Guide To Current WaterCooling Components

[MaxxxRacer]

In this guide I will give a listing of all of the current watercooling hardware on the market. For each item I will give a short description, along with the appropriate use for that item.

Most of the items in the guide are U.S. / U.K. based due to the largely english speaking and located readership. Also, most of the 'Euro' based components are not easily compatible with regards to fittings with 'American' components. As such, for simplicities sake I will omit them.

To purchase the items listed in this guide, check out my "stores" guide which is located here.


CPU WaterBlocks


Non-IHS and Single Core IHS

1. Swiftech Storm - 75USD - this is the top performing waterblock currently in retail. It is better suited to more powerful pumps, but still performs well with low flow/power pumps. Apparently the Storm is no longer dsicontinued, but it seems there are now large price hikes, and somewhat limited availability.
Due to repeated incidents in which the storm is improperly installed, please be advised that the proper way to install the tubing on the storm is as follows: inlet in the center and outlet towards the outer edge.

2. Cooltechnica MP-05 LE - 50-65USD - a high restriction waterblock with excelent performance. while it does not outperform the Storm per pump power, its lower pricetag makes it an attractive choice. The newly updated LE version boasts higher performance per flow and keeps its price tage competitive with the Swiftech Storm. It is not know at this time, which one will take the performance crown.

4. Danger Den TDX - 52USD - while a good waterblock, it is not an optimum choice of waterblock for a high or low power pump system. I list it merely for completeness of the guide.

5. Danger Den RBX - 52USD - Again, a good waterblock, but not worth considering unless you have some desire for a 3 barb waterblock.

6. WhiteWater LE (all coper version) - 44USD - Origionaly designed by Cathar, this 3 barb waterblock performs well, but uses a dated design and is not optimal for maximum performance.

IHS Dual Core, Quadcore and Dual Die

NOTE:When using waterblocks on LGA775 boards I reccomend to use a motherboard backplate. You can purchase one made by thermalright HERE. It is called "Thermalright LGA775 Bolt Thru Kit"

1. D-TEK FuZion - 65USD - Semi-Controlled testing by some of our members have shown the FuZion to be an excellent performer with incredibly low flow restriction. An excellent choice for an SLI/Crossfire setup where all 3 blocks are on the same loop. Performance can be improved upon by adding a thin o-ring to the mid-plate as described HERE

2. Swiftech Apogee GTX - 73USD - The top performing waterblock from Swiftech, the Apogee GTX is on top of the performance heap for its class, right along with the FuZion. The GTX uses a coated aluminum top, which Swiftech's Owner, Gabe had assured us will stand up to years of use and provides a lifetime warranty on the waterblock. Update: The black dye on the GTX does come off rather easily and it is suggested that the dye on the inside of the block be worn off with a toothbrush and mild solvent (say windex/dish soap) before use. The GTX has higher flow restriction than the FuZion, but overall is not very restrictive. The GTX ships with two O-rings, a normal sized one (installed) and a large one which will bow the base, improving performance. For more details on this go HERE and check out Swiftechs Product page HERE.

3. Swiftech Apogee GT - 49 to 56USD - The vanilla version of the Apogee GTX, the 2 differences between the GT and GTX are that the GT has an all delrin top and the barbs are placed close together horizontally, whereas the GTX has the aluminum top and the barbs are placed far apart and positioned diagnally. The GT does perform a bit worse compared to the GTX but is slightly less restrictive (i should emphasise that the difference in flow is small) do to the closer barb placement. The different barb placement also means that orientation of the waterblock does make a difference with regards to performance, especially on dual die processors like Intel's Kentsfield. As with the GTX, 2 O-ring sizes are included.



GPU WaterBlocks


1. MCW-60 - 60USD (with ramsinks) 45USD (without ramsinks) - the MCW-60 is the next step up from the MCW-55. It uses the same base plate as the Apogee, and uses a molded delrin top. Currently the MCW-60 appears to be the top performing GPU waterblock and has very little waterflow restriction (lower than that of a Maze4). The 60 dollar version of the MCW-60 comes with 8 MCW-14 ramsinks, normally around 15 dollars. This waterblock is my first reccomendation for anyone shopping for a GPU cooling solution.


2. Danger Den Maze4 Acetal - 39USD - this is an excelent gpu waterblock with incredibly low restriction and great performance. I personally use one and generally reccomend them to everyone.

