Vadim to make its own waterblocks

Posted at: 12:00pm 29th August 2007 by Ben Hardwidge

Custom-made VGA block promises universal compatibility and massive temperature reductions

British computer retailer Vadim has announced an ambitious scheme to take on the likes of Danger Den and Alpha Cool with its own custom-made waterblocks.

The first waterblock to come off the mill will be the Blastflow Siberian Modular VGA block, and Vadim has even applied for a patent for its concept and manufacturing process. The company’s owner, Vadim Chobanu, explained to Custom PC that ‘by analysing and measuring a good dozen graphics cards, we came up with the dimensions that will allow us to use the block on all high-end graphics cards produced to date, and probably the next generations too.’

Specific details on the waterblock's performance won't be available until the end of the week, when Vadim has finished all of its testing, but early indications are that it's going to be very efficient. The block hooks up to 1/4in connectors, and Vadim recommends using a high-flow loop for the best results.

Apart from the block’s performance, Vadim reckons that its other main selling point is its wide compatibility with just about every graphics card. This was achieved by making the waterblock modular, so you only need to replace the cooling plate (which costs £20) when you upgrade your graphics card. The cooling plate can be made from either copper or anodised aluminium, and it’s this modular design with a replaceable cooling plate that forms the basis of the patent.

‘The diagonally placed cuts are the actual secret of it being compatible with the majority of high end graphics cards,’ explained Chobanu. ‘The only part that ever needs to be purchased to upgrade is the cooling plate, and we intend to make them for the next generation of cards as quickly as a week after their launch dates. Obviously, ATi or Nvidia can go against their standard placing of the mounting holes in respect to the GPU, but that would just be an inefficient use of the PCB space, so I cant see it happening unless they want to reinvent the wheel.’ Vadim also says that the top-threaded connector will allow you to use the block with dual-cards such as the GeForce 7950GX2.

So why would an independent computer retailer design its own waterblocks when there are several specialist companies already delivering the goods? ‘Everything started around November last year,’ explained Chobanu, ‘when we were waiting three weeks for a prepaid order of 8800 GTX waterblocks from a German company, and they couldn’t even deliver the full order so we had a refund instead. That’s why we made the decision to work on designing and making our own waterblocks.’ Vadim then acquired a CNC machine, and started cranking out the prototypes until there was a final design that made everyone ‘happy enough with not only the temperatures of the GPU, but also the memory and the VRMs.’

A kit comprising the new waterblock and a cooling plate for GeForce 8800 GTX cards will be released on 31 August at a price of £117.50 inc VAT, and Vadim promises that new cooling plates for GeForce 8800 GTS and Radeon HD X2900XT cards will follow in September, as well as copper cooling plates. Chobanu was also keen to point out that ‘obviously, the price will come down in time.