Alphacool CORE 1 CPU block - bulging with danger of splitting?

[BoggledBeagle]

I examined Alphacool CORE 1 CPU block which I got a few weeks ago directly from the manufacturer, the block package has a little round sticker on it indicating, that the block may have been made in January 2024.

I inspected the block using my ink method described here:

How to check flatness of CPUs and coolers - INK and OPTICAL INTERFERENCE methods | TechPowerUp Forums

and found out that the block has an extremely strong bulge in the middle:



After inspecting it closer I found, that the block surface is deformed along the water channel cuts, you can see that here:



Especially on the outer edges the change of shape is so notable, that I fear the the block may split in those areas. This is obviously caused by the water channels being cut very deep and leaving little material to maintain mechanical integrity of the base. Another cause is a thick rubber sheet stuffed under the base, which has marks on it proving that it is subjected to high pressure.



I tried removing the sheet and running the block without it. The bulge disappeared, but I could not judge the flatness because of the raised parts in the corners:



In any case, the paste imprints after removing the block from the CPU look good:



Compare that to the original imprints of the bulging block:



You can see a thin layer of the paste just in the area of the bulge, and very thick layer of the paste especially on the right ride.

I performed a test with heat load of 253W. The temperature under the same conditions (average over all cores) was 68-69°C with the original bulging block and a degree higher with the rubber sheet completely removed and better block to CPU contact. Removing the rubber sheet may have caused some water to bypass the cooling channels and flow above them.

I am convinced that with the rubber sheet that is thinner and will not cause so extreme pressure build-up under the base and bulging and a bit shallower water channel cuts improving mechanical base integrity the performance of the block would be close to the same as of the current version of the block, which is bursting at the seams.

I noticed that the block with no other signs of use had such bubbles under the protective foil, that happen when you remove the foill and return it. Is somebody in Germany inspecting the blocks when they arrive from the manufacturer, if they are not close to splitting - you could recognise it by how sharp those deformation edges on the surface would appear.

Have you heard about a case when this block split?

Is my block a lemon, or are all these blocks like this?

If they are intended to be made this way, I really do not think it was a good idea.

 

[ir_cow]

Check out the IHS and you'll see that is has a slight concave to it. This is why a lot of blocks have a bulge.

If you really want it flat. Sand it down with 2000 Grit.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

Well, IHS on my CPU is bulging out - it is mounted with an optional mounting frame.

If you tried to grind this block flat, you would probably end up opening some water channels. The remaining material on the base is so thin, that the block deformes along the water channel cuts. You can clearly see it in the second photo.

You need to tune the thickness of the rubber sheet to make this particular block flat, or to reduce the amount of curvature. Removing it completely does not seem to be the best solution - you can see in the paste imprints without the rubber sheet that in the middle there is a bit more paste than at the edges - the block without any rubber sheet is probably a little bit concave.

BTW I do not think that this sheet needs to be made from rubber, some thinner plastic sheet would probably work just fine.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

I just sent some questions to the manufacturer.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

I received the information from Alphacool:

... that the copper plate is formed to the outside (convex) is normal and intended. Our water blocks are designed to use with the original ILM and socket. If you are using a mounting frame the water block can´t be mounted as intended and is not working properly. From the photos on your post, I can´t see any problems with the water block and it is made as intended. Please use and mount the water block as written in the manual on the original ILM of your socket without a mounting frame.

It also seems they have no plan of making a frue flat block - my question about this was left unanswered.

The good performance of this block is of course partly caused by the choice of making the block base really thin and then shaping it to fit Intel bananas (CPUs shaped by the stock ILM) by shoving a thick rubber piece under it and deforming it. I do not like this approach of brute forcing the metal sheet to desired shape by pushing on it and putting a strain on it, I would much rather see a normal "relaxed sturdy piece of metal" shaped by machining.

So if I want this block to be flat and work well with my CPU mounted with the mounting frame and relieve some of the strain, I will need to find some plastic sheet thinner than the stock rubber sheet myself and swap it.

 

[ShrimpBrime]

If your very thin plate testing glass piece doesn't split over than 3 thousands of an inch when pressed down, I highly highly doubt the block will split. Where do you make this stuff up from?

All the pictures with thermal paste look extremely normal with hardly any anomalies.

Danger of splitting. Give us readers a break from the BS please.

 

[Vya Domus]

There is no way a sheet of mental, even if it's quite thin, will split like that.

