Closer Examination

Given the various Alphacool Core 1 blocks are mostly the same, I chose to use the Core 1 Black for most of my testing while bringing out the Core 1 Aurora Silver wherever appropriate to show off the differences. Both are chunky blocks owing to the full brass top that is also one of the thickest I've seen to date. Indeed, these weigh over 500 g and measure in at 72 x 72 x 26.5 mm, best only by the likes of the 31 mm thick Alphacool Eisblock XPX Pro blocks from before. The black version gets a durable matte black cover on top of the brass in contrast to the silver (nickel-plated) and white (powdercoat, presumably). These blocks are squarish in form factor owing to the absence of HEDT platform compatibility and yet one of the corners has been rounded off for some flair. There's also a reflective shiny beveled edge going all around the top surface. An Alphacool logo is placed as an acrylic applique at the top left corner with the two BSP G1/4" ports biased towards the bottom right corner instead of the usual middle. This already suggests the cooling engine has something else going on inside. The ports are threaded out of a middle brass insert that is nickel-plated and that means there is minimal risk of micro-fractures with fittings being over-tightened as with some acrylic tops. On the other hand, the two ports are close enough to each other to where you will have to plan more with fittings since you can't just use large quick disconnects directly anymore.


The Core 1 Aurora Silver goes for a brushed silver finish to the top that looks great in my opinion. It also doesn't grab on to dust as easily as the black top so that may be something to consider. Note also the in/out engravings inside the ports that help identify the preferred inlet and outlet ports on the block. The Aurora option results in a continuous diffuser strip that goes around the top and has 18 individually addressable RGB LEDs underneath to shine through as an accent light. The absence of any transparent block top with the Core 1 means the lighting is going to be mostly for aesthetics as an accent strip rather than to light up the entire block or even allow you to see the coolant going through the block. As expected, there is an attached cable jutting out the top which ends in a male JST connector and this is where the provided adapter cable comes in to allow you to directly control the LEDs from your motherboard.


There's a cutout in the bottom nickel-plated brass housing to accommodate channels the mounting brackets slot into. Given the square nature of the block, the mounting brackets fit vertically or horizontally, as seen above. Using the brackets is as simple as placing one piece in first and then orienting the other piece to lock in place from the opposite end. I have the Intel bracket for LGA 1700 shown here.


Turning the block around reveals a plastic warning sticker placed over the cold plate. Remove this to reveal a shiny polish applied to the nickel-plated copper cold plate which is quite reflective as seen above. I did not notice any blemishes on either block and the cold plate itself appears to be lightly convex as usual.


Disassembly was done after all testing was completed, and this happens from the cold plate side with six hex head screws to remove. At this point the cold plate can be pulled off to reveal a different (from the norm) jet plate design that Alphacool calls its 3D-Jetplate, citing also that it's used in industrial applications. There are three pieces which come together here, including a flexible rubber insert and two sturdy plastic pieces that mate together in the top as seen above. The larger of the two sections is 1.5 mm thick and features an oval nozzle for coolant entry from the inlet port that then spreads out in three dimensions before being curtailed back into a controlled flow down the center of the cold plate. The fins are machined in both directions in the cold plate and are 400 µm thick with a 400 µm spacing between them. It's hard to measure the height of the fins since they are placed in an inset but they occupy a heat transfer area spanning 39 x 39 mm (39 x 47 mm if you also count the outer grooves). The cold plate itself is 4 mm thick for those interested.