1. Introduction 2. Test Setup 3. Test Results - Flow 4. Test Results - Thermal 5. Thermal Data Analysis 6. Averaged Performance 7. Performance vs Total Thickness 8. Value 9. Likes and Dislikes 10. Awards 11. View All



So let’s finish up with some awards. Out of principle I hate reviews where everybody gets an award in order not to offend any sponsors. It dilutes all the work the reviewer does to try and weed out the good from the bad. Hopefully sponsors see the value in independent feedback. Let’s start off with reviewing the data and assign some awards based on it.

Best All Round Any Thickness Radiator

EK’s XE 360 dominated the overall standings with it’s great performance in every area. It had features that we love such as extra ports and it had great quality. It even had a good price at $100. The only downside to the XE 360 is that it’s quite thick. At 60mm it’s the one of the thicker radiators and some cases may not fit it.

Best Runner Up – Performance – Hardware Labs SR2

After seeing the performance numbers on the SR2 we were sure it would take the overall win. That is until the XE came along and crushed those dreams. The SR2 is almost as good though and has HardwareLabs legendary quality and finish. It has more ports, but is more expensive though, but the lower FPI means you’ll have to worry less about dust.

Best Slim Radiator – Hardware Labs Nemesis GTS

The slim category again was fiercely competitive. Both the Magicool G2 Slim and the Hardware Labs Nemesis GTS did very well here. The GTS however has the performance edge due to it’s greater performance at 750RPM. The finish and quality are excellent, the only thing lacking is the flow restriction. If the design could be altered to lower the restriction without affecting performance then this clearly would be the best slim radiator.

Best Value

Value is a category that of course favors the slimmer radiators that use less material. At $50 the Magicool G2 Slim is the cheapest radiator in the roundup. As a slim radiator it’s performance is not that great compared to the thicker designs but it’s high quality and decent performance for the size means that this is still really good value. After all you could buy two of these for the price of some of the other radiators, and two of these radiators would perform better than one single thicker and more expensive alternative.

Summary

Overall there were not really any “bad” radiators. Even the SE360 which scored the lowest overall score still competes well based on being the slimmest smallest radiator out there. The reader must realize that therefore so much of the choice depends on more factors than one simple performance metric and make their decision appropriately. It will really help you to decide what budget, fan speed, and what case you’re using first as that will rule out a lot of the options. Plus as mentioned at the start – we have more radiators to still go through and we will be updating the results as we learn more. For now though congratulations to EK on being the overall winner with their great all-rounder the XE 360! If you haven’t checked out the individual reviews yet, then here are the links:

Alphacool Monsta 360 Radiator

Alphacool ST30 360 Radiator

Alphacool UT60 360 Radiator

Alphacool XT45 360 Radiator

AquaComputer Airplex Radical Copper 360 Radiator

AquaComputer AMS 360 Radiator

Bitspower Leviathan Slim 360 Radiator

Coolgate CG 360 Radiator

Coolgate G2 360 Radiator

EK PE 360 Radiator

EK SE 360 Radiator

EK XTX 360 Radiator

EK XE 360 Radiator

Hardware Labs Alpha Extreme III 360 Radiator

Hardware Labs Black Ice GTX 360 Radiator

Hardware Labs Nemesis GTS 360 Radiator

Hardware Labs Nemesis GTS 360 X-Flow Radiator

Hardware Labs Nemesis GTX 360 Radiator

Hardware Labs SR-1 360 Radiator

Hardware Labs SR2 360 Radiator

Koolance HX-360XC 360 Radiator

Koolance HX-CU1020V

Magicool G2 Slim 360 Radiator

Mayhem’s Havoc 360 Radiator

Phobya G-Changer HPC 360 Radiator

Phobya G-Changer V2 Full Copper 360 Radiator

Swiftech MCR320-XP Radiator

Swiftech MCR320-QPK Radiator

Watercool HTSF2 3×120 LT 360 Radiator

XSPC AX360 Radiator

XSPC EX 360 Radiator

XSPC RX v2 360 Radiator

XSPC RX v3 360 Radiator