quick! what do you think of this CPU block?
 

Do you slightly more experienced folks think this is a good looking block for $40, or if I could get possibly better performance with something else for a comparable price?

I'm not looking for super turbocharged amazing cooling, but I want something that can do better than the lame common blocks on the market (like swiftech, koolance, etc).

The double outlet is important for my design, so if you have a different block to recommend, it would have to fall in that category. I'll be driving the system with an Eheim 1250 and there will be an 8mm tubed innovatek chipset/GF4 block on each of the CPU block's outputs, which will then reconverge and go back up to 1/2" tubing with a custom wye. Big 2x120mm fan heatercore to exchange heat.

http://www.ninjalane.com/images/demo.../block_top.jpg

http://www.ninjalane.com/images/demo...k_channels.jpg

http://www.ninjalane.com/images/demo...ock_bottom.jpg

Looks like a lumpy whitewater or the dangerden rbx without the nossle to get the flow up.

well, i wouldn't call myself an expert or anything, but a couple of observations; i'd spend the extra $10 and get an RBX from dangerden. the barbs on the XTC seem very close, getting hoses on (and then clamping them) would be a major pita. also, the mounting holes for the top are counter-sunk (not a good thing), and VERY close to the edge, both of which make me nervous. and i'm guessing the RBX will out-perform the XTC, which you mentioned you aren't very concerned with, but hey, it never hurts, right? so that's just my $0.02

Dang, Zog! You posted most of my comments before I could!

The currect lack of nozzles is a problem. My other concern is structural - the base plate is very thin, does the top contact the top of the fins to reinforce things like it should? I can't quite tell from the pictures...

If you buy, definitely change out the countersunk screws and make a yourself a nozzle.

hmm. I was considering making a second layer to sandwich into the mix with a nozzle, but you are right about the closeness fo the barbs.

I do like the aesthetics of the RBX compared to the XTC. I'm a sucker for stuff that looks nice, so I would have a hard time looking at that XTC now that I've seen some close-ups of the RBX. sweet block, and the performace will probably be a little better.

Potential performance edge and major visual appeal advantage make the RBX worth the extra $10 in my mind. Thanks for pointing me at it.

I see that cooltechnica has them for about $51, so I might as well get one there along with the other things I'll be needing.

The poly topped dtek white water can now be had for $49.99. It is a pretty darn good block if you ask me.

Also, do you already have the innovatek blocks.

Nothing against them, but I would suggest keeping the whole system in 1/2" ID. When you say that the innovatek blocks are 8mm, is that ID or OD.

A thought for you. Two 8mm ID hoses is more restrictive than a single 1/2"ID hose. If it's OD, then they are a LOT more restrictive.

http://www.dtekcustoms.com/index.asp...ROD&ProdID=106

8-ball

Yes. I already scrounged the innovatek's from my friend's spare parts closet (freebies). My plan (in case I didn't clearly explain it before) is to run 1/2" ID from the pump outlet into the center of the CPU block. From there, the two tubes coming from the CPU block will be 3/8" ID. I found barbs that I can adapt slightly to replace the stock innovatek barbs (which are designed to work with 8mm ID by 1mm wall hose) with 3/8" barbs. The two outflows from the innovatek blocks will run into a custom built wye fitting that smoothly combines the flow of two 3/8" lines into one 1/2" line.

I know this is more restrictive than running all the blocks in series with 1/2", but I'm sure I would lose a lot by dropping the 1/2" to 3/8" to make it into and out of the innovatek blocks. I don't feel like buying or making new chipset/GPU blocks at the moment, so I'm hoping this solution will work.

Advice? Suggestions?

Your setup will work just fine.... BUT:

Changing the barbs at the innovatec to a 3/8 won't do the trick. You fix the hose issue (as 2 x 3/8 = 1/2) but your problem will be that the innovatec's are internally designed to work with 6.5mm :(

I'm using a similar setup, but I opened the Innovatec, and it's just one solid plate of copper.
Take a drill or a dremel and make a flow path.

After I did this, it was working just as good (flow wise) as my D-Tec Z chipset block.
(I'm using the innovatec for my GPU, as I'm not OC'ing my Gforce4)

How large of a path do you recommend? I pondered making grooves/inverse fins when I opened the blocks up and saw how tight of a fit they were.

I built a jig for my moto tool that allows it to be lowered down sort of like a chop saw. I figure I can clamp the copper plate down to the jig and grind a series of closely spaced grooves into the copper. What is the best kind of dremel disc for cutting into copper? I tried the rig out on a scrap of aluminum barstock, and the reinforced steel cut-off wheel I had on it bogged down A LOT because there was little room to clear chips. I figure copper will behave similarly, especially when I need to cut in about 1/4". Advice on this?

Never really tried a Dremel on copper, as I had other methods of cutting it, but my preference for Dremel disks are the fiber reinforced ones. I find them far more durable than the composite disks that shatter at the least sign of side loading.

Gooserider

Looks familiar. http://www.customcomp.us/forums/view...c273817cc4ce13 :D

Indeed it does, Jaydee. :) You know what they say about imitation being a form of flattery...

I tried the dremel jig, and after a half hour of grinding, I had four notches partially done on one of the blocks. It would have probably taken me a weekend of work and a whole lot of cut off wheels, so I gave up and mooched some time on a mill from my former high school industrial tech teacher (a real good guy).

The jig in action:
http://www.basementfreaks.com/member...cooling/b4.jpg

The melted plastic liner on the bottom of the block after 30 minutes of dremeling (I had to pry the block off of the wooden jig. oops)
http://www.basementfreaks.com/member...cooling/b6.jpg

Here's the after shot of the milled blocks right before I deburred and cleaned them up:
http://www.basementfreaks.com/member...cooling/b7.jpg

The base thickness inside the milled area is right around 1/8" now. That ought to get plenty of water through. I wish I could have found a viable way to grind those fins in to take advantage of the better heat transfer, but this will do well enough for my purposes. These are only cooling the NF7-S northbridge and GF4TI4200 GPU after all.

See more info on the ongoing project as a whole here:
http://www.basementfreaks.com/member.../watercooling/

I think it's time to start discussing in a new thread.