A Closer Look – Three Waterblocks
Each of the components included with the WaterChill kit appears to be of good design and quality. Many of the parts are manufactured by Asetek, including the three waterblocks and reservoir while the pump, radiator and fans come from other well known suppliers in the liquid cooling industry.
Asetek CPU waterblock
The Asetek Antarctica CPU waterblock is designed for high performance and overclocking. Asetek claims the Antarctica is ‘on par or better than the competition and capable of removing at least 200W of CPU-heat’.
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The Antarctica incorporates a solid copper base with a clear poly top. Stream Channels™ have been machined into the copper base to create micro-flow channels for increased surface area. Water enters the block thru the center fitting and exits via two side fittings.
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In the picture on the left, you can see a slot milled into the bottom of the plastic top plate. This acts as a crude nozzle, forcing the water to flow in an elongated pattern perpendicular to the flow channels. The poly top is made from PMMA (poly methyl methacrylate), which isn’t very resistant to some chemicals. Asetek warns users not to use any type of alcohol solutions in or on the WaterChill waterblocks. The copper base has an overall thickness of 0.217′ (5.52 mm) and I measured the thickness below the Stream Channels™ to be 0.072′ (1.83mm).
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All of the Asetek waterblocks come with plastic film applied to the base to protect the surface finish. Each of the blocks exhibited a very smooth machined finish. A quick lapping with 1,000 grit wet paper on plate glass showed the CPU Antarctica block was slightly concave (low in the center), probably resulting from stresses produced during machining and final assembly.
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Asetek VGA and Chipset waterblocks
The WaterChill VGA and Chipset waterblocks incorporate a common copper base. The poly tops are different and designed to allow mounting the waterblock to either a graphics processing unit (GPU) or the primary motherboard chipset (North Bridge).
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The bottom surface of the water cavity is milled with a 3-Dimensional pattern to increase surface area slightly. Just like all the other components, the VGA and Chipset waterblocks use push-on fittings for attaching the ½’ OD tubing.
The WaterChill VGA cooler is designed to work with either nVidia/GeForce or ATI/Radeon AGP video cards. The Chipset waterblock supports Intel, AMD, VIA and SIS chipsets.
Heya!
great test / review but
Heya!
great test / review but i have a question. according to my research this pump require 240v and as far as i know a psu only give 12v so how does this work does it have a built in adapter or is that the controller you mentioned to transform the 12v to 240v? sorry if i misspelled and dont know the word for that thing,
Best regards Naala