nickle vs copper

mrcpickering · 11 Oct 2014 at 17:20

So I want/need a HEATKILLER GPU-X³ GTX 680 Hole Edition.

Upon shopping i find there are 2 versions. A normal, i think copper version, and a nickel black version known as Ni Bl. Does anyone know what the difference is and if one is better than the other?

DataVampire · 11 Oct 2014 at 17:24

All I know is most for most part the nickel blocks ect most of the time dearer. so I would hope the nickel is

zoomee · 11 Oct 2014 at 17:36

Copper is the ever so slightly better performer. Nickel looks better though

Jokester · 11 Oct 2014 at 17:49

It's pretty much cosmetic only.

Deleted member 66701 · 11 Oct 2014 at 17:53

zoomee said:
Copper is the ever so slightly better performer. Nickel looks better though

Not slighly, almost 4x as much.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_thermal_conductivities

Although nickel blocks aren't pure nickel - they are nickel plated copper and the layer of nickel is so thin as to make almost no difference to the thermal conductivity of the block. The nickel plating is just for aesthetic reasons.

BRIGGBOY81 · 12 Oct 2014 at 01:56

Copper all the way for me. Ok nickel looks nicer but cooper performs slightly better and you don't have to worry if the nickel is going to peel off.

DataVampire · 12 Oct 2014 at 14:43

BRIGGBOY81 said:
Copper all the way for me. Ok nickel looks nicer but cooper performs slightly better and you don't have to worry if the nickel is going to peel off.

I thought the days of nickel peeling was all behind us ? and that EK actually changed the process they used was a lot better and it no longer happened ?

StonedPenguin · 12 Oct 2014 at 14:49

Can't comment on the difference between the 2 but I had that exact block and it was excellent! I wish I'd kept them both now as apparently they fit the 980 or 970 I forget which.

pics!

DataVampire · 12 Oct 2014 at 18:14

That is a really nice looking block

mrcpickering · 12 Oct 2014 at 18:41

Cheers all. And thank you for those photos! Looks great so ive bought 2 lol.

ubersonic · 12 Oct 2014 at 21:52

amigafan2003 said:
The nickel plating is just for aesthetic reasons.

Not entirely correct, nickel oxidises much slower than copper so if the block is being removed from the system for a while you can just leave it in a draw whereas with copper blocks you have to take extra care or you will end up having to disassemble them to clean off the patina. Also with new copper blocks that have been on the shelf for a while the is always the chance they may need cleaning before installation.

It's only a minor thing ofc and not really worth considering for most people, but its just an ease of life advantage.

nickle vs copper

Deleted member 66701

Deleted member 66701