Alphacool or ekwb?

[DominicNikon]

Hello, which radiator would you get, The alphacool full copper XT45 360mm or the ekwb pe 360mm? theoretically shouldn't the alphacool perform better since its 7mm thicker and full copper instead of copper with brass? 

[W-L]

23 minutes ago, DominicNikon said:

Hello, which radiator would you get, The alphacool full copper XT45 360mm or the ekwb pe 360mm? theoretically shouldn't the alphacool perform better since its 7mm thicker and full copper instead of copper with brass? 

It depends on your needed applications but both of those rads are very comparable in performance between each other, In believe the Alpahcool unit has slightly lower FPI but a thicker core/fin stack. If you are looking for maximum potential cooling at very low RPM the Hardware Labs GTS is one I usually recommend for most applications while still being a very thin rad.  

 

https://www.xtremerigs.net/2015/02/11/radiator-round-2015/5/

 

Spoiler

 

Edited June 10, 2020 by W-L

[ShortRouter]

Alphacool is overengineered German quality product. But then again, I'm biased.

[Mick Naughty]

In this case id get the alpha simple for the finish on the rad and the extra ports. Only reason if I had to pick something in the 120mm class.

[DominicNikon]

43 minutes ago, W-L said:

It depends on your needed applications

I'm going to be using the corsair ML120s 4.2mmh20@2400rpm with the radiator and i'm mainly looking for the best thermal performance for benchmarking and overclocking but also something that can be used at lower fan speeds for everyday tasks. If it matters it will be cooling a ryzen 9 3950x 

[W-L]

4 minutes ago, DominicNikon said:

I'm going to be using the corsair ML120s 4.2mmh20@2400rpm with the radiator and i'm mainly looking for the best thermal performance for benchmarking and overclocking but also something that can be used at lower fan speeds for everyday tasks. If it matters it will be cooling a ryzen 9 3950x 

If you have enough rad space for cooling you can leave them at low speed even under full load. I personally never have fans go over 800RPM in my system for noise provided there is 360mm and 240mm rad for a single CPU and GPU providing it enough cooling. 

 

If you want the best potential cooling the Hardware Labs GTS is best at low speeds while still being thinner and having more surface area due to it's double folded fin array. At slightly higher RPM's both the PE and XT45 inch past it a small amount. 

Spoiler

 

[DominicNikon]

15 minutes ago, W-L said:

If you have enough rad space for cooling you can leave them at low speed even under full load. I personally never have fans go over 800RPM in my system for noise provided there is 360mm and 240mm rad for a single CPU and GPU providing it enough cooling. 

 

If you want the best potential cooling the Hardware Labs GTS is best at low speeds while still being thinner and having more surface area due to it's double folded fin array. At slightly higher RPM's both the PE and XT45 inch past it a small amount. 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

I was looking at hardware labs website what are your thoughts on the gtx series that's 50+ mm thick vs the other rads? And I'll be using a push configuration

[W-L]

17 minutes ago, DominicNikon said:

I was looking at hardware labs website what are your thoughts on the gtx series that's 50+ mm thick vs the other rads?

If you have the space the thicker rads are good, they perform better at the higher RPM than low speed applications just quickly comparing the graphs. 

[DominicNikon]

18 minutes ago, W-L said:

If you have the space the thicker rads are good, they perform better at the higher RPM than low speed applications just quickly comparing the graphs. 

Yeah i technically have the space for 80mm thick rads so that's not an issue but i only want to use the ml120s in push.  out of the pe360 xt360 and GTX360 which one would you personally go for? I would like to order it as soon as possible but i cant make up my mind lol .

I'll do a hardware labs GTS480 in the side of my case for the slim rad (for gpu) 

[W-L]

17 minutes ago, DominicNikon said:

Yeah i technically have the space for 80mm thick rads so that's not an issue but i only want to use the ml120s in push.  out of the pe360 xt360 and GTX360 which one would you personally go for? I would like to order it as soon as possible but i cant make up my mind lol .

I'll do a hardware labs GTS480 in the side of my case for the slim rad (for gpu) 

In your application the GTX360 if you plan to run higher RPM's, I personally don't like running fans faster than 1000 RPM for dead silence so it would not be best suited for that.

 

If you want a comparable rad to the ~60mm thick GTX would be the SR2 which has a slightly lower FPI providing less resistance for low rpm fans. Also if you are having a 480mm rad also your best to combine both rads in a single loop than separate GPU and CPU unless for aesthetic purposes. 

[DominicNikon]

44 minutes ago, W-L said:

In your application the GTX360 if you plan to run higher RPM's

Would you be able to run fans at a lower rpm while like on the desktop?

44 minutes ago, W-L said:

If you want a comparable rad to the ~60mm thick GTX would be the SR2 which has a slightly lower FPI providing less resistance for low rpm fans

How much better would it be? Do the corsair ml120s 4.2mmh20 have enough static pressure do push on both the radiators or would you need push pull?

[Lipe123]

This is a long winded and older video but maybe good info for you. 

 

 

The super thick rad (it looks around 3x thicker than regular) gave up to a 7C better cooling performance under full load.

