HF 38 Niagara Intel Socket 1366

Aah yes, Niagara... this cooling block must be a waterfall then! So in the past we have used several items from Alphacool already, and Alphacool was one of the first out there to have a water-block ready for Nehalem socket 1366 processors (Core i7).

This company has a strong development team really, as they research water-flow, dynamics and everything that is going on inside that water-block to ensure heat dissipation is optimal and efficient.

For Core i7 they now offer several selections in water-blocks, the newest one is the HF 38 Niagara Intel Socket 1366 as tested today. A cooling block like this, combined with a proper water-cooling setup, should get our Core i7 965 processor to ~3.7 GHz easily, well in fact we have it running stable and fairly nicely cool at 4 GHz already, but we'll tell you more on that in our tests.

The all new CPU block is a shiny golden/brass design, it offers really high flow performance as it's now using 3/8" threaded fittings on the block itself.

Also, inside we spot six return flow channels which provide for quick removal of warm water. The nozzle pre-chamber and the return flow range are dimensioned on maximum values, which match perfectly the differently sized inner diameters of the tubing. Flow performance of the block is now set at up to 5,3 liters/min. Now I know some of you can drink beer faster than that, but trust me... it's a lot :)

The fastening system also got an upgrade, the springs are now hidden behind brass pipes, fitted to the core diameter and pressed by a knurled nut.

According to Alphacool the design has been carried out with massive 18mm thick POM, a 4mm strong brass mounting plate and a 1,5mm thick brass plate for visual enhancement. The brass parts are permanently protected with clear lacquer against starting and casting.

Characteristics overview:

• 3/8" connecting thread for high flow up to 5,3 liters per minute
• Direct vertical water supply into the centered incorporated pre-chamber. From there the cooling liquid is purposefully targeted at the radiator base, without water bend loss.
• 60 nozzles for 60 pins, accurately illuminated, 6 return flow channels
• Cooling performance uniformly distributed, autonomous CPU core.
• Possible use of connections with 8, 10mm (or more) inner diameter
• POM top cover/nozzle combination, mounting plate/brass plate for visual enhancement, permanently protected with clear lacquer against starting and casting.
• Electrolyte copper base plate with pin structure (pin surface covers completely CPU core) highly leveled base side, pin structure media blasted.
• The pin structure of our CPU cooler base plate was optimized and further developed on the new cooler geometry.

Alright, talk is cheap. let's run through the product and its installation with the help of a photo-shoot.