Huge Radiators: Roundup

[HESmelaugh]

After getting a chance to test the Black Ice GTX 560 quad 140 radiator against some triple-rads I was lucky enough to get my hands on some more radiators. With the TFC Monsta, Watercool Mo-Ra 2 Pro, Black Ice GTS 420 and XSPC RX480 the radiators in this roundup are mostly in about the same weight-class as the GTX 560.


Testing Method

Test-loop
- Laing DDC (MCP355) with EK X-Res
- 2x Inline heaters
- 4x Water-temp sensors
- 6x Air-temp sensors
- GMR flowmeter
- T-Balancer bigNG and Sensorhub for monitoring and logging temperatures amd flowrates

- Fans used: 120 mm Scythe Kama Flex 1900 and 140 mm Sharkoon System Fans

Each test run lasts 35 minutes, 25 minutes are warm up and the data from the last 10 minutes is all averaged out.
I don't control flowrates. The pump is always going at 12V and flow is as high as it can be in the loop. Just like the CPU blocks are tested with different flowrates due to differences in restrictiveness, I'm also testing radiators at "their own" flowrates, depending solely on their restrictiveness.
I do compare radiators of the 120-mm-format with those of 140-mm-format, even though such a comparison can never be 100% fair. The rads are being tested with different fans and (deliberately) different fan-speeds. Just keep in mind that the comparison can only be seen as a rough guide and different fans would (and do) lead to different results.

Now, let's get right to the good stuff...

Contestants



From left to right: Feser / TFC Monsta (huge, expensive, flashy - if you haven't heard of this, you must be new to liquid cooling), Black Ice GTS 420 (polar opposite to the Monsta: While sharing the 3x140 format, the GTS is very thin and has very tight fin-spacing), XSPC RX480 (4x120 rad from XSPC - the RX360 proved to be a great rad for low-speed fans), Watercool Mo-Ra 2 Pro (9x120 radiator, hugely popular in Germany for it's silent cooling capability).


Flow



The TFC Monsta proves to be very unrestrictive. Save for the GTS 420 and the Mo-Ra 2 Pro, I would say that all of these radiators are showing fairly good flowrates. The Mo-Ra 2 is by far the most restrictive of the radiators tested, which isn't much of a surprise, really.


CW, single row of fans, push

NOTE: The TFC Monsta allows for 140 mm fans as well as 120 mm fans to be attached. It is always represented with two sets of data, a "140" or "120" showing which fan size was used.



As you can see, this graph is very interesting, since there are trendlines crossing each other all over the place. Each time two trendlines cross, it means that one radiator is more suitable for higher fan speeds and the other is more suitable for lower fan speeds.
For example, we can see that the Monsta, using 140 mm fans offers better performance than the GTX 560 up until about 800rpm. At higher rpm, the GTX 560 becomes the better choice.
Similarly, we can see the XSPC RX480 out-doing the GTS 420 by a considerable margin at low fan speeds, but above about 900-1000rpm, the GTS 420 is in the lead.
And, comparing the very flat, very densely finned GTS 420 to the very thick, very loosely finned Monsta, we can see how these two radiator designs affect performance: The Feser Monsta offers superior performance up to about 1300rpm, after which the GTS 420 becomes slightly better.
Also worth noting is that the Monsta loses a huge amount of performance when it is equipped with 120 mm fans. With the smaller fans, the Monsta can barely keep up with the much more compact RX480 and is overtaken in performance by the GTS 420 at around 900rpm.
The only trendline that is never crossed is that of the Mo-Ra 2 Pro. This radiator simply offers astounding and superior cooling performance all the way from 400rpm to 1600rpm. At the top end of this range, the GTX 560 is coming close to it in terms of performance, though. It's possible that the GTX 560 will outpace the Mo-Ra at very high rpm. Keep in mind though, that the higher the fan rpm, the closer all values lie together. So even if the GTX 560 does outperform the Mo-Ra at, say, 3000rpm, it will most likely be only by a tiny margin.


