Hardware Labs Black Ice SR2 420 MP Radiator Review
Welcome to another Extreme Rigs radiator review. This time we’ll be taking a close look at the SR2 420 MP from Hardware Labs which became available for retail purchase last week.
Since we published the most recent of the 360mm radiators for inclusion in the Extreme Rigs Rad Round Up 2015, we had completed thermal testing on 8 various sized 140.x radiators before our chosen 140mm fans starting failing. This meant we had to find a reliable model 140mm fan for use in the thermal chamber. With assistance from a new ER sponsor we believe we have just the fan, Noctua’s NF-A14 IndustrialPPC-2000 IP67 PWM.
We’d like to say a public Thank You to the Noctua Team for their understanding of the situation, their generous support and for arranging lightning fast delivery half way around the world. Without Noctua’s support this review may still be in the planning stages.
Of course we’ll be doing a full review on these Noctua Industrials once we have completed some more tests and compiled the data from it and some other 140mm fans for comparisons.
With new fans in hand, we restarted our 140.x radiator thermal testing from scratch, and after crunching the data we are now able to publish the first of our 140.x radiator reviews.
First up is the SR2 420 MP from Hardware Labs. We’ve already reviewed the 240 mm and 360mm versions of the SR2 MultiPort so be sure to check them out after you’ve finished reading this one. We’ll do some comparisons to those 240 & 360 results, but for the most part the SR2 420 MP will be compared against the other 420 radiator which we have finished re-testing – EK’s CE 420.
Firstly a big thanks to Hardware Labs for providing the review sample of the SR2 420 MP!
What’s in the Box?
The SR2 420 MP sample arrived in full retail packaging. Existing packaging from the SR2 420 has been used, as the “MP MuiltiPort” labelling is a sticker which has been strategically placed on the front of the retail sleeve.
The front of the retail sleeve leaves us in no doubt as to what to expect, while on the back we find some technical drawings and list of features.
Note in the last sentence I said simply the SR2 420, and together with the sticker placement on the front, we conclude that the SR2 420 MP has exactly the same cooling package (core) as the single port version. HWLabs has confirmed this is correct, and the extra ports are the only changes in the MP version.
On one side we find some performance ratings on the various SR2 models.
Our feelings about this chart are well known to regular readers by now. Suffice it to say that the test conditions are a standard that we don’t think applies well to most end users.
Removing the outer sleeve we find a sturdy shipping box with a factory seal sticker that gives us a warning about using correct length screws.
Just to clarify: when using the supplied mounting hardware there is no risk of causing damage to the radiator.
I really like the HWLabs style of boxing as the compartment at one end keeps the provided accessories away from the core. It would be nice to see a bubble wrap sleeve over the rad, but otherwise the SR2 420 MP has great packaging that should ensure safe arrival to the end user.
Under the flap on the right hand side, we found 3 bags with the supplied accessories.
Extent of delivery:
Included in the SR2 420 MP package is the following:
1 x SR2 Multi-Port Radiator
12 x M4 x 28mm screw s for mounting fans.
12 x M4 x 5mm screws for attaching to chassis
4 x G 1/4 port plugs.
Note that the 28mm screws are only just long enough to mount fans to the radiator. If using a mounting bracket, or placing fans between the chassis and rad, you will need to provide your own M4 screws of suitable length. In most instances M4 x 30 screws will be suitable.
HWLabs also provides some spare port plugs, aka stop fittings. 4 x extra port plugs come with the Multi-Port version of the SR2 420. These are in addition to 6 that are pre-installed into 6 of the 8 the ports of the radiator. This is fantastic because the radiator is ready for flushing straight from the box. This means it comes with a total of 10 stop fittings, which is great, but somewhat overkill. Because of this HWLabs had to keep the cost down and so these are not made of brass but instead of POM, aka Delrin. In other words they are plastic and if you note there is an allen key socket in the head for tightening it.
HWLabs recommends only using fingers to tighten down the port plugs. However given that using an allen key is an optional method of tightening/loosening these plugs, the recessed key hole will (and does) round off after a couple of uses. Ultimately end users will decide whether or not they choose to replace these factory fitted plugs with plated/painted brass ones. I suspect that most will be happy to keep the stock plugs in place as they certainly are convincing and do look good. I think HWLabs made a good decision to include all the port plugs (inc. the 4 extra) and so the cost saving benefit of using the plastic material is justified.
Onwards to technical specifications!
Thank you for the hard work! The section about testing methods was especially interesting. I have to wonder though… a silver award with a score of 4.5 out of 5? Is this a “goldish” silver or satin nickel silver? 😉
We discussed the appropriate award to be issued and in the end it came down to 3 reasons why we did not issue gold.
The price point is very high compared to the radiator in the review.
We would like to see the ancillary port introduced.
And to a lesser degree the review sample had a few issues with the paint finish.
So while the SR2 MultiPorts are an excellent radiator choice, we feel there is still room for a little improvement.
Let’s call it a Goldish Silver 🙂
HWL doesn’t list the non-multiport version any longer on their website and that is unfortunate. For a lot of reasons, multiport isn’t ideal in all circumstances. If there are stop fittings installed, there will likely be clearance issues.
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