Rad vs HC

Watercooling radiator (BIX and whatsnot) or a simple automotive heatercore? please let us know your opinions and I am talking about average, comparable units (i.e. single rad vs single average heatercore). What are the advantages and disadvantages for going either way (besides the price)?

From most of the things I have seen posted and read so far it seems they break down this way-

Ease of Use - Radiators. These have been designed to fit in most cases and are manufactured for easy installation. They also generally are available for easy exchange of barb sizes and come with the barbs preinstalled. Lastly they generally have pre-made shrouds available which further simplifies using one in a system. Primary downsides are price and performance.

Performance/Price- Heater Cores. These have been mass produced for the automotive industry which is a wee bit bigger than the watercooling industry. As such they cost significantly less. They tend to be better performers (some significantly so). They are readily available at virtually any autoparts store. Primary downsides are the need on many to make adaptations to the leads in order to attach hosing as well as the need to fabricate or have fabricated some form of shroud. Lastly they normally dont have easy to use preset screw holes for mounting.

There are however Heater Cores available that have been premodded. They are found at most water cooling sights and are listed as Heater Cores. Some of the most popular are the '86 Chevette Single 120mm and the '77 Bonneville Dual 120mm core. To date I have as of yet to find a source with a premade shroud for the '77 while the '86 shrouds can be found with a little looking around.

For a DIY type WCing person I would definitely have to say that Heater Cores win hands down for the combination of price, performance, and ready availability. The 'hands on' work required generally falls right up a DIY persons ally.

This has been done to death, please search.

TY Bugmasher for a nice summary.

pwnt by pat - I dont get it, what's the point for crapping the thread? I know I can search, but it leads to older info, maybe something new came up since then. If u dont want waste ur time, dont post.

HC with osoem weak *** fan....will do but not best option.
"rad" will not need as powerful a fan as a HC to achive optimal performance.

Pressure is very important.

Not too long ago, probably a page or two back, there was a thread - I think it was called HC vs Rad or "What's the difference between a heater core and a rad". Basicly it has everything that's needed to know about the differences between them.

pwnt by pat said:

Not too long ago, probably a page or two back, there was a thread - I think it was called HC vs Rad or "What's the difference between a heater core and a rad". Basicly it has everything that's needed to know about the differences between them.

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well, pwnt why not at least post a link, or ***** AND give at least a bit of info??
Plus I doubt that the last thread (if not every thread on the subject) really came to any substantial conclusion.

Zett, dont worry about attitude liek pwt by pat gave you, just do us and especially yourelf a favor and spend some time researching.
advantages besides the price are....the Heatercore will be a bit less water-restrictive, but perhaps more restrictive on the airflow side of things.
If you mix a HC with a nice high pressure fan, you,ve got a winner.
I have never used a "radiator", so I dont want to give you misinformation.

Umm aren't they essentially the same thing?

They are pretty much all dual pass copper finned radiators. Frankly i cant see the difference between then, aside from the obviouse things that come with a commercial rad such a 120.2 (fan holes and threaded barb holes etc). Restrictiveness ultimatly depends on the specific model of radiator.

That's what i trying to do - research. And I am trying to avoid somewhat outdated info. Hence, the question. So far, so good, ty guys for feedback.

Phextwin said:

Umm aren't they essentially the same thing?

They are pretty much all dual pass copper finned radiators. Frankly i cant see the difference between then, aside from the obviouse things that come with a commercial rad such a 120.2 (fan holes and threaded barb holes etc). Restrictiveness ultimatly depends on the specific model of radiator.

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The big, glaringly obvious one? thickness?

2" thick heatercores (as i think most american ones are) are inefficient for low noise cooling, as they offer a large amount of restriction.

1700+ @ 2.1ghz, 1.9vcore, estimate 75w heatload. Used cpuburn to get to full load, left for 1 hr in a 19 degree C room. Fan, lowish speed (60ish cfm).

Rad one - mitron 120mm unshrouded 1" thick commercial rad
Rad two - 150x150mm square 2" thick HC

mitron was something like 24.5ish C, the HC was 22-23. The heatercore dropped away pretty quickly at lower rpm; unfortunately i cant find the numbers. The important thing to remember here, of course, is the fact that the HC had the distinct advantage of a MUCH greater surface area, and the additional shrouding.

Thickness shouldnt be under-estimated if you're looking for quiet performance.

Etacovda said:

The big, glaringly obvious one? thickness?

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phextwin said:

Restrictiveness ultimatly depends on the specific model of radiator.

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I meant both air and water with that, but fair enough.
As an example, i have a couple of heatercores that are thinner than BIXs.

Though i do agree with you, current wc rads (both commercial and heatercores) are a joke with axial fans. Just too restrictive.

That's the thing about the internet. If you don't word things precisely you come off as arrogant and pissy.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=336137&highlight=radiator+heater+core
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=335320&highlight=radiator+heater+core
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=332197&highlight=heatercore+rad
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=337455&highlight=radiator+heater+core
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=333590&highlight=radiator+heater+core

Search "Radiator Heater core." I couldn't find the one I mentioned though.

Edit: just found this one too. It's spot on.
http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=338376

Phextwin said:

I meant both air and water with that, but fair enough.
As an example, i have a couple of heatercores that are thinner than BIXs.

Though i do agree with you, current wc rads (both commercial and heatercores) are a joke with axial fans. Just too restrictive.

Click to expand...

Did you guys read my post ??

Senater_Cache said:

the Heatercore will be a bit less water-restrictive, but perhaps more restrictive on the airflow side of things.

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