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pHaestus · 09-10-2003, 09:31 PM

Depends on what you are doing JayDee. I assume what you care about are (a) bitching

and (b) improving the blocks you make yourself (in no particular order).

For me, I care about building a testbed where I can get the same results for a block on day one as on day 500 with good enough accuracy to write reviews for this site. I haven't exactly spent "hardly any money" on my own testing setup (I think it is still measured in hundreds of dollars spent rather than the thousands thrown around in this thread though). Can I get that last bit of accuracy needed to separate every single good waterblock from one another? Probably not. I can certainly give some good evaluation and buying advice though. If a $100 block and a $30 block are too close together for my testbed to separate then I'd go with the $30 one, for example.

I also care about temperature measurement and monitoring in my own personal PCs that I run daily. That's where all my messing with Maxim ICs and CF633s and gameport thermistors comes in. If you calibrate those types of setups and use a bit of thought in where you place sensors then you can really enhance your ability to troubleshoot your cooling and your system. Would I trust those kinds of methods enough to do a Procooling waterblock roundup with them? Nope. But I trust them with my $1000 PC (go figure).

As for Ben he cares about googling and blue sky and his post per day count. I wouldn't make big purchases based upon that.

I guess what I was trying to say (and missed the mark) with the earlier examples of good work done by testers using cheap equipment is that a testbed is an evolving thing. I started off with an interest and a minimum of equipment. I assumed it would be easy; I am a bright fellow after all. As I ran tests I realized there were some flaws with how I was doing things. I'd correct the human errors as well as I could, and then when I was still bumping up against problems I would upgrade a part here and there. Add the ability to measure water temps to 0.01C res with decent reproducibility. Add a bigger pump to offset that. Fiddle with how to control water temps. Add a die simulator and related hardware. Etc etc.

To me it is irresponsible to start some "Alliance" and make these recommendations that tons of money must be invested to get some "magical" accuracy. The errors in mounting coming from a tester who has never installed a socketA waterblock before and never worked in a lab are going to dwarf the accuracy of the equipment for months. Give things a try and see if you enjoy it. See if you can spare the time. If so, and if it's important to you, eventually a testbed will emerge. Do the best with what you have/can afford, be honest about your testbed's limitations, and upgrade as needed/as available. "I'm waiting to find that used with traceable certs" is a valid excuse for not going platinum RTD in my mind.

09-10-2003, 09:31 PM	#64
pHaestus Big Player Making Big Money Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: irc.lostgeek.com #procooling.com Posts: 4,782	Depends on what you are doing JayDee. I assume what you care about are (a) bitching and (b) improving the blocks you make yourself (in no particular order). For me, I care about building a testbed where I can get the same results for a block on day one as on day 500 with good enough accuracy to write reviews for this site. I haven't exactly spent "hardly any money" on my own testing setup (I think it is still measured in hundreds of dollars spent rather than the thousands thrown around in this thread though). Can I get that last bit of accuracy needed to separate every single good waterblock from one another? Probably not. I can certainly give some good evaluation and buying advice though. If a $100 block and a $30 block are too close together for my testbed to separate then I'd go with the $30 one, for example. I also care about temperature measurement and monitoring in my own personal PCs that I run daily. That's where all my messing with Maxim ICs and CF633s and gameport thermistors comes in. If you calibrate those types of setups and use a bit of thought in where you place sensors then you can really enhance your ability to troubleshoot your cooling and your system. Would I trust those kinds of methods enough to do a Procooling waterblock roundup with them? Nope. But I trust them with my $1000 PC (go figure). As for Ben he cares about googling and blue sky and his post per day count. I wouldn't make big purchases based upon that. I guess what I was trying to say (and missed the mark) with the earlier examples of good work done by testers using cheap equipment is that a testbed is an evolving thing. I started off with an interest and a minimum of equipment. I assumed it would be easy; I am a bright fellow after all. As I ran tests I realized there were some flaws with how I was doing things. I'd correct the human errors as well as I could, and then when I was still bumping up against problems I would upgrade a part here and there. Add the ability to measure water temps to 0.01C res with decent reproducibility. Add a bigger pump to offset that. Fiddle with how to control water temps. Add a die simulator and related hardware. Etc etc. To me it is irresponsible to start some "Alliance" and make these recommendations that tons of money must be invested to get some "magical" accuracy. The errors in mounting coming from a tester who has never installed a socketA waterblock before and never worked in a lab are going to dwarf the accuracy of the equipment for months. Give things a try and see if you enjoy it. See if you can spare the time. If so, and if it's important to you, eventually a testbed will emerge. Do the best with what you have/can afford, be honest about your testbed's limitations, and upgrade as needed/as available. "I'm waiting to find that used with traceable certs" is a valid excuse for not going platinum RTD in my mind.