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Review Barrow INTEL/AMD/X99/X299 water block integrated pump and reservoir

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Oh so I was the guinea pig that could afford to waste his/her money? :unsure:


/s

I was going to do a comprehensive review on the thing as the listing is complicated and downright misleading but -
The bible does say: "ask and you shall receive"
but it seems no-one asked me for one
 
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Oh so I was the guinea pig that could afford to waste his/her money? :unsure:


/s

I was going to do a comprehensive review on the thing as the listing is complicated and downright misleading but -
The bible does say: "ask and you shall receive"

I'm just trying to decide, do I go for this or use that other small res that good old optimum tech used just prior to this or do I just design my own?

My preference is for the third, but if I get impatient with myself I'm going to go the second just purely based on your comment. I'm not sensing a whole lot of excitement around this piece of kit.
 
I would advise you to go with the first option - provided you have some patience when filling the loop (and a good filling method)

I am writing the review now. Please be patient
 
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This is part 1
The chinglish of the listing leaves a lot of information unanswered so I’ll start from the beginning.

What is this thing? At first this may seem obvious but once you start getting into anything specific like “how is it powered?” you quickly realize that you really do need someone like me to explain things.

So: This thing is a CPU block + (tiny) reservoir + pump combo. Both the ports A and B can be used for fill or inlet (despite it being written otherwise - with only a minor flow restriction it appears). Port C is the outlet - Don’t try filling from the outlet (I tried). The base of the block appears to be nickel (plated probably).
The cable you see coming out of the RGB version of the block is Barrow’s proprietary LRC 2.0 connector. Fortunately you can buy an LRC 2.0 to 5V ARGB adapter from the same seller here
On the note of ARGB - many of you may be wondering what the “manual control” option on the listing gets you. It is a discrete LRC 2.0 ARGB controller that is powered by molex and there are 4 buttons underneath the heatshrink that change the colour, speed and type of lighting effect. There is no manual for this thing and I couldn’t find a way to reset the thing so I just gave up with it and unplugged it. The only situation whereby you would need this thing then is when your mobo doesn’t have an 5V ARGB header.

But what about socket support? So it seems that only the mounting brackets that you specify are included. You can however, purchase AM4 (and probably Intel) brackets separately as @Whoeva Did here
He has not confirmed whether they work or not but it looks identical to the AM4 bracket that came with my block. You can also buy this if you want the bracket and/or screws to be white or black.

The question on how the pump is powered will be answered in part 2 as it's a long one
 
This is part 1
The chinglish of the listing leaves a lot of information unanswered so I’ll start from the beginning.

What is this thing? At first this may seem obvious but once you start getting into anything specific like “how is it powered?” you quickly realize that you really do need someone like me to explain things.

So: This thing is a CPU block + (tiny) reservoir + pump combo. Both the ports A and B can be used for fill or inlet (despite it being written otherwise - with only a minor flow restriction it appears). Port C is the outlet - Don’t try filling from the outlet (I tried). The base of the block appears to be nickel (plated probably).
The cable you see coming out of the RGB version of the block is Barrow’s proprietary LRC 2.0 connector. Fortunately you can buy an LRC 2.0 to 5V ARGB adapter from the same seller here
On the note of ARGB - many of you may be wondering what the “manual control” option on the listing gets you. It is a discrete LRC 2.0 ARGB controller that is powered by molex and there are 4 buttons underneath the heatshrink that change the colour, speed and type of lighting effect. There is no manual for this thing and I couldn’t find a way to reset the thing so I just gave up with it and unplugged it. The only situation whereby you would need this thing then is when your mobo doesn’t have an 5V ARGB header.

But what about socket support? So it seems that only the mounting brackets that you specify are included. You can however, purchase AM4 (and probably Intel) brackets separately as @Whoeva Did here
He has not confirmed whether they work or not but it looks identical to the AM4 bracket that came with my block. You can also buy this if you want the bracket and/or screws to be white or black.

The question on how the pump is powered will be answered in part 2 as it's a long one

Cool I appreciate the info, so from what I hearing it is best to treat this more like a pump + block combo and use another res maybe? Or a ball valve to attach a separate pipe/res to fill?

Waiting on the power story + performance info when you can.

So you are happy though that it's working for you? And would perhaps buy another if you had a need?
 
Oh I also forgot to mention that EK's Quantum Torque STC 10/16s and the quantum torque angled fittings are *just* too wide to fit directly on the block.

so from what I hearing it is best to treat this more like a pump + block combo and use another res maybe? Or a ball valve to attach a separate pipe/res to fill?
You could use an extra res but that would be unnecessary cost of money and space.
Your second point is a good idea - it's actually what I did and it worked well enough.

performance info
I'm no gamers nexus but I'll try.

