Huge Radiators: Roundup

[HESmelaugh]

After getting a chance to test the Black Ice GTX 560 (http://www.dexgo.com/index.php?site=artikel/view.php&rubrik=Hardware&id=383) quad 140 radiator against some triple-rads I was lucky enough to get my hands on some more radiators. With the TFC Monsta, Watercool Mo-Ra 2 Pro, Black Ice GTS 420 and XSPC RX480 the radiators in this roundup are mostly in about the same weight-class as the GTX 560.


Testing Method

Test-loop
- Laing DDC (MCP355) with EK X-Res
- 2x Inline heaters
- 4x Water-temp sensors
- 6x Air-temp sensors
- GMR flowmeter
- T-Balancer bigNG and Sensorhub for monitoring and logging temperatures amd flowrates

- Fans used: 120 mm Scythe Kama Flex 1900 and 140 mm Sharkoon System Fans

Each test run lasts 35 minutes, 25 minutes are warm up and the data from the last 10 minutes is all averaged out.
I don't control flowrates. The pump is always going at 12V and flow is as high as it can be in the loop. Just like the CPU blocks are tested with different flowrates due to differences in restrictiveness, I'm also testing radiators at "their own" flowrates, depending solely on their restrictiveness.
I do compare radiators of the 120-mm-format with those of 140-mm-format, even though such a comparison can never be 100% fair. The rads are being tested with different fans and (deliberately) different fan-speeds. Just keep in mind that the comparison can only be seen as a rough guide and different fans would (and do) lead to different results.

Now, let's get right to the good stuff...

Contestants

http://www.abload.de/thumb/045gkl.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=045gkl.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/12ci0f.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=12ci0f.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/153hld.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=153hld.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/21lkik.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=21lkik.jpg)

From left to right: Feser / TFC Monsta (huge, expensive, flashy - if you haven't heard of this, you must be new to liquid cooling), Black Ice GTS 420 (polar opposite to the Monsta: While sharing the 3x140 format, the GTS is very thin and has very tight fin-spacing), XSPC RX480 (4x120 rad from XSPC - the RX360 proved to be a great rad for low-speed fans), Watercool Mo-Ra 2 Pro (9x120 radiator, hugely popular in Germany for it's silent cooling capability).


Flow

http://www.abload.de/img/flowgpmhglr.jpg

The TFC Monsta proves to be very unrestrictive. Save for the GTS 420 and the Mo-Ra 2 Pro, I would say that all of these radiators are showing fairly good flowrates. The Mo-Ra 2 is by far the most restrictive of the radiators tested, which isn't much of a surprise, really.


CW, single row of fans, push

NOTE: The TFC Monsta allows for 140 mm fans as well as 120 mm fans to be attached. It is always represented with two sets of data, a "140" or "120" showing which fan size was used.

http://www.abload.de/img/cwen6dyn.jpg

As you can see, this graph is very interesting, since there are trendlines crossing each other all over the place. Each time two trendlines cross, it means that one radiator is more suitable for higher fan speeds and the other is more suitable for lower fan speeds.
For example, we can see that the Monsta, using 140 mm fans offers better performance than the GTX 560 up until about 800rpm. At higher rpm, the GTX 560 becomes the better choice.
Similarly, we can see the XSPC RX480 out-doing the GTS 420 by a considerable margin at low fan speeds, but above about 900-1000rpm, the GTS 420 is in the lead.
And, comparing the very flat, very densely finned GTS 420 to the very thick, very loosely finned Monsta, we can see how these two radiator designs affect performance: The Feser Monsta offers superior performance up to about 1300rpm, after which the GTS 420 becomes slightly better.
Also worth noting is that the Monsta loses a huge amount of performance when it is equipped with 120 mm fans. With the smaller fans, the Monsta can barely keep up with the much more compact RX480 and is overtaken in performance by the GTS 420 at around 900rpm.
The only trendline that is never crossed is that of the Mo-Ra 2 Pro. This radiator simply offers astounding and superior cooling performance all the way from 400rpm to 1600rpm. At the top end of this range, the GTX 560 is coming close to it in terms of performance, though. It's possible that the GTX 560 will outpace the Mo-Ra at very high rpm. Keep in mind though, that the higher the fan rpm, the closer all values lie together. So even if the GTX 560 does outperform the Mo-Ra at, say, 3000rpm, it will most likely be only by a tiny margin.


