What started as a giant build log in the Caselabs TX10-D has become a series of tests and reviews now! This time a test on something most people don't compare- 480 and 560mm radiators- because most of these don't fit in a typical case. But seeing how I can fit ALL 10 rads being tested simultaneously in this one case, I decided to go ahead and check them out. This is going to be a big, continuously updated thread with a lot of pictures (each rad essentially gets a review in here) so I welcome all for the ride.
1) Unboxing and Overview
Let's take a look at the radiators in the arena:
EK-Coolstream PE 480 (Henceforth referred to as EK PE480)
EKWB color coordinates their components so green is radiators, orange is water blocks and so forth.
Inside the outer box (yes, it isn't a sleeve as with their blocks) is another box.
Opening the box we see the bag of screws on top of the radiator unit
Pretty much every radiator (other than the Alphacool Monsta) comes with 4 x number of fans of 30mm and 6mm long screws. So don't expect the fancy arrangement henceforth
EK has chosen to use UNC 6-32 thread size and screws for fan/radiator mounting. To aid in installation, they have provided a small Allen key.
The radiator itself is snugly packed inside a paper sleeve and then in bubble wrap- safe enough to be shipped across the world with no hitches.
The radiator has sharp edges and a clean, minimalist look. The frame itself has a matte finish and is easy to dust off. The unit measured in at 530mm long x 130mm broad x 40mm wide.
Here you can see the mounting holes. If you use the provided screws with a standard 25mm fan or directly mount it to a case/stand then there will be no issues with any radiator. But in case you use your own screws that are too long, then they will pierce the tube channels so be careful and double check the screws before using them.
There are 2 threaded extenders that each accept a male G 1/4" fitting on the radiator and come covered by plastic caps. These are just meant to protect against any dust/contaminants getting in so don't use them as a stop plug.
The core is brass and comes clean from the factory. In fact, as we will see later, all the rads go through a Mayhems Blitz Pro cleaning and the results are documented. The radiator is a dual pass, side to side flow type as with other radiators in this roundup unless specified otherwise.
The fins are uniform across the radiator which is always good to see- no bent or scratched fins in this sample.
Now, let's define a fin (yes, we had to come to that):
Each "/" and "\" is 1 fin each. So in the picture above, there are 16 fins in the enclosed section. This number does not change if you split them up:
Still 16 fins in the enclosed section, just happen to be 16 split fins. So by this terminology that academia and industry typically follows, the EK PE480 has a FPI of 19 and not 38 that they advertize- a true 38 FPI core will be terribly restrictive in terms of air flow. I measured an FPI of 18-19 on average here. Each fin is also ~30 microns in width as measured by a micrometer. While we are measuring, the radiator holds approximately 300 mL of fluid, has 12 flattened tube channels each ~2.19 mm wide. All this will be in a "cheat sheet" later on.
One more feature that the EK PE480 has is a removable core- this makes painting the outer frame a lot easier without having to mask off the core. This is a feature shared by the XSPC AX480 as well and I will demonstrate it in there (slightly easier in that case). As of October 23, 2014 the EK PE480 costs $89.95 in the US.
XSPX AX480 V1
The radiator comes in a nice box again, and has a warning label about using the provided screws and in the right manner.
Inside the box is the bag of screws on top of the radiator.
The screws are UNC 6-32 with a standard Phillips head so no driver comes with this.
The radiator comes protected in bubble wrap.
Here is everything that comes in the box- the radiator and 2 sets of 16 screws each. The trend so far is providing enough fans for push or pull only.
The radiator comes with a built-in gasket if I can call it that. Whether or not it aids in performance will be seen later but it definitely adds to the clean look here in my opinion.
As seen above, it is a similar case as with there being no screw protector (Incidentally, shouldn't these be called tube channel protectors instead?) and longer screws piercing the tube channels. Just use the provided screws properly and no such thing will happen.
The frame has a nice matte finish that is easy to dust off as well. The dimensions were 528mm long x 130mm broad x 40mm wide.
The fins are uniform across the board in consistency.
