[Mini-Review] XSPC Razor 4870 VGA Waterblock

[alcachofa]

Hi,

My bad experience with Gainward HD 4870 's stock cooler convinced me to go for a full waterblock for my graphic card, so here is the mini-review for the XSPC Razor 4870. It's my first contribution here as well as my first VGA waterblock, so this review will of course not even come close to what Martin does (http://www.martinsliquidlab.com)








Reference design HD4870 1024 Mb with the waterblock




Teh waterblock




Contact surface : zones in contact with GPU and MEM are flawless, but there are some markings elsewhere




Teh Maze, hope you like this pic




Maze close-up




Here's what the top looks like inside




Block equipped with 2 Bitspower Hi-Flow fittings, 13/19




This is what you see when you remove the stock rad, notice how messy does the thermal paste looks on the GPU ...




A few minutes later with Tuniq TX2 and a razor blade




Here we are !




Time for some temps now




A few words on my setup :

- D'Tek Fuzion V2
- E8400 @ 4 GHz (500*8)
- Connect 3D HD4870 1024 Mb
- XSPC Razor 4870
- 13/19 Primochill primoflex UV Blue tubing
- 13/19 Bitspower Highflow fittings (two of them are 45 degrees)
- Swiftech MCR320-QP-K
- 3 Yate Loon D12SL-12
- Swiftech MCP355 12 VDC Pump with XSPC Laing DDC Top
- Bitspower Water Tank Z ULTRA - POM Version







Please keep in mind that i have only one loop (I know i should have one for the CPU and one for the GPU ) and that the GPU gets coolant after the CPU.


The only drawback of this waterblock is the VDDC slave cooling since liquid doesn't flow above, resulting in temps that are really higher than GPU and MEM.


Advices and comments are , i hope you had a pleasant time reading this !

[bartx]

Damn Excellent performance Review nice too

[alcachofa]

Thanks ^^

[Leeghoofd]

Good work mate, block looks cool...and works very effectively...WC rocks

[alcachofa]

Thank you

It's truly a delight, not a noise and it's beautiful

Good news is my CPU doesn't suffer much from the GPU, i still have to collect precise temps on that matter.

[OC4/3]

Does it give any more headroom on clock with reduce temp?

[ShArKo]

nice temp you got there........contratulation dude..........

[alcachofa]

Does it give any more headroom on clock with reduce temp?

Well i think so, but i have to confess the card spent very little time with the stock rad

Here is a screen with GPU at 840 Mhz and memory @ 1000 Mhz, stable enough to do a 3DMark session. I'm not much into benches so i will update with frequencies that withstand 2 or 3 hours of real world gameplay.



It's safe to assume that VDDCs will be a hard wall in the end, as they really get hot. At 840/1000, one of them went up to 91°C which is unpleasant compared to GPU and MEM temperature. A peek at the stock rad is instructive imo :



VDDCs are covered by the thin white thermal pad, which is right under the fan. Vitec chip is not covered but right under the fan (located on the holes that make a triangle pattern) as well.

@ShArKo : thanks dude