MWC60 still kicking [ass].

[NicePants42]

I recently read a nice writeup comparing the cooling performance of the MCW60 vs the DangerDen full-coverage block on the 8800GTX. I am blown away by the temperature difference here, over 10C in some cases. (I was also surprised at how loud the reviewer's water systems were, but that's another issue.)

Add in the fact that the MCW60 costs $50-$60 with RAM sinks vs. the $120+ full-coverage block. Then, consider what happens when you try to resell the hardware; water cooling enthusiasts don't keep old hardware for very long, so how much are you going to get for that full-coverage block when it comes time to sell? The MCW60 upgrades with you at little or no added expense.

I'm currently running two X1900XTs in crossfire, and they've both got full-coverage blocks with Vreg and crossfire chip attachments - the works. The blocks alone retailed for ~$150 per card. Who do you think is going to want to buy these cards to water cool when it comes time for me to upgrade in September? I think I'll be very lucky to find someone who'll pay $75 for both blocks.

If I were smart, I'd have sold the full-coverage blocks back when I got the cards and used the money to purchase MCW60s.

So now the question is how sensitive is GDDR4 to heat? Even if water cooling GDDR4 gives more overclocking headroom, I doubt the speed difference will be worth the $100 difference between the MCW60 and a full-coverage block.

[Greg King]

I can't agree with you more. The large, full coverage block do look better IMO, but I can't really ever recommend them over a single processor block coupled with simple RAM Sinks. The thing I most dislike about the full coverage block I have on my x1900 is the weight. They are just downright heavy.