http://www.skinneelabs.com/feed.rss.html en Skinnee Labs 2006 120 http://www.skinneelabs.com/lab_02-09-2010.html
We have been rather quiet over the past two weeks working like crazy on several different things. I had expected to get another blog post up earlier than this, but a large shipment of Air Coolers landed at our door thanks to FrozenCPU. As you can probably guess I have been pre-testing on the bench to make sure the test procedure was ready for full on testing. No, results are not ready but you can be sure there will be lots of data for your viewing pleasure in the next couple weeks. For now, here is a glimpse of the coolers, extra fans and TIM for the round up. ]]> Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:26:50 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/lab_02-09-2010.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/2010-sl.html
As many of you can see, 2010 brought about a few changes at Skinnee Labs. The first big change and most noticeable was the site upgrade from static HTML to a Content Management System and site redesign. We moved all of the content over from the old site to the new, I wanted to make sure the work we did in 2008 and 2009 was readily available and not lost in an archive site somewhere. There is still some major work that we need to do and some clean-up to get the new site running as Vapor and I envisioned, but the new layout and CMS backend are working well. Do not hesitate to contact us if have an improvement idea, find a mistake, 404-Page not found or just want to provide some general feedback.]]> Wed, 27 Jan 2010 12:23:30 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/2010-sl.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/ek-cs360.html
EK, the water block powerhouse releases a radiator. The EK CoolStream RAD XT 360 is here. We all know EK Waterblocks; we have been looking at those gorgeous full cover GPU blocks for years now. The EK Supreme has been a top contending CPU block since Core 2 were the hot chips and I myself have several of the Multi-Res... ]]> Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:32:09 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/ek-cs360.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/cu1020h.html
We recently looped up our first Koolance radiator on our bench and now it is time to look at the copper radiator from Koolance. For the next few pages we’re going to take a look at the HX-CU1020H. If you have already read the review on the CuV then you can skip the rest of the intro. If you have not well there is a bit of history to explain then... ]]> Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:00:04 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/cu1020h.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/cu1020v.html
We are all familiar with Koolance around Skinnee Labs, but we have never looped up a Koolance radiator on the bench. The primary reason we never even looked at the radiators from Koolance was due to aluminum but now they have copper radiators too. Although I have to admit, I knew nothing about them until I opened the boxes.]]> Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:13:32 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/cu1020v.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/pa140.3.html
It was bound to happen sooner or later, 120mm fans would be trumped by something larger and 140mm is here... kind of. I am always eager to add more cooling capability to my loops, as more radiator is always better. ThermoChill did not sit and wait for the 140mm market to start growing without them...]]> Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:59:35 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/pa140.3.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/pa120.3-15mm.html
If you're unfamiliar with the Thermochill PA120.3, you're either new to watercooling or oblivious to the world around you. The PA series from ThermoChill has been the standard and what all other radiators are judged by. It has been roughly 5 years since the PA was released and remained unchanged even through all the griping about the crazy fan spacing and goofy G3/8 barb ports.]]> Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:24:00 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/pa120.3-15mm.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/fcpu-cryoz.html
I didn't believe it until I opened the box... the OCZ Cryo-Z is real and doesn't just exist on a web site. I had heard a variety of different things. But the last I knew was they were available from a retailer in California and the units were pickup only. Fast forward... I have a Cryo-Z on its way to me and there is a new mount plate I need to verify with Core i7 and LGA1366. Panic sets in, I have never done phase or sub zero cooling... oh crap.]]> Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:42:41 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/fcpu-cryoz.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/qdc.html
