Triple Radiator Performance Comparison

Triple Radiator Performance Comparison
Swiftech MCR320, ThermoChill PA120.3, XSPC RX360


Intro

With testing a few different triple radiators, I felt it would be best to capture the performance data of them all and compare that data in one spot. Since my test methodology and process allows for the comparison of data between products, I might as well bring all of that information into one easy to view page. Even though this page might be all you feel needs to be shown for a comparison, the individual pages go into much greater detail about the individual products themselves and the experience I had with the product through testing. I have linked all of the individual reviews for you on this page as well as the navigation pane to the left. Be sure to scroll all the way to the end of the page for a my conclusion on all of the radiators as well as a spreadsheet tool that calculates the Water Out temperature for you. Enjoy!

The Round-Up

Included in this round-up are the three triple radiators I have tested thus far, I am sure there will be more triples added to the charts as time goes on. For now, we have the Swiftech MCR320-QP, ThermoChill PA120.3 and XSPC RX360. Here are links to the individual reviews and test reports, also available via the menu on the left side of the page.

• Swiftech MCR320
• ThermoChill PA120.3
• XSPC RX360

Swiftech MCR320
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...0_ProdShot.jpg

ThermoChill PA120.3
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...3_ProdShot.jpg

XSPC RX360
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...0_ProdShot.jpg

Pressure and Flow Results

When building your loop there should be a list of things that come to mind, flow and pressure should be near the top of that list. Pressure drop is the measurement of inlet pressure minus outlet pressure, or the pressure lost of flow through the radiator.

• Pressure: Dwyer Series 490-3 Digital Hydronic Manometer - Accuracy 0.5% of Scale, Range 0-50.00 PSI, Resolution 0.01 PSI
• Flow Rate: King Instruments 7520 0-5GPM, 10" Scale - Accuracy 2% of scale. Flow Rate controlled by a brass gate valve with 1/2" NPT 5/8" Barbs
• Water: Outlet from the wash basin tap in my mud room

Here are the combined pressure drop numbers for our round-up. I have included kPa and mH2O using Liters per Hour for our European metric system friends. After all there is such a large number of readers who use metric over imperial units, they should have data in their common format too.

Pressure Drop Data Tables


http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...-DataChart.jpg http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...-DataChart.jpg http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...-DataChart.jpg


PSI Drop per GPM of flow
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators..._PDrop-PSI.jpg

kPa drop per LPH of flow
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators..._PDrop-kPa.jpg

mH2O Drop per LPH of flow
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...PDrop-mH2O.jpg

From the charts, you can see the PA120.3 series is still the lowest pressure drop radiator available, with the RX360 coming in extremely close. The MCR320 although having higher pressure drop than the PA120.3 and RX360 is still low compared to cpu or other blocks. Don't let the curve fool you into reading it wrong, pressure drop on radiators is lower than any other device in your loop.

Thermal Testing Methodology/Specification

For explanation of my Thermal Testing methods, equipment specifications and other factors involved in radiator thermal testing please see the "Thermal Testing Methodology / Specification" in any one of the triple radiator reviews linked at the top of this page.

One section I do want to reiterate here is calculating heat load for your loop and the tools I use when estimating the heat capacity of a proposed loop.

For information on calculating heat load for your loop here are two resources I have used in the past. Another method I have used in the past is to Google search TDP for a specific component, that should also help in estimating the heat load that will be in the loop for a specific component. The primary one for me is linked below, they take a lot of the google searching out of the equation and break everything down to just the numbers you need.

• Extreme OuterVision PSU Calculator: Note the calculation starts with 38w, remember to remove that in your estimate

Please remember, calculating the power consumption and using that as heat load is not exact and is only an estimate. This estimate will be higher than actual heat load applied as you do transfer some heat to the air circulating in your case around the components. How much difference I cannot begin to speculate, but I just want to state that it is only an estimate and not an exact specification.

Thermal Performance Test Results

Before moving into the eye-candy charts, I want to show all of the finalized thermal test data that will be used for our Applied C/W tables and charts. I feel that as a tester it is crucial that I maintain an open book for test methods, data and results. One thing I truly enjoy with the Liquid Cooling community is the sheer number of you out there who double check my calculations, you guys always keep me on my toes and help me with presenting the information as well as implement additional tests for data you are interested in. On to the data tables shall we...

