What do you think of transmission coolers?
 

Check this page for what I am looking at http://www.delta-transparts.com/MM007.ASP?pageno=30

Heres a pic http://www.delta-transparts.com/pics/1677.jpg

Thats $32 and its 5 1/2" x 11" x 3/4" stacked plate. Thats big enough for 2 120mm fans.

What is the consensous on stacked-plate type radiators? They look pretty good and the price is awesome. Though I bet its also Al.

Well if you plan to get stacked plate rads, the issues would likely be about mounting and perhaps even corrosion if you're using a Cu block.

It is a very economical solution though.

Getting it mounted inside your case neatly may be the next challenge.

http://www.hwlabs.com/misc/4p240c-01.jpg

To avoid problems with corrosion I prefer staying all copper or all aluminum. Mixing metals works for some, but I still see problems with setups that have taken all the precautions.
For the same cost you could use BE coolings 12x5 tube fin tranny cooler, it's copper and cools within 1 degree of the stacked 12x5 coolers. In real-world testing it's only 2 degrees behind the best like Big Mamma or Black Ice (unless you use a peltier, this is where the efficiency of these big heater cores can make a big difference).

The problem with tranny coolers is when the heat goes up, it doesn't scale as well.

The Black Ice or any other radiator core unit for that matter can scale with the increase in wattage.

Similarly the Big Momma can disspipate more heat compared to the Black Ice, then again it is more than 2x the size.

I was under the impression that stacked plate was very good for a compact radiator. I seem to remember an ancient thread over on ArsTechnica discusing the matter. I'm too lazy to dig it out and its probably too dated to be worthwhile, so I'll just ask. Given the same size and materials is a stackedplate better or worse then a heatercore type?

The stacked plate rads are usually made of Aluminum.

They do perform better than oil coolers. But "heater core" types perform way better than they do, especially if you have them of the same size.

Danger Den and BE cooling, the two arguably most trusted sites both consider stacked tranny coolers to be very good at cooling in the 12x5 size. Stacked coolers tend to have 30% better capacity to cool than tube and fin at the same size, but aren't half as good as radiator core types, but it depends what you need. I still fear aluminum w/ copper.

If your cooling a Duron 750@750, a 6x5 tube&fin compared to a Big Momma won't be any different. Now cool a T-Bird 1400@1700 with one or two 156w peltiers, and you'll surely fry with the 6x5 tube&fin.

What are your goals... What kind of CPU are you running and how far are you ready to push it? If you just want the biggest get a 4 core radiator from a lincoln continental, $200, 2 feet x 2 feet, but seriously, it depends what you need :)

What are you running and do you plan to use peltiers, or want the option?

I want a quiet high-performance system for a TBird at 1400MHz +. No TEC or anything.

I've already picked out the Maze 2 (1/2inch), Eheim pump (not quite sure of GPH yet) and it going into my FK 603.

The radiator is the big hold up. I want Cu above all else, but beyond that I'm flexable. The radiator I linked above would be a very poor choice, bcecasue its too big.

I'm leaning toward the Big Mama. Does it have 1/2 inch fittings (its a heater core, it should have at least that)?

Thoughts?

Well if you have the space and some modding inclinations, the Big Momma will be perfect for you.

OCWC also carries the Black Ice, svelte and compact rad specficially designed just for watercooling.

You have a number of choices out there it will depend on how you want it to look, how much it costs, how much heat you want to move.

The Big Mamma is a heater core with new fittings installed. Heater cores are usually 1/2" or larger, so if its not then you can probably just solder some bigger barbs in anyways. As for pumps, commonly people want about 250gph with DD Maze 2. The eheim's are rated at 80,160,320 and 640. I'd probably go for the 320 as from what I hear the actual flow in a system is less than a comparable mag-drive. The 320 is model 1250, and sells for about 65.00 at Danger Den or a fish store.