EK CoolStream XE 360mm Radiator Review

The intention of this write-up is to provide information and performance data about the EK XE 360mm Radiator for inclusion in the Extreme Rigs Rad Round Up 2015. I’ll be keeping the review section short and factual, focusing on presenting the performance data compiled through the numerous tests carried out. Firstly a big thanks to EK for providing the review sample of the XE 360mm!

 

Note: You may notice changes in the data presentation in this rad review as I’m now also including even more thermal testing data for both Push/Pull and Push Only fan installations.

What’s in the Box?

The XE sample arrived in full retail packaging – complete with plastic shrink.

EK XE (7)

The EK retail packaging is distinctive and their radiator range is always color coded with lime green. The band of radiator fins under the EK logo is a nice detail. Those grey blocks though…..maybe I’m missing something.

On the back we find some specs under the technical data and the included contents.

Additionally we find some marketing propaganda (multi-language) advising us that for best performance to use EK’s Vardar fans. As all testing to date is carried out with GT AP-15 fans, we need to continue using them for accurate comparisons.

Keep an out for the Extreme Rigs AP-15 Vs EK Vardar F3 shoot-out coming soon.

EK continue to state that no there is no need for flushing prior to use. I advise against this and believe that you should always flush your rads prior to installing in your system. I’ll go out of sequence here because it relates directly to this flushing statement by EK.

As it turned out, the sample EK sent was not brand new from the factory. EK confirmed that it had been used for in-house testing prior to it sending to me. I found this out after opening the box for inspection and there was water around the ports and down one side of the casing, along with some staining most likely from dried up coolant.

My point here, is that I decided to half fill the XE sample with distilled and give it a shake around. I expected it to be clean, however some particles were evident, even after whatever “testing” EK had done previously.
Therefore always flush your rads!

EK XE (10)

OK back to the unboxing – the XE360 has a sturdy protective cardboard box inside the retail sleeve:

EK XE (19)

Inside the XE had a bubble wrap sleeve which I always like to see:

EK XE (22)

The accessory bags were placed at one end with a cardboard divider between the bags and the rad, simple yet effective.

Extent of delivery as per the EK website.

Enclosed:
– EK-CoolStream XE series radiator /w two pre-installed G1/4 extenders
– Flat-head UNC 6-32 screws (l=30mm)
– Flat-head UNC 6-32 screws (l=5mm)
– Allen key 2,5mm
– Allen key 9mm
– Allen key 6mm

 

My measurement of the short screw length was more like 6.5mm.

Both screw lengths are black, hex-key, button head screws. As good as it gets in my opinion.

Also included was 3 allen keys…

  • 1 x 2.5mm allen key for the mounting screws.
  • 1 x 6mm allen key for the secondary port plugs which are pre-fitted. This allen key was a sloppy fit but did however work ok.
  • 1 x 9mm allen key is for nipping up the primary ports if they unscrew when removing fittings.

EK provided two port plugs which on my already tested sample were pre-fitted. Retail units will most likely have the port plugs supplied for the end user to install.

Onwards to technical specifications!

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9 COMMENTS

  1. Another great review of a great rad. Excellent work Fast Fate and EK.

    Will have a couple of these on their way as soon as I can.

  2. On your analysis page when comparing the average GPM @ 750/1300/1850 P/P your graph for this review differs from say the coolgate G2 review analysis numbers. Power dissipated on the G2 review page at AVE GPM 1850 P/P is 497.7 and in this review it shows the G2 @ 461. This discrepancy is across all radiators and fan speeds in your group A reviews, the power dissipated is much lower in this review.

    I know you changed your temp reading set-up to get better accuracy but I never found anything referencing the change in Power dissipated due to that. Its confusing, could you please explain why the numbers changed.

    BTY, always great reviews…..thank you!!

    • Good catch! Yes this is because for Group A we were using averaged power dissipation numbers across all of Group A. After publishing Group A and continuing analyzing numbers with Group B we found that repeatability was increased by using calculated power dissipation from each run rather than the average over all tests. Therefore all later numbers are processed using this method. Soon we will be going back and editing all the results to be consistent in the methodology 🙂

  5. Thanks for the review.

    This seems like close to the “ultimate” radiator it would seem.

    Basically, this thing needs 2 things as you’ve noted:
    – Screw protectors (this I think is a big oversight and would not be hard to integrate at all)
    – A fill/bleed at the end (this I think is less important)

    Otherwise, this is basically the ultimate radiator. I suspect that an 85mm version thick “Monster” variant of this would be able to outperform even the HWLabs GTX Black Ice.

    Do you think that the louvered fins and higher tube count (14) are responsible for this radiator’s all around good performance?

  6. Not sure if my commented posted earlier, but this is a repost.

    It would seem that the ultimate radiator then would be a thicker variant of the XE 360mm. It’s interesting to note that this fan, despite it’s medium fin density, keeps up with all other radiators across the board.

    Why?
    – Perhaps the louvered single fin design is superior?
    – I also note that it has 14 tubes, rather than the typical 12 tubes.

    I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on that.

    I would guess that a “Monster” radiator thickness (say 85mm or perhaps even 100mm) would be probably the ultimate radiator, especially if they could fit more tubes in.

    I hope that in the future, EK will add screw protectors. That I think is a big oversight.

    Anyways, thanks for the review.

  7. […] So EK have confirmed that dents will not turn into leaks – so if you have dents then feel free to carry on with your life.  I am confused about the statement that only the 480 radiator is affected given that we’ve seen dents on other sizes.  Still there is an option to RMA if you’re at all concerned.  Hopefully this is the last we see of the issue because the XE is a great performing radiator! […]

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