{"video_id":"rtdlB_b63IE","title":"TEN YEARS of Water Cooling Performance Tested! - Through The Ages Ep. 1","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2017-05-06T14:53:29Z","duration_s":597,"segments":[{"start_s":0.719,"end_s":7.04,"text":"Are they launching another","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":4.839,"end_s":10.559,"text":"series? Okay, whatever. If you don't like all the series that we have now,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":8.88,"end_s":15.839,"text":"then just treat this like a standalone video because it's cool either way. The","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":13.12,"end_s":20.4,"text":"idea here was to take topof-the-line products from a particular category. We","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":18.32,"end_s":26.16,"text":"decided on CPU water cooling for the first one, and measure just how far","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":23.199,"end_s":32.88,"text":"we've come thanks to improvements in design and manufacturing. Welcome to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":29.039,"end_s":35.01,"text":"episode 1 of Through the Ages CPU","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":32.88,"end_s":39.959,"text":"cooling","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":42.76,"end_s":49.039,"text":"blocks. Massdrop is now featuring the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":46.039,"end_s":51.28,"text":"AKGM220 semi-open studio headphones.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":49.039,"end_s":56.0,"text":"Check them and other drops out at the link in the video description.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":54.079,"end_s":61.68,"text":"So, the first step in this undertaking was to gather up CPU blocks from as far","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":58.96,"end_s":66.159,"text":"back as we possibly could. By teaming up with SwiftTech, we were able to scrape","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":63.6,"end_s":72.88,"text":"together seven of their nine blocks going all the way back to July of 2005,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":69.439,"end_s":75.36,"text":"a span of over 10 years. So, time to get","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":72.88,"end_s":80.4,"text":"started testing them, right? Nah, that would have been too easy. The intention","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":78.0,"end_s":86.08,"text":"was to use a modern test bench to eliminate as many variables from our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":82.64,"end_s":88.4,"text":"test as possible. And as the astute","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":86.08,"end_s":95.119,"text":"among you might have already realized, Intel's latest flagship X99 platform not","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":92.079,"end_s":97.84,"text":"only didn't exist yet, but Intel wasn't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":95.119,"end_s":103.119,"text":"even the performance king back then. So, we needed to source modern mounting","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":100.32,"end_s":109.6,"text":"brackets for many of the blocks. Time for some DIY metal fabrication. Step one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":107.119,"end_s":115.04,"text":"was to glue the hold down plate drawings that Swiftech modified for us onto a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":112.56,"end_s":119.759,"text":"piece of sheet steel. Then we went to work with the aviation shears, cutting","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":117.2,"end_s":123.52,"text":"the outside edges. We drilled out the middle as much as we could with a step","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":121.68,"end_s":128.16,"text":"drill, finishing off again with the aviation shears. And finally, we center","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":126.24,"end_s":132.4,"text":"punched the holes and drilled through them with a titanium bit, cleaning","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":130.0,"end_s":136.72,"text":"things up a little bit with the Dremel. This was pretty tedious, but we didn't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":134.959,"end_s":141.4,"text":"want to bother our friends over at Protocase to make them for us if we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":139.28,"end_s":147.52,"text":"didn't have to. And yeah, so the Apogee GTZ required a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":145.44,"end_s":151.599,"text":"specific plate thickness and a pretty precise cutout. So, they ended up","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":149.76,"end_s":155.68,"text":"whipping one of those up for us in the shop. So, so much for that. But anyway,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":153.44,"end_s":159.68,"text":"thanks Proto Case. As always, you guys were lightning fast and the plate fits","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":157.319,"end_s":165.76,"text":"perfectly. Let's introduce now then the test bench that we're using. We used an","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":161.68,"end_s":170.4,"text":"Intel Core i7 6850K 6 core processor","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":165.76,"end_s":172.56,"text":"with a 246 mm squared die and a 140 W","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":170.4,"end_s":176.959,"text":"rated TDP. Though it should be noted that