CW, two rows of fans, push-pull

http://www.abload.de/img/cwdfen0d9w.jpg
*The Mo-Ra 2 Pro cannot be equipped with two rows, or rather "walls" of fans in push-pull like the other radiators (and even if it could, there's a limit to how many identical fans of any type I have and that limit is below 18 ). Just out of curiosity, I added the performance data for the single row of fans on the Mo-Ra in with the data on push-pull for all the other fans. Keep this in mind as you're looking at the results.

With double the fans, the tightly finned Black Ice radiators gain a lot of performance. With this setup, the Monsta (six fans) can still hold it's own against the GTX 560 (eight fans) up to about 700rpm and against the GTS 420 (six fans) up to about 900rpm - after that, it's Black Ice territory.
It's also worth noting that the RX480, while being overtaken by the GTS 420 at relatively low rpm, comes pretty close to the Monsta's level of performance at high fan speeds in push-pull.
While it's interesting and amazing respectively to see the GTX 560 (with eight fans) and the GTS 420 (with six fans) surpassing the Mo-Ra's (nine fans) performance at medium to high fan speeds, the comparison is not quite fair, of course. With 18 fans in push-pull, the Mo-Ra would undoubtably be hard to beat.


CW, all radiators tested so far, single and double fans

http://www.abload.de/thumb/cwallchec.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=cwallchec.jpg)

As you can see, this one is pretty messy due to the sheer amount of data represented.


Data

http://www.abload.de/img/data1fr9.jpg

Details on the individual radiators in the posts below.

[HESmelaugh]

TFC (The Feser Company) Monsta 360/420

http://www.abload.de/thumb/02rkau.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=02rkau.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/02bkgvb.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=02bkgvb.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/03ehb5.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=03ehb5.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/05adpb.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=05adpb.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/06ihj9.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=06ihj9.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/084eln.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=084eln.jpg)

Measurements: 15 x 10.4 x 47.5 cm

Fins per cm: 3.5

The TFC Monsta is the thickest radiator I've ever seen. It has almost twice the thickness of an XSPC RX or Black Ice GTX. It also has very generous fin-spacing.
The Monsta is the only radiator in this roundup that comes with more than the bare essentials: It includes two compression fittings, two stop-fittings (to close off two of the four threads on the radiator), an extensive set of screws that are black, matching the Monsta's color, a small bottle of anti-corrosion fluid as well as two silikcone gaskets, one for installing 140 mm fans, the other for installing 120 mm fans.
The Monsta's compatibility with two different fan sizes is a nice feature, but I can't really see it as a real bonus. Looking at the data, I cannot recommend using 120 mm fans with the Monsta at all. It loses a ton of performance compared to 140 mm fans. Using the larger fans, the Monsta performs very well at low fan speeds. In other words, it's well suited for silent cooling, but not a prime choice for high rpm fans. Highflow-fanatics will also appreciate it's low restrictiveness.

On the downside, there is the minor issue of size (the radiator is too big for internal installation, as are a few others in this roundup) and the greater issue of price. At about 260 USD, this radiator isn't exactly cheap. It's performance alone certainly doesn't warrant the price, but I doubt anyone would have expected as much. With it's carbon fiber side panels and the way it's being marketed, it's clear that you buy the Monsta for it's performance on the one hand, but also for owning something special, something "Extreme", for adding a status symbol to your hardware-shrine.

So, all in all, I think the Monsta concept works, and it's raw cooling performance at low fan speeds is better than I would have expected.



HWLabs Black Ice GT Stealth 420

http://www.abload.de/thumb/128tj4.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=128tj4.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/11jwx4.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=11jwx4.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/10guem.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=10guem.jpg)

Measurements: 15.5 x 3 x 46 cm

Fins per cm: 10

As I mentioned above, the main reason I really wanted to include this radiator in the roundup was that it's practically the anti-thesis of the Monsta: The GTS is very thin and has a very dense fin-structure, but shares the same format (3x140) as the Monsta. To me, it's very interesting to see how these two opposites compare to each other.
The GTS 420 is a HWLabs radiator and shares the design and characteristics of all it's peers. That is to say: It has a near perfect, glossy black finish, M4 threads, has the same fin-spacing as all the Black Ice Stealth rads etc.
It also shares a really blatant weakness with all the other HWLabs radiators in the 140 mm format: It's (unnecessarily) slightly too wide to fit into 5.25" drive bays. This means that while it's length will fit into a big-tower case, it's breadth means you'll probably have to get out your Dremel.
Apart from that, this radiator leaves a very good impression and once again shows how much potential radiators for 140 mm fans have. More importantly, among the rads tested here, the GTS 420 is a real bargain with a retail price of just 85 USD. That leaves you with enough change to invest in three extra fans for it, and a GTS 420 sandwiched in between six 140 mm fans probably offers the best cooling-performance-to-size ratio you'll see in a long time. Given that those fans are doing high rpms, at least.



