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The Water Blocks
Generally the most restrictive component in a
water-cooled system is the water block. Irrespective of whether the specific
block you are using is rated for high flow or low flow environments, the
impact the water block has on the system's efficiency can be great. Energy
transfer to the cooling system is highest at the point in the circuit where
the water block is located. A fluid's ability to transfer heat is related to
its velocity, thus the greater the fluid velocity through the water block, the
greater the heat transfer.
Do not assume that obtaining a higher rated pump will be a cooling panacea
though. You may increase fluid velocity through the water blocks, but the
pump's efficiency will diminish and the resultant energy transfer from the
pump to the cooling circuit will negate the positive effect of the increased
fluid velocity through the water blocks.
When considering a water block purchase ensure that a proper balance exists
between it and the other components in the system.
For this project we used 2 Danger Den's Maze 1 water blocks which we had
obtained previously. There are different and better alternatives today and we
will be testing other water blocks with our Flagship Case in the future. In
addition to the CPU water blocks, we also obtained a Danger Den chipset block
that we used to cool the Iwill board's Northbridge.
Here we see a picture of the Iwill motherboard
with the water blocks attached to test for proper fit.
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