according to this Tom's hardware","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":174.4,"end_s":181.44,"text":"article, it's closer to 100 watts in the real world. This might be important for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":178.8,"end_s":186.48,"text":"later. The rest of the components, in no particular order, are an ASUS X99 Deluxe","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":183.68,"end_s":190.64,"text":"2, 32 gigs of Corsair Vengeance DDR4, a random GTX 980 Ti that wasn't connected","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":189.12,"end_s":196.8,"text":"to the water loop, making it somewhat irrelevant, and our water cooling gear,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":192.959,"end_s":199.519,"text":"an Alphacool Nexus XP 45 triple 120 mil","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":196.8,"end_s":206.0,"text":"rad with Noctua industrial PPC fans, a D5 pump with an EKX top, and some 3/8 in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":203.36,"end_s":211.68,"text":"Primoflex tubing. We used IC Diamond for our thermal compound. So each block was","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":208.959,"end_s":216.0,"text":"mounted using M4 screws with nylon washers to achieve the desired mounting","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":213.959,"end_s":220.56,"text":"pressure. Yeah, we were a little bit approximate here, but as I think you'll","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":218.4,"end_s":226.0,"text":"see from the results, it likely didn't matter much. Idle temps were recorded","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":223.28,"end_s":231.28,"text":"using IDA 64's logging tool after 10 minutes. Then load temps were recorded","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":228.4,"end_s":235.44,"text":"using a 3minut mean average after allowing the water temps to reach","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":233.12,"end_s":239.48,"text":"equilibrium. Room temperature was maintained by our zone controlled HVAC","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":237.519,"end_s":245.2,"text":"system at 23° C. Wow, that was boring. All right,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":242.4,"end_s":252.319,"text":"let's meet our first contestant. This is the legendary Swifttec Storm. Designed","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":248.56,"end_s":255.12,"text":"by Cathar himself and sold to Swift for","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":252.319,"end_s":260.959,"text":"mass production back in ' 05. It features an impingement design with a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":257.44,"end_s":264.16,"text":"midplate sporting 35 microjets that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":260.959,"end_s":267.04,"text":"blasted turbulent water into 35","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":264.16,"end_s":273.24,"text":"corresponding divots in its thick copper base. It was a nightmare to manufacture,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":270.639,"end_s":279.52,"text":"making it very expensive. And its performance, while superior on bare","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":276.56,"end_s":284.72,"text":"small die single core processors, fell quickly behind as dual core and quad","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":282.479,"end_s":291.84,"text":"core CPUs with integrated heat spreaders became the norm. The story behind 2006's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":288.72,"end_s":295.36,"text":"Appleo G was less about raw performance","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":291.84,"end_s":298.4,"text":"with 1°ree Celsius being optimistic and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":295.36,"end_s":302.24,"text":"more about optimizing for enthusiast CPU","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":298.4,"end_s":305.28,"text":"design trends and ease of manufacturing.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":302.24,"end_s":308.0,"text":"Thanks to the relatively simple uniform","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":305.28,"end_s":312.8,"text":"diamond pin matrix in its copper base, it was less restrictive, contributing to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":310.4,"end_s":317.52,"text":"better liquid flow rates for multiblock loops. It handled and continues to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":315.12,"end_s":322.32,"text":"handle large CPU dyes with heat spreaders better than the Storm. And","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":319.84,"end_s":329.28,"text":"thanks to its cheap injection molded acetal top, it was one of, if not the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":326.32,"end_s":334.479,"text":"first legitimately mass-roduced CPU water coolers. This right here, this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":331.52,"end_s":339.6,"text":"exact one, was my first block when I got into water cooling about 10 years ago.