Introduction

Today we have two rather unique CPU cooling devices from CoolIT Systems, an US company who’s making great advances in providing large OEMs (Dell, Shuttle, Alienware, Velocity) with quality products. CoolIT first product on the market was not much PC related, a USB powered beer can chiller. This proof of concept showed their dedication to bringing Peltier/TEC cooling to the masses.

Earlier this year they launched two retail products for the enthusiast ($399) Freezone and ($199) Eliminator. These two cooling units we are testing today on our hot running Pentium 4 system.



We have tested TEC Cooled products in the past, the Activecool AC4G was from back in the AMD Athlon XP era and used an air cooled heatsink to remove the heat from the CPU and TEC; CoolIT’s approach is quite different.

CoolIT decided to create a compact water cooling kit with radiator, pump and exhaust fan, to give it an edge they attached several TEC units which aim to keep the water inside the loop cool. The radiator is connected to the hot side of the TEC and is kept from overheating by a 92x92x38mm thick fan.

Please note that for the installation of the Freezone you need mounting holes for a 92/120mm in the back of the case, the Eliminator only works with a 120mm exhaust mounting setup.

Before we introduce the first CoolIT product, let’s recap our heatsink testing method and setup:

S775 Test Setup and Methodology

We build a new S775 system with new parts from Alternate.de, the CPU is one hot running Pentium 4 524, 3.06Ghz. It is mounted on a Swiss-army knife equivalent of motherboards: an Asrock 775Dual-VSTA.



The mounting system on S775 is quite straight forward and well thought out, 4 holes around the socket serve as mounting points for the push pins on the standard Intel cooler. Installation is a snap, and removal is very easy too.



With the stock cooling and at stock voltage the 3Ghz P4 was running stable at 3.68Ghz, quite a nice improvement from default speeds.

A Watt Meter recorded peak power consumption under heavy CPU load at 138W, which is less than our previous Athlon 64 setup which consumed up to 165W. The Asrock bios lacks CPU voltage manipulation, so at default voltage is seems this Prescott setup is more power friendly then the over-volted AMD system.

We’re using a compact Antec Sonata II mid tower case, swapped out the PSU for a passive model from FSP rated at 400W, the outside of the PSU case never went past 40°C during our stress tests,

Intel S775 Setup
CPU	Pentium 4 524 @ 3628Mhz - 1.36v vcore
Mainboard	Asrock 775Dual-VSTA
Memory	1 * 512Mb Mushkin PC3200 LVLII V2
Other	Antec Sonata II with AcoustiFan DustPROOF 120mm @ 5v in the rear as outtake (mounted with soft-mounts) ATI R9000 Passive Cooling FSP ZEN 400W Passive Cooled PSU Seagate 7200.8 200Gb HDD in Scythe Quiet Drive

in-take temperature was measured at 22°C for all tests, but temp fluctuations, different mounting and user error can account up to 1-3°C of inaccuracy in the obtained results. Please keep this in mind when looking at the results. Each heatsink was tested repeatedly; if we got questionable results the test was restarted.


example: dBA meter is placed right at the edge of the case - with side panel removed

Noise level of each HSF combo was recorded with SmartSensor SL4001A, the sensor was placed ~5cm away from the side of the case with panel removed. The lowest dBA reading in the test room was 37.8dBAwith system running without HSF fan.

System was stressed by running K7 CPU Burn for 30min (after Thermal Compound's burn-in); this application pushes the temperature higher than any other application or game we've yet encountered. Speedfan was used to log maximum obtained temperatures.

Arctic Silver kindly send us their “Lumière” thermal testing compound which has the same colour as Ceramique, but only a break in time of 30min!

Arctic Silver's ArctiClean was used to clean off thermal paste of the CPU and heatsink between tests

CoolIT Eliminator

The Eliminator is the lower cost product of the two tested today, with an estimated retail price of $199 it’s more expensive than most CPU cooling devices, but on par with mid-range water cooling kits.

The Eliminator is an all-in-one product, no need for assembly by the end user, you mount the CPU cooling block and the Eliminator inside the case are you are good to go, to be able to fit all the components in a small profile they had to sacrifice on pump and radiator size as you will see in the photo’s below.

The package arrived safe and sound with the product protected inside by large pieces of foam:



Inside the box you find a very instructive manual with pictures and step by step instructions to install the unit on all current platforms. The small bags contain mounting gear separated by platform.



Specifications

Full specifications can be found at the CoolIT website here, we will list the most important ones here:

Fits on AMD Socket S939/AM2 and Intel S478/775

Copper water block (CPU Fluid Heat Exchanger)

6 TECs Max total 56Watt

12V Pump with 3.5L/min flowrate

92x92x38mm temperature regulated fan

The Eliminator comes with build-in performance/noise switch, you can set the unit to High/Medium/Low setting using the switch seen in the photo below:



You also notice that the tubing has been surrounded by a metal spring, this is to prevent extreme tube bending which could cut off the water flow.

