EK 120.3 Radiator

[Daveburt714]

Hi Folks,
I'm curious about this rad.
http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=594...Water%20Blocks

I've always liked ThermoChill, but they seem to be really hard to find nowadays...
Here's my situation. I bought a new AMD FX chip and these puppies clock well, but run HOT!
(No comments about Intel, or the FX sucking please. I actually like AMD )

Anyway, I wanted to get some opinions, and I know there are alot of skilled people on here.
My current rig is using a Swiftech MCR320-QP, but it's having a hard time keeping up with the heat load from this chip.
It actually clocks MUCH better when I can keep temps under control! Do you folks think this rad will outperform the Swiftech, and keep heat loads under control?

I hate to waste money, but I'm thinking this rad may help!
This chip rocks when I use cold air, so better performance @ ambient temps is my goal.

If someone could give me some opinions on this Rad and the best fans to use with it I'd be really greatful!

BTW: On the fans, I don't really care that much about noise. I have a 4ch controller, I can always turn them down for 24/7 use...

Thanks....... Dave

[Dr_Swizz]

I have one of those Coolstream XT radiators in a small CPU only loop on a test bench. It performs quite alright for that task, but there are better performing radiators out there. I don't really know how large the difference in cooling capability would between your current radiator and Coolstream XT though.

The radiator was almost 100% free of dirt when I flushed it, but five or six of the fan mounting screw holes where without threads.

[fr0wn3r]

This should help a bit - http://skinneelabs.com/ek-coolstream-360/. Also there are radiator shootouts so take a look at them.

[Daveburt714]

Thanks for the info.

I did some Googling before I posted this but didn't even think of searching "Radiatior Shootout"....
That helped!

The Swiftech actually looks decent in most reviews.
Guess I'll just try re-aranging my loop and changing fans first.

[BeepBeep2]

Dave, you aren't going to get much improvement at all switching to another 3x120.
I know by my own measurements already, BD under heavy load (4.6+ @ 1.42v+) gives an ~11c air/water delta right after the CPU block in my res.

More rad is not going to help actual CPU temps more than 1-2c. Make it 2c colder in your room and you'll understand what I mean...no perceivable OC benefit other than a few small MHz, if that.

What fans are you running? I'm running GT-1850's at the full 1850 RPM with a Jingway 1200 pump. (DCP 4.0)



The only rad I could see benefiting is the AC AirPlex Revo, and even then I doubt the ~3c CPU temp difference will justify the cost. The Swiftech MCR320-QP also pretty much matches the PA 120.3 at medium fan speeds.

EDIT:
Wait...
Are you running the MCR120-QP too? In that case, benefit will be even lesser no matter what rad you'd choose, and you'd probably be getting better than the 11c delta T I am...

[c.ruel]

What fans are you using and is there anything else in the loop!?

[UNTAMED]

just saying
-if you need more rad use both , not sure of your set up , but hang 1 off the back of the case if you can.
-but with out water temps it's hard to tell , if your fan controller does temp add a $10.00 sensor.

[UNTAMED]

just saying
-if you need more rad use both , not sure of your set up , but hang 1 off the back of the case if you can.
-but with out water temps it's hard to tell , if your fan controller does temp add a $10.00 sensor.
-try a high flow cpu block had a XT found the KL370 to be better

[UNTAMED]

just saying
-if you need more rad use both , not sure of your set up , but hang 1 off the back of the case if you can.
-but with out water temps it's hard to tell , if your fan controller does temp add a $10.00 sensor.
-try a high flow cpu block had a XT found the KL370 to be better

[Evantaur]

correct me if i'm wrong but didn't XSPC buy thermochill, or was i just dreaming

[fr0wn3r]

Yes, TC was bought by XSPC. And offtopic they're working on a new radiator atm (TR series; check the TC website/Twitter account for ra bit more info) and I'm holding off my purchase till they release it and it gets tested. Hope it will be good!

[Daveburt714]

Just an update (and an answer to some questions)...

I tore the rig apart this weekend and cleaned both rads. I was amazed at how dirty the Swiftec was!
I haven't torn it apart in a couple years, but I have blown it out with canned air a number of times... It was REALLY dirty (as well as the fans)!
I was using Cooler Masters (http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0310672), but decided to swap them out (rather than try cleaning) with these (http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0355787).
In hind site, that was probably a mistake. I'm not sure if it's a volume problem, or a fan pressure problem, but they don't seem to move nearly as much air.
My temps dropped ~1c, but I can't help but think it would've been better had I not changed the fans...
In my defense, I wanted 3 matching fans, there weren't alot of options and I did do some homework. The Enermax fans looked better in reviews than what I've seen in real life.

