Flow restriction... worth worrying about?

[Legend]

I'm having trouble finding an answer to this. I understand the concept of what it is, but can't seem to figure out what impact (if any) it will actually have on my build?

I have narrowed my rad choice down to two;

- Alphacool Nexxxos ST30 360
- Hardware Labs Black Ice Nemesis 360 GTS

I intend on having lower fan speeds, and both these rads perform very well in this regard. HOWEVER, the Nemesis has significantly worse flow restriction. One review found it among the worst of all slim rads in fact. Yet it still comes out top in the performance charts?! So what's the issue here? Is it purely down to the complexity of your loop and the pump you're using? I will be going with x2 rads and an EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM pump/res.

Ultimately, should I just go for the best performing rad of the two (in this case the Nemesis), or do I need to factor in the flow restriction issue, in which case the favour may swing back to the Nexxxos?

 

[MrMD]

It will be fine with a single d5,you only need to worry about restriction if you have a very complex loop with lots of blocks,rads and 90 degree bends

 

[vsg28]

The difference between flow restriction of those two rads is like adding in a few angled adapters once you consider that CPU/GPU blocks are more restrictive anyway. So don't worry as much about whether the Nemesis GTS is more restrictive given the performance benefits. If you had more rads then things would be different though as the incremental benefit of the Nemesis GTS would be overshadowed by the need to have a pump with higher head than what you may have.

The D5 PWM should be plenty enough for your setup.

 

[Legend]

Thanks, that makes sense. The Nemesis does consistently seem to perform better (especially at lower fan speeds), so I figured it would be a particularly complex loop or useless pump that would bring the flow restriction issue in to play.