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MO-RA3

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Revision as of 07:51, 27 July 2022 by Dank (talk | contribs)

The MO-RA3 family of external radiators is a product of Germany's Watercool. It is available in 360mm and 420mm models. The former natively supports nine 120mm fans; the latter natively supports nine 140mm fans (18 on the Pro, which supports fans mounted on both front and back).

The radiator has no power-consuming elements itself. It provides 6 G¼ ports, of which 4 come plugged. There are three on the bottom, and three on the top.

Power

An Arctic P-14 PWM PST RGB 140mm fan requires a maximum of 0.17A for the fan and 0.20A for the LEDs (all at 12V, so 2.04W and 2.4W respectively, 2.44W total). They provide daisy chaining:

P-14s Fan watts LED watts Total
3 6.12 7.2 13.32
6 12.24 14.4 16.64
9 18.36 21.6 39.96
18 36.72 43.2 79.92

The Noctua NF-A14 is 0.13A (fan only), 1.56W. There is no daisy chaining.

NF-A14s Fan watts
3 4.68
6 9.36
9 14.04
18 28.08

Pairing 9x P-14s on the front with 9x NF-A14s on the back yields a maximum 54W of 12V power draw, exactly 4.5A. Coincidentally, this is the exact amount of 12V power provided by the 3 1.5A 12V pins of a SATA power connector.

It would be possible to locally provide power via a 12V AC adapter. 12V/5A adapters can be easily acquired, and would be sufficient to deliver the necessary 54W (5A at 12V is 60W). But such an adapter is likely to be significantly less efficient than a high-grade PSU. In my workstation, I've got an EVGA Supernova T2 Titanium power supply, which will be far more efficient than any dinky AC adapter.

Wiring

Desiring to source the most efficient power possible, I'll run a lengthy PCIe 6-pin cable out the back of my machine, capable of carrying at least 75W on its three 12V pins (6.24A). I'll then use a trivial adapter to take that to SATA or Molex, and thus be able to power nine PF-14s on the front, and nine NF-A14s on the back. I do not intend to put any pumps on the MO-RA3, as I already have three D5s in my workstation. My longest PCIe cables are 75cm long, with a 30cm PCIe-to-Molex adapter.