What about internal pics of the storm?

[Incoherent]

Why is the baseplate picture all blurry.?
Looks like a stepped pin like a round ziggurat at the base of the cups?
And maybe a step or two on the sides of the cups? and rounded exit edges?
The jets have an acceleration taper I guess

Is there anything wrong with your camera again Cather?

I like it.

[greenman100]

Originally Posted by Silicon Effect

G5

will you make the G5 and 6 in copper aswell? or is the performance gain from the silver?

no G5 in copper

no G6 at all

G5 is a different design physicaly, but requires more machine time and therefore is the "high end" block

[Nugit]

Can we have a closeup of those delrin pins plz? I'm startin' to feed on photos of raw delrin... almost as good as copper

[pHaestus]

Cathar:
Why don't you use bsp barbs with an o-ring seal rather than the "goop"? Would look a lot "smarter".

Also that G5 in silver looks so pretty... wife would get jealous of having something like that in the house

[Cathar]

Originally Posted by pHaestus

Cathar:
Why don't you use bsp barbs with an o-ring seal rather than the "goop"? Would look a lot "smarter".

I live in Australia. I work with the hand I'm dealt with. Right now the entire country is out of the barbs that I used on the block as it is. O-ring seal barbs like DTek use are non-existent here, or at least none of the supply places have them just sitting around. Can special order them in, but not cheaply in any fashion.

These are the joys of living in a nation with a small population base that also does not make a large portion of US consumed products.

[Cathar]

Originally Posted by Nugit

Can we have a closeup of those delrin pins plz? I'm startin' to feed on photos of raw delrin... almost as good as copper

I had a few closeup pics, but they are a little fluffy on the ends due to using very old cutters. The tool used to cut the delrin tubes had already been through about 40 of the G4 copper plates. Just a prototype here so it's not "picture perfect".

Incoherent, the pictures appear a little blurry, but this time it's not on purpose. I had to use no flash on the camera because the flash was just reflecting off the silver and over-exposing large portions the scene. Again, these are not really well finished due to the cutters used and I didn't want to go exposing the minor flaws as a result and get jumped on by certain teutonic individuals with a vested interest in chest thumping.

[SysCrusher]

Originally Posted by pHaestus

Cathar:
Why don't you use bsp barbs with an o-ring seal rather than the "goop"? Would look a lot "smarter".

Also that G5 in silver looks so pretty... wife would get jealous of having something like that in the house

I really like those. I'm assuming they would require a thread change?

[Cathar]

Originally Posted by SysCrusher

I really like those. I'm assuming they would require a thread change?

I find it a little superficial myself. Once you get the tubing and hose-clamps on, attempting to see what's going on with the seal of the barbs to the block is next to impossible. It'd be purely for "fresh-out-of-the-box" appeal only.

I'll look into it harder, but as said above, they are neither abundantly available nor cheap here in Oz.

[SysCrusher]

Originally Posted by Cathar

I find it a little superficial myself. Once you get the tubing and hose-clamps on, attempting to see what's going on with the seal of the barbs to the block is next to impossible. It'd be purely for "fresh-out-of-the-box" appeal only.

I'll look into it harder, but as said above, they are neither abundantly available nor cheap here in Oz.

I understand what your saying. I'm not for the bling side of it but more of the ease of changing barbs with out using some sort of thread sealer. Though I never used them before so I really have no idea if they truely work in that fashion. I'm always changing barb sizes since I like to play, try something new or test out a new home made block. So barbs that are a snap to use would be a nice thing for me. But how many buyers of your block going to change barbs? At what cost are they willing to pay more for those "fancy" barbs? How many really care? Not many I bet. Most likely not worth your time or money.

[Torin]

Yeah, it's just superficial. The best performing waterblock in the world doesn't need to look good, it just needs to perform good. Anyone so obsessed with the looks of their block should just get a Chrome PolarFlo TT and not worry about those of us who aren't concerned with how a jumbled mass of wires, hoses, cables, capacitators, solder points and chunks of metal look together.

Last time I checked, the fastest workstations in the world were ugly as hell.

[BillA]

your opinion perhaps
NOT how it works in the marketplace

a lack of bling has hurt the MCW6000
GOOD bling has 'made' the PolarFLO

yea

[Torin]

How it does in the marketplace should be a concern to the manufacturer, not the end user.

For someone like Cathar who isn't in it for the same reasons as Swiftech or PolarFlo, there is no reason to have bling.

There will always be people that buy computer parts for how they look, as opposed to how they perform, and all together we make up the marketplace. The MCP6002's low pressure performance values have also helped it. I dare not say I am an expert in balancing bling with performance.

It's the rice boy phenomenon extended to computers... people who care more about looking good, looking cool, looking fast, as opposed to actually being fast. If the marketplace is dominated by rice boys, then that's where the money is at. If you aren't in it for the money, then the state of the marketplace is not your concern.

I agree, bling helps sales because a large majority of the population is superficial. So be it.

