Koolance VID-428 (GTX 280/260)

[rodman]

These just came instock, look good and have a backplate for the ram on the GTX 280. Will post back my results compaired to the DD Tieton. I don't like mixing copper and aluminum in my loop so I opted for the koolance block. Plus it has a cooling backplate for the ram. Get them before they sell out...I did

http://www.koolance.com/water-coolin...product_id=700

[HotGore]

Looks like Koolance is keeping alu out of its new blocks. Good to see.

[mussafry]

I think i might just get that, with an OC'd version of the 280. Im tired of waiting for those eVGA 280GTX HC Edition to come in stock. Ive been waiting for like one week! I wanna finish building my rig before this weekend

[rodman]

I think i might just get that, with an OC'd version of the 280. Im tired of waiting for those eVGA 280GTX HC Edition to come in stock. Ive been waiting for like one week! I wanna finish building my rig before this weekend

Don't wait, they will sell fast and be out of stock for a week. Happened to me when I went to order the CPU 340 block the morning after they were in stock

[rodman]

Would have loved to post up pics of this block but UPS as always screwed up on the shipping and will not be here till Thurs. I will not be able to get around to installing it till later in the week. Sorry people, would have been nice to check it out and have a review against the DD Tieton as that is the block I'm replacing. Maybe some of you that also ordered this will post up more info as I'm SOL

Really sick of UPS and their second rate shipping service. Fedex is the way to go but Koolance site did not offer them as a shipper. I knew there was a chance I would not get it today due to them messing up in the past and of coarse I was correct

[xo4ox]

any news ?

[p2501]

The block looks pretty neat! Rodman, I'm eager to see your comparison.. I wonder how it performs. Now there are so many blocks to choose from, EK, DD, Swiftech, Koolance, Aquacooling... did I miss one?

[Xilikon]

Tempting... Right now, I'm torn between this one and the EVGA block (I wanted a aluminium backplate, not a extra waterblock to keep costs a bit down).

[rodman]

Finally got my PC up and running as i ran into problems with my new Silverstone PSU. Lets just say it was FUBAR and took out a HD as well.

I will throw up some pics as soon as I get a chance but her are the results.
Both done at 31c water temps that went up to 39c under load.

Idle on the Tieton was 43c gpu/ memory 35c/ pcb 36c
Load temps reached 65c/50c/42c

The Koolance seemed like it was going to kill the Tieten when I got a look at it. For one the inner section of the block where the coolent runs through is chambered for better heat transfer. The Tieton is pretty much smooth and free flowing. The backplate does it's job and I actually added 8 ram sinks to the top of it as to aid in heat transfer. Though for what it's worth the Tieton now offers a copper back plate and i'm pretty pissed they did not offer me the upgrade as it would have been nice to test since this is where the Tieton lost the most ground. The mating surface was abit smoother than the Tieton for the simple fact it is coated and not raw copper.

Koolance block
same 31c water temps
Idle 40c gpu/32c memory/36c pcb
Load 60c gpu/43c mem/41c pcb

I like the Koolance for a few reasons. It is Zinc coated and will not react with any other parts of the water cooling system. Chambered cooling path for coolant. It uses thermal pads on the memory instead of messy thermal paste and cooled just as well, which was something I was worried about. It plain looks way better than the Tieton, nice and shiny and reflects ambient light really well wile in the case. I was even able to get something out of my eye by using it as a mirror, lol. It cost about 50.00 less for in my case slightly better performance.

[shabranigdo]

Another nice looking block for the 280, and I really like the price/ backplate solution. Good to see it performs well too. I am looking forward to seeing more about this and the other 260/280 block available. If I go with a few 280's it is good to see there are alot of choices out there.

[Jim Morbid]

Always astounded how quick these companies can release water blocks.

Nice looking single slot solution.

JM

[Waterlogged]

Always astounded how quick these companies can release water blocks.

Nice looking single slot solution.

JM

Unfortunately, it's not fast enough for some of the resident crackheads. They want the blocks out the same day as the cards.