Swiftech MCR320
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators..._DataChart.jpg

ThermoChill PA120.3
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators..._DataChart.jpg

XSPC RX360
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators..._DataChart.jpg

After that, many of you have glossed over eyes. However, there are those out there who want to see the numbers and verify the calculations and data. It is the numbers in those charts that derive all of the information for the remainder of the comparison. Without going through all of the trouble to populate that chart with data and calculations we would not have the fancy charts later in this comparison. I have a feeling that I have now reached the agitation point of most readers, and they've already scrolled down to the heat dissipation charts anyhow. Moving on.

Applied C/W Data

From all of the individual tests performed on the MCR320, PA120.3 and RX360 we have a data set that we can use as a comparison, this is C/W. From the small probably glanced over data table from the full reviews, here are the contenders C/W Calculated data tables that will be used for the charts/graphs that compare all of the radiators together. As a reminder, the results you see in the data tables are the applied C/W results with a given Delta (Water Out-Air In) to find how much wattage each the radiator dissipate. For each data table the calculations include Deltas of 15º, 10º, 5º and 2º. Once again, here is my classifications for those deltas.

• 15º Delta: Low Performance, an overloaded but capable loop.
• 10º Delta: Average Performance, very capable of good temps and representative of an average system.
• 5º Delta: High Performance, for those of you looking to achieve the best possible temps.
• 2º Delta: Ultra Performance. extreme setups only, this would be an ultimate setup where you limit to dedicated block loops.

Swiftech MCR320
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...20_CWChart.jpg

ThermoChill PA120.3
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators....3_CWChart.jpg

XSPC RX360
http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...60_CWChart.jpg

Applied C/W to Watts Dissipated

The section you've all been looking for, which radiator can dissipate the most watts at a give fan speed. I added a trendline for those of you who prefer and fan speed different than one of the six speeds I tested at. But please remember, the trendline is a estimated prediction and not true representation. Just look at the discrepancy among the plotted data points and how the trendlines are close, but not through some of the plotted points.

Looking at the Average Performance 10C Delta chart, all three radiators are within 18 watts of each other until 1800RPM with the D12SH12's. While many are looking at which is king at each fan speed, keep in mind that 18 watts is the heat dump of a D5 with EK top at 1.5GPM. 18 watts was the average wattage measured during the testing of each radiator. Not to take away from the leader at those fan speeds, but I just want to add some perspective for you.

http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...-10C-Delta.jpg

Here are the plotted results for a 5º Delta or High Performance. You can see the heat (watts) dissipation gets smaller, we are cutting the Water Out-Air In delta in half, but the XSPC still leads in low speed fans and the ThermoChill starts to outpace the XSPC and MCR by greater margins above 1800RPM. To put these numbers into perspective, any of the three radiators tested would perform at a "High" Delta rating on a CPU only loop between 1000RPM and 1400RPM.

http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...d-5C-Delta.jpg

Finally, the plotted results for a 2º Delta or Ultra Performance. This chart is purely to show what wattages and fan speeds you need to get really close to ambient water temps. Probably not going to happen for 95% of the Liquid Cooling users out there, regardless of the radiator used. Unless you're running very high speed fans, the watts dissipated just doesn't equate to a CPU loop or GPU loop. With that said, a any one of these triples with low rpm fans would make a great chipset loop radiator. Yes, I am one of those crazies who runs a dedicated chipset and mosfet loop off a triple radiator.

http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...d-2C-Delta.jpg

Price Considerations

With all of the performance numbers for heat dissipation and pressure drop being bounced around here, what about the performance we can all relate to quickly and easily...our bank accounts. The MCR320 remains the biggest bang for the buck, while the ThermoChill is still the highest priced (except for in the UK), with the RX360 in between. Keep in mind the RX360 price is the Market Price and may not be the actual price at Jab-Tech once the next shipment comes in, I would speculate that the price will be less. (Prices taken on 03/04/09)

• Swiftech MCR320
  
  • Jab-Tech - $51.95
  • Petra's - $53.99
  • AquaTuning.de - 56.99€

• ThermoChill PA120.3
  
  • Jab-Tech - $119.95
  • Watercooling.co.uk - £55.99 (incl. VAT)
  • AquaTuning.de - 89.99€

• XSPC RX360
  
  • Jab-Tech - $99.95
  • Petra's - $94.95
  • Watercooling.co.uk - £71.99 (incl. VAT)
  • AquaTuning.de - 79.99€

