Alphacool OTC Flat 8800 Water Block

Introduction

It is a well known fact that in the quest for faster processors and the subsequent increase in performance, there is an unfortunate by-product...heat! Heat is the absolute enemy of the overclocker and performance enthusiast, period! Heat not only reduces the effective overclocking headroom of a particular component, but it also, if left unchecked, can lead to failure in the long run.

With the introduction of ATI/AMD and NVIDIA's latest generation of graphics cards - the 2900 and 8800 series particularly, heat has now become a real issue for graphics card manufacturers and no longer remains a problem exclusive to CPU's. There is a clear need for better cooling.

Subsequently water-cooling is really beginning to become a viable mainstream alternative to traditional air-cooling measures. No longer is water-cooling purely the domain of the hardcore overclockers, but increasingly, it is beginning to make its way into more and more regular users homes.

The thirst for for faster graphics hardware, and consequently, the said hardware having to play catch-up with software developers (read: next gen games); alternative cooling methods are needed to tame the heat. So how do we look towards cooling these GPU's more efficiently...With water-cooling of course!

Alphacool is a name synonymous with water-cooling hardware. The German based company made a name for itself by producing quality, well-performing hardware for the PC enthusiast. However, in recent times it seemed that they simply dropped off the radar, allowing competitors to muscle in on their hard-earned market share.

Today, a revamped Alphacool seeks to restore itself back to the position that it held in the past, and continue on with manufacturing high-quality hardware as a commitment to both their current dedicated fan base and you, the prospective customer. The effort being made by Alphacool to regain lost ground is evident. From the fresh and enticing web site, through to the updated product lines, Alphacool is on a mission!

Today I have been given the opportunity to review the new Alphacool OTC Flat 8800 full-cover water block. During the performance review today the Alphacool OTC Flat  will be going head-to-head with another full-cover water block - the EK FC8800 GTS.


Anyway enough of my rambling, let's get acquainted with the review specimen...

Specifications


The OTC Flat's specifications certainly look good on paper, however, there are 2 areas that really stand out. Firstly, the OTC Flat weighs in at a mere 555 grams. That is one lightweight water block especially when compared to the 800 gram NVXP-G8.

Secondly, the OTC Flat boasts an incredible 4mm thickness which is great if you decide to have 2 of them cooling an SLI setup.

However, according to the supporting literature, it looks as if the OTC Flat really suffers when it comes to overall flow rates. I guess we'll just have to wait and see when it comes time to test.

Let's head over the page and have a closer look at the Alphacool OTC Flat water block to see what you get for your money...