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What is the better material of radiator(copper or aluminum)?

Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 3:41 am
by EVAN_C
May I ask for advice about liquid cooling radiator?

What is the better material of radiator(copper or aluminum)?

We know that using copper radiator can avoid the galvanic corrosion with the aluminum component.

Is the copper radiator an attractive condition for gamers’choice?


Thank you in advance!!

Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 4:15 am
by bgiddins
Isn't it simply a matter of looking at the thermal conductivity of the materials?

Copper is a better conductor of heat than aluminium. The only benefits of aluminium are price and weight.

I hate it when the primary design consideration is "what will people buy". Function should always come first.

You sound like you're doing market research for a manufacturer :)

Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 4:59 am
by EVAN_C
hello bgiddins

Thanks to your replay.
Actually my wife is a computing component reseller's staff and just contact this area.
i tested a aluminum radiator and copper radiator(hw labs);the results were similiar.
that's what i am confused. :shock:
Could it be said that the only attractive condition of copper radiator is no galvanic corrosion ? or any else reason copper is better

i know that copper has better conductor of heat ,but i didn't find the proof of performance.maybe you guys had some experience to share. :D

Posted: Tue Nov 04, 2008 7:16 am
by QuietOC
The low conductivity of air is the biggest factor. The effective surface area of the radiator is what is important. The radiator material itself should just be as thin as possible. Actually no material between the air and water works even better. :)

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 12:49 pm
by echn111
If done properly, copper.

If not done properly, stick to air cooling and forget watercooling altogether.

Regardless of advertising claims, the fact is copper is a better heat conductor and superior for cooling so you're either comparing unfairly or doing something wrong. I suggest you have a look at more balanced test results from more experienced watercooling enthusiasts.

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 2:26 pm
by wojtek
echn111 wrote:If done properly, copper.

If not done properly, stick to air cooling and forget watercooling altogether.

Regardless of advertising claims, the fact is copper is a better heat conductor and superior for cooling so you're either comparing unfairly or doing something wrong. I suggest you have a look at more balanced test results from more experienced watercooling enthusiasts.
Agree 100%. Most probably you are doing something wrong or comparing two products with VERY different characteristic. But first answer yourself do you really need watercooling? Silence wise - you will have to spend a lot of cash to get level of noise comparable to that from P18x with 1 fan. If you want overclock - just today I oc'ed my new E8400 with Ninja on it to 4770MHz and have room to go higher. So, if you don't want go into extreme oc'ing and don't want spend small fortune on quiet watercooling stuff - stay on air...

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 4:38 pm
by spookmineer
He's not doing anything wrong.


There is little to no difference between copper and aluminium where the radiator is concerned.

Copper has better heat conductivity, but as QuietOC said, the low heat conductivity of air is the biggest factor here, you will benefit much more from bigger surface area than radiator material.

In this thread is a comparison between copper, aluminium and even perspex/pyrex glass (sorry for the error in my second post, corrected in the third). The setup in the thread is a radiating submerged PC in oil with different materials for the case, but a radiator in a watercooled setup will have to dissipate the same amount of heat so the same physics apply:
drownmypc wrote:I was aware of the thermal conductivities of copper vs aluminum, but I had no idea that they would perform nearly identically in this scenario. I guess it is because the thermal resistance of copper and aluminum are both quite low compared to the thermal resistance of air which is the final destination of the heat energy.
I guess the analogy is that of choosing between two resistors, a 1ohm and a 2ohm, to hook up in series with a 2000 ohm resistor. It doesn't matter whether you choose the 1 ohm or 2 ohm, the 2000 ohm is going to dominate.
EVAN_C wrote:We know that using copper radiator can avoid the galvanic corrosion with the aluminum component.
This only goes if the other components are copper as well. Both copper and aluminium in the same loop needs an additive in the water in order to prevent corrosion.