BeCooling Radiator

SUMMARY: OK performance with modest noise, depending on the fans used.

This radiator is from the first watercooling kit I tested five years ago from BeCooling. It is powered by one 120 mm fan (although you could use two in a push-pull configuration, with more noise) and is still available.

I found the radiator to be well constructed, featuring copper tubes and aluminum fins – I did some research on this and it is designed as a high pressure oil-cooler. I have used this in a number of cases where its size was just right for an internal radiator – it shows in wear and tear.

This radiator is of the round tube type – this is one long tube bent at 180º angles to weave the tube through the fin array. Radiators of this type will have pressure drops that increase with the number of bends – each one exerts its cost on pressure.

I included this as an example of what to expect from a relatively simple, small one-fan radiator in a watercooling system.

Radiator testing is carried out as outlined HERE. The results below are expressed in BTU/Hr at specific flow rates and cfm airflow through the radiator. These results are objective, relative performance data to be used to compare this radiator’s performance relative to others that will be tested over time.

Do not confuse each radiator’s relative rating with its absolute performance – a radiator twice the size of another will dissipate more heat than the smaller one, although perhaps not as efficiently as the smaller one. Surface area (hence size) does matter with radiators.

In this test, one 120 mm fan was used to deliver 30 cfm @ 1583 rpm, 45 cfm @ 2167 rpm and 61 cfm @ 2478 rpm. These ranges were selected to allow comparisons among one and two fan radiators.

For watts, multiply BTU/Hr x 0.2932

The more flow the better, whether it’s air or water – no real surprise here. Pressure drops are moderate – the 90 º bends at the top add to it. Also not surprising is to see a healthy boost at 61 cfm, which unfortunately exerts a price in terms of fan noise. Due to its thin profile, it is possible to move a fair amount of air through it.

A radiator of this size will require a fair amount of air flow to perform at its best, but for its size, it’s still a good choice for “average” watercooling. I found it to fit nicely in the bottom front of many mid-tower cases.

BeCooling’s Radiator is still a good choice for PC watercooling – good performance at modest pressure drops, due largely to its large tube size and the limited number of 180º bends. In its original incarnation, this radiator was used with a low-flow aquarium waterpump – heat dissipation for such a system was on the low side, but then the CPUs at that time were not the burners we see today.

Coupled with a waterpump in the 300 gph range and a 120 mm fan spinning at something like 1800 rpm, this radiator should perform nicely for “average” cooling needs. Hook up a rheostat to an aggressive 120 mm fan and you could cover a lot of cooling needs with a very simple set-up.

Thanks again to Brian at BeCooling for sending this our way to test many moons ago.

Email Joe