skinneelabs TFC X-Changer 360 Radiator review

[BlueAqua]

http://www.skinneelabs.com/Radiators...60/TFC360.html

Another solid review by skinnee. Definitely worth the read.

[bot@xs]

very nice as usual. thanks
no comparison chart this time? would be nice to see a direct comparison of the named rads on the bottom of the review page.
also maybe a price/ performance analysis

[dreamaxx]

Yeh would also like to see that comparison chart.

[bot@xs]

oh wow .. wait

This was my first test of a TFC product, and thankfully there are members of the community who were gracious enough to loan me their radiators for testing and photos. I have tried and tried to work with Martin and Mario of TFC, and they do not see the importance of working with the Liquid Cooling community and tests/reviews. They have a different approach to marketing and advertising their products, and that is their choice. I personally will only be able to review their products and show whether all their marketing hype is true/false by the generousity of the Liquid Cooling community. Now if I take a step out of the test and review position, this mentality still does not sit well with me, you have a company making products for us users who does not want to have participation in the community, only their hard earned money. Hopefully this will change, but I can only see change coming from the community making it known to Martin and Mario that community involvement is just as critical to a successful product as marketing hype.

is that true?

[Vapor]

He'll post a comparison chart when all the 120.3/360/320 rads are done He's just getting the individual reviews out of the way right now--lots of work goes into writing each one.

Anyway, good write-up skinnee ....bummer that TFC isn't interested in working with reviewers though

[Blizzy]

Nice testing, and unfortunaly thats true bot@xs

[shazza]

Nice review, skinnee. I was a bit surprised at the performance with 1000 RPM fans ... looking at the 5 degree Delta curve, it seems the Swiftech beats it (as do the PA120.3 and XSPC320)?

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

great work, love the wattage charts for easy access and temp/heatload consideration!

[gillbot]

[skinnee]

thanks for posting Kirk!

Yes, the comparison will be updated soon...have one more individual review (MCR320 Stack) to knock out, but that one is more of a mini-review. I have some folks cracking the whip on me and my review procrastination (I deserve it). This review was a difficult one for a couple of reasons...bot@xs and Blizzy covered one of the reasons why.

Thanks for the kind words folks, the community is why I am testing and reviewing products in the first place. Ok, ok, enough for now...back to the MCR320 stack review.

edit:
doh, sorry Shazza...Yes, below 1500RPM the TFC360 trails the PA120.3, RX360 and MCR320.

edit 2:
Also, the TFC360 was the first review I've published using the loop average water temps instead of just water out. I still have mixed feelings on Martin's findings of loop water temp versus water out...but I see the reason to use as many sensors as you have available.

[dreamaxx]

It seems Feser's attitude is not particularly good towards the community who supports them. I have seen this a few times now, and suppose that I can't write it off as a "once off".

Good review Skinnee! Looking forward to the comparison.

[GregSG]

Thanks for the review!

So would it be safe to say fans above 1500rpm would be more suited for the TFC 360?

[Waterlogged]

It seems Feser's attitude is not particularly good towards the community who supports them. I have seen this a few times now, and suppose that I can't write it off as a "once off".

Good review Skinnee! Looking forward to the comparison.

Heh, you can only bite the hand that feeds you so many times before that hand will stop feeding you. I think those 2 are too dense (arrogant?) to figure this out.

[Dangals]

about time we saw another quality review from Skinnee

Awesome work as alway mate

[MomijiTMO]

Well I'll tell you one thing. I'll take a TC over this any day. Yes you need to clean it but it's a good rad at a good price with no fluffy feathers.

Cheers for the review.

[LOUISSSSS]

great write up!

but the it should be better noted in this thread that the radiator being tested is the larger 17mm spacing rad. the new ones being sold currently are smaller (15mm) and should (theoretically) perform worse than the radiator being tested.

skinnee throw in some graphs with some other rads already! i wanna see the tfc get smacked around by the RX360 and PA120.3 and MCR320 already!!!

[Dangals]

great write up!

but the it should be better noted in this thread that the radiator being tested is the larger 17mm spacing rad. the new ones being sold currently are smaller (15mm) and should (theoretically) perform worse than the radiator being tested.

skinnee throw in some graphs with some other rads already! i wanna see the tfc get smacked around by the RX360 and PA120.3 and MCR320 already!!!

The fan spacing has nothing to do with how the radiator performs - it is just the distance between fan mounting points....the internals are exactly the same

Just thought I would point that out for you before someone else does it a little less politely

[LOUISSSSS]

The fan spacing has nothing to do with how the radiator performs - it is just the distance between fan mounting points....the internals are exactly the same

Just thought I would point that out for you before someone else does it a little less politely

cool, so the lengths on the older 17mm spacing model is the exact same as the new 15mm spacing one? the total amount of fins on both are the same? if yes then yea, they will perform the same.

[bentleya]

Great Work Skinnee , you know my feels on feser, not sure it's right to post it out.

[charles_h]

Awesome review Cam.

Really nice layout and presentation!

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

The fan spacing has nothing to do with how the radiator performs - it is just the distance between fan mounting points....the internals are exactly the same

aactually a 17mm fan spacing radiator is longer and does perform a touch better than a 15mm it doesnt seem like it would but if you have ever felt the airflow of a 120mm fan, most of the airflow is at the edge of the radius its just the nature of how a fanblade works

[skinnee]

Not true Sniipe...The only difference with the change from 17mm to 15mm are the side panels, the radiator core and dimensions stayed the same.

Also, I don't want this to become a Feser bashing thread. I let some of the business practices and actions of Martin and Mario spill into the review, I felt something had to be said after the hours and hours of IM conversations where they just bashed on the community. Let the performance and price be the criteria by which the radiator is judged, not the two running the company.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

huh, but there is more distance between the fans so when properly sealed the same still applies that there is more area under the edges of each fan - honestly I know the difference is miniscule in this rad, it is much more pronounced of the thermochill's 24.5mm spacing.

[hellcamino]

Are you serious dude?

[kinghong1970]

hmm... but SNiiPE, what if the difference in fan spacing is only in the external cover? where the core of the radiator, from end tank to end tank, remains the same?
looking at my PA120.3 and RX480, it seems quite possible to play around with fan spacing while the core size remains the same.