HardwareLabs Alpha Xtreme III 360mm Radiator Review

Push Performance – 2.5/5

While the overall average of the data shows an “average” performance, the Alpha Xtreme III performs very well at higher airflows.

Push/Pull Performance – 3.5/5

Push/Pull favors the Alpha a little more, but overall performance is still hurt by it’s low fan speed results.

Overall Performance – 3/5

The Alpha Xtreme III is a radiator that scales very well with airflow.  This might even be the best radiator out there for high fan speeds over 2000RPM.  Sadly that performance is so skewed that it really hurts the radiator at lower airflows.

The restriction level was very low, so installing multiple Xtreme III rads in a loop will not have a major impact on flow rates.

Features & Quality – 3/5

Build quality on the Xtreme III was among the best of the test group even though it is about 8 years old and has been used in numerous builds. The joins on the tubes to the tank ends prevented the ”quality” score from being higher.

The glossy black paint finish is silky smooth and without flaws. Even after having been used previously the finish on the Xtreme III is amazing. So glossy that it took numerous attempts to get some good photos without glare and reflections ruining the shots

Thick gauge side panels are used making the Xtreme III solid with no flex. Fin spacing was uniform up and down the tubes. The high 18 FPI count means more maintenance and down time having to remove dust build up more often.

The Xtreme III is a basic design with just single inlet/outlet port option and no fill/bleeder port. The out-dated self-tapping screw threads are thankfully a thing of the past.

Summary – Silver Award

The Alpha Xtreme III from HardwareLabs performs consistently well at medium to high fan speeds. It does not perform well at all at low fan speeds. The glossy black finish was remarkably good, but the design lacked some features.  It must also be remembered that this is not a thick radiator but yet can beat many of the fatter designs out there.  Indeed if noise is not an issue this might be the most space efficient cooling solution when used with high speed fans.

The Xtreme III is an EOL radiator which was replaced by the GTX Gen2 years ago. Despite the Alpha’s strengths, the Black Ice GTX Gen 2 beats it wherever it does excel.  Finding one now would be hard – I did however locate a brand new one for sale at a discounted price at the time of writing.

Where to buy: PPCS – $59 (Blue only, 1 remains)