EK CoolStream XE 240mm Radiator Review

Technical specifications: as listed by EK

Technical details:
Material:
– Copper fins
– 90% copper tubing (H90)
– Brass chambers
– Aluminum/Steel housing

Dimensions: 280 x 130 x 60mm (L x W x H)
Weight: 1,3kg
Liquid Capacity: ~290mL
FPI: 16
Port threads: 4x G1/4
Fan compatibility: any standard size 120x120x25mm fan; UNC 6-32 thread tapping
Pressure tested: 1bar(g)

As always I advise that you do flush your new rads, no matter what the manufacturer says. A little bit of time and effort up front can mean not having to drain your system because of blocked micro channels in your blocks.

Dimensions Measured on the Radiator Tested:

The (+5) is the amount in mm that the port extenders sit proud of the casing. So if you have the XE mounted as intake in a Push Only set-up, you could say that the XE is actually 65mm thick, because that is the overall thickness you would need to allow for.

Radiator Core Dimensions:

The core is made up of 3 rows of 14 tubes arranged in the standard U-Flow configuration. The fin arrangement is made of non-louvered serpentine fins with a 16 FPI count.

This picture is a reference which shows a typical U-Flow coolant flow path, where the coolant travels up all the tubes on one side (left in pic) of the rad and then returns down the other side. U-Flow is most easily recognized when the port end has 2 separate tanks such as the XE 240 has inside the square casing.

The single non-louvered fins are spaced quite evenly between the tubes and here we see a 16 FPI count as per the specs

Finish and Features

The XE 240 has a Satin Black finish which is very smooth to touch, but close inspection shows the finish is actually quite bumpy. In any case the finish is excellent and looks great.

At the non-port end is the seemingly mandatory branding we find on almost all of our gear. At least it’s in an inconspicuous spot and tastefully done.

While doing my measurements I noticed something odd was going on as the rad wasn’t sitting flat on the bench. It was twisted pretty badly, so much so that there was a gap under one corner of nearly 3mm. That’s 3 rulers that I slid in under that corner in the following photo. I can not say for certain, but I suspect that the tubes have not been installed to the port end uniformly, because the external enclosure by itself sits perfectly flat, while the core assembly does not. It is only when the enclosure is fitted to the core and tank assembly that the twisting starts to appear.

The fan mount spacing is the standard 15mm.

The fan mounting holes are located directly above a tube on each side.  In an unusual decision EK have chosen not to incorporate tube protection plates. I suspect punctured tubes due to incorrect screws being used is the number one cause for radiator damage, so it’s disappointing that EK have chosen not to included them for the XE series.

When using the provided screws there is no risk of damage, BUT if you need to use custom length screws due to your mounting needs extra care must be taken to select the correct length screws.

The XE 240 comes equipped with 4 ports in total, 2 each inlet and outlet to choose from and are on opposite sides of the rad. This effectively creates either a fill port or a drain port when mounted horizontally, but is unlikely to add any benefits for a vertical installation.

The port extenders and port plugs are interchangeable to either side, so in a mid-shelf installation you could have the inlet port facing down (basement rads or pump/s) and the outlet port facing up into the motherboard chamber, or vice-versa.

Unfortunately there is no dedicated fill/bleeder port on the return end tank. This is a feature that the XTX (which the XE replaces) did have. The core and design are obviously different, but it would have been great if EK could have kept the dedicated ancillary port and we hold hope that a future revision might see it’s return.

Like all of the “E” series rads from EK the outer casing can be removed for easy modding such as custom paintwork.

It would have been negligent of us not to have inspected the XE 240 end tank after the issues surrounding various sized XE surfaced. We reported on the issue after discovering that our 360mm sample had the problem.  We then updated the article when EK made an official statement on the issue advising that all stock with the reported issue has been removed from inventory, so hopefully we will see no more dented XE return end tanks.  This XE 240 sample was from before the issue surfaced, so could have been affected and the photos were taken after testing was complete.

Clearly we can see that this sample does not have the reported problem, although in that top corner it is obvious that something out of the ordinary happened during manufacturing, as a big blob of solder like that is not normal.  On the positive side, at least quality control picked up on whatever the problem was and sorted it out.  This rad was 100% leak free, even with the Iwaki RD-30 pushing nearly 4.00 GPM through the test loop.

So here we have a 60mm thick rad with a medium to high FPI count that is sporting a set of alternate ports. The satin black finish is excellent and while my review sample has it’s imperfections, the overall the build quality is acceptable.

Let’s see how it performs…