Introduction

We all know Danger Den produces top quality cooling solutions, I from experience, have loved their full coverage Radeon X1900 waterblock, opting for total cooling of all the hotspots on a graphics card for optimal stability and overclocking potential.

What I have here is a pre-release version of the HD2900 XT full coverage waterblock for AMD Radeon graphics cards, kindly offered to me on a pre-release deal from Dan Stephens of Danger Den.
This block offers complete coverage including RAM chips on the front and back of the PCB, as well as voltage regulators.

Notable features of this waterblock are:

• Pure copper 110 used for the copper base
• RAM chips have direct contact with copper base
• Very low profile 1-slot cooler solution with great looking see through Acrylic top!
• Crossfire prepped by allowing barbs to be fitted in either an up or down direction
• very low flow restriction and pressure drop
• Compatibility with 1/2" and 3/8" and also Danger Den specific barb fit types
• Pressure tested and comes with a warranty sticker across the joining seal plates as proof of testing

Stated Advantages from the official website:

• Includes the Danger Den warranty and support via Phone, Email, Forums, Live chat, or Ticket systems
• Bridges to cool all components build in, no need for fiddling with separate components
• Allows silent operation compared to noisy stock/OEM heatsink
• Uses the international standard G 1/4 BSPP Fittings

Packaging and Initial look

The HD2900 waterblock came in a typical Danger Den plain white box within a brown transport packaging box.



The waterblock came sandwiched between two thick foam blocks to protect against any bumps during shipping, and all the screws, thermal tape and thermal paste came in a separate zipper bag
(I however opted for Arctic Silver 5 instead of the included thermal paste)

Up Close and Personal

Taking a closer look at the block it is clear that that this is quite substantial in its construction. It is machine milled out of solid copper and sports a 1/4 CNC-machined acrylic top plate with the Danger Den logo. As you can see, the printed Danger Den logo is reflected on the highly polished copper beneath the acrylic top plate.

Taking a look at the underside of the assembled block we can see that there is a large, approximately 4mm thick plate for cooling the backside RAM chips. The plate is not just strips of metal, but is corrugated and looks pretty stylish as well as offering complete coverage for the memory. Also of note is the cardboard insert between the two pieces of the waterblock, which so happens to be of equal thickness to the PCB. This protects the copper contact surfaces from any marks or scratches after the block is manufactured. Simple but effective.


Here we see the exploded assembly instructions that came with the waterblock. Even though it is simply in black and white and not colour like the 1900 Tyee block, it is easy to understand once studied for a short while. It states which rubber washer and screw goes where, as well as which screw holes on the graphics card they are meant to go through.


Here I have separated the two parts of the waterblock, the top and back plate It is obvious that it is very well lapped, although not to a mirror finish, it is nevertheless very good. The camera picks up finer scratches from the lapping, but to the human eye I cannot see a single scratch. All of the contact areas, the RAM plates and the GPU area are very smooth, and looks to be an impressive job on the milling machine. I was told by Dan that it took over 90 minutes of machining to create these blocks, and the effort has obviously paid off from the initial looks.

Looking at the underside of the backplate one can easily see how well lapped it is, even though the camera picks up on scratches almost invisible to the human eye. When looking at it in any sort of light the copper work is dazzling, very shiny and looks absolutely great.