Martinm210

First I wanted to give Martin from TFC a big thanks for providing me with this prototype for testing, I'm very fortunate to be so lucky!

Here is my full review with pressure drop testing and my exhaustive thermal testing.
FULL REVIEW LINK
<--Site link is in my profile

Here is a quick summary of my findings:

First a few pictures:

A beatiful and very large dual row, dual pass quad optimized for low speed fans.



A nice bleedscrew for you inverted barb installers.

PRESSURE DROP TESTING



I used their supplied compression barbs for 1/2" ID 3/4" OD tubing:


And the results are an exceptionally low pressure drop, very nice!


THERMAL TESTING RESULTS



Comparison of thermals to the 480GTX:

It's dominating the slow speed fans and they are equal at 1880RPM.

Looking at what that means using some assumed system heat loads for comparison:


Here is the fan preference poll I started:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=193649

It appears something like 80% of the users prefer using the 1550RPM or slower fans, so it's really optimized well with the more open fin structure.:up:

Just when I think I'm done tearing apart my system, now I've got another new radiator to install permanently...

Cheers!
Martin

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ira-k

Now that really surprises me, I would of thought the copper fins would of done better then that, I guess it has a medium fin count is why..Its looks a nice balanced rad for people who like lower cfm fans.. ..Well my GTX will do me a while longer it looks like......Which it would have anyway, I'm in no hurry to spend another $150 bux on a rad...

Thanks for the testing Martin, looks great as always....

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eRazorzEDGE

lol, that rad will prolly retail for ~$200... i spent about $330 for my 2 TFC 360's :/ but i have no complaints.

great stuff martin

Martinm210

I was actually expecting the performance to cross around 1700, but it did better than that.

And yep, there's nothing that's going to perform as well as the GTX with the Ultra High speed fans. At that point, the GTX is in it's home, although there's not very many that are willing to put up with that much noise, about 20% or so. I ran a poll and actuall had quite a few people saying they think my "Ultra Low" designation is wrong, they like running them at 500-800 RPM..


Yep, they should be just about that, but made very well. HWlabs 480GTX is also top notch in quality. I guess I kind of like the gloss black paint better on the GTX, but the low pressure drop and better performance for my fan preference has won me over on the TFC.

I have too many favorites...so much goodness to choose from..

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eRazorzEDGE

wow 500 - 800 rpm?!?? lol, that's at and below my bios' default warning fan speed :P

i'm running 6 silenX's supposedly pushing 72cfm @ only 14 dba... though they r a slight bit louder than the stock 120mm's on my TT armor. i haven't read much about different fans yet... :/

Tufelhunden

Great testing per usual Martin.

Guess I am in that 20% sort of, my Ultraz Kraze 2000's sit at full tilt.

Woot hearing loss FTW?

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Martinm210

Yeah, if it's one thing I've learned about noise and opinions, everyone's got thier own...that's for sure.

Here is the results of my poll, probably about 1/2 of the 1000 RPM votes were people that went lower than that.

I guess I spent too much time with loud stereos growing up, 1350 is plenty quiet enough for me.


That or maybe the screaming kids at the back of my head during those long summer vacations has built up a little tolerance??...

Anyhow, it seems there are some folks extremely particular about noise, hope they are not also the ones asking about the single 120mm rads..

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ChielScape

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still gonna go with some GTX480's though... damn, waiting just kills me.. ;_;

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prosser13

Sorry to be slow, but is a higher or lower figure better for "Estimated Water Temperature Above Ambient"?

I'm assuming lower is better?

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Martinm210

Lower the better, personally I would recommend shooting for a 5C or lower as a good high performance target. That will ensure a very good gain over air cooling and not that hard to do.

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