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":336.88,"end_s":345.199,"text":"The followup, the Appleo GT, looks outwardly identical to the Apoge, but","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":342.56,"end_s":350.08,"text":"thanks to manufacturing improvements and an enthusiast inspired tweak to bow out","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":348.4,"end_s":355.24,"text":"the base with a thicker O-ring to compensate for Intel's less than stellar","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":351.84,"end_s":358.88,"text":"IHS flatness. It boasts slightly better","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":355.24,"end_s":360.479,"text":"performance, not Swift 1 to3° C from our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":358.88,"end_s":364.96,"text":"measurement, but I'll comment more on that in a moment. The Apoge GTX,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":363.52,"end_s":370.0,"text":"released shortly afterward, was basically a hot rod version of the Apple","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":366.88,"end_s":371.759,"text":"GT with the same copper base plate and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":370.0,"end_s":378.479,"text":"then marketing that was focused more on the cool looking aluminum top","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":374.759,"end_s":380.24,"text":"that Oho ho. I guess that's probably why","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":378.479,"end_s":386.56,"text":"I couldn't find a working one for this video. Don't mix your metals, kids.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":382.88,"end_s":388.24,"text":"Moving on, the Apple GT Z brought about","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":386.56,"end_s":393.919,"text":"significant improvements in manufacturing that allowed the small","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":391.12,"end_s":402.96,"text":"diamond pins of the Apple GT to be shrunk to only 250 microns for a claimed","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":398.479,"end_s":406.0,"text":"performance gain of 2 1/2°. Holy crap.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":402.96,"end_s":408.8,"text":"Too bad on our 6850K, it really didn't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":406.0,"end_s":414.88,"text":"amount to much. But back to my earlier comment about these disparities that are","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":411.44,"end_s":417.68,"text":"starting to pop up. The GTZ design was","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":414.88,"end_s":424.319,"text":"as much about optimizing for the die orientation of Intel's then flagship","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":420.52,"end_s":426.0,"text":"QX6700 quad core as about anything else.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":424.319,"end_s":433.12,"text":"A trend that we're likely to see continue. The Apogee X-T from 2009 was,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":430.08,"end_s":435.479,"text":"from what we can measure, the last big","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":433.12,"end_s":440.72,"text":"step forward in CPU water block performance. Sure, it was kind of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":437.52,"end_s":442.88,"text":"restrictive, but it looked amazing. And","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":440.72,"end_s":450.56,"text":"thanks to its redesigned upper housing with the inlet centered over a much","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":446.319,"end_s":453.84,"text":"larger 250 micron pin matrix, it crushed","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":450.56,"end_s":456.36,"text":"its predecessor with our numbers nearly","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":453.84,"end_s":462.56,"text":"backing Swift claim of a 3°ree improvement. as long as you had a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":458.4,"end_s":465.039,"text":"whopping $80 to spare. Apogee HD, which","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":462.56,"end_s":471.599,"text":"followed two full years later, rocked tweak 225 micron pins, 30% lower flow","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":469.52,"end_s":476.8,"text":"restriction to improve GPU block performance, and according to Swift, 2°","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":474.639,"end_s":481.039,"text":"better temps. Though, I suspect we'd have to pull a 3960X or something out of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":479.36,"end_s":485.28,"text":"our hats to observe the specific optimizations that were done to achieve","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":483.199,"end_s":489.599,"text":"that result. I'm actually still happily running a limited edition gold-plated","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":486.96,"end_s":494.96,"text":"Apogee HD in my personal rig. Which leads us then finally, sorry we got lazy","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":492.24,"end_s":500.56,"text":"and skipped the Apogee XL to the Apogee XL 2, the current flagship block that is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":498.24,"end_s":508.24,"text":"only available as part of Swift's H220 and H320 X2 kits. It features the same","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":504.0,"end_s":510.16,"text":"225 micron fin/pin base plate as the XL,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":508.24,"end_s":514.88,"text":"but tweaks the inlet and outlet design of the top cover for improved flow","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":512.159,"end_s":519.839,"text":"characteristics. SwiftTech claims about a degree and a half of performance over","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":516.719,"end_s":521.599,"text":"the HD, but we saw a mere half a degree","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":519.839,"end_s":526.8,"text":"improvement