Koolance 8800 Block: Pics and Evaluation

BobcatDan said:
That's a lapping job right there. Lapped my CPU this weekend, which was very far from flat and it too about 2 hours with 400 grit paper to flaten it (and it's about half the size fo the 8800 GPU and a quarter the size of the koolance block). If you start out with 200 it would speed things up, but that is a big task for sanding alone...
Dan
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I'd never start lapping with anything under 400 grit. And always finish with at least 600 grit.
 
200 grit is a bit coarser that I would want to start with, but it will remove material much faster. Of course, you would have to follow up with a fair amount of sanding with 400 to get the larger scratches out, but it shouldn’t affect the final finish if you do a good job.
Dan
Edit: in the end, I wouldn't want to do it...
 
Solarfall said:
hey hemi
don't you have little bit too much of As5 there. i mean little bit less whould do the jop, and actually too much of it will hurt heat transfer,
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Yeah, I actually noted that in my last post. I was trying to keep it evenly filled knowing the surface of the block wasn't very flat. It may be somewhat counter-productive, but I didn't like seeing it with zero contact towards the top corners considering how much I did have applied to the IHS. If I knew the size and shape of the actual GPU, I'd try applying it per the IHS-based CPU instructions on ArcticSilver's site. Anyone happen to know? I haven't found any pics or diagrams of what it looks like under the lid...


To all the lapping related posts - I certainly realize it's a heck of a job. I have 400, 600, 1000 & 2000, which is what I've used in the past for CPU sinks and slugs. I also may have a couple pieces of glass about the right size. I'm still debating on whether it's really worth the time, and a member here on [H]F is wanting to buy it...though I might tackle it tomorrow night anyway just to see where it goes (the "what if?" curiosity will get to me if I just unload it without trying).


Tom
 
Yeah, I actually noted that in my last post. I was trying to keep it evenly filled knowing the surface of the block wasn't very flat. It may be somewhat counter-productive, but I didn't like seeing it with zero contact towards the top corners considering how much I did have applied to the IHS. If I knew the size and shape of the actual GPU, I'd try applying it per the IHS-based CPU instructions on ArcticSilver's site. Anyone happen to know? I haven't found any pics or diagrams of what it looks like under the lid...
Click to expand...

I've got a die shot around here somewhere... Lemme find it.


**EDIT**
my.php
 
Side note about the EK blocks. You might want to try and message Eddy through the EK site. I've had some luck and I should be getting my GTX blocks directly next week. They have been a pain to find domestically.

Cheers

Croaker
 
Finally got my loop done, using the Koolance GTX block I get 45C idle and 54C load. Haven't overclocked yet and the AS5 still has to cycle in. Not as good as the EK block (although I knew it wouldn't be) but its cutting about 30C off my load temps. On air I was idling at 60C.

My loop: (everything stock)
Apogee GT on Intel QX6700
MCW30 on NB
Koolance 8800 GTX block
Thermochill PA120.3 Rad
MCP355 Pump w/ Petra's top
 
MetsFan978, did you use the thermal tape also or were you able to use AS5?, just curious since that tape looks like its only good for a few on/offs and then it might be time for new tape and when I tried to google thermal interface material tape I didn't get much back as far being able to buy a high quality tape, the few pieces I saw for sale looked like the stuff you'd cringe at using.

I have a pair of these (GTX) as yet uninstalled but the all metal construction gives it a hefty solid feel. I have the milling marks on mine but it's more something you can see but not really feel, some performance copper heatsinks I've used in the past have had greater ridges (still wasn't happy that it would come that way) when the manufacturer didn't polish to a near/mirror finish.
 
No, I didn't use any of the thermal tape. Used Ceramique on everything except for the core which got AS5. It seemed like everything was making contact with the block. I lapped the part that makes contact with the core, although I didn't really put the time into it to do a really good job, but all the gold plating at the core area is gone. I know what you mean about the milling marks, I got some of those out on mine.
 
MetsFan978 said:
No, I didn't use any of the thermal tape. Used Ceramique on everything except for the core which got AS5. It seemed like everything was making contact with the block. I lapped the part that makes contact with the core, although I didn't really put the time into it to do a really good job, but all the gold plating at the core area is gone. I know what you mean about the milling marks, I got some of those out on mine.
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Any chance you have any pics of the lapped area? I'm also wondering how much contact you actually have on the RAM. I'd love not to use the TIM strips, but it was very obvious that a thin layer of paste wasn't going to work - I could see light passing between the block and the RAM when I tried...


