CoolingKing Radiator

Radiator Test – Joe

SUMMARY: Good performance with modest pressure drops.

Rad

Size: 90 x 129 x 200 mm; Weight 1400 grams

The good guys at CoolingKing sent a sample of their CoolingKing Watercooling Kit to test a while ago and I thought their radiator would be an interesting one to test. It’s powered by one 120 mm fan and is primarily an external unit. This is a copper tube radiator with copper fins which is fairly deep (90 mm), as it features two rows of cooling tubes. I found the radiator to be well constructed with an interesting feature for a looped-tube radiator:

Rad Top

To reduce pressure drops, the CoolingKing radiator features a “bridge” which connects the front and back tubing loops – as you can see from the pressure drops below, it works quite well. This looks like an effective method to reduce pressure drops in radiators of this type.

Rad Top

The Test

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.

Rad Test

GPM & Pressure Drop in PSI

BTU/Hr @ 30 CFM

BTU/Hr @ 45 CFM

BTU/Hr @ 61 CFM

0.5 gpm – 0.13 psi

257

424

na

1.0 gpm – 0.33 psi

270

469

na

1.5 gpm – 0.66 psi

284

473

na

Very visible is what more airflow does for performance. There is less benefit from increased flow, although the low pressure drops make a radiator of this design less of a burden to total system pressure drop.

CONCLUSIONS

CoolingKing’s Radiator looks like a good choice for PC watercooling – good performance at a modest pressure drop.

Thanks again to CoolingKing for sending their kit a while ago to test.

Email Joe

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply