To poly or not to poly; that is the question...

Ok, for my next el protect-o, it's gonna be watercooled, and i've been debating for a long......long......long.....long....long.....long......long......long.....long....long..... long......long......long.....long....long.....long......long......long.....long....long..... long......long......long.....long....long.....long......long......long.....long....long..... long......long......long.....long....long.....long......long......long.....long....long..... long......long......long.....long....long.....long......long......long.....long....long..... long......long......long.....long....long.....long......long......long.....long....long..... long......long......long.....long....long.....long......long......long.....long....long..... long......long......long.....long....long.....long......long......long.....long....long..... long......long......long.....long....long.....long......long......long.....long....long..... long......long......long.....long....long.....long......long......long.....long....long..... time. if I should get poly topped or aluminum. I know that the poly tops crack fairly easy and the aluminum ones I don't know any cons really, but with the poly tops I can see inside and spot any traped air. And as the theme of my project goes, I could go black aluminum top or poly top and it would flow but I want to know the pros and cons and what you guys think about it. CPU block i've also decided to wait on 'till Cathars Silver Storm block goes on pre-order, but i'm completely clueless on the NB block and GPU block.

Thankos el ocforums-eres

Aluminum? I pray to god it's anodized.

Well, here's a con of aluminum
For one, you'll need to run some anti-corrosion agent in your water to prevent nasty corrosion from getting on your stuff.
Secondly, with poly top, you'll be running an all copper loop (I hope), and pure distilled water could be in your rig, which is non-toxic and therefore great if you have pets, kids, etc. Also, it saves you the hassle of going to an antifreeze disposal center to get rid of your w/c coolant every time you refill.

I was doing a search for this, and found a white water poly or aluminum question, and they said that it's coated with some anti-corrosion stuff, and that it wont really be hitting the top that much/hard, so I don't know how big that will affect it. Also, arent most blocks copper? minus Cathars and DangerDens Silver line

Some people fret about Al waaaaay too much, worse than a sewing circle.. First of all my F350 has a pure, not anodized, Al heater core and has been fine since I got it 3 yrs ago. Major pressure and water always running though it. Now with WB they all use anodized stuff which creats an unreative impermeable oxide membrane which will not corrode. The only time it does corrde is when some moron scraps though the membrane by tighting barbs to tight, hit it with a screwdriver or other carelessness. Everything is going aluminum except the few backyard manufactures who don't have access to expensive forging and annodizing equipment and must just rely on a metal mill. Zalman, all european, Swiftech, Silverprop Evolutions, etc etc etc use Aluminum.

first off i really dont see how so many people are cracking the poly unless they are really over tighting the poly on my tdx is like a 1/4 inch think

why not get a brass top or if u want to wait there is chromed brass tops coming for dangerden stuff

just dont run al and silver yikes

Polly is really hard to crack if it has safety bevels. (rounded edges)

Btw you can drop a steel ball bearing about 1 inch thick on a poly lens that is only 2mm thick at a height around 3 feet. The ball will simply bounce off.

The main reason the polys are cracking isn't always over-torquing them.

Its the thermal cycling of it.

Heat it up, it expands. Cool it off, it shrinks. Eventually you get cracks. Over tightening them doesn't help either though.

Now with WB they all use anodized stuff which creats an unreative impermeable oxide membrane which will not corrode. The only time it does corrde is when some moron scraps though the membrane by tighting barbs to tight, hit it with a screwdriver or other carelessness.

Click to expand...

Anodizing has different levels, and not all of them are impermeable.

hardcoat typeIII adnodizing impregnated with Teflon or epoxy primed, "will never corrode".

Click to expand...

Most manufacturers don't go to this extreme level; cost prohibitive.

Not to mention the fact that any grit in your system can and will scratch your anodized layer.

ok...well if Cathar makes the silver storm block I am going to pick that up. Saving up for it right now as a matter of fact But with that said, what are good NB and GPU blocks to run with the silver blocks?

*Bumps* anyone? Help this poor example of a human acheve maximum watercooling!

if you're using silver, DONT USE ALU in any shape or form in the loop. Silver is considerably more likely to corrode than copper with regard to galvanic corrosion. Don't risk what will likely be a 80-140$ wb on aluminium.

silverprop make brass topped units, might suit what you want.

www.silverprop.com

don't get a poly, like the other guys said they are prone to crack, aluminum really isn't all that bad if it has some anti corrosive agent...