WEBVTT 00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:07.040 Are they launching another 00:00:04.839 --> 00:00:10.559 series? Okay, whatever. If you don't like all the series that we have now, 00:00:08.880 --> 00:00:15.839 then just treat this like a standalone video because it's cool either way. The 00:00:13.120 --> 00:00:20.400 idea here was to take topof-the-line products from a particular category. We 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:26.160 decided on CPU water cooling for the first one, and measure just how far 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:32.880 we've come thanks to improvements in design and manufacturing. Welcome to 00:00:29.039 --> 00:00:35.010 episode 1 of Through the Ages CPU 00:00:32.880 --> 00:00:39.959 cooling 00:00:42.760 --> 00:00:49.039 blocks. Massdrop is now featuring the 00:00:46.039 --> 00:00:51.280 AKGM220 semi-open studio headphones. 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:56.000 Check them and other drops out at the link in the video description. 00:00:54.079 --> 00:01:01.680 So, the first step in this undertaking was to gather up CPU blocks from as far 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:06.159 back as we possibly could. By teaming up with SwiftTech, we were able to scrape 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:12.880 together seven of their nine blocks going all the way back to July of 2005, 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:15.360 a span of over 10 years. So, time to get 00:01:12.880 --> 00:01:20.400 started testing them, right? Nah, that would have been too easy. The intention 00:01:18.000 --> 00:01:26.080 was to use a modern test bench to eliminate as many variables from our 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:28.400 test as possible. And as the astute 00:01:26.080 --> 00:01:35.119 among you might have already realized, Intel's latest flagship X99 platform not 00:01:32.079 --> 00:01:37.840 only didn't exist yet, but Intel wasn't 00:01:35.119 --> 00:01:43.119 even the performance king back then. So, we needed to source modern mounting 00:01:40.320 --> 00:01:49.600 brackets for many of the blocks. Time for some DIY metal fabrication. Step one 00:01:47.119 --> 00:01:55.040 was to glue the hold down plate drawings that Swiftech modified for us onto a 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:59.759 piece of sheet steel. Then we went to work with the aviation shears, cutting 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:03.520 the outside edges. We drilled out the middle as much as we could with a step 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:08.160 drill, finishing off again with the aviation shears. And finally, we center 00:02:06.240 --> 00:02:12.400 punched the holes and drilled through them with a titanium bit, cleaning 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:16.720 things up a little bit with the Dremel. This was pretty tedious, but we didn't 00:02:14.959 --> 00:02:21.400 want to bother our friends over at Protocase to make them for us if we 00:02:19.280 --> 00:02:27.520 didn't have to. And yeah, so the Apogee GTZ required a 00:02:25.440 --> 00:02:31.599 specific plate thickness and a pretty precise cutout. So, they ended up 00:02:29.760 --> 00:02:35.680 whipping one of those up for us in the shop. So, so much for that. But anyway, 00:02:33.440 --> 00:02:39.680 thanks Proto Case. As always, you guys were lightning fast and the plate fits 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:45.760 perfectly. Let's introduce now then the test bench that we're using. We used an 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:50.400 Intel Core i7 6850K 6 core processor 00:02:45.760 --> 00:02:52.560 with a 246 mm squared die and a 140 W 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:56.959 rated TDP. Though it should be noted that according to this Tom's hardware 00:02:54.400 --> 00:03:01.440 article, it's closer to 100 watts in the real world. This might be important for 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:06.480 later. The rest of the components, in no particular order, are an ASUS X99 Deluxe 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:10.640 2, 32 gigs of Corsair Vengeance DDR4, a random GTX 980 Ti that wasn't connected 00:03:09.120 --> 00:03:16.800 to the water loop, making it somewhat irrelevant, and our water cooling gear, 00:03:12.959 --> 00:03:19.519 an Alphacool Nexus XP 45 triple 120 mil 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:26.000 