Alphacool NexXxos UT60 280mm Radiator Review
Welcome to another Extreme Rigs 280mm radiator review. Today we’ll be looking at the NexXxos UT60 280 from Alphacool. As the name implies the UT60 280 is a 60mm thick radiator suitable for two 140mm size fans (or four fans if setup in Push/Pull).
It is one of 12 different “UT60” sized radiators released by Alphacool which encompass every possible variant in the 120mm and 140mm fan size, including the four recently released 120.x X-Flow versions. The 280mm version we’ll be reviewing today is probably the most versatile of the four 140mm sizes, being suitable for roof, floor, side and front mount situations.
In this review of the UT60 280 we’ll take a close look at it’s construction & quality, analyze the performance data by comparing it’s results against other 280mm radiators and then conclude with a summary.
We saw very good all round performance results when we reviewed the UT60 360 last year, so we are expecting similar with the 280mm version. The 280mm version has ~10% less surface are than the 360, so we may find some interesting performance comparisons between the two models.
Firstly a big thanks to Aqua Tuning for providing the review sample of the Alphacool UT60 280mm. Since we commenced our radiator testing, Aqua Tuning’s commitment to our independent tests has been second to none. Extreme Rigs couldn’t publish the reviews we do without the continued support offered by our sponsors, so a big thanks to all the crew at Aqua Tuning and Alphacool.
Before we start we would again like to say thanks to Noctua for providing the NF-A14 Industrial PPC-2000 IP67 PWM 140mm fans. We use these fans for all our 140mm based radiator thermal performance testing because they have great static pressure which is required to get the best performance from even densest of radiator cores and of course, their proven reliability.
What’s in the Box?
The UT60 280 sample arrived in full retail packaging. The front and back are virtually identical and feature an image of the radiator along with the model and company logo.
Below the model number Alphacool have noted two key features, the thickness and that it features 6 x G 1/4 ports.
Opening the box, we see the usual packing layout for Alphacool radiators. Alphacool really have done a great job in ensuring that their radiators have every possible chance of arriving to the purchaser in the best possible condition.
As always, we are happy to see a bubble wrap sleeve to protect the paint finish from scuffing during transport and the foam pieces at each end keep the radiator from sliding about.
Placing the accessories in a separate box at one end of the package tops off what is a simple yet effective packaging layout.
Extent of delivery as listed by Alphacool:
“1x Radiator
5x screw plug
8x M3x30mm hexagon socket screw
8x M3x35mm hexagon socket screw”
In the previous photos we saw the brown box which comes tucked away at one end of the packaging. This contains all of the accessories which are supplied with the UT60 280.
Inside there are 5 small bags in total, four of which contain a set of 4 screws and the last contains 5 stop plugs and an unmentioned Allen Key.
The shorter screws measure in at 30mm, while the longer ones are 35mm. The 30mm screws have ~5mm of thread and the 35mm set has ~4mm of thread before a solid and thicker shank up to the button head, hex key heads. The supplied 2.5mm Allen Key in used to tighten the hex head screws during installation.
8 screws of each length are provided, so there are enough to fit the radiator with either a Push Only, Pull Only OR Push/Pull fan assembly. However as we will see shortly the length of the screws provided is somewhat of a mis-match when attaching the fans.
There is no warning about correct screw length on or in the packaging, however the following image is on the Alphacool website.
So we have been warned!
The supplied low profile stop plugs are finished in a rather industrial looking black nickel finish. They don’t look sensational, but at least they are supplied so all unused ports on the radiator can be capped off with out the end user required to purchase anything else.
We would prefer the port plugs to have a black finish and we suspect most people who purchase Alphacool radiators would prefer this also. We hope that in the future this small change can be accommodated.
Onwards to technical specifications!
