Technical Data – as listed on the XE packaging:

• 400mm x 128mm x 60mm (L x W x H)
• Weight: 1700g (3.75 lbs)
• For 3 x 120mm fans

Technical Data – as listed on the EK website:

Material:
– Copper fins
– 90% copper tubing (H90)
– Brass chambers
– Aluminum/Steel housing

Dimensions: 400 x 130 x 60mm (L x W x H)
Weight: 2,05kg
Liquid Capacity: ~370mL
FPI: 16
Port threads: 4x G1/4
Fan compatibility: any standard size 120x120x25mm fan; UNC 6-32 thread tapping
Pressure tested: 1bar(g)

Tech Drawing of the XE 360:

EK - XE Tech Drawing

Dimensions Measured on the Radiator Tested:

The (+5) is the measurement that the primary port fitting adapters sit up proud of the casing. The alternate ports are recessed same as the primary, so when the port plugs are fitted they are flush with the casing. The port plugs and G 1/4 fitting adapters are interchangeable and can be fitted to either side of the tank end.

Radiator Core Dimensions:

The core is made up of 3 rows of 14 tubes arranged in the standard U-Flow configuration. The fin arrangement is made of single louvered fins with a 15 FPI count. The medium/high fin count should equate to some decent results with a Push/Pull fan assembly, but might end up being a tab restrictive for Push Only set ups. We’ll find out that when we analyze the results later.

This core configuration is quite different from the CoolStream PE 360s core which has less tubes, a denser split fin arrangement and is obviously much thinner.

This picture is a reference which shows a typical U-Flow coolant flow path, where the coolant travels up all the tubes on one side (left in pic) of the rad and then returns down the other side. U-Flow is most easily recognized when the port end has 2 separate tanks, unlike the XE which has a boxed cover over the tanks.

cool8

cool7The XE can be easily dis-assembled allowing for custom painting of the panels. Once the casing is removed we can see the two end tanks for the U-Flow path.

EK XE 360 (16)

Interesting that EK have chosen to completely paint the XE’s hidden parts, while on the thinner PE version only the visible face of the core was painted. The XE is not fitted with the  rubber pads which the PE has to keep the casing appropriately spaced from the core.

One other difference noticed is that the fitting adapters on the XE are nickle plated, where as on the PE they were brass.

EK PE disassembled - Lr + B&W-1

The XE’s single louvered fins are spaced pretty evenly between the tubes. The Fin count varied between 15 and 16 FPI, with the majority of the measurements taken being 15 FPI.

Finish and Features

The XE has a fantastic satin Black finish. I usually prefer a matte black but this finish is excellent and looks great:

All visible joins look good and the panels fit together well with no gaps. The side panels do feel just a bit flimsy and a thicker material might have been a better option here. It’s a minor issue I know, but it somehow detracts a bit from the overall quality.

At the non-port end is the seemingly mandatory branding we find on more and more of our gear. At least it’s in an inconspicuous spot and tastefully done.

The fan mount spacing is the standard 15mm.

There are no protection plates fitted under the mounting holes. Care must be taken if you need to use custom length screws due to your mounting needs as while the holes don’t appear directly over the tubes, the actual screws could create issues. Just be sure to check your screw lengths. Hopefully the omission of protection plates is something EK will rectify by including them in future revisions.

The XE360 comes equipped with 4 ports in total, 2 each for inlet and outlet to choose from. I hope EK plans to revise the PE series to also include the additional ports that some other radiators have.

These extra ports give potential options for dedicated fill or drain ports depending on the installation orientation. We love multi-port rads!

The port cut-outs measure 16mm across on both sides, so the ports/plugs are interchangeable. Handy if you don’t want the distraction of the EK logo right next to your fittings.

EK XE 360 (18)

EK XE 360 (2)

EK XE 360 (1)

Unfortunately there is no dedicated fill/bleeder port on the return end tank. This is a feature that the XTX (which the XE replaces) did have. The core and design are obviously different, but it would have been great if EK could have kept the dedicated port.

So what do we have? A thick rad with a medium/high FPI count that is sporting an additional set of ports. The finish is excellent as is the overall build quality. So far so good.

EK XE 360 (10)

Let’s see how it performs…

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

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! […]

Comments are closed.