Asetek's Extreme CPU Cooler Tested

VL writes "Do-It-Yourself Phase Change Cooling Systems are built and used by a few folks, but they can be complicated to build, mostly messy, and dangerous; certainly not something you should get into without knowing what you are doing. But as with anything like this, there is always a turn key solution brought to market you can buy. Enter asetek, and their VapoChill series of Phase Change Cooling systems. What we have on the review bench here specifically is the asetek VapoChill Lightspeed [AC], a case separate enclosure containing a Phase Change Cooling system for your PC's CPU."

Comments

Whoopty do

[stratjakt]

Some "tech" site, populated by 13 year old overclockers who know shit about how a computer works, and it shows (ie; they think they need to cool their CPU to sub-0 temps to make it work), reviews a product thats been around forever (and is nothing but a repurposed sushi bar cooler).

"Nothing for you to see here" indeed.

Re:Whoopty do

[stratjakt]

Man those sites are the bane of computer science today.

If I hear one more 13 year old talk about how the fancy new copper heatspreaders on his DDR RAM gave him 5 more FPS in Doom 3, I swear I'm going to snap his greasy little neck.

Then again, big ups to the makers of all this "extreme PC gear". For instance, this vapochil deal, bought as a sushi bar cooler (which is what it is), would cost about 75 bucks. They turn around, mod it a little bit, jam it in a 20 dollar case and sell it for hundreds.

Or taking the heater core for a car, anodizing (or just spraypainting) it black, and selling it for 100+ plus as an "Xtreme PC radiator".

Or taking a 50 dollar aquarium pump and selling it for 100+ as an "Xtreme PC cooling pump".

Or, the piece of resistance, 50 cents worth of milled copper being sold as an "Xtreme PC waterblock".

Fools and their money..

Nothing new here

[Husgaard]

If you believe that Phase Change Cooling systems is something new, please have a look at your refrigerator.

This is the most widespread method of cooling.

Re:Nothing new here

[Arathrael]

To be fair, it's not like the article claims otherwise:

"Phase Change Cooling systems like the VapoChill are essentially not all that different from the fridge that's likely in your kitchen right now, however of course the end application is different."

Goes into a fair amount of detail, not a bad read if you don't know much about it.

Re:So what, that's just a fridge

[gl4ss]

your fridge comes with an evaporator that hooks up conviently to your cpu?

these things aren't exactly new though. been on the market for 5+ years..

Heh.

[Anonymous Coward]

My favourite part of this oh-so-professional review is when they try to deduce the "fact" that "CPUs work at higher efficency when running at lower temperatures" by comparing the time some video-encoding takes @stock speed, and the vapochilled setup acchieving a result better a whole TWO SECONDS than the default one (with the complete encoding-job taking about 400secs or so).

Now that surely justifies a maybe 700US$ investment, and is by no means an effect called "measuring tolerance".

Great job. -_-

Re:Heh.

[Nasarius]

They seem to have used only one trial, as well. Anyone who didn't sleep through their junior high science class should know how to design a better experiment, and that a ~0.5% difference is typically experimental error, not a significant difference.

Heh heh...

[Rod Beauvex]

I prefer the nitrogen/oxygen mixture myself. I plan to move on to using a dihydrogen monoxide based system in the future, though.

What about more effective ways

[ioudas]

Back when modding was almost the best thing to do since eat sliced bread these things were out. I once heard that you can actully dunk your whole pc into a coolant that is not conductive and then make that cooling liquid sub zero. I also had a freeon based system with forced air going once. I mean really these units are expensive. Anyone know of any low cost high grade cooling?

Come on this is all old hat...

[MosesJones]

1) Go and look at your fridge.

2) If you want your chip REALLY cold
a) Host in deep-space
b) Rotate winters in the Artic/Antartic

3) If you want your chip REALLY REALLY cold
a) Get your wife to stand next to the box, then tell her you've forgotten her birthday.

4) And for the ultimate in cold, you just need to create the conditions where Bill Gates admits publically that he prefers Linux.