To the extent that there was any science going on, a thin flat thermistor probe hooked up to a Digital Doc 5 was wedged in between the raised plateau around the GPU and oriented to contact the GPU side of the respective blocks. Ambient temperatures were monitored by two rat shack digital thermometers with their “outdoor” probes inside my computer case (which, as always, had one side open).
Just to have a basis for comparison, I took some data from running a cycle of Unreal Timedemo (I know, but this is a waterblock review, not a vid card shootout and I was feeling nostalgic) with the ghettoblock.
Here is the system I slammed it into:
XP2000+ overclocked to 1800 mhz
Shuttle AK35GTR
512 MB RAM
40 mb WD 7200 rpm HD
Supreme Aqua-Master 350 GPH pump
½ inch tubing plumbed into two circuits of 5/16 tubing
Innovatek CPU Waterblock
86 Mustang Heater Core cooled by single 120 mm fan
Coolant: 50/50 mix distilled water and non-toxic marine/RV water system antifreeze
Standard Rat Shack thermal compound
Temperatures were taken at 5-minute intervals before and after a 10 minute run of Unreal Timedemo with card at 306 core/ 540 memory. I was a bit surprised to see that peak temperatures for the X-Aqua were about 22 degrees above ambient while the ghettoblock maxed out about 15 degrees above ambient. While the chart conveys the impression that the X-Aqua block temperatures were still climbing, more testing indicated that the temps would stabilize within 10 minutes.
I was more than a little surprised to see that temperatures were higher with the X-Aqua than my own block. If there is an explanation here, it is either my testing or the fact that the channels in the X-Aqua, combined with the right angle fittings, make for a slow flow through the block. However, as far as my videocard is concerned, it made no difference if one block ran 7 degrees hotter than another.
Final Thoughts:
A lot of thought and workmanship went into the X-Aqua GF4. This made its unimpressive performance all that more disappointing. It was a good looking block, but was outperformed in my machine by a pipe cap soldered onto a copper sheet. In this reviewer’s opinion, the design, which showed a lot of promise, was executed in a copper plate that was just too thin. The “S” shaped channel was not deep enough to allow enough flow and heat transfer into the water. For this reason, I can only recommend this product for those users who just want an entry-level waterblock at a low price.
Pros:
Excellent workmanship
Easy to mount
Low Profile
Inexpensive
Cons:
Low Flow Rate
High Back Pressure
Outperformed by an unsophisticated homebuilt solution
A BIG thanks goes to the nice folks at Xoxide for making this review possible. For those interested, the X-Aqua GeForce 4 Block is currently on sale here.
