[BillA]

Good observations Joe, let me add a couple.

Technology moves on, easily seen in the last 5 years of the WCing scene; from amateurish 'designs' w/o technical basis to the sophistication of Stew's multiple jets. And from production 'lots' of 20 pieces to runs of several thousand pieces.
Note that there is not any necessary correspondence between performance and sales, though better performance is rewarded eventually.
The easy pickings (application of basic engn principles) have been done, novel inventions while possible are speculative; so WCing is maturing. Copying and tweaking with marketing spin define 'winning', not good for us gearheads.
- Are improvements possible ? Sure, but for ego not commercial success (my 'better' designs are hopelessly complex).

The controversy between Stew and myself over the capability of TTV based testing was hugely disruptive for the WCing community; and my refusal to cede, and pursuit of Stew wherever he promoted his 'view', devolved a technical disagreement into a personality clique debate. It was a debate that should have been based on numbers.

But with name-calling and personal aspersions there was no recovery. I am still here but have lost my peer, it is no fun and I'm moving on to the next phase. Understand my dismay, the professionals with whom I work would not consider putting up with the tripe dished out on the forums; I do because I have a debt - I started this career as a newbie and am inclined to help those with the motivation to do something (hey, get an education, lol). But the fun is gone and I continue out of the loose friendship I (presume to) have with pH, JoeK, and the many other serious posters on this forum.

I 'brought' scientific (calibration, optical flats, etc.) testing to public WCing but the inability of the 'heavy hitters' to agree on a testing methodology has effectively removed the 'clout' of such results. More and more one sees "performs the same on CPUs" as the public benchmark; it did not have to degenerate to this as there is an effective methodology. The inability of the procooling 'experts' to define a practical test bed and methodology has removed us from leadership in this area, and that is how it must be. Joe Citarella can compare IHS temps between the center and the edge. Think on it. More power to Joe to persevere with testing.

The future of CPU cooling as I 'see' it has little to do with DIY components, I intend to solder the 'solution' to the CPU. No reason to fret as these devices are more sophisticated than the DIYer can design or build, and they work far better as well. Such is progress, lower C/Ws are no cause for tears.

Be Cool