Danger Den is one of the most respected names in water cooling and I normally jump on any new product from them as soon as it comes out for testing. While the Danger Den RBX has been on the market for some time now, I somehow never managed to test it until recently. I had already worked my way through most of the information that was available online for this water block so I thought I had a good idea as to how it would perform in my usual water cooling loop — as it turned out, that was a mistaken assumption but I’ll save that for the results. On to the goods…
The RBX comes nicely packaged in a compact white box which seems to be the case with all of the blocks from Danger Den nowadays. The box label has a small picture of the water block and other relevant information such as the type of top (the RBX is available with either a poly top or a brass top) and the size of the fittings. Inside the box, one will find the block itself and a small Ziploc bag with the required mounting hardware including 4 threaded rods, 4 springs, nylon washers and nuts.
More specifically, the RBX is normally packaged as follows:
• Complete Block Assembled with Top and O-ring
• #1 Accelerator Plate
• High Flow 1/2″ or 3/8″ OD Fittings
• Mounting Hardware
• AMD anti-crush pads
• Machine Lapped and polished beyond 1200 grit
• Pressure tested before shipment to 85psi
Optional:
• Additional Nozzle Package include #2, 3, 4, 5, and one blank
• A socket wrench to remove the top’s bolts
• Brass Top
Once I removed the block from the packaging, the size of the RBX caught me a little off guard. While I had already looked at many images of the block and read the specifications long before receiving it. The size of it is still really surprising, as the RBX is much smaller than most blocks. From a quick look at the design, it is obvious that like most jet impingement style blocks, the cooling is focused entirely upon the small area of the block that rests directly over the processor’s core once the block is properly mounted. The last picture above shows the RBX (on the right) next to a more traditionally sized and shaped water block (the Demonic Cooling XTC).
As mentioned in the specs listed above, the base of the RBX is machine-lapped and polished beyond 1200 grit by Danger Den. The RBX I received had a very smooth base and there were no visible machine marks or other obvious signs of base finish defects that would hinder cooling performance.
The accelerator nozzles on the RBX are a very interesting concept. They allow the end user to adjust the water flow through the block to best suit the rest of the cooling system. The accelerator nozzle kit contains four precut nozzles and one blank for your own design. The #1 nozzle is the only one included with the block but the nozzle kit is fairly inexpensive considering the adjustability and performance tweaking it allows.
Underneath the top plate and the accelerator nozzle plate, there is a copper base that is nothing short of being the end result of some very nice CNC machine work. There are a series of “wave channels” and “heat voids” that direct water flow through the block and then out the exit barbs which are mounted on either side of the inlet barb.
That pretty much covers how the RBX comes out of the box so, let’s change it up a little.
While the RBX is an interesting enough creature in the poly-topped, 3/8″ fittings version (which is what was supplied by Directron), I cannot refuse modding gear. So I promptly brought up the Danger Den website and ordered some extra goodies including the brass top with chromed 1/2″ high-flow barbed fittings and the optional accelerator nozzle kit. Within a few days the accelerator nozzle kit the new top and other components were at my door step and I was ready for them.
Before deciding on which nozzle to go with, I talked to a barrage of water cooling enthusiasts who owned the RBX and there was a strong preference for the #4 nozzle or the #5 nozzle when a heavy duty pump was available to blast water through the more restrictive accelerator nozzles. I happened to have a pump on hand that met that description so I could not refuse the promise of increased performance. More on the pump and the rest of the test loop later.
To change out the tops or the accelerator nozzles, there are six machine screws that must be removed from the RBX. The machine screws hold the top of the block to the base and the accelerator nozzle is sandwiched inbetween the plates. Before I started loosening the screws, I came across a sticker placed on each side of the block that indicated the warranty would be void if the sticker was removed.
Voiding warranties is one of my favorite activities but it struck me as being a little odd for a block that had exchangeable parts inside which were designed for flow tweaking. I promptly checked the Danger Den site and discovered that the warranty will not be voided by removing the top. You just have the responsibility of leak testing it after you have removed it and it is reinstalled.
