EK CoolStream XE 240mm Radiator Review

The Data

As all the testing was performed with the exact same equipment, using the exact same methods as was used in the 360mm round-up so I have decided to keep this review uncluttered by keeping our testing methodology, test set-ups and equipment used in a single location. To see exactly how the tests were carried out, details of the test set ups and equipment used, please head over to the RRU Test Setup page.

Restriction Test

It’s generally agreed that radiators are one of, if not the least restrictive components in the water cooling loop. There are some exceptions however, so this must still be verified through testing:

The above photo is for referencing the restriction test bench. The XE 240 is not loaded so please disregard the data in the picture as it does not relate to the its test results.

Here is the raw data at the tested flow rates, displaying the measured Differential Pressure across the radiator as flow rate was increased.

The table numbers indicate that this XE 240 is a low to medium restriction radiator. However numbers in isolation can only tell half the story. By plotting against other components it more easily shows the whole story.

I have decided to use a HeatKiller 3.0 CPU block as the reference in these plots for two reasons. Firstly there is no chance of the plot being cluttered by curves overlapping and secondly it gives a reference point against a fairly common loop component of average restriction.  As with all our previous radiator restriction plots, I have limited the maximum flow rate displayed to 2.0 GPM as I suspect there are very few systems that operate above 2.0 GPM. For more information on how to read a restriction plot check out our guide.

This plot indicates the XE 240 as a low restriction loop component when compared to a CPU block of average restriction, but what about other radiators ?

The next three plots show the restriction level at three different flow rates compared to the other 240mm radiator that has been tested so far. We consider the chosen GPM rates to represent systems which have low, medium and high flow rates.

Clearly the XE has the higher restriction level of the 2 rads and is due it’s thinner tube size, even though it has more tubes than the SR2. This is not to say the EK XE is overly restrictive, just that the SR2 is much less so.

This next plot shows both 240 rad’s results for the full range of the flow meter we use for testing the restriction level.

To give a bit more perspective, lets take a look at both rads data again in table format. We’ll stick to only the 1.0 GPM flow rate to keep some sort of a constant, but into the mix we’ll put data from an assortment of radiator sizes.  This has the very lowest and the very highest we have recorded as well as a mix of other rads, mostly from the same manufacturers.

So in the bigger picture of radiator restriction we can conclude that XE 240 does indeed have a low to medium restriction level, we just took the scenic route to get there.

We’ve had a look at the XE 240 against other radiators restriction and made our conclusion, but we thought it might be interesting to break down the comparison list even further to just include the EK radiators which we have collected data on.

The following data may be useful for those potential buyers who are cross-shopping and considering EK radiators of different sizes.

So essentially rads of the same design but of different lengths increase in restriction the longer they are. This makes sense.  Between the different types the PE is the least restrictive, followed by XE, CE and then the SE bringing up the rear.  Fatter radiators usually are less restrictive because they run more tubes in parallel, or those tubes are bigger.  The PE however most likely has wide tubes in order to be on the slim side while maintaining high flow.

Onwards to Thermal Performance!