If you make the cold plate "sturdier" that means making it thicker = worse thermal transfer, if you make it flat this will also result in worse thermal transfer because the IHS on most CPUs isn't flat either, it's better to have it be convex so that it always exerts pressure on the IHS.

Also you're not using your common sense here, even if the clod plate is under a lot of outwards pressure because it's pressed against another piece of metal, the IHS, that means it's just being compressed. How is it ever going to split if there is physically no room for it to expand further ?

 

[BoggledBeagle]

There is no way a sheet of metal, even if it's quite thin, will split like that.

Really? You machine a slot in the metal, then bend and pull the metal exactly in the place of the stress points left in the metal by imperfect machining process, and you believe that it is perfectly ok and nothing bad can ever happen? I may agree with you in the places I indicated blue, because in that places you are bending and pulling undisturbed and nickel plated upper part of the block. The red spots are the problematic parts, because you are stressing and opening up a disturbed metal.

EDIT: I just realised that the machined parts are then nickel plated as well, it would be interesting to see how the bottoms of the water channels really look, how rough they are and how the plating works at that areas.

If you make the cold plate "sturdier" that means making it thicker = worse thermal transfer

I would gladly sacrifise one or two °C for a sturdier block. This block is flimsy, deformed and bursting at the seams with pressurised rubber. I just invented a nick name for this block: "a rubber bomb".

EINE GUMMIBOMBE

 

[ShrimpBrime]

There is no way a sheet of mental, even if it's quite thin, will split like that.

Also you're not using your common sense here,

the plate would have to bend probably 30° or more to split. Copper is a softer metal, pliable compared to steel. But try to bend a cold plate with a couple pliers by hand. If it bends, it would take all your strength.

Common sense. It's heavily lacking. These minor variations seemingly has our friend really digging deep for something that isn't there.

 

[Steevo]

Without using a depth probe to determine the material thickness at the bottom of the cut you are flying blind with assumptions of it splitting.

If the base is copper and machined then plated in nickel it will flex, as copper is a ductile metal, without splitting, the tiny amount of flex for mounting will not harm it at all. It might if you mounted it hundreds of times it might become work hardened and cracked, but you are in no danger of it bursting with it being supported and the tiny pressure your pump applies.


For reference, copper pipe that lasts forever in homes at 60PSI and experiences spikes of over 150PSI is .030 to .035 thick. Or .76mm to .89mm

Reinstall it with the rubber to get better cooling, which is the engineered and designed purpose. Also try distilled water, and a surface tension reducer that will also help lubricate the pump and I bet you won't have to touch it for years.

 

[Vya Domus]

Really

Yes, really. The metal wouldn't bend and split like you are describing, there is simply not enough pressure to cause something like that. I don't think you realize just how much force it would take to do that.

This block is flimsy, deformed and bursting at the seams with pressurised rubber.Really

I bet most blocks out there are built pretty much in the exact same way.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

Without using a depth probe to determine the material thickness at the bottom of the cut you are flying blind with assumptions of it splitting.

If the base is copper and machined then plated in nickel it will flex, as copper is a ductile metal, without splitting, the tiny amount of flex for mounting will not harm it at all. It might if you mounted it hundreds of times it might become work hardened and cracked, but you are in no danger of it bursting with it being supported and the tiny pressure your pump applies.

For reference, copper pipe that lasts forever in homes at 60PSI and experiences spikes of over 150PSI is .030 to .035 thick. Or .76mm to .89mm

Reinstall it with the rubber to get better cooling, which is the engineered and designed purpose. Also try distilled water, and a surface tension reducer that will also help lubricate the pump and I bet you won't have to touch it for years.

I tried to get some idea how deep the cuts are with a piece of paper with some markings on it and the cuts are deep.

The theory is one thing, a second thing and reality is that this block is pretty cheap and I do not expect a perfection - for example you can see that the "teeth" are not perfectly straight, you can see that the third row from below is shifted by a half tooth width in comparison with the row below. If was this way when I first opened the block. The question is if the design idea of a precisely machined block base can be safely put into life with the available manufacturing quality.

I do not want the block to be so extremely bulged and I cannot use the thick rubber.

Yes, really. The metal wouldn't bend and split like you are describing, there is simply not enough pressure to cause something like that. I don't think you realize just how much force it would take to do that.