Tools and Utilities

While I was slaving away in Excel I decided to make a Water Temperature Estimator with data from the radiators here in the comparison. Martin had the idea originally and started it back on his site for each radiator he tested. I just decided to follow the lead, but combine all of the fan speed C/W's into one workbook. When playing around with the Estimator, be sure to notice the difference in Water temps as you change from one radiator to another. You'll be surprised at how small the difference really is. During use, if you find any problems with the sheet or think of additional items you would like to see...drop me an email through the website or a PM.


http://www.skinneelabs.com/images/excel-icon.jpg skinnee labs Water Temp Estimator v1


Conclusion

Overall, all three radiators do their job and do it extremely well. The ThermoChill while losing its crown at low speed fans still provides a tremendous amount of cooling across all fan speeds, but has some issues with radiator flux and requires a lot of prep before being put in the loop and that neoprene gasket makes me want to break things. The Swiftech MCR320 brings a very low price and a whole lot of cooling performance, that combination is tough to beat. If you find yourself overspending on other portions of your build, rest assured the MCR320 is money well spent. To me, the XSPC RX360 seems to bring the right combination of performance, low speed fan optimization and price into a great package.

To put it another way, you'll be happy with any one of the three and don't let anyone tell you otherwise or talk you out of buying the one you have a preference for. Purchase the radiator that suits your needs for your build, whether it is fan spacing, thickness or looks. All three get my recommendation!

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed the show! :up:

wow .. the showdown ...

Very well written review skinnee! :up:

Nice to see that the MCR still stands as a solid recommendation. I didn't know it was that more restrictive though.

awesome skinnee!! I already have one one of rx360's and it rocks!!

wow, VERY detailed and informative! great choices on comparing the bang/bucks MCR320, XS's legendary performance crown PA120.3, and the new low rpm cost effective RX360 in the same league as TC. following the foot steps of the retired Martin :up:

A question, how does water temperature translate into i.e. core temperature?

man the stats are sooooo CLOSE ..
skinnee, could we have a look on the MCR320 stack? :D :D

are you going to be comparing these with the GTX 360 any time soon??? and idk but is there a 480 shoot out between feser and HWLabs? and thanks for the great shoot out skinnee

Excellent review! It's very surprising to see how close they all are.

Thanks for the kind words everyone, much appreciated! :up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Zehnsucht

A question, how does water temperature translate into i.e. core temperature?

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Thats a tough question to give a solid answer to. Water temp to core temps are a function of the delta T of the CPU block. The more efficient the CPU block is at removing heat from the CPU and transferring it into the water, the better. Once the heat is transferred from the CPU to the water via the CPU block, then the radiators job kicks in. There is no way to give you a direct answer, sorry.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Serpentarius

skinnee, could we have a look on the MCR320 stack? :D :D

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If I had one, I would. If for some reason in the future one arrives at my door, you can bet I will be providing test results on it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by omaryunus

are you going to be comparing these with the GTX 360 any time soon???

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If I had a GTX360 I would...if anyone out there has a spare they would let me borrow for a couple weeks, please PM me.

Mate this review really is top notch - you are continually outdoing yourself :yepp:

Keep up the awesome work mate :up:

Howdy,

Just wanted to join the crowd in saying that this is yet another top notch test, bravo. I look forward to any future endeavours as both this review and the D5 top comparison were excellent.

Also, just as a point of reference, the wattage draw of a HD4870 is about 300w while an overclocked CPU can draw about 85w, not too sure what percentage of this is converted into heat but maybe someone else does.

Great testing once again!!:clap: These tests are one of the biggest reason I keep reading this forum all day:rolleyes:

Would be awesome to see the comparison with the Feser Xchanger 360 rad.

Thanks for this testing Skinnee. Looks like you put a lot of work into this. Much appreciated and good job! :up:

Great review, would be nice to see the Feser XChanger mixed into the bunch to see how it stacks up against the TC and XSPC.

Looks like ill be going with a XSPC RX360 and possibly a XSPC RS360 rad for my upcoming build.

Anyone know of any good reviews for the XSPC RS360 with some low speed fans.

Great review. Glad to see that Swiftech performed well.

Outstanding work!:up:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by theseeker

Outstanding work!:up:

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+1 Thank you so much for providing factual, empirical results. That said I would to see the MCr320 Stacked and GTX 360, I'll see what I can do, if anything.

