Hey Everyone,
 
Please be easy if this is the wrong subforum; this is my first post  since I've been a lurker. :) Which Waterblock do you think will be best for GTX480? I have two on order shipping soon and getting rid of my dual GTX 295's water-cooled.
 
Thanks!

Wait to buy your blocks until results are posted here:

http://www.xtremesystems....howthread.php?t=250163

Skinnee is testing the:

Bitspower
Koolance
Danger Den
EK
Aqua Computer
EVGA standard block
XSPC
and Heatkiller

Will be worth the wait, and most likely a bunch will be better than the stock EVGA block.  I (and a large amount of others) am waiting until Skinnee finishes his testing, then once hes done I'm scooping two of whichever to attach to my GTX480s.

I'm very happy with my ek nickel plated blocks.

I like the looks of the EK blocks the best, but my money is on the DD blocks as the best cooling block. Matter of fact my money did go out the door this morning on a DD Satin copper block and is on it's way to me.

http://www.frozencpu.com/...PU-6900-SS.html?tl=g30

The MSDS for Feser One coolant showed ~80% distilled water and ~20% ethylene glycol.  My guess is PC Ice is in the same range.

FWIW Dexcool is > 95% ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol, so depending on mixture ratios, you're both running about the same thing in your water loop. 

Anyway, the big thing w/r/t oxygenated water, IMHO, is don't try to create a waterfall effect in your res.   Remove as much air from the entire loop as is reasonably possible.  There will always be some oxygen but liquid coolers have been running copper systems for years (like you kram!) without issue.

For the OP's benefit, I too would personally stay away from acrylic but that's personal preference and certainly not a requirement.  I screwed up once and cleaned my old DD waterblocks (which had acrylic) with a glass cleaner that contained a fair amount of alcohol and it crazed and cracked the acrylic.  Big noob mistake on my part.  Nickel vs. copper is also about preference.

I'm very happy with the Koolance blocks that I'm using, which are also  nickel plated.  Max temps under Heavn Benchmark wtih extreme tessellation and 8xAA are 44C GPU1 and 46C GPU2.

I originally ordered the DD nickel top and bottom blocks, but returned them due to the weight.  They weigh 3.22 lbs each, which is more than twice the weight of the Koolance block.  If you run 3-way SLI, that's like 10 lbs of water blocks, and that's just crazy.
 
I use pure distilled + silver coil, and no other additives, BTW.

camaroz06

Wait to buy your blocks until results are posted here:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=250163

Skinnee is testing the:

Bitspower
Koolance
Danger Den
EK
Aqua Computer
EVGA standard block
XSPC
and Heatkiller

Will be worth the wait, and most likely a bunch will be better than the stock EVGA block.  I (and a large amount of others) am waiting until Skinnee finishes his testing, then once hes done I'm scooping two of whichever to attach to my GTX480s.

LMAO!!!
 
I personally take thier reviews with a grain of salt after the last two major fiascos.

Outstanding temps money!

This is just one quad radiator single loop with the Koolance blocks + CPU:

If looks mean anything then DD has all beat

ehau

douglatins

If looks mean anything then DD has all beat

Are you serious?  The DD block looks pretty plain.  It's the heaviest of the bunch maybe at 3.20 lb.

I guess everyone's taste is different :)  I have used several brands of GPU waterblocks since I started water cooling 9 years ago including Swiftech, EK, DD, Aqua Computer and now Koolance.  These Koolance blocks are some of the nicest looking blocks I have ever owned and there performance is fantastic.  All the EK models I have owned were also very nice and always performed extremely well.  Really the only reason that I went with Koolance blocks was because they were really the only company offering them when the 400 series was first released.  I really feel that I lucked out because they are not only beautiful but they perform excellent.  I looked at the DD blocks but all 3 of my 280's were seriously warped from the DD blocks that I had on them.  I looked at them this go around and just said NO WAY 3.2 LBS per block is just crazy. I am sure they are great blocks and will perform well but I don't want the added hassle of adding or making some sort of support for the cards.  As has been pointed out SkineeLabs is doing a review on all the 480 GPU waterblocks right now over at XtremeSystems. He should be done very soon like in the next day or so and posting his results. I suspect the EVGA Hydro copper may lead the pack as best performing.
                                                                                                                            

This one xD ? http://www.frozencpu.com/...m.html?tl=g30c311s1173

so is it ok for me to use this with my copper EK block?

Bleh. So one for Danger Den and another for the EK xD. this always happens haha xD

kram36

Falcon_CMH

Wrong the article rated it #2 higher than both urs period.  Wrong the VRM temps squashed both your cards/  I am done arguing with someone who refuses to accept the facts.

Did you even look at the charts?

you  have not figured it out yet Kram, he like s to tell all that all his hardware is the best you can get and usually manages to slip in a sleight against those that don't have the same hardware, too funny, but a very definite pattern emerging

burro1

Will nickel plating negatively effect the copper in terms of temperature dissipation?

No.