[Review] 22 CPU Waterblocks tested - Roundup

[bundymania]

Hello again Folks,

 

After making you guys happy with a CPU block roundup for socket 775 a few months ago, it's now time for the socket 1366 roundup with 10 blocks, which is already eagerly anticipated by a lot of users. This review will most likely be extended with more blocks in the following time.

As I don't want to bore you with an unnecessary long introduction, let's get right down to business.

 

 

Update 05/24/10: Extended with five additional blocks!

There's been a changing of the guard of the top of the results. In addition to newer blocks like the XSPC Rasa, the Koolance CPU-360 and the EK Supreme HF in the version with the metal top, there are also two older blocks among the contestants to complete this big roundup, namely the D-Tek Fuzion V2 and the Cuplex HD by Aquacomputer, that's most probably soon going to be replaced by a new block.

Have fun with this update and with choosing your personal favorite!

 

Update 02/01/10: Seven more blocks now in this review!

The makers of waterblocks haven't only been sitting around those past few months and so it's no surprise that there has been quite some movement on the top of the results. The formerly unbeaten Heatkiller 3.0 had to pass its crown to Swiftech's new flagship: the Apogee XT. The revised version of the EK Supreme, now , as shown by the new flow chart, rightfully carrying the name "Highflow", also takes one of the places on the top. The range of the best coolers' performances is very close, so it's mostly a decision of optical preferences and the size of your wallet, which model to choose in the end.

 

 

 

 

The testing setup:

 

Banchetto 101 Bench Station

Gigabyte GA EX58 Extreme (Biosversion: F7)

Mips Fusionblock Nickel

i7 920 @4Ghz @1.40V (Bios setting)

Seasonic M12D-850

Corsair XMS3 Dominator DIMM Kit 6GB PC3-12800U CL7-7-7-20 (DDR3-1600)

Sapphire Radeon HD 5850

Mora 2 Pro / 9 Yate Loon D12SL12 @ 5Volt (600 rpm)

Aquaero VFD

Laing Ultra w/ Koolance top

EK Multioption Reservoir 150 V2

GMR flow meter

CPC metal quick Disconnect couplings

Masterkleer & Primochill 16/10mm (5/8") tubing + Perfect Seal and Bitspower Fittings

3x watertemp sensors (2x T-Line, 1x in reservoir)

1x dig. sensor in the reservoir for calibration

3x dig. thermometers for the room temperature (average)

used thermal compound: Arctic Cooling MX-2

Innovatek Protect

ArctiClean for cleaning purposes

 

Test procedure:

 

Every block is mounted three times, the EK Supreme HF was mounted three times with each bottom plate. The thermal paste was removed completely each time, Coolers and CPU heatspreader were cleaned thoroughly with ArctiClean and then new thermal paste was applied. The average of the three results was used as the end result.

To stress the CPU, I used Prime95 (SmallFFTs) in the newest version; to monitor the temperatures, Real Temp was used. The five temperature readings started after 60 minutes with five minutes between each of them.

A backplate was also used for the test runs, allowing high contact pressure without bending the motherboard. If the block didn't come with a backplate, I used the plate by Watercool, except for the Zern for which I had to use the universal plate by Scythe due to the M3 threads.

 

 

 

Here you can read the whole review:

 

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=253470

[Romis]

Thank you for posting this great review. It helped me a lot to chose what kind of CPU waterblock I would get.