OCLabs Waterblock Review

The OCLabs Plexiblock is one of the only blocks on the market that comes plated; while plating doesn't do much for direct thermal conduction it does have some advantages in increasing surface hardness, corrosion resistance, and overall appearance. As you can see from the photos the block is very reflective with no visual imperfections other than those induced by the plating process.

Mounting hardware is always a big challenge with any watercooling equipment and while we personally feel the asetek systems to have the best hardware that's not to say they are all bad. OCLabs has taken a traditional approach by including some off the shelf nut and bolt combos in conjunction with a specially designed mounting clip that applies pressure to the center of the block. Installation was pretty easy however since the mounting holes are quite small even the slightest warp in the motherboard will make installation impossible. To solve this we enlarged the holes with a slightly larger drill bit to make installation a little easier.

The OCLabs Plexiblock is a very simple design that features two shapes that play off of each other. The center square features 4 curved surfaces that deflect the waterflow to create several "eddies" in the block. These in turn force the liquid to spin and stay in the waterblock a little longer, as a result the water can absorb more heat. While this is a variation of the ole "whirlpool" design of days gone by its simplicity allows for lower machine costs and uniqueness in of design.