The big Radiator Material Test: Even more lead, a popular hiding place and 2.5 bright spots | Part 2

1 - Introduction, Brass vs. Copper, brass and equipment 2 - Barrow Dabel 28b Slim 120 mm 3 - Corsair Hydro X-Series XR 5 120 mm 4 - Thermaltake Pacific SR-Series 360 5 - Kafuty Aluminium Radiator (no name) 120 mm 6 - Summary and conclusion

Summary

Even if the time required was not short this time either, you always seem to catch someone cheating. The fact that it was so hidden this time and you could only find the lead when sawing it up doesn’t make the result any better, on the contrary. Finding such things is not easy, but it is important. With Barrow, it wasn’t just microscopic traces, but a whopping 70% by weight in the offending solder. This is anything but a trivial offense and I am somewhat disappointed by the lack of reaction from those involved so far.

But I’m not going to let up. If anyone would like to sacrifice themselves and send me more current Barrow radiators: I’ll be happy to test them, but I’ll also point out that they’ll no longer be usable, but a case for professional disposal. But for an individual like me, these purchases are definitely a certain financial burden in the long run. If you would like to make a sacrifice for science, I am also happy to test products from other manufacturers that we have not yet tested.

Today’s test once again showed very mixed results, so I would now like to compare the measurements for each manufacturer and radiator in tabular form. The positive points are marked in green, yellow is for tips or areas for improvement and things marked in red (and bold) are technically a no-go for me.

Since today it is less about the cooling capacity and more about the condition and the possible prognosis of long-term durability (also with regard to the influence of residues or corrosion on the coolant), my judgment may also contradict practical experience as long as the radiator has not been used for a long time.

The criticized radiator from Barrow should be taken off the market, it is not RoHS compatible and is also far too expensive. Whether the distributor likes it or not, it is nothing other than a blatant violation of existing regulations. If you then look at the place where I found the lead, I find it very difficult to believe that it was an accidental oversight. For better or worse, it was simply bought in on the cheap.

The radiators from Corsair are, in typical Hardware Labs fashion, technically up to date and without any material complaints. What could (and should) have been taken into account, at least on the German side, is that the fins are made of copper, but the channels are made of brass. Sure, these are minor details, but it is and remains misleading. Either leave it out or write it in correctly. I wrote on page one why brass can be even better and at least with Corsair the wall thickness is low enough not to suffer any disadvantages, on the contrary.

What Thermaltake delivered was acceptable to really good, only the color in the tank is a no-go. The inlets can be better concealed before coating, as can the cooling fins. I also thought it was good that word of the material analysis has spread as far as Taiwan, and that both the website and PR advertising materials are now up to date. As others are not so precise with this, it is important to emphasize this fact separately.

The build quality of the noname aluminum radiator was surprisingly good. Of course, the performance here is at a significantly lower level than with copper or brass radiators, but the price is ultimately only half the price, often only a third, which puts this into perspective somewhat. But the part was actually better than expected for its limitations. But you can only use something like this in pure aluminum circuits, otherwise everything corrodes faster than you can say pug.

And below this sentence you can now see two radiators from the same OEM. One is sold in Germany under the actual company name, the other is an OEM product from the same manufacturer, but with a lot of lead and a poorer coating. Of course, you can save a lot of money on production. Guess which is the good and which is the bad radiator, the trained eye will recognize it immediately:

Conclusion

I’m still disappointed because the drama just goes on like this. And I can already spoil that it will continue in the same way. Unfortunately. The next part will deal with noname clones, cost-downs and a few other things. So keep reading 🙂

The big radiator material test: Between promise, reality and the forbidden – Water Cooling tested more in Detail! | Part 1

Corsair Hydro X Series XR5 120mm (CX-9030001-WW)

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