[Bundymania User Review] 4x 1080 Monster Radiator Comparison

[bundymania]

Welcome to my current review !

 

Some of you might know the terms faster, higher, longer from some kinds of sports, but there are as well other meanings especially concerning the pc water-cooling sector! Enthusiasts with high end systems need a cooling solution with a great cooling performance and good cooling capacity for further additional hardware combined with a low noise level.

In this review i would like to introduce three monster radiators (Size 1080) to you. The math experts might have noticed that the description 1080 is related to the fact, that the customer has the option to assemble a maximum of 9x 120mm fans to each side. Some of the testing candidates are optimized for 180mm fans, but additional information will follow .

The three radiators can be assembled to the side wall of your pc case. I prefer to use fast decouplers, which offer a greater variability for the separate transport of the pc in case of a LAN-Party or so.

 

Enough introductions! Let us take a look at the testing candidates:

 

 

Phobya G-Changer NOVA 1080 Radiator 60mm - Full Copper

The 60mm thick radiator is a further development of the well-known Extreme Nova 1080 and offers quite more cooling capacity for absolute high end enthusiasts. The Nova 1080 comes in a colored package and is well wrapped in bubble foil. The scope of supply contains enough fan-screws for 9x120mm fans. The customer can additionally purchase a blend for the backward assembly of 9x120mm fans. The Nova 1080 radiator is fully made of copper and has three g ¼ threads.

These three threads can be used in different ways. For example you can use the thread on the right side for the inbound and the other thread as an exit. The processing quality is on a good level and the paintjob is equally well done. Because of its thick build this model offers a much more better cooling performance with high fan speeds in contrast to the other testing candidates. You will have to pay around 180 EUR for this model.

Technical Details:

Material: Copper fins, copper channels, copper chambers, brass threas

Size: (L x B x H): 390x365x60mm

Threads: G1/4"

Weight: ca. 3723g

Assembly options: 36x M3-Threads at the top (for 9x 120mm fans)

Pressure tested: 2 Bar

Threads: 3x G 1/4"

Scope of supply:

1x Radiator

36x M3x35mm cross recessed screws

1x lock screw

Price: ca. 179 EUR

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Phobya Xtreme NOVA 1080

 

With the big Xtreme Nova 1080 Radiator the company Phobyia continues their successful way of great water-cooling products. The tested 1080 radiator convinced me like the smaller models in other reviews. The radiator allows a maximum assembly of 9x120mm and comes with the needed installation blend. The customer can purchase additional blends like for the Mora 3, which allow an installation of fans on both sides. Another separate blend can be purchased, if you like to install 180mm fans. Another nice accessory are foots, which are in my opinion a quite useful feature.

But let us take a closer look at the cooling performance of the Phobya Xtreme Nova 1080 radiator. The model performs quite well and gains the performance-crown at lower fan speeds!

The processing quality is not on a similar level as the Koolance radiator, but please take in mind, that the price of the Phobya radiator is much lower in comparison to the products of Koolance.

All in all the customer can purchase with the Phobya Xtreme Nova 1080 a great product, which offers quite enough cooling capacity for every high end system with several graphic cards.

 

 

Technical Details:

Material: copper fins, copper pre-chambers

Size: (L x B x H): 390x365x46mm

Threads: G 1/4"

Weight: ca. 3025g

Assembly options: 36x M3-threads on top (for 9x 120mm-Fans)

Pressure tested: 2 Bar,

Threads: 2x G ¼”

Scope of supply:

1x Radiator

36x M3x30mm cross recessed screws

Price: ca. 110 EUR

+ blend for 180mm fans or additional 120mm can be purchased separately

 

 

 

Koolance Radiator, 9x120mm 18-FPI Aluminum & Koolance Radiator, 9x120mm 20-FPI Copper

 

 

The US American company Koolance is a pioneer in the water-cooling sector and produces for more than about 10 years high quality products, which are made in South Korea. The portfolio offers products from the whole water-cooling sector including radiators. For this review I received aluminum and a copper version of their 1080 radiators.