Watercool Mo-Ra 2 Pro

http://www.abload.de/thumb/20x36f.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=20x36f.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/21m42p.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=21m42p.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/22t4ut.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=22t4ut.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/23y5bv.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=23y5bv.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/24j02p.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=24j02p.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/25808y.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=25808y.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/2632ae.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=2632ae.jpg)

Measurements: 39 x 5.7 x 41.5 cm

Fins per cm: 6

The Mo-Ra 2 Pro is extremely popular, not to say legendary, in Germany and at least parts of Europe. It's known for offering extremely good cooling performance even with fans turned down to inaudiable speeds - perfect for silent cooling. And, as the test-results show, it really is a cooling beast and can hold it's own through a very wide range of rpm.
It's also very well manufactured and beautifully designed. Unfortunately, it has many tiny weaknesses and annoyances that a user has to put up with.
For one thing, fans cannot be attached directly to the Mo-Ra 2 Pro. In order to attach fans, you need to get a separately sold fan bracket thingy (last two pics above). This makes the whole package more expensive than it needs to be. To make things worse, the size of the holes for attaching fans on the bracket is very puzzling: The holes are too small for standard fan screws that usually come with fans, yet no screws are provided with the Mo-Ra or the fan bracket. So you can't use the ones that come with the fans and they don't give you ones you can use, either. Finally, there's the matter of flow. The Mo-Ra 2 Pro does hinder flow more than other radiators, though personally, I think it more than makes up for it with it's raw cooling power.
So, while the Mo-Ra is a great and powerful radiator, it seems that it could be improved with some relatively minor changes.
Good to know, then, that Watercool are working on a new Mo-Ra. That doesn't mean it'll come out any time soon, mind you. They're working on it and that's all that's known so far.



XSPC RX480

http://www.abload.de/thumb/15l865.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=15l865.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/16o4kf.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=16o4kf.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/17e115.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=17e115.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/18f0lw.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=18f0lw.jpg) http://www.abload.de/thumb/19br1fk.jpg (http://www.abload.de/image.php?img=19br1fk.jpg)

Measurements: 12.4 x 5.8 x 51.6 cm

Fins per cm: 4

At first glance, it might seem that the XSPC RX480 is pretty much out of it's league in this comparison. And that's true as long as you're only looking at the data itself. The XSPC RX480 has one very considerable advantage over all the other candidates in this roundup: It can be installed inside a case with relative ease. A good big-tower case will accomodate this rad and you won't have to entirely rip out the case's guts and rebuild everything around a humongous radiator in order to make it work. In fact, this is probably the only radiator in this roundup that will comfortably sit in the bottom section of a TJ07 without you having to use more than a screwdriver to install it. So, for anyone who likes their rads internal and doesn't think of a huge MountainMods box when he hears the word "Case", this radiator is one to consider.
Looking at it's cooling performance, it's clear that it is very strong with low-speed fans. With silent fans, this radiator will match the performance of a GTX 560, beat the GTS 420 by a good margin and outperform a Monsta equipped with 120 mm fans. At higher speeds, it is outpaced by most of the competition, though. I'm not intending to understate that.

Also worth mentioning: If the radiator I got is any indication, the problems the first batch of RX's had with the finish are a thing of the past. The finish on my XSPC RX480 is flawless.


Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this review and comments are, as always, welcome.
Check out the original article in German on www.DeXgo.com (http://www.dexgo.com/index.php?site=artikel/view.php&rubrik=Hardware&id=391)

Cheers,
Shane

[Migi06]

Really AWEsome review, Thanks a lot. I really like your reviews:cheers: Now we need to wait new Thermochill radiators (Waiting those 140.x rads) and Mora 3 :)

Btw. Would be good use to use own 120mm and 140 chart graph, because 120mm fan should be less noicier than 140mm fan in same RPM. And in the end combine those graphs like you did at the start.. That is just an input and still really awesome review. I almoust asked you to test RX480 and mora 2:)

[mcoffey]

Great stuff and I really appreciate you taking the time to test and publish your results here on the forum, means a lot.

andyc

[ballz0r]

Wow... what an epic review
its gona take me some time to digest all this info

well done shane :up:

[Worthy]

Interesting results.

