Looking at setting up my first water cooled build. I have read the stickies but still not sure whether to go with Copper or nickle blocks. I have some EK radiators already and plan cooling the cpu and sli graphics cards. Would like to hear a few opinions about it. Appreciate any input on this. Boff
They're purely Aesthetic, the Nickel coating is ever so thin that it does not effect the performance of the blocks.
Erm... It's way more important than that. Nicle have a low electro(something or other) so it wont transfer in the water as easily as copper > alu. Although very few products use alu these days so it's not an issue so much. Look at my thread (in sig) if your new to watercooling
Copper is a better conductor by a long shot, which has a thermal conductivity of about 400 k - W/(m*K). This vs. Nickle which is closer to 100 k - W/(m*K). However as Mattmc already said, nearly all high end blocks will be made out of copper and then just electroplated with something else (if anything). So again, as Matt said, the coating is so thin it wont make a difference. Whichever you like better just go with that
Cheers for the quick responce! Thinking Copper right now. @Bloody_Pete, thanks for the linkage. Had a quick look but will be making that my Saturday morning fun! Cheers.
If i remember my first year chemistry well enough Nickel is a lot more resistant to corrosion than copper. Hence the thin coating should prevent the copper underneath corroding and dissolving in the loop.
