Nvid 6800 waterblock - Thermaltake or Alphacool ?

Brizzles · 1 Feb 2006 at 18:32

Any comments on which you would choose ?

( VGA waterblock for Nvidia 6800 )

Thermaltake CL-W0038

OR

Alphacool NexXxoS NVXP-3

Or any other suggestions

Thanks in advance.

Martynt74 · 1 Feb 2006 at 18:48

The aplhacool, their blocks are vary good indeed

lay-z-boy · 2 Feb 2006 at 01:48

dd maze 4 + ramsinks,

cheap, low restriction and preforms very well, choose an all covering block and ill brand you a n00b

pastymuncher · 2 Feb 2006 at 11:07

Another vote here for the Maze 4 and ramsinks. I have been doing a lot of research into water cooling my graphics cards over the past couple of weeks and all the articles i have read pointed me to the DD Maze 4.

Jimbo Mahoney · 2 Feb 2006 at 12:31

Alphacool NexXxos GPX-NV40

HeadlessChicken · 2 Feb 2006 at 12:50

Or as an alternative to the maze4, silverprops gpu blocks are luuuurvley

matt100 · 2 Feb 2006 at 13:00

silverprops are good but I've had trouble getting hold of them recently.. I used a Maze 4 with no ramsinks on my fairly heavily clocked 7800s and they work a dream, very easy to fit too which I couldn't say for the silverprop fusion.

Brizzles · 2 Feb 2006 at 13:56

Thanks for your comments.

Ramsinks -

Read a thread by weescott saying ramsinks aren't required as the ram runs at same sort of temp as DDR ram chips , and that its the heat from the core that causes them to heat up , I have read this elsewhere and agree with what he says.

Any comments on this ?

Cheers,

Jimbo Mahoney · 2 Feb 2006 at 15:35

I've never found RAMsinks helped me clock further than about 10Mhz on the gfx cards I've owned.

That said, I've heard the RAM on the X1800 (or X1900?) is pretty hot stuff and likes to be cooled...

Re: Waterblocks - although I recommended Alphacool, I am using a Silverprop Fusion HL but they are HARD to get hold of. I suspect the Alphacool would be easier to get and perform better. I'm tempted myself actually...

weescott · 2 Feb 2006 at 16:44

Jimbo Mahoney said:
I've never found RAMsinks helped me clock further than about 10Mhz on the gfx cards I've owned.

I agree.

You can import direct from Silverprop. They are very helpful. Although it will take about 2 weeks to get to the UK.

I doubt the Alphacool block will cool any better, a lot more restrictive than the Fusion. However I could be wrong!

HeadlessChicken · 2 Feb 2006 at 18:11

matt100 said:
silverprops are good but I've had trouble getting hold of them recently.. I used a Maze 4 with no ramsinks on my fairly heavily clocked 7800s and they work a dream, very easy to fit too which I couldn't say for the silverprop fusion.

Yeah I heard they are a bit of a bugger to fit on nvidia (a breeze on my X800)

I just really like the design, only 2 parts, barbs are part of the top, which is all milled from 1 piece of metal. Performance is great too. I'm even looking at their CPU blocks now then before they disappear too..

weescott · 2 Feb 2006 at 20:38

I have the Nexus chipset block. Pretty restrictive but ain't all chipset blocks? Finishing is top notch! You won't be dissapointed with the CPU block. IIRC they are meant to be pretty decent! No real tests done that I have seen though!

The only problem I have had with mounting the Fusion (TI 4400, X800, now 6800GT) is when mounting the block when the card is already installed on the mobo in the case. I can see how some situation's could be a pain, but not in my...case (sorry).

matt100 · 2 Feb 2006 at 22:29

shadydelboy said:
Yeah I heard they are a bit of a bugger to fit on nvidia (a breeze on my X800)

I just really like the design, only 2 parts, barbs are part of the top, which is all milled from 1 piece of metal. Performance is great too. I'm even looking at their CPU blocks now then before they disappear too..

really? when I got my hl fusion it suggested these stupid springy clip things for my x850 (at the time) but also said I could use the nv kit which I ended up doing but as it was an allen key tightening I went too far and I guess crushed the core because I borked the card

I love the finger tightening on the maze 4s.. I always know when its finger tight and thats enough.

HeadlessChicken · 3 Feb 2006 at 01:25

Yeah allen keys can = doom. that what I used, springly clips hurt my brain

loltim · 3 Feb 2006 at 02:56

Ramsinks were needed on 9700/9800's etc as they ran really hot, but with GDDR3 on the newer cards it doesn't really require them.

Creidiki · 3 Feb 2006 at 10:51

DD Maze 4 Acetals & ramsinks. Full card blocks = fluff. Acrylic tops = bad, they crack.

Workshed · 3 Feb 2006 at 12:02

Tim said:
Ramsinks were needed on 9700/9800's etc as they ran really hot, but with GDDR3 on the newer cards it doesn't really require them.

Never used RAM sinks on my 9800Pro and I never had a problem. Cant see how the 9800 it would need RAM sinks as the stock cooler went nowhere near the RAM.

Having said all that I will be putting RAM sinks on my 7800GT purely because the stock cooler does cover the RAM...

cavemanoc · 3 Feb 2006 at 12:27

Another vote for the Maze 4-in-1 (you can always add a Pelt to it at a later date when you're feeling brave

) I find with a lot of the all covering blocks, if you look closely they often don't make contact with all of the Ram! I know Innovatek now do a separate ram block if you're really desparate, but unless you're going to volt-mod the ram on your GFX card it's reall just bling for the sake of it (Not that there's anything wrong with that!)