Alphacool has been updating its entire product lineup for a while now, with the bigger news and press releases pertaining to its water blocks, reservoirs, and even fittings. The brand's radiators have been mostly unchanged for years, with people who have been in the DIY watercooling hobby quite familiar with what a UT60 or Monsta is in this context. The thinner Alphacool radiators never left a strong impression on me, although the NexXxos ST25 did try to improve upon the niche ultra-thin radiator market.

With the new NexXxos HPE series, Alphacool currently has 30 and 45 mm thick radiators. This very HPE-30 was slated to perform 4.5°C better than previous-generation radiators in Alphacool's internal tests shown on the product page, and the HPE-45 outperforming some 60 mm thick radiators didn't help quench my expectations. While my tests are conducted differently, and arguably with more heat to dissipate through the system too, I didn't really see the improvements mentioned. In fact, I will say that the NexXxos ST25 isn't that different from the NexXxos HPE-30 in terms of coolant flow restriction and thermal performance. You would choose the former for an extra 4.5 mm of room, and the newer HPE-30 gives you slightly better performance and, more importantly, five G1/4" ports in total.

This is why I can see people purchasing the Alphacool NexXxos HPE-30 lineup, especially if you need to get a thin radiator. The issue is having to pay ~$110 for a thin 360 mm radiator that otherwise doesn't do anything particularly distinguishing. Granted, material costs and logistics are currently beyond logic, which makes the value proposition for this new radiator worse compared to older radiators that compete favorably and cost less. As it stands, for the money, I'd personally get the Black Ice Nemesis GTS or LS for much less, or even some of the thicker radiators at the same price if space isn't critical.