[Grendel66]

I'm not impressed at all so far. Got my block last week and went to install it on a EVGA GTX 280 FTW over the weekend. Today I reseated the block the 4th time w/ a similar result to the other 3 times -- I get 32/33/41 idle (so far so good..) but as soon I really stress the card the core temp is just rising until the core throttles.

Looks like the block I got is concave (checked it w/ a razor blade, also see the attached pic). I contacted Koolance via their pitifull little "web mailer" yesterday, no response so far (which doesn't impress me either).

Looks like I'll have to RMA the block, pisses me off w/o end (drain, hook old card in - 8800GTS on VID-280 - refill, RMA block, wait, start over)

Oh well, I'll let you know what's happening.

[disruptfam]

Unfortunately, it's not fast enough for some of the resident crackheads. They want the blocks out the same day as the cards.

[leo_bsb]

I'm not impressed at all so far. Got my block last week and went to install it on a EVGA GTX 280 FTW over the weekend. Today I reseated the block the 4th time w/ a similar result to the other 3 times -- I get 32/33/41 idle (so far so good..) but as soon I really stress the card the core temp is just rising until the core throttles.

Looks like the block I got is concave (checked it w/ a razor blade, also see the attached pic). I contacted Koolance via their pitifull little "web mailer" yesterday, no response so far (which doesn't impress me either).

Looks like I'll have to RMA the block, pisses me off w/o end (drain, hook old card in - 8800GTS on VID-280 - refill, RMA block, wait, start over)

Oh well, I'll let you know what's happening.

Too bad, I was planning to buy their 4870 version, it seems I'll need to find another full cover block.

[Grendel66]

No response to my inquiry from Sun, so I filled for a RMA yesterday. Nothing yet..

I wish I could get the Innovatek Cool-Matic GTX 280 in the US, I love that german engineering..

[absoluteczech]

No response to my inquiry from Sun, so I filled for a RMA yesterday. Nothing yet..

I wish I could get the Innovatek Cool-Matic GTX 280 in the US, I love that german engineering..

link?

[Grendel66]

Innovatek Cool-Matic GTX 280, picture

[Xilikon]

Innovatek Cool-Matic GTX 280

Gah, aluminium... However, the design is lovely indeed.

[Grendel66]

Copper core tho

[silverphoenix]

I was ready to jump on this and save about $30 from the DD block but the concave base is turning me off...

[absoluteczech]

Innovatek Cool-Matic GTX 280, picture

beautiful

[Grendel66]

Quick update.

So far my GTX 280 experience has been a nightmare -- turned out the card was from a defective batch (would behave the same w/ original cooling), had to RMA it.

Koolance is exchanging the block as well, they agree that it is faulty. Their service is pretty good (albeit a bit slow), so I will stay w/ them

Probably going to test the card on air tomorrow, and mount the block over the weekend (if I get it tomorrow.) At least swapping in the new card should be less of a pain this time, I added VL3 quick connects when re-mounting the old card..

[Eddie3dfx]

That koolance block is very pretty.
If they priced their blocks slightly less than ek/swiftch/dd, they would have a better niche in the marketplace.
They have to understand that they are working from a second tier image, not first

[rodman]

Innovatek
They have the best 1/4 fittings as they flow alot better V.S like the ones DD uses. I use them on all my blocks. I also ended up RMA my Koolance block, as soon as things settled in the block lost contact with cirtain parts of the card like 3 ram chips and part of the core

I threw the Tieton back on and was back in business Temps dropped of coarse and thanx to a VERY hot E8500@4.2GHZ the card reaches 65c after 10 min of gaming. Not the blocks fault, it's just this little POS EXOS-AI can not keep up with a GTX 280@756-1512-2600 and that CPU

I might just get a Thermalright EXtreme 120 for the CPU and leave the Koolance to do the video card. I may actually throw a 120mm radiator in the loop and as long as it's not overly restrictive it may very well work.