Water-blocks Danger Den and AquaStone for processors and video cards
Date: 04.10.2005
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AquaStone water-block for a video card
AquaStone water-block for a video card arrived wrapped in the same plastic bag as that for AquaStone CPU. The fittings were not installed - they were put in a separate package. The water-block in size is smaller that the fittings, so it is a bit uncomfortable to wrap them.
The whole package bundle was there in place. There are few parts in the fastening system, merely two for each: dielectric washers, springs, bolts, and wing nuts. All is intuitive, so the user can hardly lose way even though the package bundle provides no setup guide. The water-block follows the general style of the line and copies all the main traits of the model aimed at processors: Camozzi fittings, pyramidal design of the surface, nickel-plating, sealing with silicon sealant, a universal cover "for all" (including some chipsets of motherboards).
The surface of the base is polished poorly. There are not only grooves after processing which are felt even to touch, but their depth leaves much to be desired. The water-block is unlikely to lose the precious degrees, but the buyer's mood over the lucky buy may seriously get down.
Because of the large size of fittings, the holes are placed apart, closer to the edges. The photo shows traces of sealing, as well as the partition which forces water to wash the whole surface uniformly.
The installation didn't take much time at all, and in the end the water-block was positioned a bit turned relative to the video chip. The springs provided adequate pressing, but the installation would have been easier if there had been washers for springs or holes in the cover instead of slits. The former is much easier to implement - in this case, the springs do not fall within the slits and stop against the cover and the wind nut with sharp ends, thus impeding its tightening.
When assembled with the AquaStone water-block, the GPU will take up two PCI connectors, but it is more convenient to lay hoses inside the housing due to rotating Camozzi fittings.
To run tests, we assembled a separate water-based cooling system of relatively lower performance. Presumably, it displays the real temperature mode of a video cards in a high-efficient water-based cooling system at three points. The elements of the water-based cooling system were the Hydor L20 II pump with 9 mm unions (ID), a radiator from ProModz for a 120 mm fan (standard Camozzi fittings were replaced with compression fittings because of greater compatibility, a pass hole of 8 mm diameter). The fan was powered for 5V. A hose of 11 mm diameter was used. In the case with AquaStone GPU, hoses from the pump and radiator to the water-block were replaced with 8mm (ID).
During the tests, the ambient temperature was about 24 C. The reference data on performance used in the table were produced with the nominal cooling system ASUS EN6600/TD/128M/A based on NVIDIA GeForce 6600 chip with the temperature monitoring activated. The video card was overclocked from 300/550 MHz to 540/678 MHz. Use of water-based cooling brought additional 10 MHz for the chip. Perhaps we attained the limit capabilities of a particular specimen, so improving the cooling conditions doesn't help. It should be noted that nominal air-based cooling system of a video card is very noisy, whereas water-based cooling system did not produce any noise. The tests implied running a number of 3DMark2005 cycles with default settings until the temperature is stabilized. The temperature was controlled by RivaTuner v.2.0 RC15.6, but unfortunately it rounded the readings to integers.
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Minimum temperature of video chip in 2D, degrees
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Minimum temperature of video chip in 3D, degrees
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Default
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54
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79
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Danger Den Maze4 GPU
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37
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41
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AquaStone GPU
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38
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41
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As you can see, there isn't much of a difference between the temperature mode of the video cards with various water-blocks. On the other hand, not only we produced a noiseless system with nominal air-based cooling (at quite a lot, I must admit), we also reduced the chip temperature by 17 C in the idle mode and by 38 C under load. As regards the choice of a specific water-block for the video chip, we would advise to choose on the base of other parameters rather than pure efficiency (e.g. the number of blocked PCI connectors, cost, compatibility, cooling of not only the video chip, but memory etc.).
If we weigh all the pros and cons after tests, today's participants will be definitely in the pros part. Of the cons is deficiency of fastening in AquaStone CPU and Maze4 GPU, poor processing quality of the base in the case with AquaStone GPU, but that anyway applies to specific specimens. Here is the overall summary:
Danger Den TDX A64 Lucite Top
Pros:
- high efficiency;
- fantastic exterior;
- overall high manufacturing quality;
- possibility to use replaceable plates;
- convenient installation;
- wide range of diameters of used unions.
Cons:
- all the options are offered for a specific board;
- hard to make available in our country.
Danger Den Maze4 GPU Acetal Top
Pros:
- high manufacturing quality;
- wide range of diameters of used unions;
- low hydraulic resistance.
Cons:
- additional fasteners which are not cheap;
- hard to make available in our country.
The "fly in the ointment" is in that the produce of Danger Den can be still made available abroad only, which imposes certain temporal restrictions and adds more to the price. Recommended price for TDX A64 amounts to about 52$ in the basic package bundle (up to your choice). Additional cover, e.g. one to install on LGA (or on A64), will cost extra 20$. A kit of plates costs another 4$. Additional fastener for Maze4 GPU will cost about 10$,and the water-block with a faster to choice will be about 40$. All the should be ordered from abroad either at once or wait it to arrive and pay for the delivery. Many might not like it, but the last word is always after the buyer.
No doubt, the produce of Danger Den deserves most compliments and best recommendations.
AquaStone CPU
Pros:
- possibility to choose between two- or three-union models;
- excellent efficiency of both models;
- convenient quick-disconnect fittings;
- compatibility to any modern platforms;
- relatively easy to make available.
Cons:
- limited compatibility to hoses;
- low fastening bolts (which is indeed dangerous for processors with the chip open);
- the traces of processing spoil the exterior a bit.
AquaStone GPU
Pros:
- convenient quick-disconnect rotating angular fittings;
- universal system of fastening;
- relatively easy to make available.
Cons:
- poor processing quality of the base;
- limited compatibility to hoses;
- blocks two PCI connectors.
In addition to the above, we should note that AquaStone water-blocks stand out with their common style and some harmony. That is, two or more water blocks in the CPU unit look better than one. The price of the products is moderate and meets the declared. A water-block for the video card is about 1000 rubles (~ $35), one for the processor varies within 1150 to 1300 rubles depending on the number of unions. These water-blocks can be easily made available via e-shop following a well-established scheme.
The author is highly appreciated to Dan Stephens from Danger Den, administration of PCdesign, e-shop, as well as to Aleksandr Pronoza for the specimen water-blocks presented for tests.
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