Introduction

Watercooling is starting to become more and more prevalent in the computer enthusiast market. Recently companies like Koolance, Swiftech, and even Corsair have all stepped up their watercooling efforts. Danger Den has been there since the beginning, always designing a high quality product for those who are willing to put H20 close to a bunch of electrical components. Recently Danger Den has come out with its brand spank'n new RBX block which is the successor to the Maze 4; The Maze 4 being the pinnacle of watercooling blocks available in the enthusiast community. The Maze 4 Powerkit with the RBX block is what we at Viperlair will be reviewing today.

Packaging

Danger Den packages its kits simply in a standard card box, with all the items you need inside. Clearly visible on the top is the tubing and the pump.

The Parts

Inside the large box are smaller boxes. Starting from the top right, clockwise, we have the Hydor L30 320GPH aquarium submersible pump, the RBX AMD waterblock, the Maze4 AMD waterblock (not being reviewed in this article), (in the bubble wrap) the laser cut dual 3 ½" bay reservoir, the Sunon KD1212PTB1-6AF 120mm 90CFM fan, a small tube of arctic silver 5, a small bottle of red line water wetter, the fittings, and the Black Ice Xtreme radiator.

Here is the same items, unwrapped an in the same order.

The Black Ice Xtreme radiator features a wavy fin design standard for any radiator. This radiator in particular has two passes and two rows, making for an excellent radiator. Although not very visible in this particular picture, the radiator has a sparkly blue finish. It's a perfect radiator to show off.

The picture below shows the Sunon fan on top of the Black Ice Xtreme, and also gives you a good idea of how large the radiator is, and how large the pump is as well. The Sunon KD1212PTB1-6AF 120mm Fan fan is rated at 90CFM, 3100 RPM, and 44.5 dB. It's an adequate fan for the job, but I wish that Danger Den would have had something rated at 120+ CFM.

The Hydor water pump features intake through the front (shown with the submersible front end here), and then it pumps the water through the top. The two fittings which have barbs on them go on the top and front to facilitate tubing. This particular pump is rated at 320GPH. However that is a number it will probably never meet, due to the fact that it will be used in a closed loop system, and not in an open ended system.

The 3 ½" laser cut reservoir shown here comes with 3 barbs and 2 plugs, for 4 holes (one of which is the filler hole which should't have barbs attached to it). If one is using the Maze4, you'll only need two barbs (one enterance, one exit), where as the RBX requires three (two enterances and one exit), due to it's dual exiting pipes. Also notice that this picture shows what the fittings looks like with and without the rubber sealers on them, which have to be put on. The quality of the reservoir is good and thick, but there is some bubbling characteristic of laser cutting. To be perfectly honest, not a whole lot of work was done making angles on the reservoir either.

Seven Feet of ½" thick tubing, only the largest diameter available for all your watercooling needs. This stuff is very thick which affects its pliability, but definitely worth it.

Water wetter and AS5. Not a whole lot to say here.

Sparkletts distilled water. Probably the only thing needed for the setup that doesn't come with the kit. I bought a brand-name, not necessarily necessary for the setup, any distilled water will do.

The RBX block and its fittings shown below. The basic design premise is to have water directly poured onto the core which is a "design flaw" of most water block which has water poured from one side of the block to the other. Directly underneath the center intake of the RBX block is 6 curvy fins which create turbulence and help to dissipate heat better than conventional designs. The two other ports on either side are used to exhaust the water, helping the fluid move out of the block quickly and hopefully with less pressure. So in other words 100% of the water intakes through the center, and 50% exit through each of the exhaust ports. This design seems to be superior to other designs.

The bottom of the waterblock is so shiny one can see the reflection of the ceiling wood paneling while looking down on it.

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