Bought this XSPC 280 radiator off Amazon that was supposedly a "New open box return"
Nothing suspect when I received it, no outwardly signs of use. I was in a rush to install and paid the iron.....well, brass price. Threw some distilled water, XSCP UV Green (no solids), with a bit of Sys-Prep which I suspect began flushing all the trash out. Noticing my inline filter, BitsPower (pre-cpu), was getting clogged up and after changing the screens several times, I knew the block HAD to have collected trash. I decided to let it run its course, changing out the filter screens until they were mostly clear for a while, as to not have to take the block out and apart several times...the damage was already done and my config is a bit of a pain to get the rads in and out as I have a fetish for putting things where they don't belong. I have a 280 + 240 with Swiftech pump, Optimus Waterblock, Kryonaut, Delid, Conductonaut, so it was still able to manage temps fine on the 8086k at 5.2Ghz (0AVX) with 1.375v . Push pull config on everything, even if it "doesn't fit".
After Cleaning, flow indicator that was barely crawling along idle is spinning significantly faster, a very obvious sign of the flow improvement. (Sorry I don't have actual RPM numbers of the indicator)
Either way, here is what the jet plate looked like. After swapping the plate, taking the rad out and cleaning it, here is what it was worth temp wise. Same fan/pump speeds (Gigabyte SIV auto, "Standard" setting), same fluid. Deepcool Earlkase with front panel mod to allow more airflow.
15Min RealBench Stress Test Temperature Differences:
(Average) / (Peak)
Package : (-3.4*C) / -( 3.0*C )
Core 1 : (-3.2*C) / -(3.0*C)
Core 2 : (-3.6*C) / (-4.0*C)
Core 3 : (-2.4*C) / (-4.0*C)
Core 4 : (-3.2*C) / (-3.0*C)
Core 5 : (-3.6*C) / (-2.0*C)
Core 6 : (-2.9*C) / (-3.0*C)
-------------------------------------
Overall : (-3.15*C) / (-3.17*C)