Introduction:

   "There's always room for improvement" should be the modder's creed, as evidenced by the never-ending stream of ideas and products that keep appearing for the seemingly simple task of cooling your PC. 

    Fortunately, I share this philosophy of refinement and progress, and so do the folks at NorthWater. 

   Today we'll be looking over the NorthWater Xtreme Xchangers, a product line of passive inline radiators designed to integrate with your existing liquid-cooling setup. 

    If you are familiar with water-cooling setups for computers, then the function of these radiators should be readily apparent.  If not, read on and I'll spell it out for you and walk you through a typical installation.

   This kit was furnished as a pre-production kit, although by the time you read this, finalized kits should be available for purchase at FrozenCPU.com.

Overview:

   The NorthWater Xtreme Xchangers are inline heat exchangers that are designed to assist your existing liquid-cooling setup with an extra level of heat dissipation.  They are offered in (currently) two sizes: Large (117mm length) and Small (60mm length).  Both sizes measure 37mm in diameter and have a huge 14mm bore drilled through the center. 

    FrozenCPU.com is currently the exclusive distributor of the kits, and they can provide a complete line of fittings to adapt them to high-and-low end commercial liquid-cooling setups.  In the off chance that they don't have what you need, the fittings can also be found at hardware stores for custom setups.

    The Xchangers are made from professionally milled billet aluminum, and anodized in various colors (or can be ordered in polished aluminum).

    The idea behind the Xchangers is that in complex liquid cooling setups, especially ones where a single radiator services more than one component (CPU and GPU for example), one component gets coolant that has already been heated by another component.  By inserting an Xchanger between components, residual heat can be removed from the coolant, resulting in increased heat capacity for the rest of the system before the coolant returns to the main radiator.

    How exactly you adapt the Xchangers to your personal system is a matter for you to decide, as each installation will require you to examine the flow of coolant, heat transfer and space considerations.  If you are planning to upgrade to a new liquid cooling setup, it is best to plan the integration of the Xchangers beforehand, since installing them will require removal and reinstallation of an existing setup to avoid spilled coolant.