Triple Radiator Performance Comparison V2
HWLabs GTX360, HWLabs SR1-360 Swiftech MCR320,
Swiftech MCR320 Stack, ThermoChill PA120.3, TFC X360, XSPC RX360
by skinnee - November 8, 2009




Pressure and Flow Results


When building your loop there should be a list of things that come to mind, flow and pressure should be near the top of that list. Pressure drop is the measurement of inlet pressure minus outlet pressure, or the pressure lost of flow through the radiator.

Test Method

I have the line from my wash basin in the mud room hooked up to the gate valve controlling flow, which then runs into the King flow meter. The bottom port on the flow meter is the inlet, top port is the outlet. The outlet runs down to the Delrin T which I have Bitspower 1/2" barbs on for the normal flow, and the negative pressure line connects via an EnzoTech 1/4" fitting. After the negative pressure T, the component in testing is attached. I always use Bitspower 1/2" fittings, that keeps everything on a common test platform...well from a fitting perspective anyhow. At the outlet of the component is the positive pressure T fitting, again with Bitspower 1/2" fittings and an EnzoTech 1/4" fitting for the pressure line. The tubing the runs back into the wash basin and down the drain.


Pressure Drop Data Tables

Here are the combined pressure drop numbers for our round-up. I have included kPa using Liters per Hour for our European metric system friends. After all there is such a large number of readers who use metric over imperial units, they should have data in their common format too. My eyes hurt as I was trying to get all the data into one table, so I just had to split it up. Sorry for the slight format change, but the separate PSI and kPa tables are just easier on the eyes.



I have no idea why I stopped at 4.0GPM on the SR1-360, although I have only been testing other components to a lower safety because I don't want to break another manometer. But the SR1 was only at 2.26PSI, I had a long way to go before reaching any kind of problems.



PSI Drop per GPM of flow




kPa drop per LPH of flow




No surprises on restriction really, the HWLabs GTX comes in with the highest restriction due to the 4 pass design and the ThermoChill PA120.3 edges out the XSPC RX360 for the lowest restriction. The Swiftech MCR320-S, TFC 360, HWLabs SR1-360 and Swiftech MCR320 all fall into what I consider the average restriction range. Don't let the curve fool you into reading it wrong, pressure drop on radiators is lower than any other device in your loop. A little extra restriction from your radiator is not detrimental to your system.

With restriction covered, lets just roll through the thermal test specification and methods before jumping into the data...


[  Page One - Intro/Overview  |  Page Three - Test Specification/Methodology  ]

[  Page Four - Thermal Test Results  |  Page Five - Conclusion  ]
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