Back-@-Ya TN. No, I can't say I am delighted with his "special-order" ability's in the world of Aqua-Computer. About 2-months ago I "s/o" a few Crystalfontz display face-plates, you know for the AC AquaBay.. These: Before my last order from Sharka (about 2-weeks ago) Wes said " yes, I have those for U"..Then nothing since.. ALL-Things Aqua-Computer are MUCH better since Sharka showed-up. BUT I won't spend anymore of my time "special-ordering" through Sharka (Wes).. He has what-he-has..and nothing more..That said, still miles ahead of *** who took your (MY) money and then had a book-of-excuses for not shipping the stuff for months/on/end...At least Sharka has (some) AC-items in stock..
Will you go innovatech for the performance modsquad, like you could paint green in the places they have blue engraved in their cards and GREEN ACRYLIC in the block, and an led lighting it of course. Better performance and still look cool, why not???
I am thinking you could maybe do some custom-WC-block to cool the heatpipe instead of having air to do it. Since the heatpipe is obviously enough to transport all the heat those chips produce, you could install WB to replace just the mosfet cooling heatsink and still more than adequately watercool all the three modules. Or just glue some non-restrictive oblong WB (Zalman 1st generation GPU blocks come into mind) to the heatsink with thermal adhesive. Or use the open area of that heatpipe and enclose it to WB.
I think you'll enjoy it. I picked up the full Aquabay CF setup (sans display) for 20E from Franz @ IT-trade. One thing I really should warn you about with it, though: the display attaches to the Aquabay CF using M2 screws (super-tiny things). Mine included a set of M3 screws, which were way too big to use. I picked up a baggie of 100 M2x8mm pan heads and washers and nuts from BoltDepot pretty cheap, but it's definately something to watch out for. It's pretty tricky getting everything installed, as there's VERY little room to get the nuts behind the faceplate once the display is mounted. And of course I have to re-do mine with the button-head screws, as I used the included normal thin socket-cap screws that AC prefers. As for the mosfet cooler, it's quite snazzy. You should really consider watercooling one of the sets (the one "above" the CPU probably, as that's not the heatpiped one), as that area won't get too much airflow and those little chips get HOT. The 45* fittings are a must imo. Of course, if you install one, it won't be right behind a radiator. Enough FrozenFire pimping though Looks like our alternatives are starting to open up a bit though. Franz is pricy with shipping, of course, but can get anything and get it fairly quickly. I finally got my lanyard, which goes quite nicely with the t-shirt and the poster that one Top Nurse was kind enough to send along gratis. Puget Systems is apparently starting to stock a few things, and I'm still looking to figure out where Aquamods will end up. In the meantime, Sharka has some stuff and while not perfect is still a big improvement over where we were.
Yes life is much better than when *** at *** was pimping AC stuff here in the USA. Still I am not entirely happy with the present set of circumstances of AC supply. So I am looking forward to having some competition for Wes this year. Competition breeds the ******** out of the system IMHO. However, Wes told me the other day he was trying to keep in stock currently over 180 AC items. So it appears he is at least trying. I know he gets exasperated because he can't get some of the new stuff from IT-Trade, but Franz is busy shipping the stuff to consumers here in the states. Wes gave up on trying to place big orders every month and now places middle size orders every two-three weeks. However, if I needed something he didn't want to stock I would order it direct.
CH: I am not sold on the fact that the Innovatek 7800-cooler out performs the Aqua-Computer variant..That being said, I think the AlphaCool NexXxoS NVXP-3 may beat out both Innovatek and Aqua-Computer. 100% cooper and accelerator plate technology. It also has the option to add a pair of 5mm LED's into it's acrylic top-plate (green in my case). Firehed: Once again you are correct..It would/could be EZ to H20-cool that mosfet..and once again (perhaps) AlphaCool has built a better mouse-trap slightly larger (taller) than it's AC counterpart, and being all copper (with a chrome finish) it should work better (perhaps 1 degree ). TN: There is no-doubt that the SHARK is better than what we had a year ago. He is a real webstore, where as that other guy was a 1/2-step away from being a out&out "flim-flam man"..I say a 1/2 step only because I was able to close the books with him and at least got something for my money. Wes (aka Sharka) on the other hand, is honest. He "has what he has". I only wish his communication-skills where better.. It would be wonderful news for all of us if the USA had a second Aqua-Computer option, but (it seems) Puget Systems is more in the business of selling computers than parts. I guess only time will tell. What I do know is FrozenCPU is stocking AlphaCool, they have the above-pictured items in stock. Knowing Frozen, they will add more and more AlphaCool stuff in the coming months. They started off with Innovatek in the way. Some odds/ends to began with, and now carry (and stock) most of the Innovatek line. It would seem (maybe) people are beginning to discover the virtues of "SMALL-BORE-COOLING".. We should petition FrozenCPU to carry Aqua-Computer. "where do I sign"....
