XSPC D5 Top

— Stren 11/19/2013

XSPC’s Acetal D5 top comes is a budget offering coming in as it does as the cheapest of all the D5’s we’ve seen. Not surprisingly then it comes in a plain box:

However the cost difference is small. The XSPC comes in at $30, the Alphacool at $31 and the EK at $38 (current prices at time of review from Performance PC’s). Despite being the price leader XSPC still gives you everything you’d need in a D5 top and it comes well packaged:

It has a mounting plate, screws, a stop fitting for the alternative output port and a nylon clamp for the pump base. The acetal finish on the top itself is of high quality and is a pleasingly minamilistic design:

However once assembled it can be seen that the cast nylon clamp doesn’t match the nicely machined acetal very well in style, nor in proportions:

This is further accentuated through the use of screws that really should be black:

Initially I had concern that four screws coupled with a nylon based clamp may prove to be somewhat insecure. However unlike the Alphacool top, there was no problem with leaking at all.

The volute is designed very similar in style to the default Laing top – showing the characteristic three dimples and almost flat center:

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