Greetings. I posted a week or so ago about suggestions for a good heatsink for my Athlon FX-51 for overclocking. I was running a Thermaltake Silent Boost K8 and was getting temps of around 49-50 C Idle and 64-65 C Load. These were too high for my liking. Even after polishing teh heatsink, upgrading the fan, and adding Arctic Silver 5, there was really no real reduction in temperatures.
So... Today I went out to the local MicroCenter, to look at water cooling kits. They had a couple for 200-250 dollars (USD) but I was looking for something a little cheaper. At the bottom of their stack of water cooling systems, I ran across a Coolermaster Aquagate Mini R120 system for $100 USD. So I grabbed it and installed it tonight... Here is my report for anyone interested in water cooling, or this particular system. Keep in mind, I have worked with PC's for years, but this is my first water cooling system I have ever dealt with.
Out of the box:
Included with the kit is the following:
[*]Integrated PUMP/Copper Waterblock
[*]120MM fan and radiator with reservoirs attached
[*]Adapter plates for nearly every modern x86 CPU. (K7, K8, P4, Xeon)
[*]Screws, and other misc stuff
[*]Instruction Manual
This kit is pretty much pre-assembled out of the box. The trickiest part is attaching the water block pieces and mounting it. But even that can be done by someone with very basic experience inside a PC. The instruction manual is adequate and wil show you what must be done to attach the new cooler to your motherboard/CPU.
The radiator is made of aluminum and seems to be very good quality. It mounts perfectly in the rear exhaust fan holes of my Antec P160 case, and the fan mounts to the heatsink inside the case blowing air through it and out of the case. This is nice because it is compact and manageable, but if you have many other components in the case heating up the ambient air, that warmer air is what gets blown through the radiator decreasing its efficiency.
Installation
Installation went smoothly. I was a little upset at first be cause you Will have to remove your motherboard to attach the special backplate. This turned out to be easier than I had anticipated though. I didn't have to unplug everything in the board, I just simply took out the screws, removed the Vid/Sound Cards and lifted the board up enough to attach the backplate. A series of screws hold the mounting plate to the waterblock, and a couple of those screws stick through the holes in the motherboard near the CPU socket, and are fastened below by some nuts.
Installation was relatively easy and I did not encounter any major prblems at all. VERY simple setup. The fluid is already preinstalled in the system from the factory, so there is no messy filling, or messing with that. TAKE YOUR TIME installing this, or there is a very real risk of doing something stupid and ruiming your motherboard or something. Again, anyone with experience handeling motherboards and such should not have a problem.
Results
Wellnow that the kit is installed and churning in my system here are the thermal results that you want to see:
Previous Results (Thermaltake SilentBoost K8 HSF):
49-50C -- Idle
64-65C -- Load
NEW Results (Coolermaster Aquagate Mini R120):
42-43C -- Idle
47-48C -- Load
To me that is an impressive improvement. The fan on the watercoler is adjustable and I have it at the highest setting, which is still quieter than my modded silent boost was. My system is an Overclocked Athlon64 FX-51 @ 2.4 GHz (11.5 x 209) for your reference.
Conclusion
While this is hardly an Anand quality review, I thought some of you may be interested in my experience. IF you are looking for a cooling solution for your CPU that is inexpensive, effetive, and quiet I would have to recommend this product every day of the week. This product also comes in an R80 (80mm) form factor, but I hear that is louder and not as effective. I am very happy with my purchase this far. I may try and crank my proc up a few more MHz, but I'm happy with the status quo. I can't wait to snag a new Mobo and an X2 4400+ CPU now with this cooling setup.
Pros:
[*]Very Effective Over stock cooling (Though not as powerful as some H2O systems)
[*]Very Quiet
[*]Easy Installation (No messing with fluids)
[*]Relatively compact form factor, will mount in most 120mm enabled cases
[*]Inexpensive as far as water systems go.
Cons:
[*]Not expandable (no room for a VGA/Chipset water block)
[*]Instruction Manual a little weak
So... Today I went out to the local MicroCenter, to look at water cooling kits. They had a couple for 200-250 dollars (USD) but I was looking for something a little cheaper. At the bottom of their stack of water cooling systems, I ran across a Coolermaster Aquagate Mini R120 system for $100 USD. So I grabbed it and installed it tonight... Here is my report for anyone interested in water cooling, or this particular system. Keep in mind, I have worked with PC's for years, but this is my first water cooling system I have ever dealt with.
Out of the box:
Included with the kit is the following:
[*]Integrated PUMP/Copper Waterblock
[*]120MM fan and radiator with reservoirs attached
[*]Adapter plates for nearly every modern x86 CPU. (K7, K8, P4, Xeon)
[*]Screws, and other misc stuff
[*]Instruction Manual
This kit is pretty much pre-assembled out of the box. The trickiest part is attaching the water block pieces and mounting it. But even that can be done by someone with very basic experience inside a PC. The instruction manual is adequate and wil show you what must be done to attach the new cooler to your motherboard/CPU.
The radiator is made of aluminum and seems to be very good quality. It mounts perfectly in the rear exhaust fan holes of my Antec P160 case, and the fan mounts to the heatsink inside the case blowing air through it and out of the case. This is nice because it is compact and manageable, but if you have many other components in the case heating up the ambient air, that warmer air is what gets blown through the radiator decreasing its efficiency.
Installation
Installation went smoothly. I was a little upset at first be cause you Will have to remove your motherboard to attach the special backplate. This turned out to be easier than I had anticipated though. I didn't have to unplug everything in the board, I just simply took out the screws, removed the Vid/Sound Cards and lifted the board up enough to attach the backplate. A series of screws hold the mounting plate to the waterblock, and a couple of those screws stick through the holes in the motherboard near the CPU socket, and are fastened below by some nuts.
Installation was relatively easy and I did not encounter any major prblems at all. VERY simple setup. The fluid is already preinstalled in the system from the factory, so there is no messy filling, or messing with that. TAKE YOUR TIME installing this, or there is a very real risk of doing something stupid and ruiming your motherboard or something. Again, anyone with experience handeling motherboards and such should not have a problem.
Results
Wellnow that the kit is installed and churning in my system here are the thermal results that you want to see:
Previous Results (Thermaltake SilentBoost K8 HSF):
49-50C -- Idle
64-65C -- Load
NEW Results (Coolermaster Aquagate Mini R120):
42-43C -- Idle
47-48C -- Load
To me that is an impressive improvement. The fan on the watercoler is adjustable and I have it at the highest setting, which is still quieter than my modded silent boost was. My system is an Overclocked Athlon64 FX-51 @ 2.4 GHz (11.5 x 209) for your reference.
Conclusion
While this is hardly an Anand quality review, I thought some of you may be interested in my experience. IF you are looking for a cooling solution for your CPU that is inexpensive, effetive, and quiet I would have to recommend this product every day of the week. This product also comes in an R80 (80mm) form factor, but I hear that is louder and not as effective. I am very happy with my purchase this far. I may try and crank my proc up a few more MHz, but I'm happy with the status quo. I can't wait to snag a new Mobo and an X2 4400+ CPU now with this cooling setup.
Pros:
[*]Very Effective Over stock cooling (Though not as powerful as some H2O systems)
[*]Very Quiet
[*]Easy Installation (No messing with fluids)
[*]Relatively compact form factor, will mount in most 120mm enabled cases
[*]Inexpensive as far as water systems go.
Cons:
[*]Not expandable (no room for a VGA/Chipset water block)
[*]Instruction Manual a little weak
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