360 Radiators Recommendations?

[Sir Beregond]

Plugging along getting parts for my upcoming build. One of the things I need to look at is radiators.

 

I will be using a Lian Li O11-D (regular, not the XL) and my current plan is a thicker 360 at the top of the case (not crazy thick, but probably twice as thick as my XSPC EX240 rads) and a thinner/regular sized rad on the bottom or the side depending on where I can best fit things without too many clearance issues.

 

I'm not real in the know on what radiators are the best or what to stay away from (aside from EK) these days. Mainly just don't want anything too restrictive as I like silent PCs so don't run my D5 pump on full. I do have a blitz kit to clean whatever I end up with so not too concerned there.

 

So what do you guys like?

[Avacado]

1 hour ago, Sir Beregond said:

Plugging along getting parts for my upcoming build. One of the things I need to look at is radiators.

 

I will be using a Lian Li O11-D (regular, not the XL) and my current plan is a thicker 360 at the top of the case (not crazy thick, but probably twice as thick as my XSPC EX240 rads) and a thinner/regular sized rad on the bottom or the side depending on where I can best fit things without too many clearance issues.

 

I'm not real in the know on what radiators are the best or what to stay away from (aside from EK) these days. Mainly just don't want anything too restrictive as I like silent PCs so don't run my D5 pump on full. I do have a blitz kit to clean whatever I end up with so not too concerned there.

 

So what do you guys like?

Own some xspc rads too. But Acool rads are among the least restrictive you can buy. Not the highest fin density, but definitely low restriction. GTS (HWLs) rads iirc for low RPM would be a good choice. 

 

Take a look at the UT60s. IF, you can find them. Seems like every single component is drying up these days. 

Edited March 6, 2021 by Avacado

[Sir Beregond]

17 minutes ago, Avacado said:

Own some xspc rads too. But Acool rads are among the least restrictive you can buy. Not the highest fin density, but definitely low restriction. GTS rads iirc for low RPM would be a good choice. 

 

Good to know! I definitely plan to run fans at low RPM. I water cool mostly for running quiet PC's...but also because its fun and I am ruined for air cooling .

 

  

17 minutes ago, Avacado said:

Take a look at the UT60s. IF, you can find them. Seems like every single component is drying up these days. 

 

Thanks, will keep a look out. That one has a lot of ports.

Edited March 6, 2021 by Sir Beregond

[ENTERPRISE]

Never had issues with Hardware Labs radiators. Great quality.

[J7SC_Orion]

1 hour ago, Sir Beregond said:

Plugging along getting parts for my upcoming build. One of the things I need to look at is radiators.

 

I will be using a Lian Li O11-D (regular, not the XL) and my current plan is a thicker 360 at the top of the case (not crazy thick, but probably twice as thick as my XSPC EX240 rads) and a thinner/regular sized rad on the bottom or the side depending on where I can best fit things without too many clearance issues.

 

I'm not real in the know on what radiators are the best or what to stay away from (aside from EK) these days. Mainly just don't want anything too restrictive as I like silent PCs so don't run my D5 pump on full. I do have a blitz kit to clean whatever I end up with so not too concerned there.

 

So what do you guys like?

  

...I love the XSPC RX 360s (have 7 of them in total, since 2013+). Great quality (copper and brass core), quite 'thick' at 55m core depth, and the 13 fpi give you a fairly wide range of options for fans.  When in doubt, those are the 360s I always choose. They have taken a fair bit of abuse over the years w/o a single problem.

 

...just yesterday, 2x TT Pacific CL480s arrived for a new build - they have an all-copper core and are obviously longer, and also even deeper at 64 mm. There's also a CL 360 version, but I have yet to try any of the CLs in real life.

 

...Finally, I also use Hardware Labs' BlackIce Nemesis 160 GTX for years...if the 360 version of those is as good, can't go wrong with those either 

 

...or just order up a Watercool MoRa 360 (or 420  ) 

[Diffident]

[J7SC_Orion]

...www.extremerigs.net was always a trusted site for good cooling info, but the site has not been updated for several years now - and the table above is actually from a review from February 2015...at over six years old, it is missing some new entries as well as updates of existing 360 rad products. > Here is their original test story that includes the above graph.

 

@Sir Beregond ...this test > here from TechPowerup is a bit more up-to-date (about 1 yr 3mth old)...key is to note how results change with fan speed (and by extension fan type, and even type of pump / speed)...so when you're asking what are the top 360 rads, you also have to think about what type of fan and what rpm (> noise) you are going to match the rads with. It also relates to fin density (fpi) of the rad.

 

As to fans, I have several Hi-Po fans, ranging from GentleTyphoon 3k rpm to Sunon 5k rpm (and faster, they are server fans along the lines of Delta). That said, after testing a few for a while, these days I prefer the Arctic P12s pwm pst (especially in 5-fan value pack). I mount them in push-pull - and at around their max rpm, they are still 'fairly quiet' and cool really well. Hard to beat price-performance wise...