Again, the block is cheap probably made from recycled copper, a lot of things can happen.

I bet most blocks out there are built pretty much in the exact same way.

This block performs so well just because they took this step into a dangerous territory, which other manufacturers did not dare to take. Possibly for a good reason.

 

[Keullo-e]

Never heard of an exploding waterblock and I'm sure that this won't explode either.

 

[thesmokingman]

Clueless... /smh

 

[maxfly]

if you mounted it hundreds of times it might become work hardened and cracked, but you are in no danger of it bursting with it being supported and the tiny pressure your pump applies.

Exactly this.

Once the block has been mounted (properly), there is literally zero chance of it popping open. It isn't going to catastrophically fail because of a piece of rubber. Unless the mounting hardware somehow breaks or is used incorrectly, that in and of itself will guarantee your block won't break.

BTW, inserts are nothing new. Swiftech used them as far back as the early 2000s, EK has used them, Koolance used them etc etc and so on. So yeah, Other manufacturers have in fact stepped there.

Believe it or not, Alphacool really does have a competent R&D team or they wouldn't be nearly as successful as they are. Which is likely why you received the response they gave.
Alphacooleddy is our resident contact iirc (I may have his name wrong) he's easy to find. I'm certain he would be happy to explain how your block is designed to work.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

I would get it if you were bending and stretching a smooth sheet of high quality metal.

• This on the other hand is not a high price product.
• The base is most likely made from recycled lower purity copper - I do not mean chemical composition, but some macroscopic impurities.
• The bending and stretching is done it the area of a cut groove, which is impossible to make 100% smooth in ideal conditions, and the real manufacturing conditions may be less than ideal
• I doubt that the plating down in the cuts will be impeccable.
• You can see that the bits between cuts (teeth) are irregular - most of them are bent - indicates less than ideal conditions in manufacture and assembly.
• You can see that the base itself is not a plane, but is diagonally bent or misshaped - there are only three corners visible in the overall ink shot - indicates less than ideal conditions in manufacture.
• The screws in the aluminium top are pretty uncomfortably loose - the threads are not cut very tight.

I am far from saying that this block is a junk, but it simply feels like the engineers (designers) are probably putting too much faith in what this block can really provide.

BTW I cannot rule out that my sample is a lemon, or a previously returned block from another customer (I already mentioned the bubbles under the protective foil), and that I might have more positive feeling from another sample, but the crucial problem illustrated clearly in post number 8 would be still there.

 

[Steevo]

Short of you setting up a depth micrometer to determine the thickness of the base like this

or cutting it in half to get an accurate measurement.

I seriously doubt your ability to estimate the thickness of the material, this is when 99.9% of us rely on their warranty, and knowing that there are tolerances.

If you feel they are providing a subpar product that cools worse when you modify it, buy CNC machines and make your own to show us how it's done.

 

[A Computer Guy]

I examined Alphacool CORE 1 CPU block which I got a few weeks ago directly from the manufacturer, the block package has a little round sticker on it indicating, that the block may have been made in January 2024.

I inspected the block using my ink method described here:

How to check flatness of CPUs and coolers - INK and OPTICAL INTERFERENCE methods | TechPowerUp Forums

and found out that the block has an extremely strong bulge in the middle:

View attachment 344620

After inspecting it closer I found, that the block surface is deformed along the water channel cuts, you can see that here:

View attachment 344621

Especially on the outer edges the change of shape is so notable, that I fear the the block may split in those areas. This is obviously caused by the water channels being cut very deep and leaving little material to maintain mechanical integrity of the base. Another cause is a thick rubber sheet stuffed under the base, which has marks on it proving that it is subjected to high pressure.

View attachment 344622 View attachment 344623

I tried removing the sheet and running the block without it. The bulge disappeared, but I could not judge the flatness because of the raised parts in the corners:

View attachment 344624

In any case, the paste imprints after removing the block from the CPU look good:

View attachment 344625 View attachment 344626 View attachment 344627

Compare that to the original imprints of the bulging block:

View attachment 344628 View attachment 344629 View attachment 344630

You can see a thin layer of the paste just in the area of the bulge, and very thick layer of the paste especially on the right ride.

I performed a test with heat load of 253W. The temperature under the same conditions (average over all cores) was 68-69°C with the original bulging block and a degree higher with the rubber sheet completely removed and better block to CPU contact. Removing the rubber sheet may have caused some water to bypass the cooling channels and flow above them.

