What do you guys think...

[bigZ]

... makes a good watercooling article or review?

I like to see something mentioned about the build quality, the possible limits of the block (temperatures, voltages and clock speeds), it's optimal working conditions.

Anyone else shed light on this for the really essential information you should look for in a review? It'd be interesting to see what people come up with, I'm sure there is more than what I've mentioned B)

[furious trout]

Ease of mounting?

[adwhitworth]

The quality of the base. If it's actually flat or not. :)

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

Does the size of the block and the position of the inlets/outlets interfere with other components and/or smooth plumbing of the loop.

[Darv]

I never really look at the results from watercooling reviews. There's so many thigns that can affect the preformance.

Personnaly I'd rather look at build quality, ease of use, how sturdy it is. Things like that.

TBH there's not much difference in real world performance between most water cooling blocks so I go by word of mouth.

[Starbuck3733T]

Bill Adam's reviews = the ultimate.

http://www.thermal-management-testing.com/

[dutchcedar]

It's the whole package that's of utmost importance to me. The matching of components to each other is in my mind the single most important factor in designing a liquid cooled system.

Besides that, I think it's a good thing to compromise quality as little as possible, budget be damned.

That said, it's really all about fun to me. The challenge to do something a little different, the enjoyment of making special parts, getting the whole rig to have a cohesive design throughout and of course, being totally anal about all the little details noone will ever notice. I ain't no stinking copy-cat, so overall guides don't do anything except show me what NOT to do (because it's already been done before). :D

I think you all should stop all over here and take a look, especially the later posts in the thread... http://www.modthebox.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB...6781082;start=0 (http://www.modthebox.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=mtblogs;action=display;num=107678108 2;start=0)

[Edd]

Holy cow! (@ the link)
That's one of the most impressive mods i've ever seen.

[bigZ]

Originally posted by Darv@Mar 23 2004, 09:24 AM
I never really look at the results from watercooling reviews. There's so many thigns that can affect the preformance.

Personnaly I'd rather look at build quality, ease of use, how sturdy it is. Things like that.

TBH there's not much difference in real world performance between most water cooling blocks so I go by word of mouth.
Some good points here, however, if there was a direct comparison made between the blocks with the setup the same in both cases (this isn't cross testing 1/2" against 10mm, it's just one or the other as I find it hard to understand how you can compare two things that work on totally different principles), don't you find that it'd be more than useful to know that block X performs better than block Y?

I know there are a lot of variables in a watercooling setup, but comparing 2 blocks with a good, well balanced 10mm/half inch loop would show that block X is better than block Y.

Da_Rude_Baboon, some good points you've raised there about fitting into it's environment in a trouble free manner. :)

Dutchcedar, great point about matching up components there B)

[fillip]

Hey Dutchcedar...

You have far too much money man.

The challenge: build a unique replacement for my present workstation, a dual liquid cooled 2400MP system that runs three 21 inch IBM P260's through a 256MB Parhelia.  The replacement would be a dual liquid cooled Opteron rig, running three 23 inch LCD's.

Yeah was just considering doing that myself this weekend...

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

lol

Dutch did say he uses the computer for his job and its his main source of income so its probably not the huge outlay it would be for us.

[/off topic]

Sorry Bigz back to the topic....

No ones mentioned looks yet. Its a bit obvious and isnt as important as performance but when people hear you have watercooling they want to see it and its nice to have something that looks cool. :)

Innovation in blocks should be rewarded too as it would be nice to see something other than another WW or cascade clone.

[fillip]

Dutch did say he uses the computer for his job and its his main source of income so its probably not the huge outlay it would be for us.

I know, i read that too :p

No ones mentioned looks yet.

well, build quality half addresses this.

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

I would class build quality and looks seperatley.

Something can be built to an amazingly high standard and look a pile of poo, or look incredible and be a flimsy fragile piece of crap. ;)

[scopEDog]

Originally posted by dutchcedar@Mar 23 2004, 06:30 PM
It's the whole package that's of utmost importance to me. The matching of components to each other is in my mind the single most important factor in designing a liquid cooled system.

Besides that, I think it's a good thing to compromise quality as little as possible, budget be damned.

That said, it's really all about fun to me. The challenge to do something a little different, the enjoyment of making special parts, getting the whole rig to have a cohesive design throughout and of course, being totally anal about all the little details noone will ever notice. I ain't no stinking copy-cat, so overall guides don't do anything except show me what NOT to do (because it's already been done before). :D

I think you all should stop all over here and take a look, especially the later posts in the thread... http://www.modthebox.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB...6781082;start=0 (http://www.modthebox.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=mtblogs;action=display;num=107678108 2;start=0)
Amen to that dutch...

The problem with watercooling reviews is that you can post your findings...but someone at pro-cooling(or legions of people that just repeat what is said there, without testing on there own..) would just slam it. In the pursuit of science if you would like a high level of accuracy it would make the review very complex indeed. But then I would have to ask you guys, are you really interested in those hard core numbers? Or are you satisfied with your standard watercooling review? I'm with Darv..these days most modern waterblocks perform within a few degrees of each other. So I look for 1) build quality, 2) looks, 3) performance. For all those people that think low flow = poor performance i'm happily running at 32c cooling 2 cpus, 2 hdds, and a vid card with my AC gear (And I think i would get similiar temps pretty much with any other WC setup out there). Looks and performance in one easy package :)

[bigZ]

yeah I run 34'C full load with my Barton 2500 at close to 2.6Ghz :)

I don't see a problem there ;)

[dutchcedar]

Originally posted by Da_Rude_Baboon@Mar 24 2004, 01:31 AM
No ones mentioned looks yet.
Form Follows Function

One of the most important rules in the design biz. ;)

Off topic... I spend much more time at my 'puter than in my truck, so until it costs as much as the truck, the 'puter's a bargain... also, the insurance is MUCH cheaper and I never get pulled over when drinkin' at the 'puter. :rant:


B)

[Pug]

I'm gonna stay out of this one - ScopE & others've covered a lot of my thoughts and I sit quite firmly in Dutch's camp (to a degree. I'm still budget conscious but it's not an overriding factor if I can help it).
I save money in some places to spend in others (and vice versa, hence my £200 cooling loop takes my £50 chip to £500 levels, leaving room for £150's worth of bling! :D)