So, I removed the screws in the reverse order from how they would be installed (i.e. like lugnuts on a car wheel – loosen one, then the one diagonally across from it while working around the block until all of the screws were loose and could be easily removed by hand). Once screws were taken out, the top of the block lifted right off revealing the accelerator nozzle fitted into the base plate. The accelerator nozzle seals to the top plate with a neoprene gasket (extras are included with the optional accelerator kit). The accelerator nozzle has a fairly tight fit into the base so I used the tip of a small flat head screwdriver to lift the edge of the nozzle and then remove it.
Once I had the poly top removed, I checked it against the brass top. The brass version is definitely much heavier and has a very solid feel that only a nice chunk of metal can provide. Additionally, I tested a small section of the brass and it can definitely be polished to a mirror like finish if one so desires. While poly tops look nice and there are some cool points for being able to see the coolant rush through the block, a solid metal top takes the prize for durability and strength.
I must admit the #5 accelerator plate was really tempting me but I decided to test out the #4 as it looked like it might have a little lower maintenance. A small hole pattern in a block’s jet might have a bit of a performance edge but the holes also have a greater tendency to clog so I went with #4 which is a thin slot cutout design. Time for some testing.
Since the RBX was now packing the more performance oriented accelerator nozzle and a brass top I decided to give it a battle worth fighting. The processor that I had on hand was an AMD Athlon XP 2100+ but that was not enough to really stress this block. So, I promptly overclocked it and cranked up the core voltage a notch. The processor was happy enough at 210mhz front side bus with the multiplier set to 11 for a total clock speed of 2.32ghz and 1.80 core voltage. I used those settings which produces something in the range of a 94 watt heat load (as estimated by OCTool). The rest of the system used for testing consisted of an EPoX 8RDA+, 512mb (256mb x 2, dual channel) of Buffalo Technology PC3200 (with Winbond BH-5 chips) set at 2-2-2-11 and an ATi 9800 Pro. It is not the fastest system on the planet by any means but it can pump out enough heat to test just about any water cooling system.
In addition to the RBX, the following gear was used in the cooling loop:
• An Original Rainbow Lifeguard Quiet One water pump (1140gph at 0 feet)
• 3 feet of 1/2″ ID Clearflex tubing
• Weapon 302 Core and Shroud.
• Two San Ace 120mm x 38mm fans were used on the shroud to move air through the 302 core (fan model # 109R1212H1011 – approximately 103 cfm each at 12v).
To make sure I was getting solid thermal transfer between the processor’s core and the water block, I first cleaned the core and the base of the block with Arctic Silver’s new ArctiClean which is a two-step cleaning and surface preparation process. While I have used a good number of chemicals to prep these surfaces in the past, I believe I will be using ArctiClean from now on as the results it produced were very impressive and it did not leave my computer room with the odor of a toxic chemical waste dump like some of the solutions I have used. As I was a little pressed for time, I used a fast break-in thermal testing compound from Arctic Silver after prepping the surface of the block and the core.
To obtain idle temperature readings, I stressed the system with Toast for about 30 minutes and then let it set for another 15 minutes before taking the idle reading. Ambient temperatures were measured with a Radio Shack temperature probe and those on a Digi Doc 5. For load temperatures, I cranked up Toast for 2 hours and then took temperatures from the onboard sensors and a flat sensor I had placed next to the core before mounting the block. Then, I used Prime95 with the same duration and took readings from the flat sensor. The cooling performance of this block was good enough to where I had to pull it and remount it several times to verify the readings I was getting. Despite pulling the block for remounting, checking the temperature sensors, remounting, etc., the same numbers in the chart continued to pop up for each test.
Conclusion
As can be seen by the above temperature results, the RBX performed amazingly well in this cooling loop. In fact, The results were the best I have seen with this particular setup. The RBX is very reasonably priced considering the performance it offers and the overall quality of the machining on the block. Danger Den definitely hit the mark with the RBX so I give it a solid 10/10 and the OCmodshop Seal of Approval. I would like to thank Directron for making this review possible. As always, they were great to deal with and they are a top notch source for computer gear.
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