Is there a clear winner for the GTX580? [Archive]

View Full Version : Is there a clear winner for the GTX580?

paul_

01-31-2011, 10:06 AM

There's got to be at least a half-dozen different FC blocks out for the GTX580. Are there any favorites so far? Anything that's been proven least-restrictive? I have an unrestrictive loop and would like to keep it that way ;)

Martinm210

01-31-2011, 11:39 AM

NaeKuh

01-31-2011, 12:48 PM

You might consider looking at skinnees 480 roundup as a place to start...not much on the 580's yet, but most manufacturers have their own style/methods that seems to carry over between various cards to some level.

480 roundup
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=250163
Well some manufactors have tweeked the block martin.

example is koolance.
They added a more direct water pathway to the VRMs which was missing on the last block.

And took Skinnee's advice on the first, made tweeks, and released it on the second.

To be honest, go with whatever you think looks the best.
The difference between the blocks are very small, that it wont net u anything.

So go with whatever you think looks the cleanest, and nicest, is my best advice.

Also i would avoid non plated copper.
Meaning.. get nickle plated blocks, unless u have no care in the world about copper tarnishing.

And believe me, all copper tarnishes over time.

Kenjiwing

01-31-2011, 01:06 PM

Well some manufactors have tweeked the block martin.

example is koolance.
They added a more direct water pathway to the VRMs which was missing on the last block.

And took Skinnee's advice on the first, made tweeks, and released it on the second.

To be honest, go with whatever you think looks the best.
The difference between the blocks are very small, that it wont net u anything.

So go with whatever you think looks the cleanest, and nicest, is my best advice.

Also i would avoid non plated copper.
Meaning.. get nickle plated blocks, unless u have no care in the world about copper tarnishing.

And believe me, all copper tarnishes over time.

My nickel plating on my new EK block is coming off.. you can see copper on like 4 spots.

This is with distilled/coil.. pretty disappointing TBH

NaeKuh

01-31-2011, 01:11 PM

My nickel plating on my new EK block is coming off.. you can see copper on like 4 spots.

This is with distilled/coil.. pretty disappointing TBH

that is still better then tarnished copper.

airs

01-31-2011, 01:27 PM

Tarnished copper is easy to fix...just clean it! Don't get me wrong, I like the look of nickel plating too..just sayin.. :)

NaeKuh

01-31-2011, 01:42 PM

Tarnished copper is easy to fix...just clean it! Don't get me wrong, I like the look of nickel plating too..just sayin.. :)

i guess u never tried polishing a gpu block back to brand new.

:rofl:

if u had, you wouldnt say its so easy.

Just oring reinstallation is enough to pull your cats hair out.

Daddyjaxx

01-31-2011, 02:50 PM

I just ordered two of the nickle plated mirrored DD blocks for my 570's. Their CPU blocks kind of suck now, but the GPU blocks never disappoint IMHO. It will go nicely with my nickle EF HF. If they would try and stay competitive for CPU blocks, I'd use them in a heartbeat.

airs

01-31-2011, 03:37 PM

i guess u never tried polishing a gpu block back to brand new.

:rofl:

if u had, you wouldnt say its so easy.

Just oring reinstallation is enough to pull your cats hair out.

3 year old block,

Before: http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/2596/dsc00889tw.jpg
After: http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/5029/dsc00910v.jpg

Seriously not that hard, just takes a little work and the right tools/polish.

theseeker

01-31-2011, 04:19 PM

Martinm210

01-31-2011, 04:44 PM

Well some manufactors have tweeked the block martin.

example is koolance.
They added a more direct water pathway to the VRMs which was missing on the last block.

And took Skinnee's advice on the first, made tweeks, and released it on the second.

To be honest, go with whatever you think looks the best.
The difference between the blocks are very small, that it wont net u anything.

So go with whatever you think looks the cleanest, and nicest, is my best advice.

Also i would avoid non plated copper.
Meaning.. get nickle plated blocks, unless u have no care in the world about copper tarnishing.

And believe me, all copper tarnishes over time.

Very true...just not much info on the 580s just yet..

skinnee

01-31-2011, 04:56 PM

I will see what I can do about another round of testing once Universal GPU blocks is done. But, I'm not making any promises.

airs

01-31-2011, 06:05 PM

Vinegar is good but ketchup and a brush do a much better job in less time.

I used Klasse aio.

penguins

01-31-2011, 06:11 PM

I would stay away from the bitspower FC unless someone knows that they've changed a bit from the 480, as i remember the GPU core was horribly hot compared to the rest of the pack on Skinnee's tests. cause unfortunately that thing looks super cool ( otherwise ) go for whatever doesn't sink the boat ; )

paul_

01-31-2011, 08:30 PM

Thanks for all the responses! The 480 shootout helped put things in perspective a lot, and I think if I get a 580 I'll be getting an EK block due to performance and price point.

Johnny87au

01-31-2011, 08:31 PM

imo Koolance/DD/EK..

Koolance

02-03-2011, 02:05 PM

Skinnee notified us that our initial GTX 480 block wasn't making great VRM contact because of some tall components on the retail card. We made a change to fix that on the next version (VID-NX480 Rev 1.1) and kept the same feature with our GTX 580 block.

I will see what I can do about another round of testing once Universal GPU blocks is done. But, I'm not making any promises.

Just let me know. ;)

Tim

NaeKuh

02-03-2011, 03:04 PM

3 year old block,

Before: http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/2596/dsc00889tw.jpg
After: http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/5029/dsc00910v.jpg

Seriously not that hard, just takes a little work and the right tools/polish.

That is NOT a gpu block.

As i said, if you've restored a GPU full card block b4, you wouldnt be saying that.

The problem lies with the oring reinstallation.
The oring gets warped over time, and stretches, once its out of the groove, you'll find out it wont fit back in without compression.
And if you have a oring sticking out of the groove you risk chance of cracking acrylic when you clamp the plate down, OR leaking.

Trust me, its a nightmare beyond nightmares when all things go wrong.

Vinegar is good but ketchup and a brush do a much better job in less time.

Yeah, until you need to reinstall that nasty annoying oring which never fits back in place. :P

Seeker dont tell me you dont remember all the people on this forum who swore to never again open there full card gpu blocks. :P
Im sure your even victim of spending at least an hour trying to get that stupid oring back in place.