 

[Sir Beregond]

4 hours ago, J7SC_Orion said:

...www.extremerigs.net was always a trusted site for good cooling info, but the site has not been updated for several years now - and the table above is actually from a review from February 2015...at over six years old, it is missing some new entries as well as updates of existing 360 rad products. > Here is their original test story that includes the above graph.

 

@Sir Beregond ...this test > here from TechPowerup is a bit more up-to-date (about 1 yr 3mth old)...key is to note how results change with fan speed (and by extension fan type, and even type of pump / speed)...so when you're asking what are the top 360 rads, you also have to think about what type of fan and what rpm (> noise) you are going to match the rads with. It also relates to fin density (fpi) of the rad.

 

As to fans, I have several Hi-Po fans, ranging from GentleTyphoon 3k rpm to Sunon 5k rpm (and faster, they are server fans along the lines of Delta). That said, after testing a few for a while, these days I prefer the Arctic P12s pwm pst (especially in 5-fan value pack). I mount them in push-pull - and at around their max rpm, they are still 'fairly quiet' and cool really well. Hard to beat price-performance wise...

 

Thank you, this is very helpful.

[J7SC_Orion]

1 hour ago, Sir Beregond said:

Thank you, this is very helpful.

 

...you're welcome   ...FYI, it is also a good idea to measure out the exact available space in your case re. max mounted rad thickness (with push and/or push-pull fans). I found that case manuals aren't always accurate.

 

So far, I'm amazed at the build-quality of the all-copper core TT Pacific CL480s (the CL360 is the same, only shorter) but I reserve final judgement until I've actually used this new (to me) type of rad. But take a look at the shot below - on the left is the rad of a Corsair H150i AIO (360mm), on the right is the big CL480...obviously it's not just the length that counts, but also thickness. Of course having a thick rad, especially with dense fpi, also means appropriate fans.
 

[Bastiaan_NL]

21 minutes ago, J7SC_Orion said:

 

....FYI, it is also a good idea to measure out the exact available space in your case re. max mounted rad thickness (with push and/or push-pull fans). I found that case manuals aren't always accurate.

To add to this, there is also a lot of difference between memory placement on motherboards. I had a radiator fan interfering with the memory on the Asrock z170 board, after installing an x570 taichi board there was almost 18mm space between the ram and the fan. The heatsinks on the motherboard barely clear the fans, same as the plastic IO cover. Pushpull 420x45mm Alphacool rad with Corsair ML140's is a pretty big chunk, even in a big case like the Fractal Design 7XL. 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Bastiaan_NL

[Sir Beregond]

Here's the current PC. Wil be reusing the same case, so thinking 360 at top double the thickness of the current 240 rad you see with push fans. I think I have room for it. But will absolutely doublecheck on space in back and front for sure. Great advice. In-case wondering, this was all transplanted from my old smaller case which was becoming a vibration ridden mess, hence the small rads.

 

Not pictured: I do have some intake fans on the bottom. But new build will put rads on top and bottom and I think res/pump will try to shift down a bit if I can get away with it with intake fans where that side rad is right now, and probably intake on the bottom as well with top in push exhaust.

 

 

Edited March 7, 2021 by Sir Beregond

[J7SC_Orion]

1 hour ago, Sir Beregond said:

Here's the current PC. Wil be reusing the same case, so thinking 360 at top double the thickness of the current 240 rad you see with push fans. I think I have room for it. But will absolutely doublecheck on space in back and front for sure. Great advice. In-case wondering, this was all transplanted from my old smaller case which was becoming a vibration ridden mess, hence the small rads.

 

Not pictured: I do have some intake fans on the bottom. But new build will put rads on top and bottom and I think res/pump will try to shift down a bit if I can get away with it with intake fans where that side rad is right now, and probably intake on the bottom as well with top in push exhaust.

 

 

 

I really like that colour combo !

[Sir Beregond]

1 hour ago, J7SC_Orion said:

 

I really like that colour combo !

Thanks! Kinda happened by accident in the last rebuild. MC didn't have any black tubing my size left so I grabbed the white and really liked how it turned out.

[J7SC_Orion]

3 minutes ago, Sir Beregond said:

Thanks! Kinda happened by accident in the last rebuild. MC didn't have any black tubing my size left so I grabbed the white and really liked how it turned out.

 

...what fittings are those ?

[Sir Beregond]

1 hour ago, J7SC_Orion said:

 

...what fittings are those ?

Monsoon. Bought them in probably 2014 or early 2015.

 

Edit: Looks like these, but they definitely didn't cost that much to my recollection back then and the base of the barb has the gold color too on mine I'm pretty sure. Now going to have to see if I can find one in my parts closet heh. Monsoon Gold Fittings

Edited March 8, 2021 by Sir Beregond