Triple Radiator Performance Comparison

[Hondacity]

thermochill is still king...

thanks for the comparo

[Chruschef]

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

[faster3200]

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

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

[G-UNIT91]

great review, skinnee!!!

[DarthBeavis]

thermochill is still king...

thanks for the comparo

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

Good job on the testing!

[Chruschef]

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

[Vapor]

Great stuff as always Skinnee

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

[nikhsub1]

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

[rocket733]

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

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.

[Hondacity]

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...

**don't look at the hwl360gtx number

[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?

[skinnee]

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?

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

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

[Power_VANO]

Great work skinnee!

Adding Feser Xchanger 360 would be very good too

[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.

[Scubar]

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.

[DarthBeavis]

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.

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 . . . .

[rocket733]

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 . . . .

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.

[DarthBeavis]

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.

[zlojack]

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.

[JoeBar]

Fantastic work, as always, Skinee!

[mstrmold]

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

[Sadasius]

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

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.

[zlojack]

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

[Sadasius]

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

[alexjpn]

very nice work skinnee