For me personally I don't really see the benefit unless you have a monster case and have no space issues.

[W-L]

58 minutes ago, DominicNikon said:

Would you be able to run fans at a lower rpm while like on the desktop?

How much better would it be? Do the corsair ml120s 4.2mmh20 have enough static pressure do push on both the radiators or would you need push pull?

You can always run the fans at a lower RPM but it won't be as efficient at the higher RPM for cooling. You can see via the graphs and difference between running singuld push or push/pull setups. 

[DominicNikon]

Just now, W-L said:

You can always run the fans at a lower RPM but it won't be as efficient at the higher RPM for cooling. You can see via the graphs and difference between running singuld push or push/pull setups. 

Ok cool. I've been looking for the sr2 and the gtx360 online and there out of stock everywhere but I did fine a gtr360. Would the alphacool be the best option since I need it sooner and it's a little thicker then the ek?

[W-L]

5 minutes ago, DominicNikon said:

Ok cool. I've been looking for the sr2 and the gtx360 online and there out of stock everywhere but I did fine a gtr360. Would the alphacool be the best option since I need it sooner and it's a little thicker then the ek?

Performance wise they are essentially the same, thickness with such a little difference has almost no performance effect, in theory if they had the same FPI and exact performance that slight increase in thickness would be better. 

[DominicNikon]

8 hours ago, W-L said:

Performance wise they are essentially the same, thickness with such a little difference has almost no performance effect, in theory if they had the same FPI and exact performance that slight increase in thickness would be better. 

Ok, thanks. One last question, what do you think of the hardware labs gtr360? I found one of those in stock but it has higher fin density and says optimized for 1000 rpm fans

[W-L]

6 minutes ago, DominicNikon said:

Ok, thanks. One last question, what do you think of the hardware labs gtr360? I found one of those in stock but it has higher fin density and says optimized for 1000 rpm fans

The higher FPI will give it more cooling potential as long as you run it the fans at a higher RPM or push/pull since there will be more restriction. If you plan to run at the 1000RPM range that wouldn't be a bad idea. 

[DominicNikon]

1 hour ago, W-L said:

The higher FPI will give it more cooling potential as long as you run it the fans at a higher RPM or push/pull since there will be more restriction. If you plan to run at the 1000RPM range that wouldn't be a bad idea. 

So running the corsair ml120s @1000+ rpm on a push configuration will give enough static pressure to not have a large pressure drop through the radiator and since the gtr series has the most cooling potential wouldn't it be the best out of all the radiators we talked about and should be the one to purchase? 

[W-L]

13 minutes ago, DominicNikon said:

So running the corsair ml120s @1000+ rpm on a push configuration will give enough static pressure to not have a large pressure drop through the radiator and since the gtr series has the most cooling potential wouldn't it be the best out of all the radiators we talked about and should be the one to purchase? 

It's a static optimized fan so in theory it should all pan out but the only way to really say is to physically test or compare results that we are seeing in the graph. Since there is no GTR listed the assumption is that the cooling potential is higher with more surface area (higher FPI) and compensating for restriction at the high rpm with the trade off being more nose. 

[DominicNikon]

1 hour ago, W-L said:

It's a static optimized fan so in theory it should all pan out but the only way to really say is to physically test or compare results that we are seeing in the graph. Since there is no GTR listed the assumption is that the cooling potential is higher with more surface area (higher FPI) and compensating for restriction at the high rpm with the trade off being more nose. 

Since the Corsair ml120s can do high rpm, guess I'll just get the gtr360 for it's extra surface area 

[DominicNikon]

On 6/10/2020 at 11:10 AM, W-L said:

It's a static optimized fan so in theory it should all pan out but the only way to really say is to physically test or compare results that we are seeing in the graph. Since there is no GTR listed the assumption is that the cooling potential is higher with more surface area (higher FPI) and compensating for restriction at the high rpm with the trade off being more nose. 

I just got delievery of the hardware labs radiator and i was wondering, do you need to like clean out the radiator before use? 

[W-L]

7 minutes ago, DominicNikon said:

I just got delievery of the hardware labs radiator and i was wondering, do you need to like clean out the radiator before use? 

Nice! The hardware labs rads are pretty clean compared to most from factory but I usually use hot tap water to rinse it a few times and do a couple of final wash outs with distilled water to get rid of any minerals from the tap water. 

[DominicNikon]

On 6/15/2020 at 6:14 PM, W-L said:

Nice! The hardware labs rads are pretty clean compared to most from factory but I usually use hot tap water to rinse it a few times and do a couple of final wash outs with distilled water to get rid of any minerals from the tap water. 

I fully filled my radiator with hot tap water twice and fully filled it with distilled water 5 times is that enough for a first time flush?

[W-L]

16 minutes ago, DominicNikon said:

I fully filled my radiator with hot tap water twice and fully filled it with distilled water 5 times is that enough for a first time flush?

I usually recommend to fill it part ways 1/3 to 1/2 and to shake it around to loosen anything that may be inside. Being they are hardware labs rads and come from the factory very clean I don't think you will have an issue with the flushing you've done so far.