HardwareHell

Introduction:
Product: Danger Den NVIDIA Kit 4101
Manufacturer: Danger Den
Market: PC Enthusiast
Cost: $229.95
Review Author: John “Cpt. Planet” Crimmins

Danger Den has been on top of the pc water cooling world for many years now. Based out of Astoria, Oregon they have been rapidly expanding ever since 2000. They have always manufactured top of the line and quality water cooling gear. Danger Den takes pride in their products and the quality can be easily seen.

The Danger Den NVIDIA kit was put together by Danger Den and NVIDIA for use on the nForce chipset motherboards. It will also work on any other motherboard and is a great kit for even a beginner. Danger Den includes one of their TDX water blocks with universal mounting system for almost any socket motherboard.

Features and Specs:

The kit has everything you need to get going even if it’s your first water cooling kit. The kit consists of the following (taken from www.DangerDen.com):

TDX Universal Block
Danger Den D5 Fixed Speed Laing Pump
Single 5 1/4 Bay reservoir
1/2″ ID Tygon Tubing
Black Ice Xtreme Radiator
MCT Non-Conductive Coolant
Yate Loon Medium 120mm Fan
Mounting hardware and hose clamps

Let’s talk a little about what is included in the kit

The water block is Danger Den’s top performing block. Some of its features include universal mounting kit to fit almost any CPU socket. The block is lapped to a mirror polish with 1200 grit on the base. The universal top is stainless steel powder coated to a luster black finish. The block has awesome installation instruction pages that includes models with several platforms shown

The D5 is one of the best pc water cooling pumps available. It requires one 4 pin molex connector and uses the 12v rail from the power supply. It features ½ inch outer diameter fittings and is powerful enough to be used in multiple block and multiple radiator water loops.

Danger Den includes one of their own 5 ¼ bay style reservoir made out of thick plexi glass. It comes with two ½ inch outer diameter barbs. These barbs are high flow and feature an o-ring to prevent leaks or over tightening. The reservoirs front is tinted black and has 2 predrilled holes in the back for 5mm LEDs for lighting. (LEDs not included)

They tygon included in the kit is lab grade. Danger Den includes 7 feet enough to do an entire case and even have some left over. The tubing is known in the water cooling world for being super flexible while still being kink resistant. This makes it great tubing to use whether your using it in a mid tower or a full tower case.

The Black Ice Xtreme radiator is a single 120mm fan radiator. It comes with required ½ inch barbs as well as mounting hardware. This is a high performance radiator that is great for a mid tower application. I would suggest if you are using a quad core to update to a dual 120mm fan radiator.

Danger Den has its own coolant called the MCT-5 and MCT-40. They have included in the kit enough to fill an entire loop and then some. The fluid is non conductive with the voltage at 12v or lower. This means that it’s safe to use in your pc. It is also a non corrosive so it won’t cause any issues.

The yate loon fan included is known for being quiet, reliable and pushing enough cfm (cubic feet per minute) for water cooling. They are widely known in the water cooling world and are a great fan to use for any water cooling or even air cooling setup.

Danger Den also supplies all the hose clamps, thermal paste (Artic Silver Ceramique), and all the mounting hardware needed to finish your loop as well as an instruction DVD. The DVD covers everything from optimizing to get the most out of your loop as well as filling and even draining the system.

Test Setup

Motherboard: Asus Striker Extreme
CPU: E6700 ES
Memory: OCZ Flex PC9200
HDD: Western Digital 74gig Raptor 10,000RPM
PSU: Silverstone Zeus 650
Case: Danger Den Torture rack
OS: Windows XP
Temps: CoreTemp, UEI DT150 using a K Probe

Testing Results:

Testing was done in a controlled environment kept at a constant of 23.5 C (74.3 F) measured on a calibrated UEI DT150 digital thermometer using a k probe. Even though the Ceramique has a short set in time the machine was run at 3 GHz 1.5v running Stress Prime 2004 for 1 week straight to make sure that the Ceramique was set properly. The cpu does run a bit hot because it is an Engineering Sample and the heat spreader on it is not totally flat.

At stock speeds the cpu was idling with core 0 at 36C and core 1 at 37C. Under 100% load using Stress Prime 2004 the cpu with core 0 at 44C and core 1 at 44C. The cpu was running 1.35v and 2666mhz.

With the cpu overclocked at 3650mhz and using 1.55v idle temps on core 0 were 46C and core 1 was 46C. Under 100% load the cpu was running core 0 at 65C and core 1 at 65C. The kit was able to handle overclocks that most air cooling and the stock cooling wouldn’t even be able to touch.

Conclusion

Danger Den and NVIDIA have come up with a great combination in the NVIDIA Kit 4101 for any level water cooler. It has everything you need to get your pc water cooled in a simple and easy installation at the low price of $229.95. I have had this kit installed now and running for approximately 6 months. The water block still shines inside and out like the day it was unwrapped. The MCT fluid is a great choice and has stood up to the test of time where most other fluids would have failed. The kit was easy to install and leak test. The installation videos are great for the beginners and even show you how to add a blow hole for a second radiator. If you are planning on running an overclocked quad core you might want to look into adding a second radiator to the loop or upgrading the radiator.

The “Hot”:

• Has everything you need
• Quality components
• Great price

The “Not”:

• Radiator is small for today’s Core 2 Duo processors

I give this unit a 9 out of 10 and a HwHell Gold Award!