In the end, I can certainly say I was wrong on Quick Disconnects. They do not bring the restriction I thought they did to our loops, not sure what I was thinking or if I was just over concerned about it. Even looking at the most restrictive of the bunch, the VL3 only resulted in a 0.3GPM reduction on the test loop. The VL3N's which closely matched the HFC12's in pressure drop ended with the second lowest flow rates. ]]> Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:33:00 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/qdc.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/triplesv2.html
Welcome to the second round or V2 of the Triple Radiator Performance Comparison. Version 2 is going to be a bit different, we're going to focus on the compiled data for all radiators instead of how the first Triple Comparison was just a rehash of the individual Radiator reviews with only a few comparison plots. Yes, there will be less of my blabbering narration of more photos, tables, charts and plots... ]]> Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:21:15 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/triplesv2.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/i7-blocks-2.html
This write-up is more of a collection of results. A central location used for comparing the blocks I test. There will be very few words but a lot of graphs.]]> Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:59:27 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/i7-blocks-2.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/koolance-cpu-345-cpu-350.html
Both of these blocks are great. The CPU-350 has flagship performance, being imperceptibly close to the HK3.0LT in thermals while the CPU-345 is a really competitive (and unknown) mid-tier block.]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:36:45 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/koolance-cpu-345-cpu-350.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/enzotech-sapphire-luna.html
Small tale of Jekyl and Hyde here, but I'll start simple. First, both deserve praise for their pricing and overall construction--the Sapphire Rev.A is ~$35 at Newegg and other etailers, while the Luna Rev.A is ~$45 at Newegg. The 1366 adapter is an additional $5, but that's not bad at all. The all copper construction of both is also a pleasant sight. Now let's split them up and consider them separately.]]> Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:07:02 -0500 http://www.skinneelabs.com/enzotech-sapphire-luna.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/swiftech-xt.html
Pardon me while I gush for a bit, but this block is amazing. With it you get the best performance of any block on the market, you get the best mounting system of any block on the market (with no extra cost or disassembly procedures to switch sockets), you get full compatibility with all G1/4 fittings (something that's increasingly rare with high performance blocks), and you even can get a little more performance out of it if you've got tinker-itis. The other amazing thing about this block is just how well it performs in low flow scenarios. Of all the blocks I've tested, it's the most resilient to low flow rates and when you add that to best-as-tested performance in normal and high flow scenarios, that equates to untouchable performance in low flow scenarios.]]> Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:28:30 -0400 http://www.skinneelabs.com/swiftech-xt.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/swiftech-mcr320-stack.html
This test report is going to be a bit different from the normal reviews I publish here at Skinnee Labs, the reason being the MCR320 Stack is a product addition to MCR320. The MCR320 Stackable is built off the same design of the original MCR320-QP, with barb ports on both sides instead of the normal configuration of having barb ports on just the one side. Design wise, that is the only change, but the purchased product comes with more than just a radiator.]]> Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:13:16 -0400 http://www.skinneelabs.com/swiftech-mcr320-stack.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/swiftech-gtz-i7.html
The Swiftech GTZ SE is the current flagship Swiftech block. It uses the same base and overall construction as the acclaimed GTZ, but uses a fancy chrome-plated brass top. It was debuted as a special edition with e-tailer Performance PCs, but has since propagated the entire scene and should be available everywhere. In fact, FrozenCPU recently had a sale for $40 GTZs, the SE included. I picked one up mostly to have a backup base and mounting hardware (mine have seen a lot of mileage), not expecting performance with the metal top to be different. I was wrong--the two blocks perform distinctly, even when using the exact same base. We'll explore why later. The Swiftech GTZ is the recent flagship of Swiftech, only recently replaced by the GTZ SE. It brings a base design featuring 225µm (0.009") micro structures over the center of the block as well as a direct impingement design to direct and accelerate flow over the tiny pins. The external appearance is kept simple with just a black acetyl top with some branding features and an interchangable metallic mounting plate. The other big feature of the GTZ is the mounting system--it is designed to be the easiest and most consistent mounting system Swiftech has shipped to-date. It features large thumbscrews and a backplate that provide the right amount of mounting pressure every mount.]]> Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:52:18 -0400 http://www.skinneelabs.com/swiftech-gtz-i7.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/heatkiller-i7.html
The Watercool Heatkiller 3.0 LT is regarded as the king of the mountain right now. And for good reason, it's a low restriction block that has tremendous popularity due to its thermal performance. Though the Heatkillers have long used channel based cooling (akin to the Supremes and Whitewater and others), the newest flagships, 3.0 LT and Cu, take it to a whole new level. There's more channels than ever providing more low-restriction surface area within just 2mm of the IHS than ever. It's less complicated than it sounds really--the base is 2mm thick and over the width of a typical IHS, it has ~52 microchannels that are 1.5mm deep into the base. What does that mean for you? You have water flowing within .5mm of the very bottom of the base and have a lot of surface area really, really close to the heatsource, your CPU. In addition to that, you also have an impingement plate meant to distribute flow evenly through the channels. It's a winning combination. It should be no surprise that the Heatkiller 3.0 LT provides the best as-tested performance of any block I've tested so far (though the review is of course worth a read--I show you how to get an even better performance below!).]]> Sat, 03 Oct 2009 09:33:41 -0400 http://www.skinneelabs.com/heatkiller-i7.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/hwlabs-sr1360.html
The HWLabs SR-1 radiator platform was announced on HWLabs site April 12th, 2008 with a very simple and meaningfully "We've been quietly working on something. And we're keeping it silent." A little over a year later, the SR-1 platform is ready and shipping. Here in the lab we've tested the GTX360 and had our eye lids peeled back from the medium to high speed performance, so we have some big expectations at low fan speeds for the SR1-360. Lets face it, HWLabs has the high speed fan junkies covered with the GTX series and the GTX still dissipates heat with the pack or better at medium speeds. With the high speed fan market covered, you know the SR1 is targeted at the low speed range. After all, why would HWLabs release a new radiator that competes against one of their own products. If you haven't scrolled down already to check out the SR1 on display, go ahead now...the design for low speed fans is evident. And with that, lets take a quick look at the SR1-360 with her bigger sister, the GTX360, and move on to the technical details and feature list of the SR1.]]> Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:09:00 -0400 http://www.skinneelabs.com/hwlabs-sr1360.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/142.html
The EK Supreme is EK's current flagship CPU block and is actually a bit of an old-timer by now, being almost 2 years old. It is a restrictive block that aims for the best CPU temperatures possible. It uses a microchannel design with 49 flow paths right over the center of the processor. It utilizes a split flow design, injecting the water at the center of the base and then splitting it outwards in opposite directions and recombining the two flowpaths at the outlet. The mounting system is a basic off-the-shelf type affair using standard screws, a bunch of washers, springs and thumbnuts. It comes in 4 main varieties, all using the same base: a delrin version (standard black top), an plexi version (transparent top), a copper version (solid copper top) and a Limited Edition GOLD variety that uses a gold-plated copper top. The EK Supreme LT is the little sibling of the EK Supreme. It uses a simpler base with fewer (and larger) microchannels and a very simple top. The increased simplicity is for one thing: decreasing cost to the end user but still providing great quality and performance. The block uses a single flowpath from one end of the microchannels to the other end. It uses the same off-the-shelf mounting hardware as its big sibling.]]> Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:40:11 -0400 http://www.skinneelabs.com/142.html http://www.skinneelabs.com/58.html
Two things you should really take away from the preview here... One being the scaling of pressure when you run two DDC's in serial, its certainly a larger scale factor than what I anticipated. When you put two pumps in series, you're boosting the PQ curve way up (as seen in the charts above), the restriction of your loop or pressure drop moves further along the X or flow axis...translating into a higher flow rate for your loop. And two, you don't have to get two XSPC standard tops and loop them together with a tube bridge, XSPC brings a top that has inlet and outlet on the same plane and tries to keep the footprint as small as possible.]]> Fri, 28 Aug 2009 22:39:00 -0400 http://www.skinneelabs.com/58.html