Performance Summary

With radiators, thermal performance is the most important metric. Liquid flow restriction is one contributor to a loop's overall flow rate, which is also affected by the pump and other used components, and I would, as such, recommend choosing a pump of a head pressure equal to or greater than the combined liquid flow restriction of your individual components (in series) at the target flow rate. It also is incorporated in the design of the radiator core, which in turn influences thermal performance as well, so in an indirect way, it is already represented by the latter. In order to quantify relative performance for a radiator thus, it makes sense to consider the thermal performance metrics only and, thus, a normalized percentage-based data set was created and plotted with the subject of this review at 100%.


There is not much differentiating the radiators presently tested, and yet carving out the smallest of gaps is all the harder with radiators. The biggest takeaway here is that Watercool seems to have broken up the massive monopoly of Hardware Labs and its OEM customer products, landing squarely in the middle with the Heatkiller Rad 360-L.

Performance per Dollar

Prices are taken from Performance PCs in the USA when available, with all numbers reported in USD. For products not available there, the most obvious retail source is chosen, such as a manufacturer's web shop. For products no longer available, the last available reasonable price point is considered.


Watercool is still finalizing exact pricing in different markets, but I was given what they believe will be the final price in EUR excluding any applicable taxes for their web shop. I used a two-week averaged EUR-USD exchange rate for an approximation in USD. The value proposition of radiators is more directly tied to pure quantifiable performance than with water blocks, fans, and reservoirs. But even here remain a few things that do not get reflected directly, such as the build quality and color options, as well as any integrated lighting, as with some offerings from Alphacool, Thermaltake, etc. Regardless, with that in mind, the Heatkiller 360-L takes a tumble from the previous chart, which shows that the cost here is higher than for most others.