CW, two rows of fans, push-pull


*The Mo-Ra 2 Pro cannot be equipped with two rows, or rather "walls" of fans in push-pull like the other radiators (and even if it could, there's a limit to how many identical fans of any type I have and that limit is below 18 ). Just out of curiosity, I added the performance data for the single row of fans on the Mo-Ra in with the data on push-pull for all the other fans. Keep this in mind as you're looking at the results.

With double the fans, the tightly finned Black Ice radiators gain a lot of performance. With this setup, the Monsta (six fans) can still hold it's own against the GTX 560 (eight fans) up to about 700rpm and against the GTS 420 (six fans) up to about 900rpm - after that, it's Black Ice territory.
It's also worth noting that the RX480, while being overtaken by the GTS 420 at relatively low rpm, comes pretty close to the Monsta's level of performance at high fan speeds in push-pull.
While it's interesting and amazing respectively to see the GTX 560 (with eight fans) and the GTS 420 (with six fans) surpassing the Mo-Ra's (nine fans) performance at medium to high fan speeds, the comparison is not quite fair, of course. With 18 fans in push-pull, the Mo-Ra would undoubtably be hard to beat.


CW, all radiators tested so far, single and double fans



As you can see, this one is pretty messy due to the sheer amount of data represented.


Data



Details on the individual radiators in the posts below.

[HESmelaugh]

TFC (The Feser Company) Monsta 360/420



Measurements: 15 x 10.4 x 47.5 cm

Fins per cm: 3.5

The TFC Monsta is the thickest radiator I've ever seen. It has almost twice the thickness of an XSPC RX or Black Ice GTX. It also has very generous fin-spacing.
The Monsta is the only radiator in this roundup that comes with more than the bare essentials: It includes two compression fittings, two stop-fittings (to close off two of the four threads on the radiator), an extensive set of screws that are black, matching the Monsta's color, a small bottle of anti-corrosion fluid as well as two silikcone gaskets, one for installing 140 mm fans, the other for installing 120 mm fans.
The Monsta's compatibility with two different fan sizes is a nice feature, but I can't really see it as a real bonus. Looking at the data, I cannot recommend using 120 mm fans with the Monsta at all. It loses a ton of performance compared to 140 mm fans. Using the larger fans, the Monsta performs very well at low fan speeds. In other words, it's well suited for silent cooling, but not a prime choice for high rpm fans. Highflow-fanatics will also appreciate it's low restrictiveness.

On the downside, there is the minor issue of size (the radiator is too big for internal installation, as are a few others in this roundup) and the greater issue of price. At about 260 USD, this radiator isn't exactly cheap. It's performance alone certainly doesn't warrant the price, but I doubt anyone would have expected as much. With it's carbon fiber side panels and the way it's being marketed, it's clear that you buy the Monsta for it's performance on the one hand, but also for owning something special, something "Extreme", for adding a status symbol to your hardware-shrine.

So, all in all, I think the Monsta concept works, and it's raw cooling performance at low fan speeds is better than I would have expected.



HWLabs Black Ice GT Stealth 420



Measurements: 15.5 x 3 x 46 cm

Fins per cm: 10

As I mentioned above, the main reason I really wanted to include this radiator in the roundup was that it's practically the anti-thesis of the Monsta: The GTS is very thin and has a very dense fin-structure, but shares the same format (3x140) as the Monsta. To me, it's very interesting to see how these two opposites compare to each other.
The GTS 420 is a HWLabs radiator and shares the design and characteristics of all it's peers. That is to say: It has a near perfect, glossy black finish, M4 threads, has the same fin-spacing as all the Black Ice Stealth rads etc.
It also shares a really blatant weakness with all the other HWLabs radiators in the 140 mm format: It's (unnecessarily) slightly too wide to fit into 5.25" drive bays. This means that while it's length will fit into a big-tower case, it's breadth means you'll probably have to get out your Dremel.
Apart from that, this radiator leaves a very good impression and once again shows how much potential radiators for 140 mm fans have. More importantly, among the rads tested here, the GTS 420 is a real bargain with a retail price of just 85 USD. That leaves you with enough change to invest in three extra fans for it, and a GTS 420 sandwiched in between six 140 mm fans probably offers the best cooling-performance-to-size ratio you'll see in a long time. Given that those fans are doing high rpms, at least.



