[pHaestus]

I think that where things are going off the rails in this discussion is the HUGE disconnect between what the typical American watercooler uses and what is offered by complete kits. As Bill said Swiftech is probably the #1 supplier of kits (with I am guessing Koolance close in production numbers?). What percentage of this site's readers have a setup like that though? I notice a fair number of Koolance threads on hardocp, but overclockers and procooling (the major hangouts for US water cooling types) are overwhelmingly DIY. And overwhelmingly we choose heatercores, larger pumps, and 1/2" ID tubing. Over the last year the "popular" pump has changed from being the Eheim 1250 to either the MCP600, D4 Laing, or Danner Mag3.

If I were parting out an "American" kit, I'd put it together at Dangerden using their 6x7 heatercore, shroud, panaflo L1A, 1/2" Coolflex, D4 pump, TDX, and a T connector for filling. Could this setup be outperformed by a kit with a larger radiator? Sure and that's why I personally use a 2-342 core. But my setup isn't typical for Americans I don't feel.