Thermal Performance

Everything needed (monitor, peripherals, motherboard w/CPU and GPU, radiator, PSU, and so forth) is placed in a sealed, climate-controlled box at 25°C +/- 0.05 °C. Each radiator is connected by Koolance QD3 quick disconnects for easier changing of fans and radiator. The flow rate is held at 1 GPM constant flow rate. The CPU, an Intel Core-i7 4770K at 4.6 GHz, running at 1.3 V, is held at a constant load using a custom Intel XTU profile, and the GPU, an EVGA GTX 780 Ti Classified under load from Unigine Heaven 4.0 at 1080p with extreme HD settings, is overclocked and overvolted in such a way that the total system power draw is 550 W as measured by a power meter.

A near-constant heat load into the liquid loop by the addition of the CPU and GPU helps achieve stable liquid-loop temperatures pretty quickly (as measured by three separate in-line temperature sensors hooked up to an Aquacomputer Aquaero 6 XT). The tubing and fittings are insulated by a sleeve heater, but its heat function is not utilized. Every single measurement is done twice as a means of verification. Any possibility of running a fan outside of its static maximum RPM is minimized by as much as possible by using a comprehensive series of separate fans (Noiseblocker eLoop, B12-1 through B12-4) to cover a broad RPM range while minimizing fan speed variance and, thus, airflow. The results below are the ∆T (coolant temperature - ambient temperature) in °C.


Once again, keep in mind that the current test database does not include many other thin radiators. Despite that, I went in expecting less and came out fairly impressed with the XSPC TX360. It does not beat the Black Ice Nemesis GTS, which is the single best-performing radiator in the 30 mm radiator class, but boy, does it punch above its weight overall! Despite the relatively high fin density, and once again showing why FPI is not the be-all and end-all when it comes to determining how well a radiator does with low-speed fans, the thinner core coupled with the thinner tubes helps the TX360 perform decently at low fan speeds—even more so than the Alphacool NexXxos UT60 that was touted as a low-medium fan-speed-optimized radiator before the Eisbrecher series came out. To no surprise, the TX360 scales poorly relative to other radiators with airflow to where it ends up near the bottom of the charts, although it is, again, not that far off at medium-high fan speeds.