[Hondacity]

mora rules? cooool :D

i'll read more into it :)

thanks for posting here HES

[Timlander]

What I don't get is why no one is testing that against the black Ice GTX480???

[Odin Eidolon]

nice review as always! notice any fan noise difference between the rads?

[ShoNuff]

Perfect timing for this review. I have been thinking about the GTS 420 for my TJ07. Currently my Feser Quad (RX 480 clone) is not getting the job done with a 900w heat load. I may give the GTS a try.

Thanks for this HESmelaugh.:up:

[Worthy]

mora rules? cooool :D

i'll read more into it :)

thanks for posting here HES

lol;)

[Schlosser]

Aww man, neither one of them, but the RX will fit in my TJ07 :crying: obviously the MORA wouldn't and I wasn't planning on getting one, but had my hopes for the Monsta or at least anything with 140 mm fans, but they simply won't fit in the bottom because they are to wide and the Monsta is even deeper than my PSU!! :( I guess I'll have to settle for the PA120.3 or an RX ..

[cyriene]

Very nice review. A lot of rads and info to consider when choosing a rad these days...

[MomijiTMO]

I'm a bit disappointed with the sister thread over at XS. I know what they are saying but the simple fact is this. WHO THE FUCK is going to use a 140->120 shroud and 120 fan on a 140 based rad? He tried to get similarly spec'ed fans so STFU.

Gah, fucking idiots everywhere over there. Like this one guy who thinks his cpu has coil whine. What a moron =____=.

[trfnj74]

As alwasy very nice review...You are the great help to the watercooling community....

[mcoffey]

I'm a bit disappointed with the sister thread over at XS. I know what they are saying but the simple fact is this. WHO THE FUCK is going to use a 140->120 shroud and 120 fan on a 140 based rad? He tried to get similarly spec'ed fans so STFU.

Gah, fucking idiots everywhere over there. Like this one guy who thinks his cpu has coil whine. What a moron =____=.

Exactly..running their fucking mouths and parroting other peoples work they don't have a clue about trying dispute this or that. That's the reason I refuse to post any of my work, or anything at all for that matter on XS. There's about 10 people over there that actually know what the fuck they're talking about. Most of the others are just a bunch of bitchy ass punk cunts.

See, if they were to start that bullshit here, somebody will put them in there place and tell them to shut the fuck up. Over there it's like you're abusing minors or something and the mods shut it down.

So fuck all that shit, and I'm very happy that HESmelaugh takes the time and effort to post here where it's appreciated.

And I thank him again for doing that:up: He busted his ass providing a great test and comparison for the LC community.

andyc

[MomijiTMO]

Aye, if his test results are so flawed, go do your take on the review or make a polite suggestion to push your point.

[ballz0r]

the biggest surprise for me is how the GTS performs... from the bashing they get at XS I was under the impression they were shit, but these results are awesome. I think we can safely say that GTS is king of thin :D

Another surprise for me is how narrow a lead the MORA has, two RX360s should be fairly close to the performance of a MORA, three should be better.

Im gona swap out my 420GTX with a GTS, a GTS with push/pull should beat a GTX with push only for the same thickness.

Any chance of getting the excel spreadsheet posted somewhere for download? Id really like to do some more analysis on the results.... im seeing some strange figures for water/air out delta T there... it seems in some cases the delta decreases with increased fan speed... my experience is the opposite.

[MomijiTMO]

Yeah well on the 120 based gts reviews, the rad did pretty well despite being half the size of the bigger boys. Hence surface area >> depth & rows

EDIT : Interesting ballzor, how does that work? [re: last line]

[ballz0r]

well at lower cfm, the air stays in the rad longer, so it can pick up more heat... the hottest the air can get is the coolant temp, because heat will only be transfered where there is a temperature difference. When air out = coolant you need more air flow because the air is getting saturated.

if the air is moving quicker, it has less time to pick up heat... take this to the extreme with my 360cfm eardrum punishers and air out = air in, which means the air is moving too fast.

[MomijiTMO]

LOL

I wonder where this starts taking effect though. 360cfm is stupid =p

[HESmelaugh]

the biggest surprise for me is how the GTS performs... from the bashing they get at XS I was under the impression they were shit, but these results are awesome. I think we can safely say that GTS is king of thin :D

Another surprise for me is how narrow a lead the MORA has, two RX360s should be fairly close to the performance of a MORA, three should be better.

Im gona swap out my 420GTX with a GTS, a GTS with push/pull should beat a GTX with push only for the same thickness.

