HWLabs SR2 140 Multi-Port Radiator Review

This first table shows the HWLabs SR2 140 MP’s Watts/10 Delta Temp results with our flow rate of 1.0 GPM.

Using this data we can effectively show percentage gains/losses relative to a reference point. It’s an interesting way to show gains/losses while changing a variable.

So, let’s focus on 1300 RPM as our reference and see how much gain or loss in performance we get by changing fan speed.

While previously we pointed out the air efficiency of the SR2 140 MP with high fan speed in Push Only, the tables above shows the brute force benefits of Push/Pull as the fan speeds increase.

So from the data above we have a good idea of how the SR2 140 MP radiator performs relative to itself.  But there is a large selection of 140mm radiator models to choose from.

We have some other 140mm radiators with thermal testing completed.  So let’s put the SR2 140 MP’s results into some comparison charts.

Push Only Data vs Competition

Let’s focus on the Push Only results for now and come back to the Push/Pull data later.

Starting with 750 RPM let’s see how the SR2 140 MP performs comparatively.

Results are always close at this data point and the SR2 140 MP comes in second place. It has the lowest fin count of the group and therefore this is the data point in which we thought is was likely to have it’s best results.

Now let’s look at 1300 rpm:

At 1300 rpm Push Only the Nemesis GTX which placed last at 750 rpm shoots out to take the lead. There is something about the Nemesis GTX rads where they perform poorly at low rpm at Push Only. The SR2 140 MP finished in third place ~7.5% behind the leader.
At 1850 rpm the SR2 140 MP falls further behind the radiators with denser cores, but stays ahead of the slim Nemesis GTS.

Of the four rads over 30mm in thickness, the SR2 140 MP has the lowest FPI count, and while we hesitate to make predictions the Push Only results fell in line with our expectations for each data point.
Things get more interesting with Push/Pull as each model’s core reacts differently to the air flow changes and there always seems to be a surprise. Will it be the case with the SR2 140 MP in Push/Pull?

Let’s find out.

Push/Pull Data vs. Competition

Let’s now look at the Push/Pull results and see how the SR2 140 MP compares.

Again the 750 rpm first:

Taking 4th place ~7% behind the winning rad, the SR2 140 MP turns out a respectable result and isn’t too much behind it’s denser cored peers.

Let’s move to 1300 rpm:

At both 1300 rpm and 1850 rpm Push/Pull the SR2 140 MP takes second place, while it’s stable mate the Nemesis 140 GTX takes both wins. We’ll be honest here and admit that both of these comparison results and rankings surprised us a little.

Despite the SR2 140 MP being 60mm thick it has the lowest fin count and because of this we would normally see comparative performance weaken against denser core rads. While we won’t speculate, other design factors must be at play here such as the louvered fins and possibly the amount of tubes and the thickness of the tubes.

1850RPM:

The SR2 140 exceeds our expectations at this data point and finishes second just 6.5% behind the winner.

Let’s now combine the Push Only and Push/Pull results of our 1.0 GPM flow rate tests into one plot for each fan speed tested. Sometimes these combined plots show up some points of interest.

Again the 750 rpm first:

Now the 1300 combined:

Finally the 1850 rpm combined:

No surprises showed up there given the data we have already reviewed.

One last alternate view of the data before we move onto the summary, this time plotted as curves and adding some extrapolation.

Push Only first up:

This plot perhaps best shows just how close the results are between all the 140mm rad we tested. Only at the high fan speeds do we see the strongest and the weakest really split from the pack.

In the Push/Pull we see a bit more separation occurring, particularly as the fan speeds are increased and the different core designs show their strengths and weaknesses.
From all the test results we created “Average Performance Factor” charts for both Push and Push/Pull. We then made a combined plot which averages all the results and called it the “Master Performance Factor”. The radiator with the best cooling ability (W/10ΔT) at each rpm was awarded a score of 100.  Each other radiators W/10ΔT result was scored as percentage of the top performer.

This way of looking at the comparison takes away any advantages that a radiator may have at higher or lower fan speeds and looks at an overall average. While this appears fair it does tend to favor those radiators that are all-rounders and those radiators which do very well at high RPM. Most users should be more focused on their specific use case.

Firstly – the Push Only APF:

With all of it’s results over 90%, the SR2 140 MP proved to be a much better all rounder than anticipated, especially as it is marketed as a being “Optimized for sub-800 rpm ultra-stealth fans“. What we may have overlooked previously and is perhaps a much more important feature from the SR2 marketing material:
“Supercruise^™ optimizations for scalable performance with higher speed fans“.
Hats off to HWLabs and Supercruise^™ we say, because it certainly seems to be working effectively on the SR2 140 MP!

The percentage numbers in the table offer another way of looking at the SR2 140 MP’s results.  But for our scoring system we need a way to reduce the categories while retaining the data. To do this we average the results for each fan assembly type giving us Averaged Performance Factors.  We calculate this for push only, push/pull and finally an average of everything.

Firstly – the Push Only APF:

The SR2 140 MP’s Push Only APF score of 92.5 was ~4.5% behind the leader and resulted in a tie for 3rd place with the EK CE 140 which is thinner but has higher FPI.

Now the Push/Pull APF:

The Push/Pull APF result of 92.3 is an excellent result and second place is somewhat of a surprise. The only thing more amazing is the 100% winning score of the Nemesis GTX.

Finally we created the Master Performance Factor which is calculated from the averaged results of all the Push Only and Push/Pull thermal tests, at all fan speeds.

Overall the SR2 140 MP placed 3rd in our thermal tests, but by the smallest of margins. The 1.3% difference between 2nd and 4th is very small and on the border of our test error margin.

Next up – Summary!