There are again 2 extenders on the ports that accept any G 1/4" fitting. These extenders come with plastic caps on them to stop physical contamination during storage and transportation.
In order to remove the core for painting the frame, the extenders need to be removed first. I had to use pliers on one of these, so if that's the case then be sure to use a piece of cloth or paper in between so as to not scratch the fittings. Note that disassembly was done after all tests were completed to prevent any possibly installation factors.
Next remove the 4 Torx T10 screws on either side with an appropriate driver (I did it the other way round as seen in the pictures):
The radiator core is help by tape but once the two extenders and one side plate is removed, it should easily slide right out:
Once the frame is ready to go, reverse the steps and assemble it back. XSPC also includes a desk stand to take advantage of this feature. The radiator has 30 micron wide fins at 18-19 FPI, 12 channels 2.2 mm wide, was clean out of the factory and holds 300 mL of fluid. At this point, I contacted both EK and XSPC because these two radiators were very similar in specs. Here is a direct quote from EK:
So if you see similarities in radiators across brands in terms of packaging or otherwise, now you know. The XSPC AX480 V1 costs $114.95 as of October 23, 2014 in the US.
XSPC AX480 V2
XSPC RX480 V3
No confusion about the version here, the RX480 V3 comes in a white box and has the same warning label as before:
Inside is the bag of screws on top of the radiator as well 2 XSPC stop plugs.
These screws are UNC 6-32 with a Phillips head and the stop plugs are nickel plated and low profile.
The radiator itself is packaged in a paper sleeve which is then inside bubble wrap.
The frame has a nice matte finish and the radiator dimensions are 515mm length x 130mm breadth x 56mm width.
The fins are once again very consistent across the board.
There are 4 ports here- two on the top/bottom and two on the side- that come covered in plastic caps. Hence the reason why 2 stop plugs are included. I like having multiple ports to aid in filling, bleeding, draining and also giving options with tube routing so this is a welcome move. One of the 4 ports was slightly cross-threaded and I had to use a G 1/4" tap to get the stop plug to screw in properly.
There are no screw protectors but screws that are longer than what should be used will not piece the channels- they will only bend in some fins with minimal performance effects at best.
The RX480 V3 came in clean out of the factory, holds 500 mL of fluid, has 30 micron wide fins at 13 FPI, 9 tube channels that are 2.1mm wide and costs $122.95 in the US as of October 23, 2014.
XSPC EX560
Alphacool NexXxos Monsta 480 (Henceforth referred to as Alphacool Monsta 480)
In my case the radiator actually had shipped with no accessories in the box other than a few black screws so I had to contact the retailer and get the accessories separately. The actual screws are supposed to be copper to go along with the provided copper stop plugs and logo sticker. But less than 1 month of usage had resulted in discoloring:
Assuming nothing's wrong with your unit, there will be a box with 8 pouches of screws in it. Each pouch will have 4 screws- either 30mm long for mounting a standard 25mm wide fan into the radiator or 35mm long for going through case/gasket->fan->radiator. Based on this, I would believe the manufacturer intends for this radiator to be used in a push-pull fan configuration as opposed to every other radiator in the roundup. The screws are type M3 and have a hex head- this may require the use of a washer if your case fan holes are bigger than the screw head.
There 7 ports on the radiator- 2 each of the top, side and bottom on one end and a single port at the bottom on the other. This again is very handy to fill, bleed, drain a loop and route tubing easily.
There are no logos anywhere and instead you get a few stickers for you to place accordingly once installed so as to have the logo oriented right side up. I like that they give us a choice here! The radiator frame has a glossy finish that picks up stuff easily but can be wiped away as well- not a dealbreaker by any means unless the radiator comes with dings and scratches out of the box:
The radiator dimensions are 522mm length x 125mm breadth x 86mm width. Note that these are not 80mm wide as many believe and can result in an incompatibility if you haven't accounted for the large size.
The fins are pretty inconsistent to be honest with even the FPI having a broad range as we will see soon.