--Chris

Great work skinee as usual :D

In the bonds,

Ian

fantastic work, thanks for your effort :up:


I get my mcr320 for 49.99 @ the egg and always loved them, a little skinny-er then the PA360 and now we know very close in performance, so the mcr320 is a solid choice, so i just keep using the swiftech and loving it!

at half the price of the big boyz, that is a stellar product,

Nice work skinnee :up:

Well within the 24h :D

Wow, just yesterday I made the comment that there was no direct comparison between these rads. Excellent job.

Gabe's mcr320 still kicks a** and is far thinner.

Thanks for the great review skinnee!

Great testing as always. The results seem to be more or less what I was expecting, and makes me quite happy for having purchased and rx360 for cheap :D

thermochill is still king...

thanks for the comparo:up:

so it would appear that the MCR series is only lacking in flow, and the performance is really beyond its price par.

i'd really like to see hwlabs GTX performance in comparison to =o

great tests:yepp::clap:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chruschef

i'd really like to see hwlabs GTX performance in comparison to =o

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Who wants to bet that where the Thermochill starts picking up the GTX begins to kill it.

great review, skinnee!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hondacity

thermochill is still king...

thanks for the comparo:up:

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you read what you want to read out of it I guess :shrug:

Good job on the testing!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by faster3200

Who wants to bet that where the Thermochill starts picking up the GTX begins to kill it.

---

checks out martin's review of the PA120.3 vs HWlabs 480GTX.. i wish it would've been a 3 x 120 for a more even playing field. definitely makes its point though.
http://martin.skinneelabs.com/HWlabs480GTX-Review.html

Great stuff as always Skinnee :toast:

Interesting to see results that are just so similar between rads below 1500RPM :eek:

Very nice skinnee! Interesting to see how free flowing the PA actually is...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DarthBeavis

you read what you want to read out of it I guess :shrug:

Good job on the testing!

---

You can lead a horse to water...

Great review, very interesting results. I wonder what design differences account for the change in performance around 1000-1200 rpms.

skinnee

maybe you can add a comparo graph....with a constant load to each of the rads
something like martins graph...like 570w...with different fan speeds...:shrug:

**don't look at the hwl360gtx number :D

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c5...best360rad.jpg

Skinnee, great work, but is it a typo where is says "1 fan in pull" for the TC and swiftech thermal tabulation of results in the header at the top? I assumed this would say "3 fans in pull", right?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Snyxxx

Skinnee, great work, but is it a typo where is says "1 fan in pull" for the TC and swiftech thermal tabulation of results in the header at the top? I assumed this would say "3 fans in pull", right?

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doh! Yes, that is a typo...(my template strategy backfiring again.):shakes:

I will correct it once I get home. Thanks for finding it!

Great work skinnee!

Adding Feser Xchanger 360 would be very good too :)

Its this kind of fantastic, well done testing that keeps me coming here on a daily basis. Your testing really confirms in my mind that the MCR320 rads completely squash the RX360 and the PA120.3 when it comes to price-to-performance ratio. It is very hard to justify the cost of the PA120.3 or RX360 rads for a measly .002 or less c/w and just a bit less pressure drop.

you could justify the cost of the RX360. Its performance is better than the PA120.3 at low fan speeds and very close to it with higher fan speeds.

Plus you already have M4 screw holes. Better paint job, G1/4" Holes and less crappy residue left to flush out.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by voigts

Its this kind of fantastic, well done testing that keeps me coming here on a daily basis. Your testing really confirms in my mind that the MCR320 rads completely squash the RX360 and the PA120.3 when it comes to price-to-performance ratio. It is very hard to justify the cost of the PA120.3 or RX360 rads for a measly .002 or less c/w and just a bit less pressure drop.

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Price/performance ratio is not always a concern. I think this test really shows all of them perform well and none should be outright ruled out. I am confident the HWLABS and Feser rads will probably show the same thing when added to the mix. Funny how this is the same thing with the generally accepted upper tier water blocks. If you put up test results people will skew their interpretation to fit what they prefer. When you talk to the people who actually make the blocks they do not claim superiority but instead say all the high-end competition performs with in tight margins anyways . . . .

Quote:

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Originally Posted by DarthBeavis

Price/performance ratio is not always a concern. I think this test really shows all of them perform well and none should be outright ruled out. I am confident the HWLABS and Feser rads will probably show the same thing when added to the mix. Funny how this is the same thing with the generally accepted upper tier water blocks. If you put up test results people will skew their interpretation to fit what they prefer. When you talk to the people who actually make the blocks they do not claim superiority but instead say all the high-end competition performs with in tight margins anyways . . . .