rad with Noctua industrial PPC fans, a D5 pump with an EKX top, and some 3/8 in 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:31.680 Primoflex tubing. We used IC Diamond for our thermal compound. So each block was 00:03:28.959 --> 00:03:36.000 mounted using M4 screws with nylon washers to achieve the desired mounting 00:03:33.959 --> 00:03:40.560 pressure. Yeah, we were a little bit approximate here, but as I think you'll 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:46.000 see from the results, it likely didn't matter much. Idle temps were recorded 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:51.280 using IDA 64's logging tool after 10 minutes. Then load temps were recorded 00:03:48.400 --> 00:03:55.440 using a 3minut mean average after allowing the water temps to reach 00:03:53.120 --> 00:03:59.480 equilibrium. Room temperature was maintained by our zone controlled HVAC 00:03:57.519 --> 00:04:05.200 system at 23° C. Wow, that was boring. All right, 00:04:02.400 --> 00:04:12.319 let's meet our first contestant. This is the legendary Swifttec Storm. Designed 00:04:08.560 --> 00:04:15.120 by Cathar himself and sold to Swift for 00:04:12.319 --> 00:04:20.959 mass production back in ' 05. It features an impingement design with a 00:04:17.440 --> 00:04:24.160 midplate sporting 35 microjets that 00:04:20.959 --> 00:04:27.040 blasted turbulent water into 35 00:04:24.160 --> 00:04:33.240 corresponding divots in its thick copper base. It was a nightmare to manufacture, 00:04:30.639 --> 00:04:39.520 making it very expensive. And its performance, while superior on bare 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:44.720 small die single core processors, fell quickly behind as dual core and quad 00:04:42.479 --> 00:04:51.840 core CPUs with integrated heat spreaders became the norm. The story behind 2006's 00:04:48.720 --> 00:04:55.360 Appleo G was less about raw performance 00:04:51.840 --> 00:04:58.400 with 1°ree Celsius being optimistic and 00:04:55.360 --> 00:05:02.240 more about optimizing for enthusiast CPU 00:04:58.400 --> 00:05:05.280 design trends and ease of manufacturing. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:08.000 Thanks to the relatively simple uniform 00:05:05.280 --> 00:05:12.800 diamond pin matrix in its copper base, it was less restrictive, contributing to 00:05:10.400 --> 00:05:17.520 better liquid flow rates for multiblock loops. It handled and continues to 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:22.320 handle large CPU dyes with heat spreaders better than the Storm. And 00:05:19.840 --> 00:05:29.280 thanks to its cheap injection molded acetal top, it was one of, if not the 00:05:26.320 --> 00:05:34.479 first legitimately mass-roduced CPU water coolers. This right here, this 00:05:31.520 --> 00:05:39.600 exact one, was my first block when I got into water cooling about 10 years ago. 00:05:36.880 --> 00:05:45.199 The followup, the Appleo GT, looks outwardly identical to the Apoge, but 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:50.080 thanks to manufacturing improvements and an enthusiast inspired tweak to bow out 00:05:48.400 --> 00:05:55.240 the base with a thicker O-ring to compensate for Intel's less than stellar 00:05:51.840 --> 00:05:58.880 IHS flatness. It boasts slightly better 00:05:55.240 --> 00:06:00.479 performance, not Swift 1 to3° C from our 00:05:58.880 --> 00:06:04.960 measurement, but I'll comment more on that in a moment. The Apoge GTX, 00:06:03.520 --> 00:06:10.000 released shortly afterward, was basically a hot rod version of the Apple 00:06:06.880 --> 00:06:11.759 GT with the same copper base plate and 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:18.479 then marketing that was focused more on the cool looking aluminum top 00:06:14.759 --> 00:06:20.240 that Oho ho. I guess that's probably why 00:06:18.479 --> 00:06:26.560 I couldn't find a working one for this video. Don't mix your metals, kids. 00:06:22.880 --> 00:06:28.240 Moving on, the Apple GT Z brought about 00:06:26.560 --> 00:06:33.919 significant improvements in manufacturing that allowed the small 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:42.960 diamond pins of the Apple GT to be shrunk to only 250 microns for a claimed 00:06:38.479 --> 00:06:46.000 performance gain of 2 1/2°. Holy crap. 00:06:42.960 --> 00:06:48.800 Too bad on our 6850K, it really didn't 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:54.880 amount to much. But back to my earlier comment about these disparities that are 00:06:51.440 --> 00:06:57.680 starting to pop up. The GTZ design was 00:06:54.880 --> 00:07:04.319 as much about optimizing for the die orientation of Intel's then flagship 00:07:00.520 --> 00:07:06.000 QX6700 quad core as about anything else. 00:07:04.319 --> 00:07:13.120 A trend that we're likely to see continue. The Apogee X-T from 2009 was, 00:07:10.080 --> 00:07:15.479 from what we can measure, the last big 00:07:13.120 --> 00:07:20.720 step forward in CPU water block performance. Sure, it was kind of 00:07:17.520 --> 00:07:22.880 restrictive, but it looked amazing. And 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:30.560 thanks to its redesigned upper housing with the inlet centered over a much 00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:33.840 larger 250 micron pin matrix, it crushed 00:07:30.560 --> 00:07:36.360 its predecessor with our numbers nearly 00:07:33.840 --> 00:07:42.560 backing Swift claim of a 3°ree improvement. as long as you had a 00:07:38.400 --> 00:07:45.039 whopping $80 to spare. Apogee HD, which 00:07:42.560 --> 00:07:51.599 followed two full years later, rocked tweak 225 micron pins, 30% lower flow 00:07:49.520 --> 00:07:56.800 restriction to improve GPU block performance, and according to Swift, 2° 00:07:54.639 --> 00:08:01.039 better temps. Though, I suspect we'd have to pull a 3960X or something out of 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:05.280 our hats to observe the specific optimizations that were done to achieve 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:09.599 that result. I'm actually still happily running a limited edition gold-plated 00:08:06.960 --> 00:08:14.960 Apogee HD in my personal rig. Which leads us then finally, sorry we got lazy 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:20.560 and skipped the Apogee XL to the Apogee XL 2, the current flagship block that is 00:08:18.240 --> 00:08:28.240 only available as part of Swift's H220 and H320 X2 kits. It features the same 00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:30.160 225 micron fin/pin base plate as the XL, 00:08:28.240 --> 00:08:34.880 but tweaks the inlet and outlet design of the top cover for improved flow 00:08:32.159 --> 00:08:39.839 characteristics. SwiftTech claims about a degree and a half of performance over 00:08:36.719 --> 00:08:41.599 the HD, but we saw a mere half a degree 00:08:39.839 --> 00:08:46.800 improvement in spite of the five-year-old design of the HD on a 00:08:44.640 --> 00:08:50.800 modern processor, leading me to believe that most of the performance to be 00:08:48.640 --> 00:08:55.360 gained with future water blocks will come from compensating for the weird 00:08:53.040 --> 00:09:00.880 idiosyncrasies that Intel introduces with each processor generation rather 00:08:57.920 --> 00:09:05.839 than pure thermal transfer improvements. Though, I will be interested to see if 00:09:03.120 --> 00:09:11.440 the prototype SKF block that Swift Tech showed me at CES will change my mind. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:16.320 The fins on that sucker are so small that they can only be produced by 00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:20.560 shaving copper and bending it up into little tiny fins. Maybe there will be 00:09:18.480 --> 00:09:24.560 another leap forward after all. I'll be sure to update you in another 10 years 00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:27.600 or so. So, thanks for watching, guys. If you liked this video, hit that like 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:33.680 button. If you disliked it, you can, of course, hit the dislike button. But if it was awesome, get 00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:36.640 subscribed, hit the like button. Okay, I did this out of order. Or click that 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:41.360 link to where to buy the stuff we featured at Amazon in the video description. Also linked in the 00:09:40.080 --> 00:09:44.480 description is our merch store, which has cool shirts like this one and our 00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:48.880 community forum, which you should totally join. Now that you're done doing all that stuff, you're probably 00:09:47.200 --> 00:09:53.040 wondering what to watch next. So, click that little button in the top right to 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:58.320 check out our latest video over on Channel Super Fun. I guarantee it will 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:58.320 terrify you.