Skinnee Labs - GTX480 Block Round-Up (working thread)

[blazarcher]

I like guessing games....lemme try

I'm gonna do a performance score though....10 being best, 1 being stock.
9-10 - Swiftech
9-10 - Koolance
9-10 - AquaComputer
8-9 - EK
8 - XSPC
7.5 - DangerDen
3.5 - Bitspower
1 - Stock

Skinnee hasn't even put the card on water yet, so I have no insider info and these are purely guesses And these are just core temps, the Swiftech heatpipe design is too much of a curveball for me to begin to predict.

Wooh, wait a second... The EK is in 4th place? And XSPC is tied for 4th?? I can see the Swiftech being the top performer but why is the Koolance > EK? IT should be the other way around, in my mind that is xD

[Koolance]

Also, who has the 470 blocks out?

We launched our 470 block at the same time as our 480 block.

why is the Koolance > EK?

I can't confirm anything because I haven't compared EK's 480 to ours. But I think the logic assumes microfins > less complicated shapes, which is often correct.

Tim

[Vapor]

Wooh, wait a second... The EK is in 4th place? And XSPC is tied for 4th?? I can see the Swiftech being the top performer but why is the Koolance > EK? IT should be the other way around, in my mind that is xD

Look at the microchannels on the Koolance

Compared to the EK Wave design from like...2007? EK shouldn't keep up with the micropin array of the Swiftech or the microchannels of the Koolance or AquaComputer in terms of performance (if they're all done right, that is....a too-thick base or poor contact can kill the performance of any design quickly). Kind of like saying a Whitewater can keep up with a Heatkiller LC

[DarthBeavis]

Look at the microchannels on the Koolance

Compared to the EK Wave design from like...2007? EK shouldn't keep up with the micropin array of the Swiftech or the microchannels of the Koolance or AquaComputer in terms of performance (if they're all done right, that is....a too-thick base or poor contact can kill the performance of any design quickly). Kind of like saying a Whitewater can keep up with a Heatkiller LC

Didn't I see a pic of you somewhere

[blazarcher]

Look at the microchannels on the Koolance

Compared to the EK Wave design from like...2007? EK shouldn't keep up with the micropin array of the Swiftech or the microchannels of the Koolance or AquaComputer in terms of performance (if they're all done right, that is....a too-thick base or poor contact can kill the performance of any design quickly). Kind of like saying a Whitewater can keep up with a Heatkiller LC

I'm a bit confused. How can you explain the EK (5870 waterblock) performing better than EVERYONE. Here is a link, not sure about the validity of the source...
http://translate.google.com/translat...ndup%26hl%3Den

Yeah a mega-link xD

Anyways here is the graph that I am arguing from.



That's just the GPU temps, the VRM temps don't matter as the EK only wins because it has a backplate. -- I guess we can guesstimate that the AquaComputer will excel here xD

Here is a shot of the EK block showing the EK wave design. Although old, I guess it did pretty well here in that regard...

[IMG=http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/6290/ekg003t.jpg][/IMG]

So is the danger den block the absolute best in terms of cooling performance (ignoring the Swiftech)? Or is Koolance just as good?

----
Sorry about the questions but I was SERIOUSLY considering the EK block and now am a bit confused xD

Again sorry about the so-called large pic, I would have assumed everyone would be running at least 1920x1200 xD

[Boulard83]

Skinnee's gona test it all milord !

[skinnee]

blazarcher, just calm down a bit... people are just placing their bets as to how everything is gonna turn out. They are not telling you which block you need to get or which leg you need to put in your pants first when putting them on. And resize that giant photo please, I hate the sideways scrolling.

[Tacops]

And resize that giant photo please, I hate the sideways scrolling.

Get image zoom addon for firefox and you can resize

[Conumdrum]

Get image zoom addon for firefox and you can resize

Is that for the massive crazy pic size poster or for Skinnee? I responsibily resize my pics before linking to them on Photobucket.

Need a uber detailed pic? I make a link for the visually needy with 90" monitors.

[Shoggy]

Shipping must be really expensive!!

Always 34.90 EUR for a parcel up to 31.5kg.

[Church]

Conundrum: i second skinnee's opinion - even though i use 1900x1200 27" screen, mostly i use browser window of size at half of that resolution for eg. several windows side by side. Problem with larger images is, that text gets wrapped with them in posts in same longish lines, and gets on my nerves each time when i need to maximise browser just to be able to read text. Your case is not that bad, i've seen some WIDE pics posted (like 2000-3000 and more px wide ), but you might note as future reference, that it would be polite to others in forum to use pics no more then 1024x768, but preferably 800x600 or even less.., even if rules allow, it's simply respecting others.

[Coldon]

personally my choice in gtx480 block is based as follows: 60% overall performance (GPU, mem + VRM) + 40% ease of assembly/dis-assembly, the back-plate on the AC block has already ruined it for me, I see absolutely no reason for it apart from aesthetics, one can argue it provides a more uniform mount but i think the effect will be minimum and isn't worth the extra hassle IMHO (see how i said IMHO there, so don't flame me).

[creidiki]

Look at the microchannels on the Koolance

Compared to the EK Wave design from like...2007? EK shouldn't keep up with the micropin array of the Swiftech or the microchannels of the Koolance or AquaComputer in terms of performance (if they're all done right, that is....a too-thick base or poor contact can kill the performance of any design quickly). Kind of like saying a Whitewater can keep up with a Heatkiller LC

... eh.

