![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Monday , August 02, 2004
- Author:
- Steve Lynch
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Koolance EXOS Al
Koolance arguably makes the best external watercooling solution on the market. See what Koolance has done to make their EXOS line of watercooling units even better.
Installation on the Athlon64 motherboard is also very easy. Place the retention mechanism over the CPU-300-H06 and fasten both tabs to the motherboard then tighten the retention screw. The lower tab on the retention mechanism did come extremely close to a capacitor on the motherboard.
You will notice from the pictures below that the older CPU-200G was not designed for use on the Athlon64 platform but does fit well enough to be used for testing purposes. The newer CPU-300-H06 is slightly smaller than the CPU-200G to stay within motherboard specs and allow for clearance issues on Athlon64 motherboards.
System Configuration & Testing Procedure:
We decided to see just how the new EXOS Al would perform so we broke out an Athlon64 3000+ as well as a 2.8GHz Prescott. For comparison we ran the GlobalWin Jefi as a baseline. On the Koolance, we used the CPU-300-H06 block that supports both the socket 478 as well as the Athlon64. We also ran the CPU-200G waterblock for baseline EXOS numbers. The Jefi fan was set to the #1 position for full speed operation and the EXOS Al fans were run in mode 1.
Mode 1 operates your system at 45% power until the temperature reaches 51ºC (124ºF), then increases to 100% power. Mode 2 operates your system at 45% power until the temperature reaches 36ºC (97ºF), then increases gradually to 100% at 50ºC (122ºF). Mode 3 runs the cooling system at 100% power. While this will provide the best temperature range, it is not the most silent, and largely unnecessary in operating your Koolance system. The “Accelerated” light indicates that your system is running above 45% power.
ABIT IC7-MAX3, Intel 2.8GHz Prescott clocked at 2.8GHz (14 * 200FSB) and 3.36GHz (14 x 240FSB), MSI K8T-NEO (VIA K8T800), Athlon64 3000+ clocked at 2GHz (10 * 200FSB) and 2.15GHz (10 x 215FSB), 1024MB Corsair XMS PC4000, VisionTek Radeon 9800 Pro, 80GB Seagate SATA/150 hard drive, Vantec 550w PSU.
Our Testing Methodology:
Using the on-die sensor of the Athlon64 3000+ and 2.8GHz Prescott, we are able to see temperature changes almost immediately as the load changed on the CPU. We used Prime95 and a UT2K3 16 Player Bot match to load the CPU. The CPU is operating at "100%" according to WinXP task manager, which is exactly what we need for temperature testing. Motherboard Monitor 5 was used to monitor temperatures during testing. Temperature readings are taken from the on-die temperature sensor on the Athlon64 3000+. Prime95 was run simultaneously with a UT2K3 CTF map running in the background with 16 bots going at it to get our temperatures as high as possible for a sustained period of time for testing. With the noted two applications running, we allowed the CPU to stay at 100% load for 30 minutes and then observed the temperatures and kept an eye on them from there. What we're looking for is where they peaked and leveled off. This is the temperature we recorded. These tests are repeated five times for the average temperature. The ambient temperature in the test area was 81°F. We kept the temperature level for the duration of the testing in order to make our test results as accurate as possible. The different ambient temperatures and other test variances will result in having test temperatures unique to this test, making comparison to other previous [H] testing impossible.
Keep in mind, the temperature readings taken by the EXOS Al probe are actually the temperature of the base of the CPU-300-H06 and not the actual CPU temperature. For that reason temperatures were taken from the CPU on-die sensor for all tests. It should be noted that throughout the tests the EXOS Al readout on the front of the unit was consistently 14°F (sometimes more) lower than actual test results.
Test Results::
All test results are recorded in Fahrenheit. I'm including this link to a Fahrenheit to Celsius Converting Tool for all of our non-USA readers. The newest version of the Google Toolbar will also do temperature conversion by simple typing it into the Google navigation box. By typing "110F in C" without quotes, Google will convert the temperatures for you.
The EXOS Al fitted with the CPU-300-H06 just runs away from the competition. The Jefi held its own against the original EXOS but both the latter two paled in comparison to the EXOS Al / CPU-300-H06 combo.
Under load conditions the EXOS Al really shined with a 15°F lead over the older Koolance and 21°F over the Jefi. Very impressive up to this point, let's see how well the EXOS Al / CPU-300-H06 combo does in an overclocked environment.
Overclocking, even with the systems at idle, will separate the men from the boys. Temperatures on the older EXOS and the Jefi shot up with the temperatures on the Jefi being far to high for overclocking considering the system is sitting idle.
The EXOS Al / CPU-300-H06 combo posted extremely good load temperatures with the older EXOS not far behind. The Jefi on the other hand became unstable at these higher temperatures causing the system to hang at the 151°F mark. Overall, as you can see from these numbers, the EXOS Al / CPU-300-H06 combo performed flawlessly throughout the tests.