Which Triple Radiator is "best" ?

Brizzles · 10 Jan 2008 at 14:48

I'm looking for a Triple radiator , and would be interested to hear peoples thoughts.

I've picked out 4 ( at random , there are plenty of others ) :

Thermochill PA120.3 with shroud - £65 approx.
XSPC R120-T - £45 approx
Black Ice Stealth III - £40 approx.
Alphacool NexXxoS Xtreme lll Rev2 - £35 approx.

Does a Thermochill with shroud really justify almost twice the cost of an Alphacool ?

Assuming identical fans on each , am i paying a large premium for maybe 1 or 2 degrees in performance over the others ?

I welcome your thoughts and please post what radiator you are currently using , or have experience of.

Cheers,

Mark

tsinc80697 · 10 Jan 2008 at 14:54

120.3 is the best 360mm out there.

If money is no problem then get that definitely.

I went from a 120.2 to an XSPC R120-t, added my GPU into the loop and fans, temps have dropped significantly.

Black Ice , Xtreme II are good but the Stealth's I haven't heard they are that good.

Personally I would go for the 120.3 if you can afford it, if not then get the XSPC one as its worked wonders on my setup so far!

XSPC vs Alphacool

clone · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:07

Thermochill PA120.3 its the only rad i`ll ever use tbh.

w3bbo · 10 Jan 2008 at 16:23

I have used both the Alphacool Nexxos pro rad, HW labs stealth GT and PA (both 120.3) and while the alphacool rad/HW labs is very good for its size it also needs a decent CFM fan (read noisy) to get it to cool to optimum levels due to the fin density. The PA rads are much thicker but the fins are a lot more spaced allowing you to use a low CFM fan (read quiet) and not suffer in performance.

Iirc most rads are made by one chinese manufacturer and are then rebadged (alphacool nexxos pro and HWLabs stealth GT look and performed VERY similar) whereas the thermochill range are not sold on to anyone else afaik. The reason why thermochill are more expensive is that they are made in the UK and so have UK production costs whereas the others are most likely made in some backwater sweat shop in china with little overheads.

In the end you want the best you pay the most I'm afraid.

Stelly · 10 Jan 2008 at 17:19

I use the Thermochill PA120.3 with shroud

Stelly

sulli · 10 Jan 2008 at 18:02

@ stelly just wondered how much the shroud helps?

Jokester · 10 Jan 2008 at 18:10

I don't believe a shroud makes much difference on a PA radiator if the fan/s match the size of the radiator.

w3bbo · 10 Jan 2008 at 18:20

They alegedly prevent the 'dead spot' on the rad due to the centre of the fan, can't say I noticed a drop in temps by switching to a shroud though but I use mine regardless as its less noisy.

Brizzles · 10 Jan 2008 at 18:41

w3bbo said:
though but I use mine regardless as its less noisy.

What fans are you using Webbo ?

Are they 12v or 7v modded ?

Thanks

sulli · 10 Jan 2008 at 18:56

Thanks Jokester and w3bbo

w3bbo · 10 Jan 2008 at 18:58

Yate loon D12SL - best price/performance/noise ratio tbh.

I had 9 in my case. The ones on the PA 120.3 and PA120.2 were hooked up via a fan controller so are easily turned up to max during benching etc and the other 4 were modded to 7v for HD and case cooling. Kept everything in my rig nice and cool without being invasive.