At this point, I'm not taking any bets. There's simply too many extra factors in GPU block performance.

[xguntherc]

can't wait for results, my DD480 block with CPU included in loop on a Feser 360 stays around 34c idle and highest I've seen the 480 get to even while overclocked and overvolted to 900/2150 I've only hit 52c load

[Nickel020]

You always need to distinguish between cooling performance and flow restriction, both being important for the block's overall performance. And what's more important to you depends on what kind of loop you're running and on your preferences. I for one am almost sure that the EK will probably come out on top for me as usual. Lowest pressure drop and temps that aren't much worse than those of the micro channel blocks. If I were to go for a dedicated GPU loop though, I wouldn't care much about flow and only consider thermal performance. But for a CPU + GPU loop I'll gladly sacrifice a few degrees on the GPU for higher flow through the CPU block.

Vapor was only talking about thermal performance I think.

[converge]

EK now have the backplates for the 480 blocks up on their store. They look real nice and definatly made my decision on which blocks to get a whole lot easier It's a shame they arent bundling them with the blocks like Aquacomputer but it still works out cheaper for us Aussies anyway.

[eternal_fantasy]

Still waiting for the Nickle plated GTX480 aquagraFX... Asked in the Aqua-computer's English section of their forum, but its like a ghost town in there...

Shoggy, can I pay a down payment to pre-order one??

[converge]

Still waiting for the Nickle plated GTX480 aquagraFX... Asked in the Aqua-computer's English section of their forum, but its like a ghost town in there...

Shoggy, can I pay a down payment to pre-order one??

A-C-Shop in Germany are selling some nickel plated Aquagrafx 480 blocks. I got my nickel plated heatkiller 5870 blocks from there a few months back.

http://www.a-c-shop.de/Aquacomputer-...ckelt-A-C-Shop

It's tempting but I really need plexi for my build. Another company needs to make some plexi tops for their blocks to give EK some competition on the plexi front.

[Shoggy]

@Coldon: keeping in mind that the GPU can be bend (like with our card) you will gain a lot by using the backplate since it pushes the GPU against the copper and can compensate that problem.

@eternal_fantasy: will still take some time. As long as we sell the copper one like hell we will not hold back a few to nickel-plate them since that takes a bit while others scream for blocks Since that nickel plated variant does not exist in the system I can't also do an order confirmation for it.

[eternal_fantasy]

A-C-Shop in Germany are selling some nickel plated Aquagrafx 480 blocks. I got my nickel plated heatkiller 5870 blocks from there a few months back.

http://www.a-c-shop.de/Aquacomputer-...ckelt-A-C-Shop

It's tempting but I really need plexi for my build. Another company needs to make some plexi tops for their blocks to give EK some competition on the plexi front.

Thanks for the link!! Just put down an order with help from Google Translate.
Hope the site is reputable... Somehow got a 15% discount code already entered, so it came out to be around 100 euro sent to the UK.

@eternal_fantasy: will still take some time. As long as we sell the copper one like hell we will not hold back a few to nickel-plate them since that takes a bit while others scream for blocks

Thanks for the reply.

[Coldon]

@Coldon: keeping in mind that the GPU can be bend (like with our card) you will gain a lot by using the backplate since it pushes the GPU against the copper and can compensate that problem.

@eternal_fantasy: will still take some time. As long as we sell the copper one like hell we will not hold back a few to nickel-plate them since that takes a bit while others scream for blocks Since that nickel plated variant does not exist in the system I can't also do an order confirmation for it.

shouldnt the 8 screws around the GPU area be sufficient to prevent a bad mount due to bending? I can totally understand why it's nice to have the option of the back plate but while I personally feel like it may be unnecessary, skinnees testing will ultimately tell...

i just received my gtx480 today and after hearing that abortion of a stock cooler at full blast, i need to get a waterblock ASAP.

[skinnee]

The fans on GPU's are just annoying and I am deaf as a post too. I've been playing with the clocks on my card as I wait for the new camera to arrive and last night just couldn't take the fan noise anymore and shut the test bench down... yes, I really want that NewEgg order to hurry up so I can get the card on water!! I will have some numbers/clocks to share from pushing the card on air later this evening though.

edit: That EK backplate looks good. I was surprised to see only AquaComputer supplied a backplate. To me backplates are like standoffs (especially for the longer cards)... they should be the norm and not the exception.

[Aedubber]

(To me backplates are like standoffs (especially for the longer cards)... they should be the norm and not the exception.) EXACTLY ... But im sure a company like EK that gets so many customers knows they can still sell a backplate seperately

[Vapor]

That EK backplate is really nice looking

@blazarcher...check the internals of the 5870 rev1 Koolance block vs. their GTX480 internals, there's been a massive update. And my performance conjecture is merely just conjecture of course

[Koolance]

I'm a bit confused. How can you explain the EK (5870 waterblock) performing better than EVERYONE.

As Vapor pointed out, our original VID-AR587 didn't use microfins. The VID-AR587T2 (for later HD 5870's) does, though.

There are certainly other factors, like quality of contact, cold plate thickness, etc. But all things being equal, I will be surprised if the microfin coolers don't top out the list. ... And the Koolance 480 block uses microfins on both the GPU *and* VRM area.

Tim