Fluid XP+ HP Watercooling Fluid Page: 1
Introduction

Since delving into the water cooling scene over 4 years ago, Fluid XP+ has been one of those products that has always intruiged me. Normally I wouldn't be able to fight the urge to purchase an intruging product, but in the case of Fluid XP+, paying over £25 for a litre of fluid was pretty much out of the question.

Fluid XP+ Bottle Fluid XP+ Bottle

However, today I received a package from the good lads at SpecialTech who have just started stocking the entire range of Fluid XP+ products, and wanted my professional opinion on how they perform compared with the standard de-ionised water that most of us use in our water cooling loops.


Specifications

Without a doubt, there's got to be something pretty special about Fluid XP+ to make it worth the money, so lets see what the guys over at fluidxp.com have to say about it:

• Environmentally Safe: Non-toxic, biodegradable, all FDA approved food grade ingredients.
• Long Lasting: 5+ year shelf life.
• Robust: Not prone to mechanical shearing (Pumping).
• Corrosive Inhibiting: Neutral pH (pH of 7) and non-electrolytic; does not cause galvanic corrosion (if spilled in system, no need to clean between chips on board etc.) or rusting.
• Non-conductive
• Versatile: Formula can be tailored for various viscosities and systems.

Ok, so first of all all the ingredients are FDA approved which essentially means that Fluid XP+ can be drank without any negative effects to your health. Possibly handy if you accidentally confuse it with a bottle of juice - but at this price I think i'd rather have a beer.

More interesting is the fact that Fluid XP+ has a shelf life of 5 years. Maintaining a water cooling loop can be quite a pain, and its certainly a big bonus if you can fill your loop and forget about it for a good few years.

Of course, one of the biggest selling points has to be that Fluid XP+ is marketed as non-conductive. This essentially means that spilling Fluid XP+ over your precious hardware will not cause any problems as electricity will not be able to pass through the fluid shorting out components. A conductivity chart can be seen below:

Fluid MicroSiemans/CM
De-ionised Water 0-10
Tap Water 250
Anti-Freeze & Water 2,750
Fluid XP+
76

As we all know - tap water is dangerous to electrical components. I can't count the number of times i've lost a mobile phone to the perils of water in the bathroom or kitchen, and for this reason I was certainly surprised to see Fluid XP+ with a conductivity level not a million miles away from tap water.



Fluid XP+ HP Watercooling Fluid Page: 2
Performance Testing

First and foremost I was interested to see if Fluid XP+ actually provided any cooling advantages over standard de-ionised water. In case you didn't already know, the thermal properties of water are extremely hard to beat, and in all honesty I only know of a few fluids that have any marginal advantage over water. The test machine specification can be seen below:

Test Setup:
CPU: Intel Core2Duo E6700 Retail @ 3.8ghz (1.6v)
Water Block: Danger Den Maze 4
Pump: Laing D5
Radiator: XSPC R120D

In the interest of a fair comparision the watercooling loop was flushed with water and left to dry over night in-between testing the de-ionised water and Fluid XP+. In addition to this, the water block was not removed from the CPU at any point thus preventing any variation in temperature due to re-mounting.

De-Ionised Water Results Fluid XP+ Results

After taking the difference in ambient temperature out of the equation, the performance difference between Fluid XP+ and de-ionised water was 0oc. This could be seen as disappointing, but what you need to remember is that Fluid XP+ is giving you the same performance benefits of untreated de-ionised water without the algae and corrosion issues.


Conductivity Testing

We've all heard the horror stories of peoples water cooling systems cracking, splitting and generally spewing highly conductive water over thousands of pounds worth of components. This is why most people avoid putting together their own water loops, and instead favor the pre-built systems. As Fluid XP+ is non-conductive this should be a problem of the past. But lets run some tests of our own to see exactly what happens when Fluid XP+ comes into contact with electricity.

The method for testing conductivity is simple: We will be taking an LCD screen, powering it up and submerging it in a container of Fluid XP+.

Click HERE for the video (5.1mb).

While Fluid XP+ did not cause any damage to the submerged LCD screen it did indeed cause the screen to power off. This would imply that although Fluid XP+ is not conductive enough to kill components it still has the ability to short circuit them, temporarily causing problems.



Fluid XP+ HP Watercooling Fluid Page: 3
Conclusion

If you're thinking of venturing into the water cooling scene for the first time but are worried about the risks involved, then Fluid XP+ could well be the answer to your problems. As the video shows, powered components submerged in Fluid XP+ are fully capable of working again after being given time to dry. Protection that you wouldn't normally get with de-ionised water or other conductive solutions.

In addition to this, Fluid XP+ also has very similar thermal performance to untreated water, making it a great candidate for those of us who want the improved temperatures associated with plain water but without the algae and corrosion.

Priced at £26.99 per litre over at SpecialTech , Fluid XP+ certainly isn't cheap. However, if you want to decrease the chances of killing your precious hardware in the event of a leak then Fluid XP+ could well be a worthwhile investment.


Pro's
• Performance as good as plain water.
• Long life of around 5 years.
• Available in lots of UV colours.
• Components covered in Fluid XP+ will live to see another day.

Con's
• Very Expensive
• Results show it still has an effect on electrical components.


Innovation Award


Thanks to the guys at SpecialTech for making this review possible.

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