5-Way Radiator Round-Up

Conclusion:

As expected, the Black Ice Xtreme II (BIX2) and Dual Heater Core from Danger Den led the pack and tie for first place in this roundup due to their larger surface area and dual 120mm fan support. The Black Ice Xtreme I (BIX1) scores second place behind the two giant radiators. Tied for a close third place is the CoolingWorks CoolRad 12T and the ThermalTake Big Radiator at a very respectable load temperature of 42°C. Moreover, as expected, the last place is spot is taken by the LS Cable SHS-X500 heatsink. It is worth mentioning that the SHS-X500 did exceptionally well for being an air heatsink. We were quite surprised that its load temperatures were no more than a few degrees higher than our medium-end water cooling setup. In addition, the LS Cable product was also very, very quiet. The Dual Heater Core from Danger Den performed on par with the BIX2 and it is cheaper by approximately $10 USD. However, the extra $10 buys you the nice paint job and slimmer profile. Is it worth it? That would be up to you to decide. The next best option if you don’t have the cash or space for a dual radiator is the Black Ice Xtreme I, which comes out at $44.99 from the Danger Den store. However, keep in mind that in this setup we only kept one heat source, the CPU. If you also have a GPU to cool we would recommend that you go with a dual radiator, because this single radiator may not keep up with the additional heat. The CoolingWorks CoolRad 12T and the Thermaltake Big Radiator also performed very well and only showed 1°C higher temperatures than the BIX1. Again, we would like to thank our sponsors over at CrazyPC, 3DCOOL, Thermaltake, and of course Danger Den for sending us these samples. Look forward for additional cooling articles to come in the near future.