in spite of the five-year-old design of the HD on a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":524.64,"end_s":530.8,"text":"modern processor, leading me to believe that most of the performance to be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":528.64,"end_s":535.36,"text":"gained with future water blocks will come from compensating for the weird","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":533.04,"end_s":540.88,"text":"idiosyncrasies that Intel introduces with each processor generation rather","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":537.92,"end_s":545.839,"text":"than pure thermal transfer improvements. Though, I will be interested to see if","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":543.12,"end_s":551.44,"text":"the prototype SKF block that Swift Tech showed me at CES will change my mind.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":548.48,"end_s":556.32,"text":"The fins on that sucker are so small that they can only be produced by","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":553.44,"end_s":560.56,"text":"shaving copper and bending it up into little tiny fins. Maybe there will be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":558.48,"end_s":564.56,"text":"another leap forward after all. I'll be sure to update you in another 10 years","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":562.399,"end_s":567.6,"text":"or so. So, thanks for watching, guys. If you liked this video, hit that like","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":566.24,"end_s":573.68,"text":"button. If you disliked it, you can, of course, hit the dislike button. But if it was awesome, get","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":571.32,"end_s":576.64,"text":"subscribed, hit the like button. Okay, I did this out of order. Or click that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":575.36,"end_s":581.36,"text":"link to where to buy the stuff we featured at Amazon in the video description. Also linked in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":580.08,"end_s":584.48,"text":"description is our merch store, which has cool shirts like this one and our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":583.36,"end_s":588.88,"text":"community forum, which you should totally join. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":587.2,"end_s":593.04,"text":"wondering what to watch next. So, click that little button in the top right to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":591.12,"end_s":598.32,"text":"check out our latest video over on Channel Super Fun. I guarantee it will","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":595.44,"end_s":598.32,"text":"terrify you.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"Are they launching another series? Okay, whatever. If you don't like all the series that we have now, then just treat this like a standalone video because it's cool either way. The idea here was to take topof-the-line products from a particular category. We decided on CPU water cooling for the first one, and measure just how far we've come thanks to improvements in design and manufacturing. Welcome to episode 1 of Through the Ages CPU cooling blocks. Massdrop is now featuring the AKGM220 semi-open studio headphones. Check them and other drops out at the link in the video description. So, the first step in this undertaking was to gather up CPU blocks from as far back as we possibly could. By teaming up with SwiftTech, we were able to scrape together seven of their nine blocks going all the way back to July of 2005, a span of over 10 years. So, time to get started testing them, right? Nah, that would have been too easy. The intention was to use a modern test bench to eliminate as many variables from our test as possible. And as the astute among you might have already realized, Intel's latest flagship X99 platform not only didn't exist yet, but Intel wasn't even the performance king back then. So, we needed to source modern mounting brackets for many of the blocks. Time for some DIY metal fabrication. Step one was to glue the hold down plate drawings that Swiftech modified for us onto a piece of sheet steel. Then we went to work with the aviation shears, cutting the outside edges. We drilled out the middle as much as we could with a step drill, finishing off again with the aviation shears. And finally, we center punched the holes and drilled through them with a titanium bit, cleaning things up a little bit with the Dremel. This was pretty tedious, but we didn't want to bother our friends over at Protocase to make them for us if we didn't have to. And yeah, so the Apogee GTZ required a specific plate thickness and a pretty precise cutout. So, they ended up whipping one of those up for us in the shop. So, so much for that. But anyway, thanks Proto Case. As always, you guys were lightning fast and the plate fits perfectly. Let's introduce now then the test bench that we're using. We used an Intel Core i7 6850K 6 core processor with a 246 mm squared die and a 140 W rated TDP. Though it should be noted that according to this Tom's hardware article, it's closer to 100 watts in the real world. This might be important for later. The rest of the components, in no particular order, are an ASUS X99 Deluxe 2, 32 gigs of Corsair Vengeance DDR4, a random GTX 980 Ti that wasn't connected to the water loop, making it somewhat irrelevant, and our water cooling gear, an Alphacool Nexus XP 45 triple 120 mil rad with Noctua industrial PPC fans, a D5 pump with an EKX top, and some 3/8 in Primoflex tubing. We