what you want? Because of minimal differences in performance? You need to know that in the end. But yes, it would help a bit if you did it this way. But in the end I would go for the way that is simpler and more visually appealing for me and not think too much about it.

I am more in tune with the motto..... Simple and straightforward is always better than too complicated and thinking around too many corners.

 

[UseThe4s]

Thank you for your advice. I would like to drop a hot spot temperature of my GPU as much as possible. I even ordered some TOTL thermal pads to do the job (Honeywell HT10000, Honeywell PTM7950 and LAIRD Tflex HD90000). Now with my RX6900XT and in about a year on a 4090. My strong OCD tells me that every degree counts here. Im not a hardcore overclocker in any case. Still I would like to get the most from my GPU with the fans not exceeding 1200 rpm ideally. What do you think?

 

[Eddy]

The hot spot temperatures are more likely to be reduced if the cooler is mounted optimally and the GPU does not have too high tolerances. Whether the water temperature is 1-3° higher or lower hardly plays a role here either. By mounting the cooler correctly.... sometimes you need 2-3 attempts to achieve optimum temperatures. I would also tighten the screws clockwise and not crosswise as you normally do.

If you are not overclocking, then the hot spot temperatures hardly play a role. This is because they will always be in the low green range, provided the cooler is fitted correctly. The AMD cards of the 7XXX series are very problematic here, as there are also incredible tolerances in the GPU heights. Nvidia also has its problems here. For example, my 4080 gets warmer than my wife's 4090. The hotspot temperatures also vary from card to card. We had enough 4090 cards here to test. The fluctuations are a good 10°C, no matter what you do. But in the end it was never a problem.

Long story... in short... you can do everything as you say. But my personal opinion remains that you're driving yourself too crazy.

 

[UseThe4s]

yes, your last point sums it up pretty nicely and most of all accurately. Thank you for all the information and your advice! My last question just to calm down my OCD - do I get it right that with the push only situation and in the range of about 1200 rpm the HPE-45 will perform worse than the HPE-30? Or it will perform exactly the same but not better, maybe very slightly better (in that case I could go with Silent Wings 4 Pro fans that are 25 mm thick but very close to T30 on performance)?

 

[Eddy]

The question about the radiator is difficult to answer. When it comes to working with slowly rotating fans, the HPE30 is better in every respect as the fans can push the air through better. The thicker the fan, the more pressure it generates. I would rely less on the specifications or test values, as these always only reflect a theoretical value that can deviate slightly in practice. I would always rate the Phanteks with the 30mm as better than the 25mm be quiet fans.
Above a certain speed, the HPE45 is of course better. But I would rather say that it starts from 1200rpm upwards where the HPE45 would perform better. I would rather say from about 1500rpm the HPE45 will perform better, below that the HPE30.
If the last degree of performance is important to you, then I would go for the variant with 5 fans and HPE30. But the more fans, the louder, even if they run at the same speed.

If you had said the fans should run at a maximum of 1000rpm or less, then the choice would be easy with the HPE30. Or if you had said they should run at more than 1500rpm, then clearly the HPE45. And with Push&Pull always the HPE45 if it fits. But so.....

 

[UseThe4s]

OK, I understand. I will go with the HPE-30 plus T30 fans and call it a day... Thank you again for your impeccable help and advice. Looking forward to putting order for my first custom water loop at your shop. With regards, Jiri

 

[Eddy]

We are here to answer questions. Have fun shopping and building. A little tip: get yourself a small funnel and I would always buy an ATX jumper plug for filling. This allows you to start the power supply without the computer. This is better for filling the system. Then you can also let it run for a while to see if anything leaks.

13335 Alphacool Core ATX 24-Pin Überbrückungsstecker

Mit diesem Stecker lassen sich PC-Netzteile auch ohne Mainboard ganz einfach starten.

shop.alphacool.com

 

[UseThe4s]

Good advice, I'll add it to my shopping / wish list... Can I write to this thread regarding some parts related questions or should I contact you somewhere else not to be off topic here?

 

[Eddy]

You can write here. But to be honest, i am not everyday in this forum. Maybe someone else will answer. But during the week someone should always be able to answer.