Water-blocks Danger Den and AquaStone for processors and video cards
Date: 04.10.2005
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By: Aleksandr Fomin aka eastSiR
Today we are reviewing four quite interesting products which we got for tests at the very last turn but showed their best among other formerly tested products. Participants of our today's review are two water-blocks for the processor and two for the video card, each by Danger Den (USA) and AquaStone (Russia). We'd better start with the foreign representative of the top-line of processor water-blocks by Danger Den:
TDX A64 Lucite Top
Danger Den produces water-blocks perhaps from the very onset of water-based cooling of computers. It's been a long time this North American company hasn't renewed its line of water-blocks - TDX emerged on the market about one and half year ago. That was evolutionary development of the three-union design of RBX water-block which was then turned into a two-union water-block. At the same time, the efficiency and the hydraulic resistance dropped a bit, so the difference between the two products in real systems is almost impossible to catch. It should be noted that use of the two-union TDX is far more convenient since it allows to give up using Y-shaped divides in the structure.
 The water-block was packaged in a strong cardboard box which had all the needed to install on the processor. The package has all the necessary data on the water-block and the manufacturer's logo. The fastening system additionally has nuts which hold bolts on the reverse side of the motherboard. They don't have to be used since the water-block can be installed without using them and without removing the motherboard out of the CPU unit. This water-block specimen has 1/2-inch unions of 10.5 mm internal diameter, but the line also offers water-blocks with unions of 3/8-inch (9.5 mm) and 5/8-inch (around 13 mm) in diameter.
 As you can see, because of the two-union design implying water feed to the center the water-block looks somehow disproportional. All the manufacturer's products have seals with a label warning the guarantee will be canceled if the seals are broken. This requires explanation since the manufacturer thus guarantees that the product is free from leakages. Even if you break the seals, you will anyway have guarantees against flaws of manufacture.
 Sealing is done with rubber washers. There are as many as three - one between the copper base and a cover made of plexiglass, with the remaining two around the unions. On the top of the cover the is a laser-cut engraving with the name of the company, names of the water-block and connector for which the fastener is designed. All the facets and even threading in the covers are absolutely transparent, which imparts some charm to the product. When buying it, you can choose a cover of suitable fastener, every additional cover costs almost half the water-block. That is a popular practice for western brands - our producers normally ship water-blocks with either a universal fastener or with a complete set of fasteners of all sizes.
 The base of the water-block was glued with a protective film which prevented the copper from oxidation and growing dim. Upon its removal, the surface acquired a mirror-like gleam. The processing quality of the base was simply superb. We only had to clean it with some spirit to remove the traces of the protective film glue along the whole surface.
 The manufacturer provides various relations between the water-block efficiency and the hydraulic resistance it produces. That is achieved through use of removable plates which are installed between the central union and the base with fins. To that end, unscrew the bolts meant for tightening the cover and the base, which cancels the manufacturer's guarantee for lack of leakages. The cover can be easily fastened back without fear to break it due to excessive effort upon tightening. The thing is that the sealing rubber ring is of round section (not square, as is usual) and the bolts have to be tightened right up to the point until the whole surface of the ring touches the cover. That is easy to control visually since the rubber turns dark at the point of touching the cover. We can assume that it is impossible to break the water-block during replacement (and further use) with the plate.
 The plates are made available separately from the water-block at about $4. Plate No.1 is base (shown on the photo with black sponge), it is there in the water-block even if you don't buy a whole set of plates. Each plate is numbered from 1 to 5 depending on the resistance to the water flow. Plate ¹1 has the widest slit, the slit of ¹2 is a bit narrower and so on up to ¹5 which has some sort of "nozzles" directing fine jets of water at high speed straight onto the special pits on the base which we'll see below. The black sponge on the plate is needed to avoid water losses so as not to let the water spread aside but be directed at the hottest portions of the base. Each plate is equipped with its own sponge. In the kit we found a plate without any slits - perhaps it was meant to make the user's fantasies come true if the other five are not enough. The difference from using plates is within 1 degree, so in the tests we'll be using plate No.1.
 The surface of intensive cooler is indeed impressive. Since the thickness of the water-block base is merely about 1 mm, the fins are of very small height. The whole surface takes up no more than a dime.
The fins are not only wavy in profile - there are also pits on the base. It's just due to them the water-block with plate No.5 with nozzles offers the maximum efficiency. If we look closer at the side guides, we can see special grooves in which the plate is fitted.
 The procedure of installation of the water-block on the processor is no less interesting, which for the case of A64 does not have to be removed from the motherboard. That's a really rare and valuable feature, although many don't think of it that way. It didn't take much time to install the water-block - for a start, unscrew one bolt in the nominal fastening frame and instead of it screw in a bolt from the water-block fastening so that the frame behind the motherboard not fall (which is possible because the "bolt" has no head). Then replace the remaining bolt and remove the upper part of the frame. At the manufacturer's web site, there is a lot of materials (including video commercials) on installing various water-blocks, so that should not be an issue to the user.
 Installation is over, the hoses are on. In testing the TDX, we used hoses of internal diameter 11 mm. On the photo, you can see that the size of the water-block is a bit less than the heat-spreader on Athlon 64. The fastener has rather rigid springs, so there was nothing to complain about the pressing.
We'll discuss the test results later on, but for now we are reviewing the AquaStone water-block which is offered by one of the first modding e-shops in Russia - PCdesign.
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