On the plus side, even if you use the 35mm screws by mistake instead of the 30mm long ones, there is a screw protector plate throughout to make sure they hit the plate first and not the tube channels.
On the negative side though, the radiator was quite dirty out of the box- something Alphacool/Phobya really need to address before more and more customers decide to go with other options. The radiator holds 870 mL of fluid, the fins are 25-35 microns in width at an FPI of 8-10, there are 10 channels each of 2mm width and the radiator costs $139.95 in the US as of October 23, 2014.
1) Unboxing and Overview
Let's take a look at the radiators in the arena:
EK-Coolstream PE 480 (Henceforth referred to as EK PE480)
EKWB color coordinates their components so green is radiators, orange is water blocks and so forth.
Inside the outer box (yes, it isn't a sleeve as with their blocks) is another box.
Opening the box we see the bag of screws on top of the radiator unit
Pretty much every radiator (other than the Alphacool Monsta) comes with 4 x number of fans of 30mm and 6mm long screws. So don't expect the fancy arrangement henceforth
EK has chosen to use UNC 6-32 thread size and screws for fan/radiator mounting. To aid in installation, they have provided a small Allen key.
The radiator itself is snugly packed inside a paper sleeve and then in bubble wrap- safe enough to be shipped across the world with no hitches.
The radiator has sharp edges and a clean, minimalist look. The frame itself has a matte finish and is easy to dust off. The unit measured in at 530mm long x 130mm broad x 40mm wide.
Here you can see the mounting holes. If you use the provided screws with a standard 25mm fan or directly mount it to a case/stand then there will be no issues with any radiator. But in case you use your own screws that are too long, then they will pierce the tube channels so be careful and double check the screws before using them.
There are 2 threaded extenders that each accept a male G 1/4" fitting on the radiator and come covered by plastic caps. These are just meant to protect against any dust/contaminants getting in so don't use them as a stop plug.
The core is brass and comes clean from the factory. In fact, as we will see later, all the rads go through a Mayhems Blitz Pro cleaning and the results are documented. The radiator is a dual pass, side to side flow type as with other radiators in this roundup unless specified otherwise.
The fins are uniform across the radiator which is always good to see- no bent or scratched fins in this sample.
Now, let's define a fin (yes, we had to come to that):
Each "/" and "\" is 1 fin each. So in the picture above, there are 16 fins in the enclosed section. This number does not change if you split them up:
Still 16 fins in the enclosed section, just happen to be 16 split fins. So by this terminology that academia and industry typically follows, the EK PE480 has a FPI of 19 and not 38 that they advertize- a true 38 FPI core will be terribly restrictive in terms of air flow. I measured an FPI of 18-19 on average here. Each fin is also ~30 microns in width as measured by a micrometer. While we are measuring, the radiator holds approximately 300 mL of fluid, has 12 flattened tube channels each ~2.19 mm wide. All this will be in a "cheat sheet" later on.
One more feature that the EK PE480 has is a removable core- this makes painting the outer frame a lot easier without having to mask off the core. This is a feature shared by the XSPC AX480 as well and I will demonstrate it in there (slightly easier in that case). As of October 23, 2014 the EK PE480 costs $89.95 in the US.
XSPX AX480 V1
The radiator comes in a nice box again, and has a warning label about using the provided screws and in the right manner.
Inside the box is the bag of screws on top of the radiator.
The screws are UNC 6-32 with a standard Phillips head so no driver comes with this.
The radiator comes protected in bubble wrap.
Here is everything that comes in the box- the radiator and 2 sets of 16 screws each. The trend so far is providing enough fans for push or pull only.
The radiator comes with a built-in gasket if I can call it that. Whether or not it aids in performance will be seen later but it definitely adds to the clean look here in my opinion.
As seen above, it is a similar case as with there being no screw protector (Incidentally, shouldn't these be called tube channel protectors instead?) and longer screws piercing the tube channels. Just use the provided screws properly and no such thing will happen.
The frame has a nice matte finish that is easy to dust off as well. The dimensions were 528mm long x 130mm broad x 40mm wide.
The fins are uniform across the board in consistency.