3. Cooltechnica MP-1 - 45USD - A newcomer to the gpu cooling segment, the MP-1 shows great potential, but with no publicly available data it cannot yet recieve my top reccomendation. With that said, sources say the waterblock performs several centigrade better than the Maze4.

4. Swiftech MCW-55 - 50USD - A revamp of the proven design of the MCW50. with improved flow characteristics it provides lower flow restriction and increased performance compared to the older, aluminum topped, MCW50. The waterblock performs on par with the Maze4. It should be noted that the performance data on this waterblock provided by swiftech should not be trusted. While their data is generally excelent, in the case of the MCW-55, it is.. in a word.. rubbish.

5. Cyclone Fusion HL - ~60USD - An Aussie waterblock of excelent construction and performance that is said to perform better than the Maze4. While this may be true there is no data as of yet to validate this. While an excelent block, expense make it a less attractive option. (As far as I know, Cyclone is no longer manufacturing waterblocks, but you can still purchase this waterblock at Petras Tech Shop while supplies last)

6. Danger Den Maze5 Acetal - 43USD - An update to the Maze4 design, the Maze5, according to Danger Den outperforms the Maze4. Currently there are no tests of the Maze5, but based on its design it should perform better than the Maze4 while being a bit more restrictive.

7. D-Tek FuZion GPU - 50USD - The newest GPU block to date, the FuZion GPU waterblock incredibly restrictive (by far the most restrictive GPU block on the list) and is not reccomended at this time.


Radiators

Before I list the products I will explain why I broke them up into two categories. There are generally two users out there: the gunho, tone deaf, noise doesnt matter, and the silent computerist. So to cater to this, I broke the radiators into the low noise and high noise orientated groups.

Note: With high power fans, the "high noise" radiators will outperform the low noise radiators, but when coupled with low noise fans the "low noise" radiators outperform the others.

Low Noise

1. HWLabs Black Ice Pro (1, 2 and 3) - 29-45USD - The Black Ice Pro's have been around for a long time and are excelent performers. Currently they are the only 2 and 3 fan radiators that are orientated to quiet computing.

2. Thermochill PA160.1 - 80-130USD (price varies wildly between retailers) - The PA160 is a revolutionary radiator designed in part by Cathar. It is a single 120mm fan radiator that performs close to that of dual fan radiators. Due to its expense (outside of the UK) to performance ratio its hard to recomend it in any but very special situations, but it is still a great radiator.

3. Thermochill PA120.X (120.1, 120.2, 120.3) - 80 to 120 USD - Described as the new king of cool, I highly reccomend these rads. They are pretty much the perfect radiator.. High cooling capacity while optimized for low noise fans.. Not much more you can ask for in a radiator. I should note that as of writing this there has not been any test data presented, but from calculations provided by Cathar, these radiators should not fail to live up to their name.

4. Swiftech MCR220-QP and MCR320-QP - 45 and 55USD - The creation of Bill Adams, formely of Swiftech, the MCR220-QP is an excelent low CFM optimized radiator. the MCR220 is positioned between the Black Ice Pro2 and PA120.2 with regards to performance. But the nice thing is that its very economically priced. At the time of writting, they are priced at 41.99 at CrazyPC. While a bit more expensive, than the BIP2, if you have the extra 10 dollars, it would be 10 dollars well spent. The MCR220-QP comes in two colors, black and blue. Currently, the MCR320-QP is the best bang of the buck when going for maximum cooling performance in a low noise setup.

5. CoolingWorks 22-T and 32-T - 44 and 60USD - Another radiator designed in part by Bill Adams, now of CoolingWorks, these two radiators have BIX like dimmensions, but have a lower FPI (12) which lends them to use with lower speed fans such as the yate-loons. No data is available at this time, but expect them to perform relativley similarly to the MCR series and Thermochill PA series (assuming same size radiators are compared; ie double, tripple) Their low price makes them an attractive option for those who cannot afford the PA series from thermochill.

High Noise

1. HW Labs Black Ice Xtreme (1, 2, 3) - 45-78USD - These radiators provide excelent high power fan (110+CFM) performance while having a lower pricetag than the Thermochill HE series. There are rumors that the HE's perform better than the BIX series, but I really wont make such a claim as I have not seen any test data to backup such claims.

2. Thermochill HE120.X - 80 - 120 USD - Formerly Thermochills main line of radiators, they are still an excelent choice if you plan to use fans that are over 110CFM. For users in the UK who want such a radiator the Thermochills would probably be a better choice (compared to BIX's) due to cheaper costs over there.