Any chance of getting the excel spreadsheet posted somewhere for download? Id really like to do some more analysis on the results.... im seeing some strange figures for water/air out delta T there... it seems in some cases the delta decreases with increased fan speed... my experience is the opposite.

Well, keep in mind that I was one of the Black Ice bashers. It all depends on context.
Among the 360 rads, I would not recommend a Black Ice. This has a lot to do with the fact that I don't like loud fans and when I'm looking at the performance of a GTX 360 vs that of a Thermochill, for example, I do see that the GTX is slightly better at very high fan speeds but that difference in performance would never be worth the extra noise for me.

Looking at the huge radiators, There's more to consider, though. The GTS 420 will fit inside a case, it costs a lot less than a Monsta or Mo-Ra and with push-pull it can actually outperform those rads. You still have the downside of fan-noise, but it's pitted against way more advantages than just a few dgrees lower temperatures.

All of this is really just an illustration of why I'm not much in favour of giving grades and awards and such in reviews. Depending on what your priorities are, any given radiator can be really good or really terrible for you.

Concerning the Data: I can't really provide any more useful data than is in the sheet. As I noted in the GTX 560 review, but forgot in this one, my air out data is garbage. I tried to correct it by changing sensor placement, but that didn't really improve things. As it is, this data is simply not accurate and that's why I greyed it out on the data sheet.

Regards,
Shane

[ballz0r]

This has a lot to do with the fact that I don't like loud fans and when I'm looking at the performance of a GTX 360 vs that of a Thermochill, for example, I do see that the GTX is slightly better at very high fan speeds but that difference in performance would never be worth the extra noise for me.

well for me, my computer will only get close to full load when i have my headphones on gaming, at this point i dont care if my fans are at 100%.

For my usage, the gtx wins hands down... lots of grunt for load, low speed fans for idle.

[bigslappy]

I like the GTX's Cool review GREAT JOB as all ways

[p0Pe]

Aww man, neither one of them, but the RX will fit in my TJ07 :crying: obviously the MORA wouldn't and I wasn't planning on getting one, but had my hopes for the Monsta or at least anything with 140 mm fans, but they simply won't fit in the bottom because they are to wide and the Monsta is even deeper than my PSU!! :( I guess I'll have to settle for the PA120.3 or an RX ..

give me 100 kr plus porto, and i will build a mora 2 pro holder for ya, and you can use that raddy as an external, how about that;P

[Rambler]

Excellent review, thanks. :)

I'd really be curious to see how the Mo-Ra 2 performs against the "equivalent" Magicool Xtreme Nova 1080 rad.

[Worthy]

buy one and test it here.
All of these tests on this site are done with items we buy.

[Rambler]

I actually have the Magicool Xtreme Nova 1080 rad. Unfortunately I can't buy the Mo-ra 2 rad to test in my system as well. :(

[Worthy]

I actually have the Magicool Xtreme Nova 1080 rad. Unfortunately I can't buy the Mo-ra 2 rad to test in my system as well. :(

Why not? Is it a money issue? Or availability. If you want one sidewinder has them, and they are good shit. Both in looks and function.

[Rambler]

Why not? Is it a money issue?
Yeah - money and a wife. :o

[Marne]

you could send your rad to someone with a mora who can test 4 you. im sure you will get it back in good condition ^_^ this site is full of ppl you can trust.

[Rambler]

you could send your rad to someone with a mora who can test 4 you. im sure you will get it back in good condition ^_^ this site is full of ppl you can trust.
I wouldn't have a problem doing that, but I've only got one PC. So my system would be down for however long it took until I got it back.

[Marne]

ah. cant lose a cruncher lol (and if your not crunching than GE TO IT lol)

[YerBuddy]

Wow. I was going to test my Monsta with several different fans. You just saved me a great deal of time and headache. Thanks man!:)

[Rambler]

ah. cant lose a cruncher lol (and if your not crunching than GE TO IT lol)
Well... I fold, and that takes up all my CPU and GPU resources - when I'm not gaming. :D

[HESmelaugh]

A test of the NOVA 1080 is planned. It's pretty far off on the horizon but it'll happen eventually.

And: I don't buy everything I test. I couldn't afford to. Testing equipment is expensive enough as it is.
Just to clarify. I know some people assume that this automatically makes me the lapdog of any sponsor, but... well, I invite you to ask my sponsors about that. ;)

[Worthy]

A test of the NOVA 1080 is planned. It's pretty far off on the horizon but it'll happen eventually.

