Copper vs aluminum radiator

gasolina · Mar 5, 2018

I just find a couple of 360mm 45mm thick aluminum brand new radiator for just 20$ i wonder how well it will perform compare to a 30mm copper radiator ?.... i used coolant and nikel waterblock though.

EarthDog · Mar 5, 2018

Not terribly different...read some reviews.

I would have looked, but you didnt mention the rads...make sure you post results back here.

ruff0r · Mar 5, 2018

Yeah same here as @EarthDog Said, i was surprised when EK came out with the gaming kit that was just Aluminium not big difference if any to a Copper radiator. Save the money.
And where did you find a 360 rad for 20$ ?

dorsetknob · Mar 5, 2018

ruff0r said:
And where did you find a 360 rad for 20$ ?

Probably a Chinese ebay seller

seen a few advertised

gasolina · Mar 5, 2018

ruff0r said:
Yeah same here as @EarthDog Said, i was surprised when EK came out with the gaming kit that was just Aluminium not big difference if any to a Copper radiator. Save the money.
And where did you find a 360 rad for 20$ ?

on taobao.com, i did use many chinese wc and happy with them just haven't used a aluminum before.

FordGT90Concept · Mar 5, 2018

Copper is more efficient than aluminum but aluminum is lighter. Most heatsinks are a combination of both for heat transfer and weight properties.

Januka.OC · Mar 6, 2018

Im not expert but as far as i know Copper is better...

erocker · Mar 6, 2018

FordGT90Concept said:
Copper is more efficient than aluminum but aluminum is lighter. Most heatsinks are a combination of both for heat transfer and weight properties.

Most waterblocks you buy for “DIY” water cooling are copper.

John Naylor · Mar 6, 2018

The big error here would be to mix an aluminum radiator with a copper block. It's ain't pretty:

https://martinsliquidlab.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/corrosion-explored/

Disclaimer ... these pics will be extremely upsetting and may have lifetime consequences to nerds and geeks of all ages.

dorsetknob · Mar 6, 2018

John Naylor
Your link is for this thread and there are no pics

lilhasselhoffer · Mar 6, 2018

NO!

The efficiency isn't the issue, the problem is an aqueous solution and energy. Research the term "galvanic cell." The short answer is don't mix metals.

The aluminum versus copper discussion is wholly different. Aluminum is cheaper, forms more easily, and is lighter. Copper has a better k value for thermal conductivity. Choose copper if budget is no concern, and aluminum otherwise. You can use nickel only because it doesn't form a galvanic cell with copper. Aluminum and copper are never mixed, for the horror cited by John Naylor above.

eidairaman1 · Mar 6, 2018

lilhasselhoffer said:
NO!

The efficiency isn't the issue, the problem is an aqueous solution and energy. Research the term "galvanic cell." The short answer is don't mix metals.

The aluminum versus copper discussion is wholly different. Aluminum is cheaper, forms more easily, and is lighter. Copper has a better k value for thermal conductivity. Choose copper if budget is no concern, and aluminum otherwise. You can use nickel only because it doesn't form a galvanic cell with copper. Aluminum and copper are never mixed, for the horror cited by John Naylor above.

Galvanic corrosion is practically the beginning of Intergranular and exfoliation corrosion

John Naylor · Mar 7, 2018

dorsetknob said:
John Naylor
Your link is for this thread and there are no pics

Fixed..... see previous post

As far water / aluminum TPU has addressed this...The Predator is copper... the Fuid Gaming is all Aluminum

The_DriverX · Mar 7, 2018

I can't speak for radiators for PC use, but I know when I made a decision for a radiator for my '76 Ford Granada, I went with copper over aluminum. I don't have any hard evidence, but copper usually resist thermal break down better than aluminum and dissipates heat more better, too. Just my thoughts.

System Name	Kurise PC
Processor	i7 5820k 4,7ghz / Ryzen 1700x 4ghz / 8700k
Motherboard	Asus X99 deluxe / MSI x370 gaming pro carbon / z370i strix
Cooling	EK evo, xspc slim 360 rad, D5 pump, dual alpha cool GPU mono block, dual xspc 240 radiator, DDC 18w
Memory	Crucial sport white 16gb x 8 128gb 2666mhz/ Crucial sport white 16gb x 4 64gb 2933 / ddr4 chinese 32
Video Card(s)	GTX 1080Ti SLI / HP gtx 1080 SLI 1850/1520 / 2080ti ref
Storage	Lite on 512GB x 3 / Plextor m2 256gb / samsung 970 evo
Display(s)	AOC I2769Vm, AOC U3477PQU, AOC I2769Vm / Koios 40''/ eizo EV2730QFX 1:1
Case	Xigmatek Elysium / Corsair 750D / Bitfenix prodigy M
Audio Device(s)	creative blaster ZX / Blaster ZXR / Blaster x7 lmt + burson v5i upgraded
Power Supply	Be Quiet 1200 / Thermaltake toughpower 1200w / chinese 750w sfx PSU
Mouse	Asus Echelon/ steelseries black ops II/ james donkey
Keyboard	Cm storm quickfire pro / Fire rose steampunk kb/ corsair k70
Software	Windows 10