The processing quality is over all on a high level, but the copper model is slightly better processed than the cheaper aluminum model.

The radiators come well packed and the scope of supply contains the needed fan screws, which have an integrated protection that prevent you to turn them too far into the radiator and damage the pipes. The fans are put on the screws and you will have to finally fix this construction with knurled head screws (good solution, but not very handsome).

There is additional attachment option, which means that you will have to be creative concerning the installation (or just assemble it to the pc case).

Let us take a look at the cooling capacity: Both Koolance 1080 radiators do not perform as well with lower fan speeds as the Phobya Nova Xtreme Radiator. The Koolance radiators reach a better performance with higher fan speeds (which means higher air pressure) and perform here better than the Nova radiators. Concerning the cooling capacity please take in mind that you will have to pay a quite higher price for the slight better performance (Aluminum version 170 EUR; Copper Version 320 EUR). The radiators can be purchased as well on koolance.com but you will reach similar prices including taxes and shipping costs.

Both radiators were originally produced for the external complete water-cooling solution, which can be purchased from Koolance in different varieties.

 

Technical Details:

Size: 388 x 437 x 34mm

Color: black

Material: Aluminum fins, steel frame, brass pips (aluminum version) copper, steel (Copper Version)

Threads: 4x 1/4"

Fan assembly: M4

Fin thickness: 18FPI (Alu Version) 20 FPI (Fins Per Inch) Copper Version

Weight: 2800g (Alu Radiator) 3,18kg (Copper Radiator)

Scope of supply:

1x Koolance Radiator, 9x120mm, fan screws

 

Price: ca. 170 EUR (Aluminum Version) or around 320 EUR for Copper Version

 

Testing results & testing procedure:

The testing system:

Banchetto 101 Bench Station

EVGA X58 LE Mainboard

Mips Mainboard water-cooling solution

Corsair DDR3 1600 6GB Ram Kit

Watercool Heatkiller 3.0 LT

i7 920 @4.2Ghz @1.42V (Bios Setting)

EVGA GTX680 Superclocked & EVGA/Swiftech water-cooler

9x Noiseblocker B12-3 fans

Cougar GX 1050 power supply

Aquaero 4 VFD control unit

Laing Ultra with Alphacool Acetal top

Alphacool Cyclone reservoir

Aquacomputer flow control unit "High Flow"

Koolance VL3N fast decouplers & CPC Metal fast decouplers

Masterkleer 16/10mm tube + 13mm grommets

water filter from Aquacomputer

3x water temperature sensors (2x T-Line, 1x in reservoir)

used thermal grease: Phobya HeGrease

Additional intermixture Innovatek Protect

ArctiClean was used for the cleaning of the CPU and GPU.

Prime95, Custom, 1024k, 60 Min. + Furmark 1.9.2, 1280x1024 (Windowed) MSAA: 8x

 

 

 

Test results:

 

 

 

 

 

Delta-T Difference at the named fan speeds.

Lower is better.

 

Flow rate in liters per hour. Higher is better.

 

 

Conclusion:

Well, what should i say about the testing candidates?! Each of the four offer a great cooling capacity for every enthusiast, which means that you can cool at least every high end system with one of these radiators very good on a low noise level. I think that for most users from Europe the Phobya Nova radiator might the most attractive cooling solution, because it performs well with lower fan speeds and can be purchased for a smaller price than the Koolance products. The scope of supply is another positive aspect. The radiators from Koolance might be interesting for users, who like to own a perfectly processed product, which performs well with fan speeds over 1000 U/Min. If you buy Koolance I am sure, that you own for enough money ;-).

 

I would like to thank the following companies for their great support: Aquatuning, Phobya, Koolance, Noiseblocker, Alphacool, Aquacomputer, Microcool, EVGA, Mips-Computer, Cougar, Swiftech and Watercool !

[X672]

Nice test but I wish you had put in a 3x120 to see how big/small the diffrence would be