There are again 2 extenders on the ports that accept any G 1/4" fitting. These extenders come with plastic caps on them to stop physical contamination during storage and transportation.
In order to remove the core for painting the frame, the extenders need to be removed first. I had to use pliers on one of these, so if that's the case then be sure to use a piece of cloth or paper in between so as to not scratch the fittings. Note that disassembly was done after all tests were completed to prevent any possibly installation factors.
Next remove the 4 Torx T10 screws on either side with an appropriate driver (I did it the other way round as seen in the pictures):
The radiator core is help by tape but once the two extenders and one side plate is removed, it should easily slide right out:
Once the frame is ready to go, reverse the steps and assemble it back. XSPC also includes a desk stand to take advantage of this feature. The radiator has 30 micron wide fins at 18-19 FPI, 12 channels 2.2 mm wide, was clean out of the factory and holds 300 mL of fluid. At this point, I contacted both EK and XSPC because these two radiators were very similar in specs. Here is a direct quote from EK:
So if you see similarities in radiators across brands in terms of packaging or otherwise, now you know. The XSPC AX480 V1 costs $114.95 as of October 23, 2014 in the US.
XSPC AX480 V2
As far as I know, this is the first public mention of the AX V2 series. You can find out if your sample is a V2 by seeing if there is a sticker "V2" by the barcode on the box. Mine did not have the sticker but I have been told this is definitely a V2. The only difference between AX V1 and AX V2 is with the fin design so this will be a short section.
Let's look at fins:
These are louvered fins on the XSPC EX560 (Yes, I jumped a bit here) with the cuts opened up. The louvering introduces local turbulence in the air flow, and this can be useful or even worsen performance depending on the situation. By contrast, these are unlouvered fins on the XSPC RX480 V3 (Another jump):
As you can see, there are no cuts at all. Louvering fins ends up only hurting performance at low fan speeds/air flow and this is something you will see being a feature of the rads excelling at such conditions. Now let's look at the AX480 V1:
The AX480 V1 has louvered fins, and I expected that the AX480 V2 would have no louvering. But:
There are still cuts, but not fully opened up. I am not sure if this is enough to have an effect but we will see later. Everything else is the same, and the AX V2 will replace the AX V1 (or already has depending on the region) at the same price point. In fact, when you have them together makes it impossible to distinguish one from the other unless looking very closely:
Let's look at fins:
These are louvered fins on the XSPC EX560 (Yes, I jumped a bit here) with the cuts opened up. The louvering introduces local turbulence in the air flow, and this can be useful or even worsen performance depending on the situation. By contrast, these are unlouvered fins on the XSPC RX480 V3 (Another jump):
As you can see, there are no cuts at all. Louvering fins ends up only hurting performance at low fan speeds/air flow and this is something you will see being a feature of the rads excelling at such conditions. Now let's look at the AX480 V1:
The AX480 V1 has louvered fins, and I expected that the AX480 V2 would have no louvering. But:
There are still cuts, but not fully opened up. I am not sure if this is enough to have an effect but we will see later. Everything else is the same, and the AX V2 will replace the AX V1 (or already has depending on the region) at the same price point. In fact, when you have them together makes it impossible to distinguish one from the other unless looking very closely:
XSPC RX480 V3
No confusion about the version here, the RX480 V3 comes in a white box and has the same warning label as before:
Inside is the bag of screws on top of the radiator as well 2 XSPC stop plugs.
These screws are UNC 6-32 with a Phillips head and the stop plugs are nickel plated and low profile.
The radiator itself is packaged in a paper sleeve which is then inside bubble wrap.
The frame has a nice matte finish and the radiator dimensions are 515mm length x 130mm breadth x 56mm width.
The fins are once again very consistent across the board.
There are 4 ports here- two on the top/bottom and two on the side- that come covered in plastic caps. Hence the reason why 2 stop plugs are included. I like having multiple ports to aid in filling, bleeding, draining and also giving options with tube routing so this is a welcome move. One of the 4 ports was slightly cross-threaded and I had to use a G 1/4" tap to get the stop plug to screw in properly.