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It's likely a result of choice-supportive biases that we as consumers have. No one wants to admit the product they buy isn't as "good" as another.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rocket733

It's likely a result of choice-supportive biases that we as consumers have. No one wants to admit the product they buy isn't as "good" as another.

---

They are others things you can consider besides quality such as locality, brand loyalty, etc.

Great work Skinnee.

A small suggestion, but just to illustrate your point about pressure drop being minimal when compared to a waterblock, it would be interesting for you to plot an "example line" on that graph with the curve of a popular block.

Fantastic work, as always, Skinee! :clap:

Excellent review Skinnee! Makes me happy I picked up my RX360 at Jab-Tech for my next build. This post should be sticky'd!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Chruschef

checks out martin's review of the PA120.3 vs HWlabs 480GTX.. i wish it would've been a 3 x 120 for a more even playing field. definitely makes its point though.
http://martin.skinneelabs.com/HWlabs480GTX-Review.html

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Thermachill is the king but only to a certain point. When the fan RPM's go over 1250 then it's all over and the GTX wins from there on in. I bet you that a GTX 240 will match a Thermachill PA120.3 if both running good 2500 to 3000 rpm fans.

Low RPM fans and low noise are definitely my preference and it looks like the MCR320 holds its own plenty well in those situations.

Yeah for price to performance ratio the king is definitely the MCR320. It's smaller, cheaper and keeps up with the others.

very nice work skinnee

Awesome! Thanks for the info and the time you put into this!

Nice work Skinnee.

Any chance of adding a comparable Koolance rad into the mix? Setting aside the requisite alu convo ;D Would really be interested in seeing the results.

Damn nice roundup Skinnee! Some might even say it's the cat's pajamas. :rofl:

It's nice to see that you recommend all three radiators as they are all good rads. Maybe we need to make a donation thread just for you because this looks like a redonkulous amount of work. :) Your efforts are greatly appreciated.

Great work my friend!! I have to agree with BA that it looks like a redonkulous amount of work and I thank you for it!

:clap::up:

I also have to agree that the thing that would stop me from buying the PA series again is the insane prep, ghetto gasket and the huge array if awesome fittings you cant use on them becasue of the BSPP thread.

I wish I could lend you my Fesser to add to the fray.

Thank you very much for writing this up, I hope you are proud of a job well done. :clap:

Very, very, very, nice review, skinnee! Thanks much for doing this.

so thermochill still is the king, hurray!

skinnee

can you include the rx120 in the radiator water estimator? i wanna see how 3times the size equates to temperatures

thanks

Wow great review Skinnee, unbelievable work :up: Thank you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hondacity

skinnee

can you include the rx120 in the radiator water estimator? i wanna see how 3times the size equates to temperatures

thanks

---

The fan speeds aren't the same so it doesn't match up properly. I will probably retest that sometime in the near future because of changing test procedures.

Fantastic review skinee!

I'm looking forward to the CPU-block tests. :)

Update:
Fixed the typo in the table headers, now reads properly ..."3 Fans in Pull". Also fixed the X-axis label for fan specification. I missed the D12SL12 RPM range the first time through.

Still looking for a BIX360/TFC360 to borrow for a week or two.

edit:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hondacity

skinnee
something like martins graph...like 570w...with different fan speeds...:shrug:

---

Yeah, looking at the outervision calculator now. I'll try to work something up.

A very nice review indeed. Funny thing that the PA120.3 is holding on despite the years on its neck.

nice review....

Am I reading this right?

At 1000 rpms, the Thermochill dissipates 4 more watts than the Swiftech at best?

What does this translate into degrees on my processor?

0,05 degrees difference :rofl:

Something like that is not measurable, a bad/good mount of your CPU block has more effect on your temps.

Hey skinnee, what size fittings/tubing are you using for these reviews?

Thanks

this is the old one... but still 1/2"

Quote:

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Originally Posted by skinnee

this is the old one... but still 1/2"

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Cool, I'm thinking about putting together a H20 setup and just trying to get things figured out as to what to use.

Thanks for the great review. I am sure that this will help perspective buyers in the future. This should be stickied!

maybe this is a bit old in the making, but just made my purchase of a swiftec 120.3 for my water cooling setup.. thanx and i'm glad i joined XS as i was looking for this info!!