How to choose a waterblock?

[Trajan]

I'm just starting to plan my first-ever loop and would be very grateful for any advice on how to choose a CPU (i7-6700k) waterblock. Are there reliable sites for reviews and testing of blocks (or radiators/pumps for that matter), that the gurus here would recommend?

I have done some googling but its hard for a newbie to sort out which sites are legit or not. When I last was thinking about building a loop (maybe 7 years ago or so) I recall doing a lot of research and discovering that people had a lot of strong opinions over one block being better than another etc. but I haven't run into so much of that yet. Maybe waterblocks have all just gotten very good, or perhaps they were all pretty much the same to begin with? Or probably I'm just not looking in the right places.

Thanks very much for any advice!

 

[master_shake_]

cpu, gpu, motherboard.. all 3?

 

[Trajan]

cpu, gpu, motherboard.. all 3?

Just for the CPU, thank you for asking (and I clarified the original post). At some point I'm sure I'll have the same question for GPUs but that's a project I'm planning to save for the summer!

 

[master_shake_]

http://www.overclock.net/t/749693/review-22-cpu-waterblocks-tested-roundup/0_40

good place to start

also here

http://www.overclock.net/t/1505481/summer-water-block-round-up-2014/0_40

 

[Aristotelian]

From the 2014 roundup you link it is made pretty clear that the EK Supremacy EVO is the best waterblock (that was tested) - for CPUs.

Not to derail (as this might be helpful to many persons) but is there a good website to find "king of the hill" waterblock testing? It's 2016 now, and EK still sells the Supremacy EVO. But has no company tried to dethrone EK's CPU waterblock since then?

Could be useful for Broadwell-E/Skylake people looking to build watercooled PCs soon.

 

[Trajan]

Not to derail (as this might be helpful to many persons) but is there a good website to find "king of the hill" waterblock testing? It's 2016 now, and EK still sells the Supremacy EVO. But has no company tried to dethrone EK's CPU waterblock since then?

I admit I'm wondering the same thing (although the links master_shake_ posted are very helpful). I recall -- again, this was from 7+ years ago -- that people used to argue a lot over not only which was the best waterblock, but which waterblock was best for a given processor. Not endorsing that line of thinking but I'm curious to know if it's a real thing or has since been debunked. I'm a little surprised there aren't more comparisons out there, although I suspect that's just because the DYI water cool market may just not be big enough?

 

[YBS1]

I admit I'm wondering the same thing (although the links master_shake_ posted are very helpful). I recall -- again, this was from 7+ years ago -- that people used to argue a lot over not only which was the best waterblock, but which waterblock was best for a given processor. Not endorsing that line of thinking but I'm curious to know if it's a real thing or has since been debunked. I'm a little surprised there aren't more comparisons out there, although I suspect that's just because the DYI water cool market may just not be big enough?

It wouldn't surprise me at all if there were blocks better for one particular cpu but not as good for another. Even using the same water block will usually give a better result oriented either normal or goofy. All I can add further to this in regards to blocks is the Bitspower is better than the Swiftech for my 5960X. Even saying that though, I have insane flowrate, perhaps under more modest flowrates the Swiftech would be superior. There is just little way to be certain without testing a specific configuration, you just have to go with what data (tests) are available to you.

 

[thesmokingman]

WC is regressing somewhat back into the dark ages as the lead reviewers have left the scene or retired. Also I concur on the EK block as being at or near the top. The XSPC and the cheaper EVO are good budget blocks. Btw, full copper blocks are better at extreme oc's due to their much larger conductor size. With lots of volts and clocks you eventually run into a wall cooling wise, but a full copper block raises that limit a little bit. 99% of the time this won't matter especially considering the added cost.

 

[dlerious]

I've seen some good reports for the Watercool Heatkiller IV. I have the EK Supremacy EVO here.

 

[Batmeat]

You want the block to have copper, be lapped to a mirror finish, and have a high flow rate. Your result will differ depending on the pump you select, TIM (not much), radiator, and what liquid you're planning on running through the system. If I was going to build a water cooling setup again I would look for the following rated from most important to least:

1. 3 phase radiator (Black Ice used to be the go to here)
2. High flow/high quality pump - 1/2 inch nozzles
3. Block - or if your planning on cooling with something other than water IE radiator fluid, alcohol, flourenert (sp)
4. Fans

Number 3 totally depends on if you're planning to overclock or not. If you just want a quiet system then block and cooling solution doesn't matter. This is my opinion, others may or may not agree with it. I haven't built a water cooled machine for at least 10 years. However, that will change with release of Pascal/Polaris release from Nvidia/AMD later this year or early next year.

 

[thesmokingman]

You want the block to have copper, be lapped to a mirror finish, and have a high flow rate. Your result will differ depending on the pump you select, TIM (not much), radiator, and what liquid you're planning on running through the system. If I was going to build a water cooling setup again I would look for the following rated from most important to least:

1. 3 phase radiator (Black Ice used to be the go to here)
2. High flow/high quality pump - 1/2 inch nozzles
3. Block - or if your planning on cooling with something other than water IE radiator fluid, alcohol, flourenert (sp)
4. Fans

Number 3 totally depends on if you're planning to overclock or not. If you just want a quiet system then block and cooling solution doesn't matter. This is my opinion, others may or may not agree with it. I haven't built a water cooled machine for at least 10 years. However, that will change with release of Pascal/Polaris release from Nvidia/AMD later this year or early next year.

NEVER LAP A WATERBLOCK. If you want a mirror finish, buff it out but never lap a block. You don't need high flow, only need flow up to 1.5gpm at max, any higher than that is generally wasted flow. Also, you want to balance your flow to the restriction you introduce, etc.

Choices of TIM can make some difference like a paste versus an engineered TIM. More important than that is testing your mounting, as a bad mount will throw off you temps by a big margin. I could keep going...