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"Innovatek Water Cooling Kit"
SUMMARY: First rate kit with quality components and outstanding performance.
The good guys at HighSpeed PC were nice enough to send a sample of the Innovatek Water Cooling Kit, made by a German company.
HighSpeed PC has detailed Instructions on their site. As you read it, you will note that they include a reference to Teflon tape - I did not use it in this setup, but it is readily available at any hardware store. I decided not to use it to see how well it fits together, and I don't think it's necessary.
The kit I received came with the following:
I will describe each component in detail, followed by performance test results.
When I first saw this waterblock, I thought it was a telegraph key. The clip is very well designed; it engages all three socket lugs and is extremely easy to secure to the socket. Once the lugs are engaged,
tighten the large knurled knob and that's it. This is about the easiest waterblock mount I have seen. The contact point of the top bar rides over the CPU center and acts as a pressure point, holding the base in perfect contact with the CPU core.
It features a polished and flat copper core core
surrounded by an aluminum block. Note that any design using dissimilar metals requires that the cooling fluid contain anti-corrosives; anti-freeze is a good additive - a solution of water with perhaps 10-15% antifreeze is fine.
After I ran the tests, I found this inside the waterblock:
It appears that the copper core most likely is a solid center core that has rings cut into it - analogous to CDs stacked on a spindle, with spacing between each CD. I am guessing that this was cut from a copper cylinder rather than stacked copper discs - heat transfer would be better from a solid piece.
The discs serve to increase surface area in a very confined space, maximizing cooling efficiency. An efficient and very interesting design!
The EHEIM 1046/1048 are terrific pumps and one of my favorites. They are silent, very reliable (two year pump warranty) and you can rebuild them - spare parts are available. With the EHEIM, you don't need a 90 degree fitting - simply rotate the base - there are slots on three sides to orient the pump:
The reservoir is a beefy aluminum tank:
It comes with a nipple which screws into the side (fittings described below) to mount hoses. The tubing included with the kit is 1/4" ID and soft - if you purchase this kit, I would suggest you also purchase extra tubing; you're not going to find compatible tubing at something like Home Depot.
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