So you are happy though that it's working for you?
Yes. It works as intended as is MUCH cheaper than even budget discrete blocks and pump + res combos.

And would perhaps buy another if you had a need?
Yes (If I could pull the money out of my broke student ass), the only alternative is to get an aquanaut block and a pump from bykski sa and that would be more expensive and require a discrete res.
 
Perfomance-PCs (Nov 2, 2020, 7:21 PM)

We have it on order, but do not have an ETA at this time

Hopefully it's in before Christmas
 
Hopefully it's in before Christmas

Fortunately not. But you're gonna pay 80% more + 14% more VAT on it. (since PPCs doesn't underreport the value of goods)
If you still don't want to go with aliexpress then you could use: Barrowch CPU Block Pump Reservoir Three In One, 17W PWM Intelligent Pump, OLED Digital Display, FBLTPRK-04/LTPRK-04
I have not used this site but pXius has and this is what he had to say:
If I can do you a favour.


Bought about R12k's worth of stuff which they invoiced for like R1k. So almost no tax.
They take about a week to ship (Weird Warehouse allocation thing), but got here in 4 days after shipping via DHL.

Lots of threads about them on Reddit. People seem happy.
 

Fortunately not. But you're gonna pay 80% more + 14% more VAT on it. (since PPCs doesn't underreport the value of goods)
If you still don't want to go with aliexpress then you could use: Barrowch CPU Block Pump Reservoir Three In One, 17W PWM Intelligent Pump, OLED Digital Display, FBLTPRK-04/LTPRK-04
I have not used this site but pXius has and this is what he had to say:

Thanks. I see the link has changed and the price gone up by $10


What I can't figure out is what socket brackets they come with!? Maybe PPCs is bundling all the brackets into that price?

Formulamod is the only site that allows differentiation, but their shipping charges are $27 to NY then I would have to pay more to get it via AGS. Otherwise it's $999 direct


Aliexpress would still work out cheaper, but still can't figure out which bracket it comes with. I'd be tempted to buy 115x and AMD brackets just in case.

What is "Blade Quantity: Standard or manual control", that can be selected on the aliexpress item?

 
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Aliexpress would still work out cheaper, but still can't figure out which bracket it comes with. I'd be tempted to buy 115x and AMD brackets just in case.
But what about socket support? So it seems that only the mounting brackets that you specify are included. You can however, purchase AM4 (and probably Intel) brackets separately as @Whoeva Did here
He has not confirmed whether they work or not but it looks identical to the AM4 bracket that came with my block. You can also buy this if you want the bracket and/or screws to be white or black.
"The one you specify" is the option for "blade colour"

What is "Blade Quantity: Standard or manual control", that can be selected on the aliexpress item?
On the note of ARGB - many of you may be wondering what the “manual control” option on the listing gets you. It is a discrete LRC 2.0 ARGB controller that is powered by molex and there are 4 buttons underneath the heatshrink that change the colour, speed and type of lighting effect. There is no manual for this thing and I couldn’t find a way to reset the thing so I just gave up with it and unplugged it. The only situation whereby you would need this thing then is when your mobo doesn’t have an 5V ARGB header
Otherwise I think that $999 shipping is a bug that you could contact them to sort out.
 
"The one you specify" is the option for "blade colour"
I found that after turning off adblocker, but there was still that "Blade Quantity: Standard or manual control" option, is that just if the blade comes attached or loose maybe?
 
I don't know much about the DDC replica pumps that Barrow uses or D5s for that matter but I think that "Blade Quantity" is just a bad translation for: "do you want an ARGB controller?".
- Just as "Blade Colour" actually means: "What socket's mounting do you want?"
I would advise against taking the Chinglish wording too literally
 
I don't know much about the DDC replica pumps that Barrow uses or D5s for that matter but I think that "Blade Quantity" is just a bad translation for: "do you want an ARGB controller?".
- Just as "Blade Colour" actually means: "What socket's mounting do you want?"
I would advise against taking the Chinglish wording too literally

For sure, but it's definitely not RGB as it's on the plain black version. The two options are the same price if that gives any more clues?

Picked up the blade colour based on the pics with text. Would prefer not to be surprised... if possible.

Like this:

1595572049561478.jpg


What a mess of cabling and they stop short of explaining what 6 and 7 are. 6 looks suspiciously like a JFP1 header!?
 
yoh, the language :eek:

yeah, 6 is JFP and from trying to figure out what is going on, I think it will connect to your PWR_BTN so that you switch the pump on as you switch the computer on
(at least that makes most sense as to wtf you would connect it to that header)
 
@neanterthal

Can this pump work lying flat? The pump is upside down, and I know EK state that some of their pumps don't work in that orientation
 
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