Heres how my settup works (Corsair 800D case w/rear 140 case fan pulling in):
The Swiftec 120.3 is in the top (fans blowing out). The ThermoChill 120.1 is in the bottom (fan pulling in).
I had a crappy little 120 fan on the TC rad that I swapped out for an old Scythe Ultra Kaze 3000. Cranking that fan lowers temps ~3c, the bad news there is, aside from the fans natural loudness it seems to have a bad bearing that didn't show up when I tested it in a vertical position. Once I mounted it horizontally it's pretty obnotious even @ 1000 RPM...

BTW: The only thing in my loop is the CPU. Guess I'll take those EnerMax fans back this weekend and swap them out for new CoolerMasters...
While I'm at it, I'm going to get a Scythe Slip Stream (http://www.microcenter.com/single_pr...uct_id=0274210) to replace the Ultra Kaze on the ThermoChill.

It's a real PITA tearing a WC rig apart... Since I'm going to have to do it again I'd really like to upgrade the big rad to one of these http://www.frozencpu.com/products/14...?tl=g30c95s161, but that's ALOT of money to a poor working slob...

Sorry for the long winded post. Just thought I'd let you folks know where I'm at in my adventures.

[BeepBeep2]

Why not just take the Enermax fans back and buy more enermax (magma) fans? You went from 2000 RPM to 1200, of course airflow is going to drop

You could also try Scythe / Nidec Servo GentleTyphoons, the 1850s are absolutely wonderful.

[Daveburt714]

Why not just take the Enermax fans back and buy more enermax (magma) fans? You went from 2000 RPM to 1200, of course airflow is going to drop

I actually planned on buying 3 of the Magma's, but as I said in the previous post, I wanted 3 matching fans and they only had 1 in stock...
According to MicroCenter's specs the T.B. Silence were only 16cfm lower (I don't believe it BTW ).
I did check the packaging before I bought them, but it listed it as 90 Cubic Meters/H. I'll admit, I was lost with that spec.

Anyway... The Cooler Masters worked pretty well for a couple years so I took the EnerMax back tonight and swapped them out for 3 more CM's.

After the rad cleaning and 2nd set of fans my 24/7 load temps dropped from 63c to 56c!

Now I just need to tweak a little more....

[BeepBeep2]

I actually planned on buying 3 of the Magma's, but as I said in the previous post, I wanted 3 matching fans and they only had 1 in stock...
According to MicroCenter's specs the T.B. Silence were only 16cfm lower (I don't believe it BTW ).
I did check the packaging before I bought them, but it listed it as 90 Cubic Meters/H. I'll admit, I was lost with that spec.

Anyway... The Cooler Masters worked pretty well for a couple years so I took the EnerMax back tonight and swapped them out for 3 more CM's.

After the rad cleaning and 2nd set of fans my 24/7 load temps dropped from 63c to 56c!

Now I just need to tweak a little more....

With you and your god-like silicon there's no doubt you'll squeeze even more
My 8150 has been running Prime95 at 4.7/1.44v. getting quite toasty at 69c. My air/water delta T probably isn't nearly as good as yours...contemplating adding a 2x140 rad to my loop.

[Jethro]

Wow i couldnt imagine 69c under water thats insane! Even @ 1.5v cpu, 1.15vcore on gpus i dont break 45c atm. My range is 25c~45c idle/heavy load atm. Quality of Rad,Fans, ambient temps and general quality of the loop are the key. I use a couple AC mainframe style fans (moderate woosh sound) on my feser.

[BeepBeep2]

Wow i couldnt imagine 69c under water thats insane! Even @ 1.5v cpu, 1.15vcore on gpus i dont break 45c atm. My range is 25c~45c idle/heavy load atm. Quality of Rad,Fans, ambient temps and general quality of the loop are the key. I use a couple AC mainframe style fans (moderate woosh sound) on my feser.

1090T and you reading core numbers not equal to FX-8150 reading motherboard sensor readings.
I could have claimed 58c reading the CPU sensors

A feser 2x120mm isn't all that high end.

[Jethro]

Not claiming to be "high end" beep. My temps arent bad considering whats in the loop. The fez works excellent.

Same thing happened to me this year Dave. My temps were getting lame come to find out the cooling solution i was using was clogging up my rad. Happens man! A delicate balance between flow and heat disapation is the key!

I'd go for one of these man http://www.frozencpu.com/products/12...?tl=g30c95s161

Its got the thickfreakness and its sure to flow like a beast.

May be getting one myself if the new vid cards put out to much wattage over the current ones...