Coolit ECO A.L.C. Review

Testing:

To find out the level of performance that the Coolit ECO A.l.C. delivers, I will be making a comparison of the temperatures at idle and under load. Both will be made while the CPU is at the stock voltages and clock speeds, as well as when the CPU is overclocked and 'over-volted'. This will help to show what kind of cooling performance that this that this factory sealed liquid cooling solution has to offer, when compared to other socket 1366 compatible high-performance cooling solutions. These cooling systems will be tested head-to-head as they are delivered from the manufacturer. I could throw in a bunch of testing variables, but it is not what the products are capable of as delivered. To test the idle temperatures, I will allow the computer to stay in an idle state for 30 minutes and take the idle temperature at this point. For the load testing, I will use Prime95 version 25.11 and choose the blend testing and allow the processor and memory controller to heat up to the maximum temperatures. The time frame is a four-hour run, to allow the temperature to peak - usually at or around the 14K test. I will use Real temp 3.0 to take the high and low temperatures and average the temperatures generated over the four cores as my reported temperatures.

Testing Setup:

• CPU: Intel Core i7 920 133x20(Stock) 166x20 Overclocked
• Motherboard: MSI X58 Eclipse
• Memory: Mushkin HP3 12800 7-7-7-20
• Video Card(s): Nvidia GTX 260-216
• Power Supply: Mushkin 800 watt Modular Power Supply
• Hard Drive: 1 x Seagate 1TB SATA
• Optical Drive: Asus DVD-R
• OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit SP1
• Chassis: ThermalTake Armour +

Comparison Heat sinks:

• Coolink Corator DS
• Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366
• Thermalright TRUE
• Noctua NH-D14
• Noctua NH-U9B SE

From the temperatures reported. many of the heatsinks tested fell within a 3 to 4 °C range with the exception of the TRUE, NH-D14 and NH-U12P, two of which use dual fans to push air through the heatsinks while the Coolit ECO only uses one. Temperatures on an Intel Core i7 can sky rocket out of control quickly and the ECO seems be able to handle the load. While I was at it I want to see if the ECO would allow some serious overclocking with respectable temperatures so I bumped the clock speeds up to 3.7GHz (185x20) and pushed the voltage to 1.31 and started the Prime 95 testing all over again.Satisfied with the 71°C maximum temperature at 3.7Ghz, I figured I may as well try for 4.0. Bumping the volts to 1.34 and the clock speed to 4.0 (200x20) yielded a maximum temperature of 77°C. The results of this exercise show the ECO to perform right alongside what you can expect from some of the high end air cooled solutions with a little more in the tank per say when you start leaning on it. IF you need that extra couple of degrees performance you can bolt on a second fan. By adding what really is a medium CFM fan that pushes roughly 55CFM I was able to drop another 2-3 degrees Celsius off of the reported temperatures.