Tom
 
Sorry got everything mounted now and in my case. Also I only have a crappy cell phone cam to take pictures with. I've only been running this for a few days and as far as I know I can't overclock the card in vista yet, so the ram really hasn't been stressed that much. I haven't gotten any memory artifacts while gaming, so its at least running cool enough for it to work stock. I applied the ceramique the same way I apply AS5, putting a blob of the stuff on each of the chips. Looking at the card sidewise I couldn't see any light coming through, so the chips I could see were making contact with the block.
 
Those are NICE looking blocks! I am loving my DangerDen 8800GTX blocks. The build quality is amazing, and these have lowered my temps by a good 30*C!!! A MUST HAVE for any 8800GTX owner.
 
Finally will receive my EK block today...I'll post a quick comparison once I get some testing done.

I did not lap the Koolance block, but reapplying the AS5 in a less liberal fashion proved not to make a difference either. I do wonder if something else is goofed between it and the card because I can't seem to get proper contact on the "north side" of the IHS. I'm hoping the EK block will help me determine if it's the Koolance piece or something with the card/IHS itself (I'm leaning towards the former at this point).


Later,
Tom
 
hemi said:
Finally will receive my EK block today...I'll post a quick comparison once I get some testing done.

I did not lap the Koolance block, but reapplying the AS5 in a less liberal fashion proved not to make a difference either. I do wonder if something else is goofed between it and the card because I can't seem to get proper contact on the "north side" of the IHS. I'm hoping the EK block will help me determine if it's the Koolance piece or something with the card/IHS itself (I'm leaning towards the former at this point).


Later,
Tom
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I'm getting mine in on monday :) I can't wait.
 
This block is really sweet. Eddy sure knows how to do it right....

I have it mounted, installed, and the loop is bleeding now. I plan to start testing tomorrow and will post some numbers.

Arcy - I think you'll love it, as long as it performs as I've read, I know I will. :D
 
hemi said:
Arcy - I think you'll love it, as long as it performs as I've read, I know I will. :D
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I don't care how well it performs. I just want it to cover that damn RAMDAC :p

Nice performance'll be a bonus though :p
 
EK, FTW! :D This thing is killer. Setup is like so:

D5 pump back to 4 position, fans back to 7v (800RPM/~30CFM). As noted earlier, I had cranked the pump up to 5 and the fans to 12v (~63CFM) to see what effect it would have...so it's back to the "quiet" config.

Board clocked to 650/2000, running RTHDRIBL @ 1680x1050 nets a max temp of 49C from 5 minutes in through the 40 minute mark when I stopped. It idles at 38/39. This is with a 2x120 radiator (Coolingworks 22T) with the fans set as above. That's 11C better than the "max performance" cooling setup (fans and pump at max) and just about 18C better than it was as setup now using the Koolance block (however, the CPU is still at 3.3G/1.37v, I need to bring it back up to 3.5). I am very happy.

Also, I don't know if it has anything to do with it, but the extremely irritating squeal I mentioned earlier in this thread is barely noticeable now when the card is under a load. Maybe the EK block keeps whatever it was from vibrating. All I know is that I like it. I'll put up a few pics later.
 
Hemi, you have a really good GTS there. I wish I could get my GTS memory to 1000, but ATI Tool (I use this to load and test, seems to be 'heavier' than other apps) finds occasional errors at anything beyond 900 memory speed. My memory IC's are the same as yours. Of course with Rivatuner being as 'steppy' as it is with the 8800, 900 is where mine has to stay. I want my 200 3d06 points with my memory at 1000 back, lol. I see you got your GPU where mine is (648), I'd like to see how much higher it could go but the next step is 675 or so, and that locks up ATI Tool, drat. Those EK blocks rock, eh? I got my loop loaded down right now with Orthos and rthdribl running in the background testing my final fan direction setup (specs in sig), fans at 7 volt, TAT says 60 cpu, riva says 56. Not bad for silent type computing, eh?
 
AndyM said:
Hemi, you have a really good GTS there. I wish I could get my GTS memory to 1000, but ATI Tool (I use this to load and test, seems to be 'heavier' than other apps) finds occasional errors at anything beyond 900 memory speed. My memory IC's are the same as yours. Of course with Rivatuner being as 'steppy' as it is with the 8800, 900 is where mine has to stay. I want my 200 3d06 points with my memory at 1000 back, lol. I see you got your GPU where mine is (648), I'd like to see how much higher it could go but the next step is 675 or so, and that locks up ATI Tool, drat. Those EK blocks rock, eh? I got my loop loaded down right now with Orthos and rthdribl running in the background testing my final fan direction setup (specs in sig), fans at 7 volt, TAT says 60 cpu, riva says 56. Not bad for silent type computing, eh?
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That's not too bad though. If I let ATITool try to find the max core clock, it takes it up to 693 and then locks up the machine. It passes at 675, but I don't know that it's fully stable. The highest I could go with completing benches (3DM20xx) was 660 using the Koolance block. It might have 675 in it now, but I figure 650 is safe, and even at stock it smashes my old card (7800GT).
 
wow.. reading this thread makes me want to get my 8800GTXs on h2o.. I'm going to use an Exos II and a pair of EK blocks I think... keep the cpu on air for now... or maybe go with a Coolit TEC cooler for it.. but keeping the cpu out of the GTX loop I think would be good. anyways.. nice to see you got your saught after good temps, hemi.
 
