BIX vs Chevette heater core temps

[DigitalChaos]

a few of you have been wanting to see temp comparisons between the BIX (first gen) and a heatercore (1/2" fitting mod)

BOTH rads are 6 channel - double pass.

the chevette heater core FIN AREA measures 6 1/8" x 6 1/8" x 2"
the BIX FIN AREA measures 4.7"x4.7"x 1.25"

now the BIX fin area actually has water runnin the whole 1.25" thickness, the core has it running about 1.5" of the 2" thickness.


What i did for the bix was put a panoflow 120mm mounted to one side of the built-in shroud, the fan was run at very low speed.
The core was fitted with a 2-3" tall shroud, and the same fan at the same speed.

The cooling setup:
Rad > small resevoir > Eheim 1250
then it splits off to a MAZE2 and chipset cooler on one side, and a video cooler and hd cooler on the otherside
then both come back to the rad.

the CPU is a Duron 850 @ 1000 (1.85v)

now the part you wont like =) for the IDLE temps, i used vcool (a cpu idleing program)

the max temps were achieved with toast and prime95 running at the same time


all temps were recorded with MBM5 and are ALL off by exactly 3 degrees lower than my DD5 reports. but they are consistant and they provide good comparison. so here they are:

AMBIENT: 19C

BIX IDLE: 27C
BIX MAX: 40C

Core IDLE: 26C
Core MAX: 37C

now remember that these temps were from a LOW CFM fan.. well actually just low voltage but still, if these were HIGH cfm test im sure the gap between the rads would be much less.

now what does this test say? one rad has a higher cooling capacity, one is more efficient, maye one is better at lower cfm and one is better at high cfm(not that the test shows it)?
ill let you guys have at it =)

edit :
forgot to say its all 3/8" tubing (kinda defeats the purpose of 1/2 rad but hey...) and remember.. this isnt a review or benchmark. it is just MY results on MY setup. but the readings are accurate, and they are to give you something to look at being that nobody has really done any BIX reviews.

[Brad]

thats a largish differance, like outside the margain of error, have you got a more powerful fan lying around

[Cyco-Dude]

yes, try the same test with the fans @ max, just for sh*ts n giggles...
maybe with 1/2 ID tubing if you get any, that would also be interesting to see what affect that would have...

[DigitalChaos]

actuall i dont have the bix anymore =( sorry. but i thought that i should atleast get in what testing i could, so when i got rid of the bix, i kept everything the same so i could compare.

the margin of error should be almost none between the tests. i think there is a little more water flow through my system with the chevette core. so that is the only variable that could change besides the performance/efficiency in combo witht the shrouding of the rad.

all temp probes were in the exact same spot and the fan was left at the same speed.

i have a feeling that if the BIX had a deeper shroud that it may have performed better, along with a higher cfm. the fan used was a h1a? panoflow 120mm at ~5v

and if i had to choose between the BIX or the core, i would go for the bix due to it being over 1" smaller on each side, and the overall nice construction and look of it.

the core may perform a bit better, but it is a bit bulky, didnt look as good, needed shrouding, and needed to be modded for the barbs, or you can get a pre modded version from dangerden at about the same cost it would take to do it yourself.

[Cyco-Dude]

...but its too bad the BIX costs twice as much tho...

[Brad]

thats the main problem I see, the Chevette core is only a bit bigger, but performs a bit better, and is much cheaper

[mx-6*]

And you could do 2 in parallel and get much better performance for the same price.

[Weedkiller420]

A bix needs 100cfm atleast to work propely

[scythe]

what cfm fan were you running?

[DigitalChaos]

yes the bix DOES need atleast 100cfm.. and i was not giving it that...
this was just something to let ya guys know how my setup went... NOT an official comparison.

and again.. it was a panoflow h1a at about 4-5v

[DigitalChaos]

oh, i updated the dimensions of the fins for those of you who read this already, turns out i was off by 1/4" thickness on the bix.
it should be 1.25" thick paths.

and remember this is the older bix, not the rev2

[Cyco-Dude]

i thought there was only one version of the black ice extreme? i know there are two version of the black ice prime tho...what are the differences between the 2 BIX's? any linkage?

[DigitalChaos]

i have no idea, i think its a low pressure drop mod, like OCWC was doing to the primes.

cooltechnica.com has the rev 2s

[Brad]

I doubt it needs a 100cfm fan, I think it is more efficient at higher cfm, but not everyone wants to run a 120mm at 100cfm, I know I think that it is too loud, I'd prefer a 69cfm fan, and I'd compare rads at 69cfm, not some other volume I can't handle

[Cyco-Dude]

i think you're talking about the revised BI primes. the BIX's already have the low-pressure drop mod (2-pass instead of 4-pass).

but if you look on HWlabs, they are comming out with updated rads that have "substantially increased performance", so i dunno...

[EMC2]

...but its too bad the BIX costs twice as much tho...

Excellent point

A bix needs 100cfm atleast to work properly

Which doesn't speak well for the BIX. Also, whatever improvement you did get from the BIX at 100cfm, you would likely get at least as much from the heater core. So it would still be as good or better at a lower price point

[Heavy_Equipment]

hmm...100 cfm, that's gotta be in the 45 dba range too. PASS.

[Brad]

you are looking at 41 - 45cfm depending on which brand and how thick it is. 38mm thick fans at 100cfm will be quieter than 25mm thick fans at 100cfm

[joeyd]

DigitalChaos just wondering but what are your temps with the fans on full power with the heatercore ?

[DigitalChaos]

i have run BOTH the bix and heater core on full... but i never recorded any temps. so i cant give you exact #'s

but i know that going from about 5v to 12v would only drop my temps by 1-2 degrees on my max temp.... MAYBE 3 degrees if i was lucky.

[joeyd]

thanks man :-)