EK CoolStream XE360 vs XSPC EX420 Radiator

[MikeyBot]

Hi everyone!

 

I just wanted to say that I have been watching Linus for quite some time now.  This is my first time posting here.

 

Anyways, I currently am running a custom loop with a Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 radiator.  I am thinking of upgrading it and am not sure which of these two radiators are better.  (Sizing is not an issue nor are the fans.)  I am just wondering what will perform better.

 

I've done a bit of research (googling) and found that generally speaking, the larger the radiators surface area, the better.  Thickness comes second.  I've also read that the EK CoolStream XE360 radiators is one of the top performing radiators out there at the moment.  Taking this into account, I am wondering if the 360mm EK CoolStream XE360 (60mm thickness) will outperform the 420mm XSPC EX420 radiator (36mm thickness)?

 

Which would perform better?

 

Thanks in Advanced! [:

[Ryoku]

Hi everyone!

 

I just wanted to say that I have been watching Linus for quite some time now.  This is my first time posting here.

 

Anyways, I currently am running a custom loop with a Alphacool NexXxoS ST30 radiator.  I am thinking of upgrading it and am not sure which of these two radiators are better.  (Sizing is not an issue nor are the fans.)  I am just wondering what will perform better.

 

I've done a bit of research (googling) and found that generally speaking, the larger the radiators surface area, the better.  Thickness comes second.  I've also read that the EK CoolStream XE360 radiators is one of the top performing radiators out there at the moment.  Taking this into account, I am wondering if the 360mm EK CoolStream XE360 will outperform the 420mm XSPC EX420 radiator?

 

Which would perform better?

 

Thanks in Advanced! [:

 

You probably won't see much of an improvement either way, you'd get a couple degrees max, is that worth spending $70-100 on?  Especially when you have a perfectly good alphacool rad.  Hard to say though, the xspc has more surface area but the ek rad is thicker,  Thing to note about the EK rad is it is actually more like 45-50mm thick it has quite a lot of wasted space with its housing (it is a good rad though).

[MikeyBot]

You probably won't see much of an improvement either way, you'd get a couple degrees max, is that worth spending $70-100 on?  Especially when you have a perfectly good alphacool rad.  Hard to say though, the xspc has more surface area but the ek rad is thicker,  Thing to note about the EK rad is it is actually more like 45-50mm thick it has quite a lot of wasted space with its housing (it is a good rad though).

 

Hi Ryoku,

 

Thanks for the quick reply.  The alphacool rad I currently have is a 240mm (should've mentioned earlier).  I also started noticing that it is developing some kind of rust on the fins, which is strange since the outside of the fins have never touched water.  The inside is fine, no rust or corrosion.  I will also be upgrading my fans.  Right now I have two Noctua NF-F12's in push configuration.  They have a static pressure of 2.61 mmH2O.  I will be upgrading them to either the Noctua NF-F12 Industrial 3000PWM (7.63 mmH2O) or the Noctua NF-A14 Industrial 3000PWM (10.52 mmH2O).

 

Given this information, would you say that the 420mm rad (36mm thickness) with the NF-A14's would cool better than the 360mm rad (~60mm thickness) with the NF-F12's?  Vice Versa? Or unnoticeable difference?

 

Also, I live in SoCal and ambient temps are pretty hot, especially in the summer.  I just want to keep temps as low as possible,  Also, I might expand my loop to my GPU too.

 

Thanks!

[Ryoku]

Hi Ryoku,

 

Thanks for the quick reply.  The alphacool rad I currently have is a 240mm (should've mentioned earlier).  I also started noticing that it is developing some kind of rust on the fins, which is strange since the outside of the fins have never touched water.  The inside is fine, no rust or corrosion.  I will also be upgrading my fans.  Right now I have two Noctua NF-F12's in push configuration.  They have a static pressure of 2.61 mmH2O.  I will be upgrading them to either the Noctua NF-F12 Industrial 3000PWM (7.63 mmH2O) or the Noctua NF-A14 Industrial 3000PWM (10.52 mmH2O).

 

Given this information, would you say that the 420mm rad (36mm thickness) with the NF-A14's would cool better than the 360mm rad (~60mm thickness) with the NF-F12's?  Vice Versa? Or unnoticeable difference?

 

Also, I live in SoCal and ambient temps are pretty hot, especially in the summer.  I just want to keep temps as low as possible,  Also, I might expand my loop to my GPU too.

 

Thanks!

 

I wouldn't bother with the noctua Industrial's unless you want black noctua's, even noctua's are loud when you run them at 2000-3000 rpm. so i'd suggest just sticking with regular ones unless you want them in black and don't mind paying the extra $10 per fan (and then obviously set your fan curve to low settings).  Another thing to note about the noctua industrial fans is they can't run at as low of a rpm as the normal nf-f12's (Regular NF-F12 Min speed is 300rpm, industrial 2000 is 450 rpm, and industrial 3000 is 750 rpm).That's being said I don't know I've never used either rad or the NF-A14's so I can't comment on their performance, but from what I've read i'd go with the EK rad. I hear good things about Fractal Venturi 140mm fans and the EK vardar's in 140mm so they are an option as well.

[Deli]

Standard NF-F12 and PPC versions only different in motor(speed) and colour. They produce the same noise, airflow and static pressure at the same rpm. So unless want to go above 1,500rpm and bear the noise, you won't see any performance gain. I use the PPC version just for the colour. I don'y let them spin higher than 1,150rpm. Also note. The PPC version does not work with Noctua's LNA. 

 

The NF-A14 is quite a general purpose fan. It has both good static pressure and airflow. But above 1,000rpm, the noise of the fan increase dramatically.