Not having seen the x-flow firsthand, it's advantage and disadvantages were summarised suitably by Cathar on [H] not so long ago...
Quote:
As the flow rate (and hence water velocity in the tubes) goes down, so does the radiator performance start to fall away. With a single-pass you've gone and halved the water velocity in one hit. This is offset somewhat by the temperature delta benefit of single-pass, but it is by no means a sure thing that single pass will be better.
Looking at that graph, if we made the HE120.1 into a single pass radiator and our flow rate was 5LPM, then by halving the water velocity with some moderate fans we can see that we'll lose up to 20% convectional efficiency performance. Sure, we gained a bit by going single pass, but we lost a lot due to the per-tube velocity drop.
If our flow rate was 12lpm though, then we only lose ~10%, and maybe (just maybe) single pass might be a better option. Don't know too many people with 12lpm running through their loops though. The HE120.1 is a dual-core radiator too, so this example highlights how turning the HE120.1 into a single pass radiator would quite likely be a bad idea.
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And thus the same applies to most dual rads out on the PC Watercooling market. Pop it's caps off and swap for singlepass tanks and there's a tradeoff. The spec of the rest of the system determines the worth of moving from one to the other. Other changes need to be made to make singlepass worth it in current scenarios imo. AFAIK, those changes are in the pipeline already at HWLabs anyways. Performance of current x-flow is a m00t point.
So logic dictates BiPro dual vs BiProX-Flow dual with a flow rate reflective of today's avg watercooling system, the original should beat the x-flow. Are the public aware? In the minority.
I have no data to prove or disprove. Bill's data is not his to share. Data collected whilst contracted by Swiftech, the data remains Swiftech's to release not bills. His hands are tied. He spills, he's legally liable for theft of data.
We're at a point where from a quick glance, no-one is impartial. Problems ahead...
Now trust and ethics become a major factor before decisions can be made and data believed. Some of us trust each other whole-heartedly. Some of us don't.
The fallout was inevitable. Unavoidable perhaps.
Whilst Bill's personal ethic is shown as against the "Chinese invasion", manufacturing decisions by Swiftech aren't necessarily Bill's preference or choice. That again is down to Swiftech. Attribute choices to the correct places. A companies economics and an individual's opinion are two different things.
Dirty laundry back in the closet. Public don't wanna see the stains on display.
*sprays some rosey air freshener about and hands out the chocolate biscuits*
play nice...