Not quite so new, but equally exotic, is the Koolance CPU-300-V10 water block, one of a pair destined to suck up the 80 watts of heat generated by each of my Xeon 3.06 GHz processors. These are designed for Koolance's new standard 10mm 3/8" tubing, and have a copper base with a mirror-finished 21k gold-plating. No wonder the damn things are so expensive! In the reviews it's scoring extremely well for both ease of installation and thermal performance, and as all the elements of the cooling subsystem are from the same manufacturer I have a reassuring glow from the thought that at least they've all been tested with each other - there may well be enough nasty surprises involved in my first foray into water cooling without the added excitement of mixing and matching...

I don't plan on carrying out the transplant from the existing case for another week or so, but I doubt I'll be able to resist showing off the various other components as they arrive. Watch this space!