Intimidator Series



Not that long ago we reviewed a set of homemade water blocks. here, made out of full copper.

The problem with copper is, that after a while, its starts oxidizing due to contact with air. And the shiny polish disappears. Then you have to clean up the block again, but again, after a couple of weeks already the same problem returns.

So Cees, the man behind Frigus Engineering’s, and the man who's making all these blocks, came up with a great idea. Let us make the top from a different material! Smart. The problem is, it has been done already... Plexi tops for example, but unfortunately, these things can burst... Another option is making a copper block, and putting an anodized alloy/copper top on it. It is possible you have already seen such blocks, but they probably were expensive.

The blocks from Frigus distinguish themselves from others by price. Does this leave a negative impact on the finishing and quality of the blocks? Let us find out in this review.

The Intimidator series come in two flavors being silver and blue. I received the blue version for review.

The package contained:

Intimidator S-Uni V1.0 Blue + Hold down material

Intimidator GPU-RAD-GF2/3/mx v1.0 + Hold down material

Intimidator NB VIA/SiS/nForce² v1.0 + Hold down material

689 isomo cubes (*)



Let’s look at the CPU block.

(*) Amount can be different in your package :-)

Intimidator S-Uni V1.0 Blue



The installation of this block is not very difficult. The hold down material is very similar to those use by others. I will be testing this block with a powerful and hot Athlon 64.

The overall finishing is close to perfection; the base has no mirror look, but is decently enough finished.

I have some pictures for you, but there is nothing more left for me to say about this block.

Ow, I almost forgot, for those who might be interested, here is a rendered image from the inside of the block.



More pictures:


The block installed :



And a look from above :



Installed tubing and leak testing :



The base :

Intimidator NB VIA/SiS/nForce² v1.0



Here I have the same comment as for the CPU block. However, the base from this block has a better finishing. I am not saying the bottom CPU block was bad; this was just a little better.

Once again, pictures:


The package



Block installed..



Shiny base finishing :



A closer look...



And leak testing...

Intimidator GPU-RAD-GF2/3/mx v1.0



I once had the Danger Den maze for VGA, made originally for the Geforce 2 and 3 series but it also fitted the r9x00 series. However, there was a problem with the shim ATI uses on their Radeons to protect the naked core from being crushed. No big deal, but with the Radeon 9800 for example, the core is a little bit lower then the shim. Their stock cooler is adapted to this issue, the Danger Den water block was not but Frigus’s block luckily is and I removed the shim from my 9700 pro to show you in the pictures below.

I have once again no other remarks concerning this block. It is decent looking and has a professional finishing.

The block...



Base finish...



The ATI shim I told you about :



And once again, leak testing.

Testing the blocks

Test setup:
CPU	A64 3000+ @ 2.4 Ghz 1.55 Vcore
Mainboard	Shuttle AN50R
Videocard	Radeon 9700 pro

CPU block

I used the Asetek Waterchill Kit ([M]adshrimps Review) for these tests. I quote myself from the last water block review:

	Temperatures after 60 min 100% load
Asetek Waterchill	39°C
Intimidator waterblock	39°C
Thermalright SLK948U	54°C

The Intimidator Block equals the Asetek Waterchill Block, so certainly not a bad performer at all.

Chipset block

As the Nforce³ chipset has no integrated temperature sensor, I could not really monitor the temperatures. However, I can say while using a high fsb (~250 mhz) the little passive heatsink gets extremely hot. So the water block certainly is an improvement, and it also just looks cool. :-)

VGA block

The Radeon 9700 Pro has no integrated temp sensor either, but as you probably know, and if you do not, you'll know now: Temperatures influence overclocking results. Why do you think some people pour LN² (-196 °C) over their computer parts? So the cooler you can keep your computer parts, the higher they will clock.

So I overclocked the core of my Radeon 9700 pro by using different cooling methods:

Stock cooler

Arctic Cooling VGA silencer @ lowest ([M]adshrimps review)

Intimidator water block

The Arctic VGA Silencer was set at its lowest operation mode to equal the sound level of the water cooling setup.

Core clock:

	Core clock in Mhz, artifact free after 1 hour 3d mark.
Stock Cooling	365 Mhz
VGA Silencer	375 Mhz
Intimidator Waterblock	405 Mhz

Of Course water cooling wins, no special tests were needed for this, but what does this mean, a 30 Mhz Higher core clock ?



Cleary you get a better performing GPU and an increase in FPS when playing games and all this at a lower sound level!

So, I have installed all the block setup, evaluated their performance, time for a conclusion I’d say.

Conclusion

Once again Frigus Engineering’s delivered us some above average water blocks. This time they look even better then the previous ones.

So what can I conclude? These blocks perform very well, compared to block with big names. Looks are great and so is the finishing and installation is straightforward easy.
Performance wise these blocks can stand up proud next to those of "big names".

Cost, here Frigus pulls out his Ace Card: €35 a block. Cheap isn't it? And they worth every cent of it!

We have some good news for our readers, if you decide to order three blocks through [M]adshrimps, you will get a 10 € discount. All you have to do is use the order form you get by clicking the link below!

For the readers who live outside Europe, and might be interested in these blocks, or if you just want more information: Mail Frigus Engineerings !



Buy now !


Many thanks go to Cees, the man behind Frigus Engineerings, for providing us with these blocks.

In addition, here is a last picture I would not want you to miss. This happens when you use cooling paste that is to liquid, and if you use too much pressure on your block. (This also happened with the Asetek block and the Thermalright SLK-948U.). The CPU gets ripped out of the socket due to vacuum forces created.



Questions/Comments: Forum thread.

/Piotke out