Apogee GTX

[Bun-Bun]

We already have a Delrin top: it's the Apogee GT. As to its performance, well do the Math: Naekuh himself has verified his numbers up and now down versus the competition, and we have verified that the GT is only ~1C off the GTX at 100Watts and 1.5GPM. So it clearly tells you were the GT is located performance wise compared to the competition; it's made of Delrin, and it's average street price is $10 to $15 less than competition.

What is most distressing to me is the fact that people in this forum do not trust our data. Yet, this data always end up being verified over time, despite the relentless efforts of the anti-swiftech crowd. I could see not trusting the new kid on the block, but we have been in business for 7 years, and published professional data for what? close to 5 years now? If our numbers were skewed, people would know it after so much time. The only thing we don't publish is competitive data, which doesn't mean that we don't conduct competitive testing in-house. We simply chose not to create controversy by publishing it. So we know were our blocks are on the performance curve, at the tenth of the degree Celsius, and let's just say that we feel very comfortable about it. I also think that the backplate we are about to release will indeed bring both the GT and the GTX a mounting repeatability that will definitely allow all users to exploit the true potential of these blocks.

Back to the GTX and the plating issue, we made a mistake several years ago with anodized blocks. But everybody learns from their mistakes. I know we have, and I feel very comfortable with the process that we are using now. The fact that you and a few others don't feel comfortable with it is a result of bad past experiences, and I understand it. But progress is made precisely by making mistakes, learning from them, and growing from there. Those who remain stuck in the old ways do not grow: they stagnate and end up falling behind the pace of technology.

Frankly the chances of corrosion in these blocks versus say the chances of machined acrylic tops cracking are thousands to 1. Yet, you guys buy acrylic top blocks (one piece VGA blocks come to mind) like mad. Doesn't matter that theyr'e being recalled. Doesn't matter that some blocks don't come with oring grooves and users have to JB Weld the fittings.. But when Swiftech tells you that the Storm is outdated, or that we use state-of-the-art plating, you chose not to believe it. Fine, what can I say. Just remember one thing if any: WE gave bowing to the world, not a mere artifact resulting from a manufacturing process, but a conscious decision that we made to incorporate this technology in our offerings based on the knowledge developped from testing. Is bowing the way we do it now the end of the line? Not by a long shot. Right now, it indicates a certain road to follow: hydraulic performance is reaching a plateau, and work needs to be done on other aspects.

The fact that a few of you are putting pressure on us to make a Delrin top (forget brass) for this block is one thing. And maybe we will in the future.. after all if it can sell a few hundred more water-blocks, why would I be against it? But the objective reality is simple: there is absolutely nothing wrong with the current process that we use to plate the GTX, period.

It's not that I distrust you or your data personally. It is that I work in the industry as a QA superviser and I do not want to take the chance in my rig. There are too many other factors in play to add even more.

Also I do not use acrylic blocks, I do not use full cover VGA blocks, I do not JB weld anything. If I have to go to that extent with a product it gets sent back. And on that note I can say I have not had anything from swiftech that extreme which I am thankful for.

Also I will not touch bowing with a 10ft pole. I felt uncomfortable with the bow caused by the stock Intel heatsink on my Kentsfield and was quick to put a thermalright backplate on my D-Tek.

All I am asking is that you make a flagship block that looks just as good and performs as well as the Apogee GTX but does not have any controversal materials in it. You say that if you want Delrin then go with the GT... well if that were my choice I would choose the D-Tek fuzion... which I did. But I do like the looks and performance gain of the GTX and would have purchased it if it werent for the aluminum.

So you see Gabe... you do have more money to make. Cause I aint buying it until there are no dye's coming off (yes it wont affect anything but it is the principal of the thing. If I spend that much money on a block it darn well be perfect and have nothing coming off of it) and there is no more of this nonsense and plating aluminum.

EDIT: And your last sentence really concerns me as a consumer. If you stop caring about what we think and only care about your data...