from what i remember the alpha cool block takes up the top of the slot below it. plus it looks to have very restrictive channels
The funny part is that Wes was the one who started selling Innovatek to FrozenCPU. After he got upset with Innovatek he told FrozenCPU to buy direct. FrozenCPU is much better capitalized than Sharka so I think we would see much more stock in this country if they were dealers. However, since FrozenCPU buys a lot of stuff from Sharka I doubt they would be interested in selling AC gear. Perhaps someone else will come along and rattle Sharka's cage.
Your correct sc4mpi, the AlphaCool mount looks like this: why they are using such massive springs for the unit is beyond me. Also after looking at this picture you posted of the Innovatek 7800 cooler: it becomes obvious that the Innovatek's H20 channel is MASSIVE when compaired to Aqua-Computer's counterpart.. I would wager to say there is at least twice the amount of H20 flowing through the Innovatek cooler and any-given time when compaired to AC's.. I hate to say it, but it would appear Innovatek has built a better Nvidia-card cooler that Aqua-Computer..
But that does not necessarily mean it's better. What matters is how much water flows through, not the absolute amount of water staying there... It might be that the more restrictive channels in AC block might even do good to cooling, since turbulence might be higher. So w/o thorough testing I wouldn't do much conclusions about their performance.
Check this thread This guy did some A/B-testing and is getting quite a temp difference between the two..
Asus MB pictures The Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe showed up today, and I thought I would post a few photos: I have to say this is the best "packaged" MB I ever purchased. I would wager to say Asus spend "big-bucks" on marketing this board. Inside the "pretty-box" is everything I have come to expect from Asus. Lots of cables, the driver CD (and WinDVD) and a very good manual. The motherboard itself is also very nice. The MB has what Asus calls "an innovative thermal soution that provides supplementary cooling to the board". Called Stack Cool 2, it is a "special" layer underneath the MB that improves heat dissipation--Interesting.... Top-side, the board is dominated by that north/south/volt-reg. heatpipe.. What is the first thing to do after unwrapping a new $240US motherboard? Take it apart, of course... The naked north (nForce SPP100) and south (nForce4 SLI) chips. By the way, if anyone has plans on H20 cooling the Aqua-Computer TwinPlex does-indeed fit both north and southbrigde chips perfectly. A pair would "bolt-right-in". you would need a third cooler for the mosfet's. One of these: to completely replace Asus's heatpipe. I won't be doing down this road, but instead will attempt to make the heatpipe look "better". I will H20-cool the second set of mosfet's located directly above the CPU (this was Firehed's idea, and a good one..).. I also need to decide on a CPU H20-block.. Aqua-Computer's (newest model) Cuplex XT: this block has the optional copper-top installed. A blue acylic one is standard, and there is also a clear acrylic option. or the AC Cuplex Pro: Honestly, the performance of these two H20-blocks are all but the same. The Culpex XT may give you a degree-or-2.. I favor the "old-school" looks of the Cuplex Pro. It this point in time it looks like the Cuplex Pro will be the block to make it's way into the project.. BUT, only time will tell.. More Soon..
Either block is good. However I'd suggest that, if you use the Pro, you remove the little accelerator nozzle plate unless you go pretty heavy with the AC fluid. Mine, when I took it apart to install the XT in it's place, was TOTALLY clogged with what I can only assume was corrosion of sorts. Maybe it was aglae; I still don't know (and I think it's SS and not alu, so shouldn't react). However my XT got pretty clogged as well; but when I installed my newest blocks I opened it up to check and it was in perfect condition. Personally, I prefer the look of the XT with the blue-tint acrylic. It seems that in a mostly green project, you don't want too much copper in-your-face (like the chipsets/MOSFET heatpipe system), and the Pro - while it looks nice - would add even more in-your-face copper. Just out of curiousity, what settings are those pictures taken at? Those have a REALLY narrow depth-of-field; I've never seen digital shots that have the aperture open like that (you do have a dSLR now, right?).
WTF is the "special layer" thats underneath the mobo, can you see it??? Im with you squad, old school and not in your face.
This is the original cool stack: I am suprised you havent heard of it. Its quite popular on ASUS boards.