Watercool Mo-Ra 2 Pro



Measurements: 39 x 5.7 x 41.5 cm

Fins per cm: 6

The Mo-Ra 2 Pro is extremely popular, not to say legendary, in Germany and at least parts of Europe. It's known for offering extremely good cooling performance even with fans turned down to inaudiable speeds - perfect for silent cooling. And, as the test-results show, it really is a cooling beast and can hold it's own through a very wide range of rpm.
It's also very well manufactured and beautifully designed. Unfortunately, it has many tiny weaknesses and annoyances that a user has to put up with.
For one thing, fans cannot be attached directly to the Mo-Ra 2 Pro. In order to attach fans, you need to get a separately sold fan bracket thingy (last two pics above). This makes the whole package more expensive than it needs to be. To make things worse, the size of the holes for attaching fans on the bracket is very puzzling: The holes are too small for standard fan screws that usually come with fans, yet no screws are provided with the Mo-Ra or the fan bracket. So you can't use the ones that come with the fans and they don't give you ones you can use, either. Finally, there's the matter of flow. The Mo-Ra 2 Pro does hinder flow more than other radiators, though personally, I think it more than makes up for it with it's raw cooling power.
So, while the Mo-Ra is a great and powerful radiator, it seems that it could be improved with some relatively minor changes.
Good to know, then, that Watercool are working on a new Mo-Ra. That doesn't mean it'll come out any time soon, mind you. They're working on it and that's all that's known so far.



XSPC RX480



Measurements: 12.4 x 5.8 x 51.6 cm

Fins per cm: 4

At first glance, it might seem that the XSPC RX480 is pretty much out of it's league in this comparison. And that's true as long as you're only looking at the data itself. The XSPC RX480 has one very considerable advantage over all the other candidates in this roundup: It can be installed inside a case with relative ease. A good big-tower case will accomodate this rad and you won't have to entirely rip out the case's guts and rebuild everything around a humongous radiator in order to make it work. In fact, this is probably the only radiator in this roundup that will comfortably sit in the bottom section of a TJ07 without you having to use more than a screwdriver to install it. So, for anyone who likes their rads internal and doesn't think of a huge MountainMods box when he hears the word "Case", this radiator is one to consider.
Looking at it's cooling performance, it's clear that it is very strong with low-speed fans. With silent fans, this radiator will match the performance of a GTX 560, beat the GTS 420 by a good margin and outperform a Monsta equipped with 120 mm fans. At higher speeds, it is outpaced by most of the competition, though. I'm not intending to understate that.

Also worth mentioning: If the radiator I got is any indication, the problems the first batch of RX's had with the finish are a thing of the past. The finish on my XSPC RX480 is flawless.


Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this review and comments are, as always, welcome.
Check out the original article in German on www.DeXgo.com

Cheers,
Shane

[MomijiTMO]

Wut you don't have 18 identical fans for this review? That is simply outrageous and I cannot forgive you.



Great review as always and I'm more impressed with the MoRa.

[BringerOdeath]

Wow, that Mo-ra 2 is pretty Amazing, I just don't know how I would mount that....

[OldnBold]

Nice review

Thanks for the trouble

[SoulsCollective]

I've never liked that rad - given how obnoxiously big it is, I'm just not convinced.

Good review, good data, well presented, well written.

[Spoiler]

Wow, that Mo-ra 2 is pretty Amazing, I just don't know how I would mount that....

Yeah, if my car engine ever starts to overheat, just keep one of these badboys in your trunk for quick replacement.

Judging by the temps, who needs fans for this darn thing?


Great review, thank you! Now I just have to see how it compares to my Swiftech 240 x 2 stacked.

[Brodholm]

Nice review! I'm just waiting for two RX480 to get here How long was it before they had problems with the rx480 rads? I getting mine from tom. He got them like a month ago or so. Maybe 1½.

[bluehaze]

Monsta looks small compared to Mora Thanks for the review looks good. For my situation Monsta seems to be best rad as it fits in same spot as a 360 because the thickness doesn't matter and I am running cpu and 2 gpus with heatkillers off of it so it keeps the flow good!

