The world-famous manufacturer Alphacool is currently the only manufacturer in the world who uses pure copper for all water-bearing parts. The antechambers, water channels and the fins are all made of pure copper. As a result, Alphacool radiators offer the highest thermal conductivity, which means that the performance limit is significantly higher than that of aluminum radiators. In short, the cooling capacity is simply higher if you want to dissipate a lot of heat. Copper has been the best choice of materials in the water cooling sector for years.
All Alphacool radiators are designed for silent operation. So you do not need a fan with particularly high static pressure to achieve the desired performance, but can rely on normal fans with low speed. The loss of performance compared to special fans for radiators is therefore slight and can normally be ignored. Of course, if you want to achieve maximum cooling performance and rely on adapted fans for radiators, you will of course not be disappointed. The maximum performance does not suffer from this. Thanks to the copper and the high-quality manufacturing process, you still get an enormous increase in performance for your water-cooled components, even with high-performance fans.
The fans are mounted with the enclosed 30 or 35 mm M3 screws. All Alphacool radiators offer protection that prevents the screws from being screwed into the cooling fins. A metal plate below the holes prevents further penetration of the screws. In order to mount the radiator directly on the housing, suitable screws are included in the scope of delivery.
Alphacool covers almost all sizes with the NexXxoS radiator series and offers the most extensive portfolio of all manufacturers in this area. Starting with 40 mm dual radiators up to the triple radiator for 180 mm fans. In addition, different thicknesses: ST30, XT45, UT60 and Monsta, whereby the number always stands for the thickness of the radiator in millimeters and the Monsta radiators are approx. 86 mm thick. There are also special sizes and HPC industrial radiators. These are special radiators that are designed for high pressure.
The connection options for the NexXxoS radiators are extensive. While the narrow ST30 radiator has 2 inlets and outlets, all thicker radiators from the XT45 onwards offer 3 inlets and outlets in G ¼ "format. In addition, there is a G ¼ “connection on the rear antechamber for filling or venting. This gives you the opportunity to mount the radiator in any desired position.
The X-Flow radiators are an exception. In the ST30 version, these have 2 inlets or outlets on both antechambers. Here the water does not flow in a U-shape as usual, but from one side of the radiator to the other side of the radiator. As usual, the models from size XT45 each have 3 inlets or outlets on the antechambers. The X-Flow radiators offer you further options to adapt the water cycle in your system according to your wishes.
With a radiator from the Alphacool NexXxoS series, you get a unique all-copper radiator with outstanding performance.
Technical specifications
- Internal material: main proportion of copper
- Housing material: side part steel, threaded entries brass, chambers copper
- Color: Black
- Dimensions (LxWxH): 517x124x30mm
- Radiator size: 4x120mm
- Connection thread size: 2x 1/4 inch
- Fan thread: M3
- Pressure tested: 1.5 bar
- Weight: 1,226kg
Scope of delivery
1x radiator
16x M3x30mm hexagon
screws 16x M3x35mm hexagon screws
ThermalBench Review:
The Alphacool NexXxos ST30 480mm radiator can be purchased for $91.50 from Performance PCs in the USA as of the date of this article. Its closest competitor as far as intended application as a stealth profile radiator goes is the Black Ice Nemesis 480GTS (out of the ones I have tested so far anyway) and this currently costs $79.95 from the same place. Note that there is now also an OEM version, the Nemesis L-series 480 stealth, going for even lower but I do not know how it performs. The ST30 does have the benefit of being lower in liquid flow restriction but not enough to the point where this can cancel out the price and performance factors. It does come in less expensive (as much as 25% at times) than the other, thicker radiators that outperform it though. Also note that these prices can vary from region to region. So I won’t fault pricing at this point. Seeing how this sample arrived in a near flawless condition both inside and out, I would like to think that this is part of a revamp plan over at Alphacool and newer radiator designs are on the timeline as well. The ST30 does punch above its weight (or thickness, in this case) so anyone planning to buy one should still not be deterred. You just need to be aware of other options available out there.