Aluminum rads vs Copper rads

[Xyth]

Just wondering if anybody has had some experience with the kind of performance diffrence there would be between a copper radiator against a aluminum radiator. Wondering because I picked a nice aluminum heater core up on the cheap for the water cooling system Im building, and want to know if there is a big performance diffrence between one made of copper or one of aluminum. I would have gone straight for copper except the shape/ size of this rad is perfect and it was fairly cheap. I'll upgrade to a copper one eventually anyway, but until then.

[Darthtanion]

First off, there is a difference between a radiator and a heater core. The heater core will always be superior when it comes to cooling your water based setup.

As to aluminum, it should work just fine but you'll want to try to eliminate the use of multiple metals in your water cooling system. When you start mixing metals, corrosion can become an issue. There are some good additives out there, though, so this problem can be minimized.

[wayout44]

If you have an aluminium water block then use an aluminium core but if you have a copper water block then use a copper core (this will stop electrolysis from happening) though in the end copper gives the best heat transference.

[ReSpAwN DeMoN]

Its been known that copper removes heat faster but can't hold as much..

while aluminum allthough slower in the heat transfer process can hold a great amount of heat. There fore in the long run when ambient temperature has raisen aluminum is the more effective cooler ;)