[ILikeCosmosS]

mora = awesome rad

awesome review as always

[prava]

Monsta looks small compared to Mora Thanks for the review looks good. For my situation Monsta seems to be best rad as it fits in same spot as a 360 because the thickness doesn't matter and I am running cpu and 2 gpus with heatkillers off of it so it keeps the flow good!

Mmmm even if thinkness doesn't matter, take in mind that the monsta is a lot larger and wider than the 360...


@HESmelaugh: really really nice job, thanks. Conclusion is...don't buy the monsta XD

[faster3200]

Wow... the Mora is pretty bad.

Two different rads in push/pull beat it and the rest come close. For what is essentially 3 rads you would think it would perform better.

[Migi06]

Conclusion is...don't buy the monsta XD

When you compare Monsta 140mm and RX480 120mm they are equally same level.. When we are comparing 140mm and 120mm fans, we need cut 100-200rpm for 140mm fan to get same noise level.
So:
Monsta 140mm 1000rpm vs RX 480 1200rpm Water avarage - Air Difference is 6.65 vs 6.70
Monsta 140mm 1500rpm vs RX 480 1600rpm Water avarage - Air Difference is 4.25 vs 4.85
And 120mm Fans RX480 wins easily.

But monsta cost like 2*RX480

Wow... the Mora is pretty bad.

Two different rads in push/pull beat it and the rest come close. For what is essentially 3 rads you would think it would perform better.

Yea XSPC RX480 cost same like Mora 2 core or 2*360 swiftechs. Pretty aweseme low cost rad if flow isn't biggest problem.

[bluehaze]

Mmmm even if thinkness doesn't matter, take in mind that the monsta is a lot larger and wider than the 360...


@HESmelaugh: really really nice job, thanks. Conclusion is...don't buy the monsta XD

Doesn't matter, I have it mounted on the back of a banchetto where a 360 is supposed to go, it mounts easily because of the holes for mounting 120mm fans, and fits perfect imo, not too big, not too small!

[HESmelaugh]

Thanks for commenting, everyone!

Wow, that Mo-ra 2 is pretty Amazing, I just don't know how I would mount that....

I forgot to mention this: The Mo-Ra comes with spacers and screws for mounting it to the side-panel of a case. It's also wide enough to just stand on it's own.

Nice review! I'm just waiting for two RX480 to get here How long was it before they had problems with the rx480 rads? I getting mine from tom. He got them like a month ago or so. Maybe 1½.

AFAIK, they only had problems with the early RX360. I never read about problems with the RX480.
Though it's been stated that they will switch to a matte finish and non-threaded fan holes - something I'm not terribly enthusiastic about.

Wow... the Mora is pretty bad.

Two different rads in push/pull beat it and the rest come close. For what is essentially 3 rads you would think it would perform better.

I don't think you can equate it to three rads, since it's built entirely differently from you usual x-pass rad. But I agree that three decent rads would likely outperform a Mo-Ra.

By the way: I love the quote in your signature. Loved that monologue and what he says is something that I often notice and wonder about.

-snip
When we are comparing 140mm and 120mm fans, we need cut 100-200rpm for 140mm fan to get same noise level.
-snip-

Just out of curiosity: Where do you get that estimate from?

Generally, a 140 mm fan can be potentially more noisy than a 120 mm fan because it's pushing more air at identical rpm. Below a certain threshhold though, rpm makes no audiable difference in a quality fan, i.e. I wouldn't be able to tell if it's doing 300rpm or 500rpm from the distance I'm usually away from my fans.
All I'm trying to say is: I guess the noise-level relations between fan formats are pretty complex.

[Waterlogged]

Wow... the Mora is pretty bad.

Two different rads in push/pull beat it and the rest come close. For what is essentially 3 rads you would think it would perform better.

Yeah, I think the ppl that are praising the MO-RA completely and utterly fail to comprehend that it is basically 3 rads in 1 "tidy" package. The reason it does well at all is it's shear size compared to the other rads.

Maybe now ppl will believe me when I tell them the MO-RA is a very restrictive rad due to all those 180° bends.


HES, do you have 2 of any of the rads that flow 2.0 GPM or higher? If so, can you put them both in a loop and see what kind of restriction we would be looking at?

