Spoiler Inside: Exterior Photos |
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As we unbox we see instructions, various backplates, TIM and the tools required to install:
The block itself is fairly heavy, mainly because of the hefty nickel plated mounting plate
that goes around the block. This is fairly typical for Koolance and a similar weight was used
on the CPU-370:
Koolance have a nice sticker that protects the base which is of higher quality than most of
their competition:
The base is a perfect mirror and the plating is of excellent quality:
From the reflection we can pinpoint some non-linearities in the base which are presumably
related to a jetplate:
The other nice touch is that Koolance have updated their nut design. Instead of a circular thumb nut like the 370 block, the nut now has slightly rounded off wrench flats so that you can use a torque wrench to install if desired. Although Koolance recommended 0.6kgm*cm (0.04lb*ft) to me, it’s not included in the instructions. As I follow the principle of installing blocks for test like an end user would then I did not measure the torque and instead followed my nose as usual. Indigo Xtreme will be used at a later date to take out any mounting error effects.
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Spoiler Inside: Interior Photos |
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I only look at the internals after testing. So any marks/staining is most likely because the
block is now used and not necessarily related to manufacturing quality. 4 Torx head screws
hold the 3 main parts of the block together and are removed using the proved allen key:
After removing the mounting plate the “core” of the block remains:
This comes apart easily showing the acetal top with 2 o-rings and the base with jetplate:
A close up of the acetal top, some manufacturers like a 2nd o-ring for the jet-plate and some
don’t. I haven’t particularly noticed a performance difference as a result though:
A close up of the jetplate which looks like most others:
The base has some staining around the o-ring location:
The machined channels in the base are much deeper and wider than on the previous CPU-370
block. The CPU-370 favored very many small and long channels.
The channel area measures about 28mm wide:
By about 30mm wide:
It would seem that the total channel area of the CPU-380 (45 channels in an area of 28x30mm)
is less than the CPU-370 (53 channels in an area of 28mmx35mm) but because of the depth of the
channel cut that the surface area may still be higher.
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Conclusion
The CPU-380 is currently the top block out there thermally. It just beats out the Phobya block very narrowly, while having a good margin over the other blocks. However unlike the Phobya it feels like a quality product that wasn’t cheaped out on. The manufacturing quality is spot on, the flow is good and the mount system is one of my favorites. There is absolutely nothing to criticize.
Summary: “Perfect – 10/10”
[…] at the top within the margin of error. This is excellent and not a surprise given how good the CPU-380 waterblock […]
[…] the CPU Block roundup Koolance again proves it’s supremacy in core cooling, but drops the ball with it’s […]
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