Coolant/Fluid Roundup - Thermal Performance
Intro
A topic that seems to resurface every couple of weeks around the forums is what coolant/fluid is best; this usually ends up turning into a heated debate of opinions with no data to douse the flames. There is an ever-growing variety of coolants that are available in a rainbow of colors, which is great for those of you trying to achieve a certain color scheme where colored tubing just will not cut it or you have nightmares when your reservoir contains a clear fluid that just does not match your color scheme.
The variety of fluids on the market have been marketed as anti-corrosive, non-conductive, earth friendly and the list goes on and on. The anti-corrosive feature potentially holds weight for the times when you just cannot avoid a little aluminum in your loop, but the "no more aluminum" crusade eliminated nearly every aluminum product out there. Copper, brass and even silver make up our cooling products now, you have to search out aluminum on purpose to find a product that has it in the flow path. Non-conductive, well, all fluids will become conductive over time in your loop... so there goes that marketing angle.
So what are we left with you ask, color and thermal performance are the only things left in my mind. Those of you who frequent forums have all viewed the threads where colored fluids have broken down and clogged up micro-pins or impingement plates. Additives in our fluids will break down, this should be of no surprise, the piece not discussed on those gunk/clogging threads is that the coolant breaking down contains more than just water and color dye. I am of the opinion (opinion because I have no hard data on the matter) that the additives besides the dye are the real culprit.
Last but not least is performance, and that is exactly what were are on a mission to find with this round of testing and review. Let us not waste any more time with my introduction and get to the matter at hand...
Included in the roundup is Distilled Water with PT_nuke, Feser One, Feser Ultra Pure, Fluid XP Nano-Fluid, Ice Dragon Nanofluid Formula C2, Ice Dragon Nanofluid retail formula, Minnesota Tap water, Primochill PC Ice, Primochill PC Pure, Swiftech Hydrx and Thermochill EC6. We tried to cover as many of the latest trends, popular fluids and classics as possible, we even have tap water fresh from my city water supply. Nanofluids are the latest advancement looking to knock good old distilled water off the hill; we have three, the early prototype formula from Ice Dragon (Formula C2), Ice Dragon retail and the most colorful selection in our roundup Fluid XP Nano-fluid.
Curious about the Test Spec and Methodology, head over and check out the full article for all the details.
Performance and Test Results
Individual Results
Compiled Thermal Results
Conclusion/Final Thoughts
Circling back around to the intro, the coolants included in the roundup cover quite a range of features or selling points. We have the classic distilled water and a simple biocide, vibrant colors, earth friendly, anti-corrosive, dye ready and Nano-particle coolants represented. Each possess something unique that captures the interest of liquid coolers looking to make their build stand out, simplify maintenance or bragging rights on using the latest tech in fluids. Coolants also come with their own set of drawbacks though, dyes and colors stain as well as eventually break down, and glycol tends to show signs of breakdown as well.
While coolant testing appears to be a simple and straightforward endeavor, that is just not reality. Due to the large number of marketing claims there are many different tests both short-term and long-term that would be required to bust or confirm all of the marketing claims. For those reasons, we decided to look purely at thermal performance as stated in the intro of this roundup.
Removing all the noise and getting back to performance, the primary ingredient in every coolant is water, which is why Minnesota Tap water was added into the roundup. The interesting outcome of testing all of these coolants was just how close thermal performance really is, even I expected to see more of a resultant temperature separation amongst the fluids. However, thinking more about each fluid and the fact that water is the primary ingredient in them all the results are not surprising. With our average CPU Core temperatures, we see a spread of 1C and average GPU temperatures spread of 0.7C when we exclude the FluidXP. I exclude FluidXP Nano-fluid from the equation due to the fact that performance was quite awful.
So where does this leave us... In terms of thermal performance, there is a such a small difference between any of the fluids that coolant choice will not make any difference in thermal performance for your setup. Additionally, we can take the previous statement one-step further and apply it to overclocking and with certainty say that coolant choice does not influence your clocks either. Knowing full well what the potential issues are with any fluid that contains additives, yes, I am referring to tube staining and chemical breakdown among others, your coolant choice really comes down to whatever you want to put in your loop and price you are willing to pay.
For me, I go through so much fluid in the lab that cheap distilled water and PT_nuke is my best choice, even Minnesota tap is used on the pump test bench. For those of you who do not have distilled water readily available, Feser Ultra Pure comes to mind... just know you are more than likely buying water from China that was shipped to Germany, then to your favorite reseller only to be shipped to your door. If color is your thing, you have a wide selection and can make your choice based on which coolant best matches the colors in your build. If you are looking for a coolant that has a bit more science and technology rolled in, Ice Dragon Nanofluid is available and has had colors tests with Mayhem dyes to show it can be made into any color you wish if the white is not the look you are after. Same goes for distilled water as well, Mayhem dyes can be added to achieve almost any color if you cannot find a pre-mix that suits your color palette. Just remember, all dyes/color will breakdown and fade over time. Personally, I would avoid the FluidXP Nano-Fluid though as the performance is abysmal. Just to reiterate, thermal performance differences amongst the coolants is very small, hopefully this puts the age-old question to rest.
Before we close the chapter on Coolant Performance, we need to extend our gratitude to Gigabyte for providing a motherboard for system level testing and FrozenCPU, Thermochill and Ice Dragon Cooling for sending coolants over to the lab for testing. Without the help and support of these companies, this test would not have been possible, thanks again! With that said, put the cork back in the bottle, thermal performance testing of coolants is complete.
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Awesome work as always, its refreshing to finally see some scientific and controlled test on this.
, but that's up to you of course 
.
Originally Posted by turtletrax
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