[HESmelaugh]

I currently don't have any rad twice anymore. I sold/gave away the extra ones from the sandwich-testing.

But I could maybe throw the RX480 and RX360 together in a loop. They have practically identical restriction, it seems.

EDIT: I'm pretty sure almost no one misunderstands the Mo-Ra, by the way. The reason it is popular with those who it is popular with is that it offers a tidy package with tons of cooling power at low fan speeds. If you aren't obsessed with flowrates and as-low-as-possible temperatures and are more focused on as-low-as-possible noise levels, a Mo-Ra is a great radiator. It's a lot less bother than installing three separate rads and it's also cheaper than three good rads.

[xeon_1]

To bad you didn't have the MagiCool XTREME NOVA 1080
I would have liked to see a review of that one.
Anyway thx for taking the time to make a good review of all those rads

[dr-]

hey Shane, any problems with the QC with the XSPC rad? i have been reading a lot about missing fins, bent fins etc. i know that XSPC has solved the paint problem which came with the first shipment, but I would like to know if it has solved the bent and missing fins problem as well...

[bentleya]

Shane it would of been nice to see the TFC 480 In there, As not many people test Them, Not sure if it because you can't get TFC via aqua tuning, where you work.

But it will be nice to see the comparison between this and martins, to see how different the results are.

[Martinm210]

Awesome work...man you have been busy!!

I'm suprised the Mo-Ra is so restrictive, I would have never guessed it would even be more restrictive than a GTS. It must have some very thin tubes or something causing that.

Anyhow, good to know in the 120 vs 140mm fans on the monsta, I suspected 140's are really needed to make full use of it's 140mm factor. Time to go order some, I think I'll go with the Koolance fans since they go up to 1700RPM.

[kinghong1970]

Yeah, I think the ppl that are praising the MO-RA completely and utterly fail to comprehend that it is basically 3 rads in 1 "tidy" package. The reason it does well at all is it's shear size compared to the other rads.

Maybe now ppl will believe me when I tell them the MO-RA is a very restrictive rad due to all those 180° bends.


HES, do you have 2 of any of the rads that flow 2.0 GPM or higher? If so, can you put them both in a loop and see what kind of restriction we would be looking at?

i think Gabe should get some aluminum sheets to a metal shop and make up a MCR-920 enclosure (3x MCR-320) and sell that as a package deal...

America's Answer to Mo-Ra!!!

[skinnee]

you have been busy HES! I'm glad you got the C/W calculations licked, also nice to see the data table as well. Nice work!

Although, should this test be battle of the fatties versus "huge".

[kinghong1970]

can one of you pro's out there explain to me the whole basis behind the C/W calculations and why it is so widely used?
i've tried googling it... kept getting some damned TV station...

sorry for my nub question...

[dsumanik]

I tihnk another thing to think about with this review is that, all of these rads are at the current limits for PC watercooling. Calling one better than the other is like saying a ferrari is faster than a porche depending on wind conditions.

When push comes to shove, all these rads can handle a pretty substantial loop all on their own. The only real eyesore I can see in the roundup is the price of the monsta, although it does bring some unique features to the table:

-comes with fittings gaskets, screws, corrosion fluid.
-120/140mm fan mounting
-4 x g1/4 threaded fitting mounts

The last two points in that graph are why I purchased a monsta in the end, if you get stuck you can slap the rad onto a 120mm mount and the 4 intake/outlets allow you to install temp sensors, fill port/drain ports without a res, and allow for extremely flexible mounting options for such a large rad.

The price is retarded though seriously.

Alot of people are saying the Monsta is bad with 120mm fans too, I kind of disagree if you look on the graph it beats the XSPC across the chart with 120mm fans. So for instance is a buyer has a bunch of 120mm fans currently and a smaller case, he/she could buy a monsta and have tons of room for the future. Also monsta owners should take heed, there is not much point in running fans over 1000rpm on this rad, you gain alot of noise and very little performance, especially with a dual fan setup.

Also the Hwlabs GTX 280 is a very nice performancer to size ratio. Its the smallest rad in the roundup and a very good performer.