Alphacool NVXP-G8 waterblock
Packaging and Contents
Published: 15th November 2007 | Source: Alphacool | Price: £54.21 |
When I received the new Alphacool NVXP-G8 water block it came in a bubble pack reminiscent of those used by memory manufacturers, but just a little deeper to accomodate the water block. The packaging in its current format offers no protection what-so-ever from over-zealous couriers. The water block itself is kept in a zip-lock plastic bag and features a silica gel sachet to minimise the effects of tarnishing or oxidation.
Chris Banks (International Sales and PR Manager for Alphacool GmbH) has told me that they are currently in the process of renewing all the packaging for their product lines, and when the new packaging is available it should look something like this.
I'm sure that you will all agree that the new packaging should provide significantly more protection.
Included in the packaging is everything that you need to water-cool your GPU, with the exception of barbs. Alphacool doesn't supply barbs with their hardware simply because they like to allow their customers to make a choice. All reputable retailers should provide a choice of barbs with the NVXP-G8, so bear this in mind.
Included in the packaging is the following items:
* 1 x Alphacool NexXxos NVXP-G8 8800GTS water block
* Mounting hardware
* Thermal pads for memory, mosfets and VRM's
* Thermal adhesive
* 1 x allen key
A Closer Look
There's a saying that first impressions are usually lasting ones...and the Alphacool NVXP-G8 is very stylish to say the least. Again like the Alphacool NexXxos X2 Bold CPU water block that we recently reviewed, it even allows for the insertion of coloured/UV LED's into the sides of the perspex top if you are so inclined.
Alphacool as a company are very commited to producing water-cooling hardware that does the job well. Further, they use thermal-imaging technology to assess the hotspots on a particular piece of kit, and design their cooling solutions around alleviating them. Although the NVXP-G8 looks very nice and the water channel routed inside the perspex looks very cool, it's a sure bet that it concentrates on the high-thermal areas of the 8800 GTS graphics card. Particularly the 8800GTS GPU core, memory and the voltage regulation modules (VRM's).
The quality of the lapping on the base of the block is exceptional. The only real marks that can be seen at the points of contact are the feint circular marks of the lapping machine. I'd even go as far as saying that the lapping on the NVXP-G8 is better than that of my EK FC8800GTS. Nice work Alphacool!
However, there is one feature of the Alphacool NVXP-G8 water block that I find just a little odd and it is the fact that you are restricted to having the inlet and outlet in one position/configuration only. I really like how configurable the EK full-cover water blocks are! Whilst it should work perfectly well with a single card setup, those with SLI may be less enthusiastic about the inclusion of some tight, flow-restrictive bends in their loop.
Let's head over the page and see how we're going to test the Alphacool NexXxos NVXP-G8 water block...
Most Recent Comments
Great review mate, I sadly can think of many improvments they could make to the design.
Sound methodology and a balanced conclusion.
I'd take the EK over the alpha due to ability to change barb direction... That and it performs better lol
I'd take the EK over the alpha due to ability to change barb direction... That and it performs better lol
Thanks guys for the feedback, it's very much appreciated as it allows me to refine the process. Is there anything else that you would like to see done in future reviews that I haven't included?
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Let the games begin