I am convinced that with the rubber sheet that is thinner and will not cause so extreme pressure build-up under the base and bulging and a bit shallower water channel cuts improving mechanical base integrity the performance of the block would be close to the same as of the current version of the block, which is bursting at the seams.

I noticed that the block with no other signs of use had such bubbles under the protective foil, that happen when you remove the foill and return it. Is somebody in Germany inspecting the blocks when they arrive from the manufacturer, if they are not close to splitting - you could recognise it by how sharp those deformation edges on the surface would appear.

Have you heard about a case when this block split?

Is my block a lemon, or are all these blocks like this?

If they are intended to be made this way, I really do not think it was a good idea.

I'm not sure I understand this. Are you overtightening your block? Custom loop pressures are low so you only need to ensure a tight seal not a 10 bar pressure resistant seal.

 

[Keullo-e]

I'm not sure I understand this. Are you overtightening your block? Custom loop pressures are low so you only need to ensure a tight seal not a 10 bar pressure resistant seal.

I'm pretty sure that overtightening will most likely ruin the screws anyway and nothing else. I'm totally confused what OP is meaning as well.

 

[A Computer Guy]

I'm pretty sure that overtightening will most likely ruin the screws anyway and nothing else. I'm totally confused what OP is meaning as well.

My thought was if you overtighten you could deform your cold plate along the lines of the gasket.
Severity depends on the rigidity of the cold plate and density along the path of the gasket as it's compressed.

My understanding is gaskets will deteriorate over time so marks on the surfaces of the metal outlining their point of contact is normal in conjunction with deposits of materials (plasticizer, additives, etc...) from the fluid wedged near the edges of contact.

I think the observed deformation of the block is a non-issue. Obviously the cuts for the fins on the other side change the density of the metal in the area allowing it to flex more under stress and/or temperature compared to the rest of the plate and essentially one can see the bends via changes in the reflection of light. When mounting the cooler to a CPU your not going to be putting so much stress on the plate that cracks the metal at the bottom of the micro fin channel unless it's some really shit metal. Just my opinion.

 

[xmanrigger]

I would get it if you were bending and stretching a smooth sheet of high quality metal.

• This on the other hand is not a high price product.
• The base is most likely made from recycled lower purity copper - I do not mean chemical composition, but some macroscopic impurities.
• The bending and stretching is done it the area of a cut groove, which is impossible to make 100% smooth in ideal conditions, and the real manufacturing conditions may be less than ideal
• I doubt that the plating down in the cuts will be impeccable.
• You can see that the bits between cuts (teeth) are irregular - most of them are bent - indicates less than ideal conditions in manufacture and assembly.
• You can see that the base itself is not a plane, but is diagonally bent or misshaped - there are only three corners visible in the overall ink shot - indicates less than ideal conditions in manufacture.
• The screws in the aluminium top are pretty uncomfortably loose - the threads are not cut very tight.

I am far from saying that this block is a junk, but it simply feels like the engineers (designers) are probably putting too much faith in what this block can really provide.

BTW I cannot rule out that my sample is a lemon, or a previously returned block from another customer (I already mentioned the bubbles under the protective foil), and that I might have more positive feeling from another sample, but the crucial problem illustrated clearly in post number 8 would be still there.

LOLOLOLOL! Please share with us all how you came to this assumption. Are you a metallurgist?

Back in the EK-Gate fiasco, there were thousands of keyboard metallurgist claiming Eddie was using bunk copper. Guess what? He was using the best anyone could get their hands on.

 

[BoggledBeagle]

I have no idea what overtightening are you guys talking about, I am aware of the loose screws in the alu top and I am very careful with them. The main O-ring is in a groove and the base goes metal on metal on the block body.

What was that "EK-Gate fiasco"?

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

This is one of those threads where you sit back and eat popcorn watching others trying to explain the simplicity of said issue. Lets not blame ignorance for whats truly a concern for the quality of a product that made by a company with a known good reputation for quality products. The OP doesnt appear to have both oars in the water given the responses.

 

[Panther_Seraphin]

What was that "EK-Gate fiasco"?

Back when there was "issues" with waterblocks and their nickel plating flaking off.

People assumed all sorts of things from too thin nickel to poor quality copper not accepting the electroplating etc etc etc

 

[FoulOnWhite]

I had the same block with a mounting frame on my cpu with no problems.