Thanks for the nice writeup and pics Hemi. I already had the Koolance piece when I found your thread, otherwise I would have gotten the EK block. With a little modification, it works pretty well.

I have the original Exos with 6mm tubing, so I had to order 6mm barbs from Danger Den (Koolance was out of stock). Like yours, they projected way too far into the block. I decided to grind them down rather than wait for the Koolance pieces. I ground them until at least two threads were present all the way around and beveled the sides a bit. They were still a little longer than the Koolance barbs, which on one side have only one usable thread. Once installed the clearance looked much better.

I took off my EVGA GTS heatsink and cleaned the card for a test fitting. It is amazing how much paste is on the GPU heatspreader. It must be 2mm thick. Like yours, the PCI-e controller and nearby ram either made contact or were close enough to use paste. The GPU and ram on the other side of the card were at least a millimeter away. One note, the GPU area of the waterblock had a circular machined area that was nearly mirror smooth. I could not see that in yours, so perhaps they are working on improving that part of the block. Unfortunately, it didn't really matter as the block and GPU did not make any contact at all with AS5 applied to the GPU!

I then decided to file the four mounting posts around the GPU area of the waterblock. First, i covered the block with cling wrap and cut holes for the posts. They measured 5/32" tall before filing, and a little less than 9/64" when i was done. After that I had about 80-90% contact, with the upper corners still off the waterblock. It looked like that was probably because the top left ram chips were in contact with the block. I don't think it is worth trying to improve the contact from there as the board may have to flex too much. I am curious if the contact with the EK piece is even across all chips. It probably isn't as the stock heatsink had a similar pattern of uneven compression of the heatsink material.

After a half dozen test fittings, I settled on using the thermal pads for the Vreg parts and the two ram chips on the right, using white paste blobs for the other ram chips. The right two ram chips in the top row were incompletely covered even with a good sized blob of paste, so it may have been better to use a pad for those two chips too. I didn't want to sacrifice GPU contact if it lifted the block too much so I left it like that. The GPU spreader was covered with a thin layer of AS5 as well as a central bead 1cm long. I wanted to be sure the center had good contact.

The card was reinstalled in series after my E6600 (stock fsb, vCore 1.325v) with all 6mm tubing. My Exos was set to mode 1 (low). The GTS is at stock speeds also. Here are the results:

(CPU/Core/GPU)

Air: idle-17/24/53C load-47/56/67C
Exos: idle-15/22/44C load-27/36/52C

While not the best WC temps here, they are pretty good for a 6mm setup and right in line with what MetsFan got with his Koolance block and custom setup (45 -> 54C). I am relieved that I don't feel like I need to tear it down and blow another hundred bucks on the EK block. However, it took a lot of fiddling to make it work. Maybe that is par for a full coverage block. At any rate, I like the Koolance 8800 block. It looks nice and performs well with some work. It is defintely not a block you can screw in place and expect it to work well out of the box. I hate to think what would have happened if I fired it up the first time I installed it, when the waterblock was not touching the GPU spreader.
 
I'm in 100% agreement with your assessment of the Koolance block - it has potential, but it needs work. Filing down the mounting posts seems like a requirement to make it work well, especially since mine was so uneven top to bottom.

The nice thing about the blocks that don't use posts (EK, DD, etc.) is that you can control the application of pressure in the way you tighten the screws. After one test fit with the EK, I could see that it was far more even across the GPU IHS and made proper contact with the RAM.


Tom
 
Just a quick update on my Koolance WC 8800GTS. I fooled around with overclocking the card for the first time yesterday. Why? I don't know. I don't really need to as the card has great fps in everything but Oblivion and Riddick @ 1900x1200 with 16x AF, 16xAA, and TSAA and all details maxed.

Anyway, stock speeds are 513/792. Load temps in an 80F room are 55/43 core/mem. I overclocked as high as 670/1000 with no errors in ATITool and a couple 3dMark06 runs as well as about and hour of HL2. Amazingly the temps did not change at all with the overclock. Not bad for an old 1/4" Koolance setup. Normally when I overclock I test to failure, then back off a bit. I did not try anything higher than 670/1000 for fear of damaging the card. Maybe I got lucky with the card, but I am very happy with the Koolance block and the way it handled a lot of heat production without breaking a sweat.
 
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