I was looking around and i saw that they make smaller rads to fit 80mm fans


would it be any better or would it hurt if i would get 2 80mm rads (2 seprate ones) and flow fliud into the one and then into the other? of course i would have a have a pump good enough to do that but what do you guys think

thanks for your time

You're usually better off using a single large radiator if you can. For instance a single Black Ice Extreme will outperform two Black Ice Micros.

But two small rads, like the Black Ice Micro is a viable alternative if you don't want to cut up your case. And want better performance than you would get with a single small radiator.

seems fine to me. More copper=more dissipation. Still better with one 120mm. Are you just cooling a processor or more?

Where would you fit, 2 micros? that seems like more room than a single 120, concidering inlet/outlet fittings for 2, plus the plumbing to me.

well i wanted to use 2 micros with 2 vantec tornado fans i guess in the back of a case i would fit them


thats what i thought too more copper more dissipation of heat i am only going to be cooling 1 cpu and i thought that it would go into one rad and then flow into the next but as i thought about it more that would not make it any cooler becasue its only going to get as cool as room temp.. well yet again what do you guys think

If you can afford it, and you concider going external.
Get yourself a BIX-2 120mm x 2. It has gotten me closer to ambient than anything else I've tried. My coolant is never(read-nope/nada/not even once)been over 2degrees from ambient,more like 1C.w/4 x 120mm sunnons. Ive tried all the heatercore sizes popular here.
If you have to go internal, go horizontal with the largest core you can fit...and the largest hassle for service.

Naw zennzzo, he should get a heater core Rewind, just go to autozone and tell them you want a heater core for a 1983 Ford F-250. It's $31.99. Trouble is you will have to fit a larger diameter hose over the ends (they are 5/8") and then fit your existing hose over that. I know it's a bitch but heh if I can do it w/o leaks....

I don't know what kind of case you have, but if you were planning on putting both micros on existing rear 80 mm fans like in a Antec style case. It won't work. Zennzzo is correct, the inlet-outlets are much larger than the fans themselves.

The micros would be a good choice for decent cooling, internal, without cutting a case or losing drive space. Many cases could take one low in front. And another on the rear exhaust without modifying the case much if at all.

If modifying the case isn't a problem. Just go with a single larger radiator. A BIX, a heater core or a monster like Zennzzoo's B2 are all more than sufficient to cool a single cpu.

But you're basic assumption is correct, eventually you'll hit a point of diminishing returns. With 2 micros, the performance might get close to twice as good as a single micro. With 2 BIX's performance might be 20% better than a single BIX. With a huge B2 with 4 fans in a push-pull config, adding a second one would make virtually no difference. The numbers of course aren't accurate, but you get my point.

If you plan to go external and just want good performance, a big Caprice heater core is a good choice on a budget. Couple of fans on both sides with a shroud and you'll get very close to that theoretical maximum point of diminishing returns.

But something like the BIX 2 will outperform a heater core of the same size simply because it's made entirely of copper. Where as heater cores are generally aluminum or a mix of copper and brass. Outside of silver and gold, nothing conducts heat anywhere near as well as copper.

My heater core is all copper. The outside, however hase been tinned with lead. (Wonder why?) It's 6" by 9"