Introduction

See that logo above? I had to manually upload it as part of this review instead of taking it from an older product review, which makes this one of a first set of two Watercool reviews on TechPowerUp—surprising considering there have nearly been 100 reviews in this category since I joined the team. Watercool, which might be better known as Heatkiller in some realms, is a small German outfit that is still growing to meet the needs of the DIY watercooling community. To give you a better idea of how small the outfit is, it deliberately does not send out product samples to larger media outfits since it would not be able to meet the production demands that would arise as a result. The company has added additional manufacturing over the past few months however, so be on the lookout for more Watercool coverage on TechPowerUp!


This review is of the thinner Heatkiller Rad 360-S, which, as the name suggests, is the 360 mm (triple 120) version. This series comes in 120/240/360/480 mm versions and is a completely new radiator lineup from Watercool, which otherwise used the round cylindrical tubes and straight fins in radiators models, including with the massive MORA and boxy HTSF lines from before. This article is meant to be read alongside our accompanying Heatkiller Rad 360-L review, which is a thicker radiator in the same 360 mm size. The two share a lot of DNA, but are intended for different use cases. The Heatkiller Rad 360-S series is 30 mm thick, which has it fall into the 25–30 mm thickness range that makes it generally compatible with even cases that can fit your average closed-loop AIO cooler. As always, we begin the review with a look at the specifications below, but let's not forget to thank Watercool for sending review samples to TechPowerUp.

Specifications

Packaging and Accessories

So new are these radiators that Watercool did not even have retail packaging ready, and these radiators are in fact the very same Watercool used to take product photos for their website before packing them up for me. Generally, I insist on retail units, but this is one of the rare cases where the radiator provided is actually all you need to know about. You can imagine the cardboard box having a white, blue, and brown wrap aesthetic with the company logo, product name, renders, and specifications. There are side flaps to keep the contents inside in place, and we see the radiator inside the box with nothing else provided here.


Courtesy Watercool, here's a look at what the retail packaging will look like. Watercool says it's placing an emphasis on eco-friendly packaging, so much so that the used banderoles are flexible, which allows for the same band to be used across different radiator sizes, and existing older boxes are reused with the new wrap to further the greener production process.


In the retail packaging, Watercool also includes a set of 30-mm-long M3-threaded screws to install the radiator with standard 25-mm-thick fans and a case/radiator mount. The screws, 12 in number for this 360 mm radiator (four per 120 mm fan), come inside a plastic pouch alongside another 12 screws that are also M3 threaded and shorter at ~6 mm long. This second set of screws allows for flush mounting against the case or radiator mount, such that you have the option to got with push or pull for fans in intake or exhaust. The German brand has always used M3-threaded screws, which I was hoping would be changed to, say, M4-threaded ones with the newer radiators.