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HAL-9000 · 05-24-2004, 03:55 PM

I think if you look across the technological board, you will find this difference between American and German engineering.

Americans usually respond with a brute force, "more of everything that is deemed to be good" type solution than the Germans. The Germans dig efficiency. This analogy is really evident in car design for instance. Every now and then you see some Teutonic monster show up like the new Benz Mclaren, which has a mongo V-12 in it. However that is the German exception, not the rule. Look at their premiere sportscar, the Porsche 911 series. They're still using a flat-6 cylinder engine that displaces about three liters in a tiny car. You can also get a tight little turbo thrown on for more power...really zippy, but light and efficient.

Look at American cars, especially the classic hot-rods. There is no other car "culture" in the world that has cranked out anything like a Plymouth Roadrunner, or Top Fuel drag racing. A drag-strip Roadrunner is a heavy car that uses a huge gas guzzler of an engine, supercharger, nitrous boost, huge 4-barrel carbureator, and a tricked one will make about three times the horsepower of say, the German Porsche. The Roadrunner also weighs about three times as much, and gets about a fourth the gas mileage, and needs to be constantly tweaked to stay in top form and not break.

That example of a Roadrunner will totally blow a Porsche off the road in a quarter mile, but thats what its built for almost exclusively. That number, the 1/4 mile time (analogous to how "cold" your CPU is) is what its focused on being the best at. Americans focus on those kinds of "absolute" numbers, how fast is it? i.e...how cold is it? But again in the analogy the German car will drive a road better, be more efficient with the gas, not be so touchy from a mechanical point of view, doesn't wake up the neighbors when idling...etc. Looks just as nice as a tricked RoadRunner, but a lot more subtle.

A Innovatek system does just that, it cranks in very respectable numbers, though not the best numbers, in cooling a chip. It also has a way over-engineered, well designed clip, and looks more like a precision tool than a waterblock. They seem to be really well build, And it also wrings the most it can out of 8mm tubing.

Compare that to some guy in the States with his "dragster": car heatercore, two highs speed 120's, Swiftech block, Iwaki pump, and 226W TEC with extra power supply...it will dominate the Innovatek in temps. But burn an extra ~350W out of the wall, heat up his room, sound like an airliner, leave user in constant fear of system electrocution via condensation; I have never seen a European set up or sell such a cooling rig. But its the All American Dream!

The Japanese are kinda like the Germans that way, but also like the Americans in the fact they like the supercharger-nitrous boost type of add-ons on their tiny motors. The Japanese seem to have a "hybrid" design philosophy between the American and German extremes.

Come to think of it though, during my rant I realized I can't think of any W/C outfit outta Japan, and only one HSF maker...Alpha Novatech. Does anyone know of any others?

05-24-2004, 03:55 PM	#11
HAL-9000 Cooling Savant Join Date: May 2004 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 202	I think it is generally a cultural difference I think if you look across the technological board, you will find this difference between American and German engineering. Americans usually respond with a brute force, "more of everything that is deemed to be good" type solution than the Germans. The Germans dig efficiency. This analogy is really evident in car design for instance. Every now and then you see some Teutonic monster show up like the new Benz Mclaren, which has a mongo V-12 in it. However that is the German exception, not the rule. Look at their premiere sportscar, the Porsche 911 series. They're still using a flat-6 cylinder engine that displaces about three liters in a tiny car. You can also get a tight little turbo thrown on for more power...really zippy, but light and efficient. Look at American cars, especially the classic hot-rods. There is no other car "culture" in the world that has cranked out anything like a Plymouth Roadrunner, or Top Fuel drag racing. A drag-strip Roadrunner is a heavy car that uses a huge gas guzzler of an engine, supercharger, nitrous boost, huge 4-barrel carbureator, and a tricked one will make about three times the horsepower of say, the German Porsche. The Roadrunner also weighs about three times as much, and gets about a fourth the gas mileage, and needs to be constantly tweaked to stay in top form and not break. That example of a Roadrunner will totally blow a Porsche off the road in a quarter mile, but thats what its built for almost exclusively. That number, the 1/4 mile time (analogous to how "cold" your CPU is) is what its focused on being the best at. Americans focus on those kinds of "absolute" numbers, how fast is it? i.e...how cold is it? But again in the analogy the German car will drive a road better, be more efficient with the gas, not be so touchy from a mechanical point of view, doesn't wake up the neighbors when idling...etc. Looks just as nice as a tricked RoadRunner, but a lot more subtle. A Innovatek system does just that, it cranks in very respectable numbers, though not the best numbers, in cooling a chip. It also has a way over-engineered, well designed clip, and looks more like a precision tool than a waterblock. They seem to be really well build, And it also wrings the most it can out of 8mm tubing. Compare that to some guy in the States with his "dragster": car heatercore, two highs speed 120's, Swiftech block, Iwaki pump, and 226W TEC with extra power supply...it will dominate the Innovatek in temps. But burn an extra ~350W out of the wall, heat up his room, sound like an airliner, leave user in constant fear of system electrocution via condensation; I have never seen a European set up or sell such a cooling rig. But its the All American Dream! The Japanese are kinda like the Germans that way, but also like the Americans in the fact they like the supercharger-nitrous boost type of add-ons on their tiny motors. The Japanese seem to have a "hybrid" design philosophy between the American and German extremes. Come to think of it though, during my rant I realized I can't think of any W/C outfit outta Japan, and only one HSF maker...Alpha Novatech. Does anyone know of any others? Last edited by HAL-9000; 05-24-2004 at 04:14 PM.