There are no screw protectors but screws that are longer than what should be used will not piece the channels- they will only bend in some fins with minimal performance effects at best.
The RX480 V3 came in clean out of the factory, holds 500 mL of fluid, has 30 micron wide fins at 13 FPI, 9 tube channels that are 2.1mm wide and costs $122.95 in the US as of October 23, 2014.
XSPC EX560
The radiator is packaged in a similar manner to the RX480 V3 so I will post pictures here interjecting in only when need be:
The frame has a matte finish and the radiator dimensions are 595mm length x 143mm breadth x 35.5mm wide.
The fins are not uniform throughout in this case, with quite a few bent out of the box itself.
No extender fittings here just like with the RX480, and the 2 ports on the radiator come with plastic caps on.
There are no screw protectors here, and there is enough wiggle room for the screws to pierce the channels if (a) too long a screw is used improperly and (b) it is screwed in at an angle. Again, nothing that a normal usage with the provided screws will experience.
The EX560 had minor residue left inside after the soldering/brazing process, holds 285 mL of fluid, has 30 micron wide fins at 17-18 FPI, 13 tube channels that are each 2.05mm wide and costs $89.99 in the US as of October 23, 2014.
The frame has a matte finish and the radiator dimensions are 595mm length x 143mm breadth x 35.5mm wide.
The fins are not uniform throughout in this case, with quite a few bent out of the box itself.
No extender fittings here just like with the RX480, and the 2 ports on the radiator come with plastic caps on.
There are no screw protectors here, and there is enough wiggle room for the screws to pierce the channels if (a) too long a screw is used improperly and (b) it is screwed in at an angle. Again, nothing that a normal usage with the provided screws will experience.
The EX560 had minor residue left inside after the soldering/brazing process, holds 285 mL of fluid, has 30 micron wide fins at 17-18 FPI, 13 tube channels that are each 2.05mm wide and costs $89.99 in the US as of October 23, 2014.
Alphacool NexXxos Monsta 480 (Henceforth referred to as Alphacool Monsta 480)
In my case the radiator actually had shipped with no accessories in the box other than a few black screws so I had to contact the retailer and get the accessories separately. The actual screws are supposed to be copper to go along with the provided copper stop plugs and logo sticker. But less than 1 month of usage had resulted in discoloring:
Assuming nothing's wrong with your unit, there will be a box with 8 pouches of screws in it. Each pouch will have 4 screws- either 30mm long for mounting a standard 25mm wide fan into the radiator or 35mm long for going through case/gasket->fan->radiator. Based on this, I would believe the manufacturer intends for this radiator to be used in a push-pull fan configuration as opposed to every other radiator in the roundup. The screws are type M3 and have a hex head- this may require the use of a washer if your case fan holes are bigger than the screw head.
There 7 ports on the radiator- 2 each of the top, side and bottom on one end and a single port at the bottom on the other. This again is very handy to fill, bleed, drain a loop and route tubing easily.
There are no logos anywhere and instead you get a few stickers for you to place accordingly once installed so as to have the logo oriented right side up. I like that they give us a choice here! The radiator frame has a glossy finish that picks up stuff easily but can be wiped away as well- not a dealbreaker by any means unless the radiator comes with dings and scratches out of the box:
The radiator dimensions are 522mm length x 125mm breadth x 86mm width. Note that these are not 80mm wide as many believe and can result in an incompatibility if you haven't accounted for the large size.
The fins are pretty inconsistent to be honest with even the FPI having a broad range as we will see soon.
On the plus side, even if you use the 35mm screws by mistake instead of the 30mm long ones, there is a screw protector plate throughout to make sure they hit the plate first and not the tube channels.
On the negative side though, the radiator was quite dirty out of the box- something Alphacool/Phobya really need to address before more and more customers decide to go with other options. The radiator holds 870 mL of fluid, the fins are 25-35 microns in width at an FPI of 8-10, there are 10 channels each of 2mm width and the radiator costs $139.95 in the US as of October 23, 2014.
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