I for one will spend my money on performance, and not a $2000 paint job and $5000 stereo system.

The concept of a "sleeper" is far too under-represented. Maybe the world isn't sophisticated enough to appreciate the idea.

[peepingdan]

Originally Posted by Torin

How it does in the marketplace should be a concern to the manufacturer, not the end user.

For someone like Cathar who isn't in it for the same reasons as Swiftech or PolarFlo, there is no reason to have bling.

There will always be people that buy computer parts for how they look, as opposed to how they perform, and all together we make up the marketplace. The MCP6002's low pressure performance values have also helped it. I dare not say I am an expert in balancing bling with performance.

It's the rice boy phenomenon extended to computers... people who care more about looking good, looking cool, looking fast, as opposed to actually being fast. If the marketplace is dominated by rice boys, then that's where the money is at. If you aren't in it for the money, then the state of the marketplace is not your concern.

I agree, bling helps sales because a large majority of the population is superficial. So be it.

I for one will spend my money on performance, and not a $2000 paint job and $5000 stereo system.

The concept of a "sleeper" is far too under-represented. Maybe the world isn't sophisticated enough to appreciate the idea.

I would say that the "bling" is in the performance and the name.
I see a lot of superficialty around where I live, one of the richest towns in the nation. I witness a lot of "riced out" civics and I just have to wonder why, why does my 2001 Daewoo Nubira leave them in the dust?
Not saying that PolarFlo makes a bad block, because they make a very good one.

[scooterfl]

Originally Posted by unregistered

your opinion perhaps
NOT how it works in the marketplace

a lack of bling has hurt the MCP6000
GOOD bling has 'made' the PolarFLO

you mean the MCW6000

[psychofunk]

Wow that is a gorgeous block Cathar. Great work man. Great work from a nice guy, hope your sales go through the roof.

[Cathar]

Originally Posted by psychofunk

hope your sales go through the roof.

I hope they don't. Am seriously struggling to find the time to do even the amount that I'm doing now. Happy to do it, but after two straight weeks of prepping and assembling and trying to work that around my job and family, it hasn't been easy on me. Things should go a little smoother from here on out though as I'm pretty sure all the bugs are now ironed out of the process.

[allnighter]

Cathar... any rough ETA on G5. I know you're planning a small batch so I'm sure some of us would like to get ready and put some green aside. Are they going in after the new batch of G4's or earlier . What are your plans for that?

[Etacovda]

Originally Posted by Cathar

I live in Australia. I work with the hand I'm dealt with. Right now the entire country is out of the barbs that I used on the block as it is. O-ring seal barbs like DTek use are non-existent here, or at least none of the supply places have them just sitting around. Can special order them in, but not cheaply in any fashion.

These are the joys of living in a nation with a small population base that also does not make a large portion of US consumed products.

hmm, do your engineers have a CNC lathe? Ive personally designed and machined up fittings on a CNC lathe; its pretty quick, especially compared to a block. Shouldnt cost too much a fitting - might even get close to the price you pay for the ones you're using now, if you do a long enough run (ie, 100+, which i imagine you will...)

[Incoherent]

Originally Posted by Etacovda

- might even get close to the price you pay for the ones you're using now, if you do a long enough run (ie, 100+, which i imagine you will...)

...with totally unique thread sizes for your now captive market...

... the HP printer cartridge, Gillette razor blade technique. Could help you recoup your losses.

I am not serious.

[Cathar]

Originally Posted by Etacovda

hmm, do your engineers have a CNC lathe? Ive personally designed and machined up fittings on a CNC lathe; its pretty quick, especially compared to a block. Shouldnt cost too much a fitting - might even get close to the price you pay for the ones you're using now, if you do a long enough run (ie, 100+, which i imagine you will...)

Hmmm, price I pay now is $1.28 Aussie (~$0.90 US) per fitting (prior to getting them nickel plated). After factoring in material and labor costs, they would need to be popping out around one barb per 30 secs to match that price.

[Etacovda]

Doubt it would be that quick (would be w/o the thread, but im assuming the thread would be the killer) but I guess its worth asking. Saves the goop application and allows for easy resealing of the block if the user breaks the seal. Adds integrity to the design imo - makes it seem more 'solid'.

[pHaestus]

I don't know that it really adds a huge amount to the "bling factor" compared to the nickel plated barbs you have. I just think it looks a little more professional and adds a little to ease of use since you never have to clean silicon off threads if you need to fiddle with the barbs. Also the quality of the rest of the block makes the goop look a lil out of place.

I also realize that digital cameras tend to really emphasize it (esp on the black Delrin top) more than if you see the block in person. And it's a minor detail for sure.

But I'm just sayin' is all

[psychofunk]

How about making the barbs staight out from the Delrin, so that they are part of the top plate ala silverprop?

[BillA]

probably because Cathar has to pay the full commercial rate for the machine time

[HammerSandwich]

The Storm's suitability for almost any system is a major plus. Integrating one barb size into the top plate would be a step back.