used IC Diamond for our thermal compound. So each block was mounted using M4 screws with nylon washers to achieve the desired mounting pressure. Yeah, we were a little bit approximate here, but as I think you'll see from the results, it likely didn't matter much. Idle temps were recorded using IDA 64's logging tool after 10 minutes. Then load temps were recorded using a 3minut mean average after allowing the water temps to reach equilibrium. Room temperature was maintained by our zone controlled HVAC system at 23° C. Wow, that was boring. All right, let's meet our first contestant. This is the legendary Swifttec Storm. Designed by Cathar himself and sold to Swift for mass production back in ' 05. It features an impingement design with a midplate sporting 35 microjets that blasted turbulent water into 35 corresponding divots in its thick copper base. It was a nightmare to manufacture, making it very expensive. And its performance, while superior on bare small die single core processors, fell quickly behind as dual core and quad core CPUs with integrated heat spreaders became the norm. The story behind 2006's Appleo G was less about raw performance with 1°ree Celsius being optimistic and more about optimizing for enthusiast CPU design trends and ease of manufacturing. Thanks to the relatively simple uniform diamond pin matrix in its copper base, it was less restrictive, contributing to better liquid flow rates for multiblock loops. It handled and continues to handle large CPU dyes with heat spreaders better than the Storm. And thanks to its cheap injection molded acetal top, it was one of, if not the first legitimately mass-roduced CPU water coolers. This right here, this exact one, was my first block when I got into water cooling about 10 years ago. The followup, the Appleo GT, looks outwardly identical to the Apoge, but thanks to manufacturing improvements and an enthusiast inspired tweak to bow out the base with a thicker O-ring to compensate for Intel's less than stellar IHS flatness. It boasts slightly better performance, not Swift 1 to3° C from our measurement, but I'll comment more on that in a moment. The Apoge GTX, released shortly afterward, was basically a hot rod version of the Apple GT with the same copper base plate and then marketing that was focused more on the cool looking aluminum top that Oho ho. I guess that's probably why I couldn't find a working one for this video. Don't mix your metals, kids. Moving on, the Apple GT Z brought about significant improvements in manufacturing that allowed the small diamond pins of the Apple GT to be shrunk to only 250 microns for a claimed performance gain of 2 1/2°. Holy crap. Too bad on our 6850K, it really didn't amount to much. But back to my earlier comment about these disparities that are starting to pop up. The GTZ design was as much about optimizing for the die orientation of Intel's then flagship QX6700 quad core as about anything else. A trend that we're likely to see continue. The Apogee X-T from 2009 was, from what we can measure, the last big step forward in CPU water block performance. Sure, it was kind of restrictive, but it looked amazing. And thanks to its redesigned upper housing with the inlet centered over a much larger 250 micron pin matrix, it crushed its predecessor with our numbers nearly backing Swift claim of a 3°ree improvement. as long as you had a whopping $80 to spare. Apogee HD, which followed two full years later, rocked tweak 225 micron pins, 30% lower flow restriction to improve GPU block performance, and according to Swift, 2° better temps. Though, I suspect we'd have to pull a 3960X or something out of our hats to observe the specific optimizations that were done to achieve that result. I'm actually still happily running a limited edition gold-plated Apogee HD in my personal rig. Which leads us then finally, sorry we got lazy and skipped the Apogee XL to the Apogee XL 2, the current flagship block that is only available as part of Swift's H220 and H320 X2 kits. It features the same 225 micron fin/pin base plate as the XL, but tweaks the inlet and outlet design of the top cover for improved flow characteristics. SwiftTech claims about a degree and a half of performance over the HD, but we saw a mere half a degree improvement in spite of the five-year-old design of the HD on a modern processor, leading me to believe that most of the performance to be gained with future water blocks will come from compensating for the weird idiosyncrasies that Intel introduces with each processor generation rather than pure thermal transfer improvements. Though, I will be interested to see if the prototype SKF block that Swift Tech showed me at CES will change my mind. The fins on that sucker are so small that they can only be produced by shaving copper and bending it up into little tiny fins. Maybe there will be another leap forward after all. I'll be sure to update you in another 10 years or so. So, thanks for watching, guys. If you liked this video, hit that like button. If you disliked it, you can, of course, hit the dislike button. But if it was awesome, get subscribed, hit the like button. Okay, I did this out of order. Or click that link to where to buy the stuff we featured at Amazon in the video description. Also linked in the description is our merch store, which has cool shirts like this one and our community forum, which you should totally join. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably wondering what to watch next. So, click that little button in the top right to check out our latest video over on Channel Super Fun. I guarantee it will terrify you."}