Processor	Ryzen 7 5800x @ 4,85Ghz
Motherboard	AORUS MASTER X570
Cooling	Costume External Water Loop 1080 Rad
Memory	Patriot Viper Steel DDR4-3600 16GB @3800 mhz cl16
Video Card(s)	RTX 3090 Water
Storage	Raid0 4 x Sasmsung 850 EVo, 980 1TB M.2
Display(s)	ASUS Swift
Case	Open test bench
Power Supply	Be quiet! 850 P10
Mouse	G703
Keyboard	Old USB Dell Keyboard x2
VR HMD	Rift S
Software	Windows 11

System Name	Kurise PC
Processor	i7 5820k 4,7ghz / Ryzen 1700x 4ghz / 8700k
Motherboard	Asus X99 deluxe / MSI x370 gaming pro carbon / z370i strix
Cooling	EK evo, xspc slim 360 rad, D5 pump, dual alpha cool GPU mono block, dual xspc 240 radiator, DDC 18w
Memory	Crucial sport white 16gb x 8 128gb 2666mhz/ Crucial sport white 16gb x 4 64gb 2933 / ddr4 chinese 32
Video Card(s)	GTX 1080Ti SLI / HP gtx 1080 SLI 1850/1520 / 2080ti ref
Storage	Lite on 512GB x 3 / Plextor m2 256gb / samsung 970 evo
Display(s)	AOC I2769Vm, AOC U3477PQU, AOC I2769Vm / Koios 40''/ eizo EV2730QFX 1:1
Case	Xigmatek Elysium / Corsair 750D / Bitfenix prodigy M
Audio Device(s)	creative blaster ZX / Blaster ZXR / Blaster x7 lmt + burson v5i upgraded
Power Supply	Be Quiet 1200 / Thermaltake toughpower 1200w / chinese 750w sfx PSU
Mouse	Asus Echelon/ steelseries black ops II/ james donkey
Keyboard	Cm storm quickfire pro / Fire rose steampunk kb/ corsair k70
Software	Windows 10

System Name	BY-2021
Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (65w eco profile)
Motherboard	MSI B550 Gaming Plus
Cooling	Scythe Mugen (rev 5)
Memory	2 x Kingston HyperX DDR4-3200 32 GiB
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT
Storage	Samsung 980 Pro, Seagate Exos X20 TB 7200 RPM
Display(s)	Nixeus NX-EDG274K (3840x2160@144 DP) + Samsung SyncMaster 906BW (1440x900@60 HDMI-DVI)
Case	Coolermaster HAF 932 w/ USB 3.0 5.25" bay + USB 3.2 (A+C) 3.5" bay
Audio Device(s)	Realtek ALC1150, Micca OriGen+
Power Supply	Enermax Platimax 850w
Mouse	Nixeus REVEL-X
Keyboard	Tesoro Excalibur
Software	Windows 10 Home 64-bit
Benchmark Scores	Faster than the tortoise; slower than the hare.

Processor	AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Motherboard	ASUS TUF x670e
Cooling	EK AIO 360. Phantek T30 fans.
Memory	32GB G.Skill 6000Mhz
Video Card(s)	Asus RTX 4090
Storage	WD m.2
Display(s)	LG C2 Evo OLED 42"
Case	Lian Li PC 011 Dynamic Evo
Audio Device(s)	Topping E70 DAC, SMSL SP200 Headphone Amp.
Power Supply	FSP Hydro Ti PRO 1000W
Mouse	Razer Basilisk V3 Pro
Keyboard	Tester84
Software	Windows 11

Copper vs aluminum radiator

gasolina

EarthDog

ruff0r

dorsetknob

"YOUR RMA REQUEST IS CON-REFUSED"

gasolina

FordGT90Concept

"I go fast!1!11!1!"

Januka.OC

erocker

*

John Naylor

dorsetknob

"YOUR RMA REQUEST IS CON-REFUSED"

lilhasselhoffer

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman

John Naylor

The_DriverX

System Name	PCGOD
Processor	AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard	Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling	Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory	16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s)	AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage	Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s)	NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case	AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s)	Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply	Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse	Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard	Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software	Windows 7 Pro 64

Processor	AMD A6
Memory	8 GB DDR3
Video Card(s)	Asus R9 270x
Storage	6TB
Display(s)	HP
Case	No Name
Audio Device(s)	Realtek (integrated)
Power Supply	Corsair 600CX
Mouse	Logitech
Keyboard	Logitech