XSPC Raystorm GPU

Price – $60

We’ve seen quite a few blocks from XSPC now, be they CPU or GPU and the style and packaging is consistent:

The block comes with mounting accessories, TIM, instructions and a sleeved LED:

This block is no exception to the style, using an acrylic mount covered with a “brushed” black aluminum top, while the block core is acetal with a copper base:

There are two ports with no alternative options:

The copper base is secured with 4 countersunk hex head screws:

So far so good, but here is where it goes downhill.

The mounting system is a bit fiddly to use – instead of a thumb nut on the top of the block that attaches to a screw secured to the PCB, the XSPC uses a thumb screw on the block side and a thumb nut on the back of the PCB. This means that you have to hold a thin thumb nut in position while you stick the screw, spring and washer through the block, and then wrestle the block and screw combo into place through the hole while trying to tighten the thumb nut. It’s awkward and frankly disappointing. It’s kind of like a socket 2011 CPU mount, except that there is no fixed backplate. (Mount is not completed in this photo):

The only good thing to say here is that springs are used to equalize the mounting force. The other negative is that the G1/4 ports have very little clearance to the edge of the block. A flat surface around the port is necessary for the fitting o-ring to seal to. The O-Ring on our VL3N fittings did not seal and leaking ensued. This is very disappointing. In addition the port threads were not angled and so the fittings interfered with fitting passive heatsinks on to the VRAM. (Mount is not completed in this next photo)