And: I don't buy everything I test. I couldn't afford to. Testing equipment is expensive enough as it is.
Just to clarify. I know some people assume that this automatically makes me the lapdog of any sponsor, but... well, I invite you to ask my sponsors about that. ;)

You're fine.

[Baleful]

A test of the NOVA 1080 is planned. It's pretty far off on the horizon but it'll happen eventually.

And: I don't buy everything I test. I couldn't afford to. Testing equipment is expensive enough as it is.
Just to clarify. I know some people assume that this automatically makes me the lapdog of any sponsor, but... well, I invite you to ask my sponsors about that. ;)


I know one thing for sure, your tests aren't rigged or shilled. You're an honest person and your testing convey's that. You put a great deal of your resources into testing equipment for us and I assure you that it IS greatly appreciated by everyone here at RRTech.

[Rambler]

A test of the NOVA 1080 is planned. It's pretty far off on the horizon but it'll happen eventually.
Cool - I'm really in no hurry, I'd just be interested in seeing the results sometime. :)

[Snyxxx]

I know one thing for sure, your tests aren't rigged or shilled. You're an honest person and your testing convey's that. You put a great deal of your resources into testing equipment for us and I assure you that it IS greatly appreciated by everyone here at RRTech.

Agreed. I always thoroughly read a review or test by HESmelaugh. Good stuff.

[mcoffey]

A test of the NOVA 1080 is planned. It's pretty far off on the horizon but it'll happen eventually.

And: I don't buy everything I test. I couldn't afford to. Testing equipment is expensive enough as it is.
Just to clarify. I know some people assume that this automatically makes me the lapdog of any sponsor, but... well, I invite you to ask my sponsors about that. ;)

I don't think anyone assumes anything regarding that subject in your particular case. But I do believe paying for something out of pocket does raise the satisfaction bar just a tad. Or another way of putting it..if I pay for something out of pocket and it's a piece of shit, I can T off on someone's ass and not worry about where the next part is coming from. Just free's me up.

That's not to say everyone that reviews free products from the vendor is a bad reviewer or cooking a review, just another perspective I guess:shrug:

In your case, I've always considered your testing and reviews some of the best, so I guess it depends on the person involved and how they show up:D

Anyways...keep doing what your doing:up:

andyc

[HESmelaugh]

Thanks, guys.
I didn't mean to be defensive, actually. Since it came up, I just wanted to make clear that I review sponsored stuff and I don't want to make the impression that I'm trying to hide that fact. :up:

[nicky.82uk]

cool review

[Worthy]

Thanks, guys.
I didn't mean to be defensive, actually. Since it came up, I just wanted to make clear that I review sponsored stuff and I don't want to make the impression that I'm trying to hide that fact. :up:

Yeah seriously, you're fine.
We like your work.

But I do have a bone to pick with you...You never posted the Rampage 2 Extreme review over here.:shrug:

[HESmelaugh]

You mean this one (http://www.realredraider.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=9930)?

[Liu Kang]

Great review, HESmelaugh, as always...

[Worthy]

You mean this one (http://www.realredraider.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=9930)?

Nope, sorry my bad. I thought you were going to do a review on the board a while back, but now that I look back I was wrong.;)

Either way, good step back so some newer members who brought up the subject recently can see just how UnKool the FUFUFUFUFUFUFUFU is compared to the BP block. hehe

The burned cuts in the logo, inferior plating etc etc...

[HESmelaugh]

Oh, right.
No, I never intended to review the mainboard itself. Testing a mainboard is just so damned complicated! Well, so is testing waterblocks, I guess, but the latter is a kind of complicated that I have grown accustomed to. :P

[Worthy]

Oh, right.
No, I never intended to review the mainboard itself. Testing a mainboard is just so damned complicated! Well, so is testing waterblocks, I guess, but the latter is a kind of complicated that I have grown accustomed to. :P

Agreed. Testing a mainboard has SO many more variables than a block.
For what a great board the r2e is I dont think it gets the popularity it deserves like the classified. i really love mine.

It's one of those boards that appeals to the extreme overclocker, gamer, or watercooler with all the features it has.

My only beef with it is that it's too big where it obscures those lovely power/reset buttons on the banchetto, although I still might go there.

Anyway, keep up the good work. Especially with the videos. They really are great.

[Icemancmx]

Really nice review

[Eagleizer]

Great review! Thanks a lot for taking the time...

[Kuro]

+ 1 on what Eagleizer said very interesting read.

[hausner]

Thank you HESmelaugh !