XIREX Stealth Waterblock
Packaging
I received my Xirex Stealth Waterblock in a plain brown cardboard box which is typical for many review samples. However, I’m not sure how Xirex’s packaging differs between review and retail versions of their products. Many manufacturers prefer to at least ‘beatify’ their products packaging by including at least a sticker identifying the product and a logo identifying the manufacturer.
You’ll notice the absence of any kind of protective material inside the box, but then again it’d take some serious knocks to do damage to an all copper waterblock afterall. Included in the Xirex Stealth’s packaging were:
* 1 x Xirex Stealth Waterblock;
* Mounting hardware (springs, washers etc.)
* Thermal paste.
Xirex has decided to omit the inclusion of an installation manual in this review sample which isn’t an issue, and according to their FAQ section on their website they do in fact include one in the retail version.
A Closer Look
The Xirex Stealth certainly looks quite striking in black and its built in universal adaptor plate is certainly a lot less likely to cause compatibility issues like some waterblock’s out there. The copper base is nice and flat, but not without the inclusion of reasonably deep lapping marks.
The image below (left) further illustrates the amount of lapping marks present on the Stealth’s copper base. The lower right image also illustrates the extremely low profile nature of the Xirex Stealth Waterblock.
The keen eyed amongst you would have noticed some irregularities present in both the inlet and outlet of the Xirex Stealth. To be honest, I’m not 100% sure what the odd build-up is but it certainly looks like leftover weld material where the brass inlet/outlet seats were attached to the copper block itself. Regardless, it doesn’t look incredibly inviting and hopefully it won’t diminish the potential cooling performance of the block.
Apart from a few little niggles the Xirex Steallth certainly looks like a sharp little waterblock, and hopefully one that performs as well as it looks. Let’s head over the page to see how we’re going to test the sample…
