The WaterX/H2O Review Pt1
Here's a review on the The Water-X/H2O from 1CoolPC.
Well some time ago I saw a post on this (all in one) water cooler online. I was curious about it, did some checking and failed to find a single review on this. I've heard that it wouldnt be worth its weight in lead, but I was still interested. So, with a lil assistance from Hardass, I got ahold of one of these things to test it out and see what it is capable of.
Well, first things first, when I ordered this it was on a friday morning, right around 9am. On Monday, I was shocked above and beyond to have recieved it already, so Im going to say first off, major kudos to the guys over on 1CoolPC for excellent shipping! ;)
I was in a lil bit of a hurry due to work. So, I just grabbed it and headed off to work. Once I had gotten there, I went ahead and opened it up to check it out. My first responce was holy friggin shimolys!~! I was severely worried with this being an all in 1 watercooler, that it was going to be severely heavy. I dont recall actually seein the weight listed on their site so I took a lil look around. Again, no luck on finding any info on this. :rolleyes: Ah well, from a very rough guess, I would say its around a pound. If even that. If I get the chance, I will actually get it weighed.
Well I looked it over and was checking it out and I have to say, this thing is deffinately interesting in appearance! One thing that I did find a lil curious was that the bottom didnt really quite seem to be lapped flat all that well really. Which, IMO, if they are wanting to get in on this and hope this sucker takes off, that is one thing that is really needed. Im not going to alter it in any fashion for my first test, but will later on to see if it does need it.
Well, first things first, a couple of images and a quote from the 1CoolPC.coms site.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/images/...ck/waterx1.jpg http://www.xtremesystems.org/images/...ck/waterx2.jpg
Quote:
This is the perfect cooler for those of you would like water cooling but don't feel like messing with the complexity of a typical water cooler install and maintenance. You stick it on just like a regular heatsink and fan but you get all the benefits of water cooling. What could be better? The unit is completely self contained. The 60x60x20mm fan moves 26.5cfm and is a ball bearing unit of the highest quality. It comes with its own specially formulated coolant pre-installed and sealed, ready to go. It fits any P4-478 motherboard I'm aware of via the four holes surrounding the CPU socket. It also fits any Socket 7/A/370 processor via two spring loaded clips that attach to the socket tabs, you do not need to remove the motherboard to install this on a Socket A/7/370 system. The radiator is copper and the mounting water-block/heatsink is aluminum.
Well, looks like its time to stop the babbling and start with the hardware.
Installation was much easier than anticipated I have to say. The site has some instructions for installation but were rather difficult to follow. So, I took a lil look around messed with it some and realized how it was to connect. It was a lil different then what I have messed with in the past, but was able to do it without much difficulty. So, just use some common sense, don't bother with the instructions, and you'll get it on there pretty easily.
First things first, Thanks to DDTung & Hardass for the equipment, they supplied the hardware for Xtreme Folder 5, which is what this will be tested out on.
XF5
Abit KX7-333
Athlon XP Thoroughbred 1700+
AXDA1700DLT3C
AIRGA 0232MPMW
Arctic Silver III
256 Megs of Mushkin 3200
RaidMax550 PSU
I am going to start this off all defualt settings. So, as it sits.
Vcore ~ 1.5
multi ~ x11
FSB ~ 133
1.466Mhz
Starting off with everything at defualt settings.
Temps here taken from within the bios
At boot:
Case: 29C
CPU: 34C
After 10 Minutes within bios
Case: 33C
CPU: 45C
Not to pretty a start if you ask me.
Into Windows Using MBM
Case: 33C
CPU: 45C
After 10 minutes 0% CPU Usage.
Case: 34
CPU: 44
Next, 30 minutes running F@H.
Case: 35
CPU: 47
Reboot bios temps
Case: 35C
CPU: 46C
Now, to see what it can handle pushin up the TBred.
Vcore ~ 1.75 (max the board will allow)
Multi ~ x12
FSB ~ 145
1.740Mhz
Idle on windows
Case: 35C
CPU: 52C
Idle in windows for 10 minutes
Case: 35
CPU: 54
Again, F@H for 30 minutes (Well the plan was for 30 minutes, got some business I had to deal with that couldnt wait, so instead it sat for nearly 2 hours.)
Case: 36
CPU: 61
Now just so you can see the temps straight from MBMs mouth.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/images/...Block/Mbm2.jpg
Well I have to say, granted, I am not really shocked but am highly disappointed. I was under the hope that this would do at least slightly better then it has. The next step, will be to lap the base and see if that has any effect at all. If my presumptions are right, it should. I wont be going through all the BS I did this time around, after lapping, Im just going to go straight to the upped vcore and see what it will give me then.
Once that has all been finished then I will end up doing the fan mod to it they have posted about.
Heres the mod.
They claim its mostly for noise from the way I read it. However, to me its pretty quiet as it is. For some I am sure it could be much quieter, but doesnt bother me. I will be doing this as well. Mostly to try and see if a different fan configuration will assist any more in cooling. As it stands it needs it.
So, for the present, as you can see, this has some room for improvement. Some serious improvement if it wants to be equaled to a full blown watercooling setup.
This is the end of Part1 on this. For the next step, I will be lapping the bottom and doing some other modifications to it. Placement of the fan, putting a different fan on if I can find one that I have some decent specs on it, so I can provide some actual numbers on all the info on it.
As it stands, out of the box, 2 out of 5 stars.
Pros: Very light weight & easy to install.
Cons: Just doesnt handle the heat.
IFMU
