some easy questions for the pro-coolers

[pompoen]

I'm about to built my first H2O setup. 2 days ago i bought the first part, a 12" x 9" x 2" heatercore.

Questions:

1) I cant go wrong with a DD maze4, can I?

2) It looks to me that the Dtek P4-adapter will work for any AMD block. Is this correct? I have AMD for now but might gonna change to Intel later.

3) The heatercore is painted black. Would I gain any improvement by removing the paint? If so, wich chemicals should i use to get the job done without damaging the copper and brass.

4) Hydor L30 (56€) or L20 (28€)?
The setup will contain the heatercore, DD maze4, 3m / 10feet 1/2" ID tubing and eventually a GPU-block, maybe a NB-block.
Money is an issue but if the extra for the L30 is worth it, I'll get it. I want to do things right from the start.

Any help will be greatly appreciated

EDIT:I didnt number my questions correctly

[pHaestus]

1) Dangerden blocks do pretty well from a price/performance standpoint in my personal experience. In belgium you might want to also look around for some of the good German blocks we can't find here in the US though

2) Looks to me like that'd be fine for any 4 hole AMD waterblock yes. Cool product; I hadn't seen it before!

3) Not worth the effort as long as the paint is just a thin layer and not all globbed on and obstructing the fins.

[pompoen]

thanks pHaestus,

I'll look into the german blocks a little further, but they doesnt look as well performing as the maze4 or they are more expensive.

Not removing that paint is gonna save me a lot of effort

[pHaestus]

Kinda interesting that Dangerden blocks would be cheaper in Belgium. Oh wait with the Euro so strong I guess that explains it.

[Boli]

Stands to reason that the DDs block would be even cheaper in the UK... no wait that's BEFORE VAT (value added tax) and import tax. .

~ Boli

[pompoen]

It appears to me that DD is the only American waterblock producer that did the effort to get a few reliable resellers in the Euro zone. I would buy from the Netherlands, there wont be import taxes and VAT is included.

about the pump:
4) L30 (56€) or L20 (28€)? money is an issue
5) should i buy a relais or keep the pump running 24/7 for months to come

thanks again

[msv]

5)
Aquarium pumps are built to run 24/7, so if money is in short supply don´t buy that relay.
regards
Mikael S.

[pompoen]

ok, so it wont give any problem to run this pump for months non-stop, even with the resistance the rad/tubing/blocks would generate? Thanks you saved me 20€.

Only one question remains. Is there reason to assume a differnce in performance between the L30 and L20 that would justify an additional cost of 25€.

Thanks again for the comments

[msv]

I don´t have any personal experience fron the Hydors, but my Eheim has been running more or less constantly since late March this spring, and it still keeps running.
Maybe someone of the other members (I really can´t consider myself an experienced water cooler) can provide us with more info on long term durability of pumps?
regards
Mikael S.

[bigben2k]

Originally posted by msv
Aquarium pumps are built to run 24/7, so if money is in short supply don´t buy that relay.
regards
Mikael S.

Although that's true, the pumps in an aquarium also run mostly unrestricted. In a PC loop, any pump runs mostly restricted, which means that it's going to draw more power, and of course heat up more.

The added heat contributes to reducing the life of the pump. So really, IMO, I think that it's preferable to just shut it off.

[pompoen]

mmm, i was afraid so. I better pay the extra 20€ now instead of having to replace a 50€ pump by newyear.

I'll also do some research regarding wich pump to get. I really want to do this right. If you have any good links or info... I'll start with the search on this forum

[bigben2k]

Why search?

Do it yourself, and do it for a few dollars: Linky!