The TEC units are quite low profile and can be seen here squuezed between the radiator and water blocks:



The 92mm DFB923812H fan is a Young Lin model rated at 3200rpm at 12v, pushing 63CFM at 38dB.



The CPU water block is compact and comes with thermal paste pre-applied:



The finishing on the bottom is near perfection:



Installation next ->

CoolIT Eliminator – Installation

The installation of the water block requires that you remove the motherboard outside the case so you can install the stand offs which correspond with your platform. You’ll need to look in the manual to know which stand offs and which clips to use, the rest is pretty straight forward.

You lay your case on its side and (re)install the motherboard with the stand offs:



Then you put the Eliminator on the HDD bays or PSU area and place the CPU block on the CPU, make sure to test fit the block to see where the water tubes are going once you move the Eliminator unit, to prevent too many unnecessary bends.



The thumbscrews make the installation very straight forward. Next you screw the Eliminator tight inside the case using 120mm fan mounting holes found at the rear of most modern cases:



Once installed the Eliminator lines up nicely with the side panel:



If you don’t have a window in your side panel you’ll miss out on this cool blue LED logo were you see the water in the small reservoir bubble:



If your side panel features a fan or handle you might run into problems getting the panel to fit correctly and you’ll have to improvise a bit.

CoolIT Eliminator – Performance

We stressed the system for several hours and logged the CPU temperatures while changing the Eliminator’s performance settings, going from Medium to High to Low we get the following result chart:



(1) At the Medium setting the CPU reaches a maximum of 58°C, the wall outlet is reading 177W total usage, that’s 39W more compared to using the Intel stock air cooling.
(2) At High setting the temperature drops to 50°C, the TEC units are being fed more juice and the exhaust fan is spinning faster, total system usage is now at 184W, at 46W we’re not at the theoretical maximum of 56W.
(3) The Low setting made the unit quite silent, with the fan speed dropping a lot, but this results in overheating at 74°C we decided to end the test as the temperature was still rising. Total power usage was only 162W, still 24W more than air cooled.

Onto the big brother, the Freezone ->

CoolIT Freezone

The Freezone is CoolIT joy and pride, this $399 product features a larger radiator and different orientation of the TEC units, hopefully resulting in a boost in performance.

Unlike the Eliminator the Freezone requires a bit more assembly to get it installed, where as the Eliminator had the performance control board on the unit itself, the Freezone provides a separate PCB where you connect the pump, fans and temperature sensor.

Despite the bulkier radiator the Freezone remains quite compact with room to spare, although it’s clear this product is meant for higher end system and fits best in high tower cases.



Inside the box there are more components to be found, next to the descriptive manual and mounting gear, you’ll find a 92>120mm mounting plate and the performance control unit, dubbed “MTEC Control Center Module” by CoolIT.



Specifications

Full specifications can be found at the CoolIT website here, we will list the most important ones here:

Fits on AMD Socket S939/AM2 and Intel S478/775

Copper water block (CPU Fluid Heat Exchanger)

6 TECs Max total 56Watt

12V Pump with 3.5L/min flowrate

92x92x38mm temperature regulated fan

Looking at the specifications not much has changed. The MTEC module does not have a High/Medium/Low performance like the Eliminator, instead we get a small rheobus which controls the TEC/Fan setting, by default it is set in the middle offering the best of both worlds (performance/noise), turning it one way or the other increases/decreases performance and noise.



The unit is not much bigger compared to the Eliminator seen from this angle:



But as you will see below, the radiator covers more surface:



The 92mm fan, while on paper is the same, is from a different make, no Young Lin but an ARX unit, other review units send to other sites feature the Young Lin fan though.



The spring around the tubes are there to prevent extreme bending as was the case also on the Eliminator unit, you’ll notice many more design similarities.



The CPU water block also features the excellent finishing:



Installation next ->

CoolIT Freezone – Installation

Installation of the Freezone is pretty much identical to that of the Eliminator, also requiring motherboard removal, and installing the stand offs, we ended up orientating the water block different on the CPU as this was better to prevent the tubes from bending in extremes:



We could rest the Freezone on the 5.25” bay during installation to easily access the CPU area to use the thumb screws to secure the water block;



Like the Eliminator the Freezone expels hot air outside the case:



After you have found a place for the MTEC unit you hook up all the power and sensor cables, last but not least, CoolIT advices you to hook up the Pump to the CPU fan header on the motherboard for both Freezone and Eliminator models.



When we asked if the 12v was build to be undervolted we received this answer:

The pump draws about 8W (12V). You are correct that the connection to the motherboard is made to indicate a failed pump. The pump is NOT designed to run at less than full power.

We understand that connecting the pump to the CPU fan header will indeed help to detect pump failure, however what happens if you enable dynamic fan speed control, a feature present on many of today’s motherboards, if a fan was connected it would slow down the fan if the CPU was running cool (idle), this will essentially also undervolt the pump; something to think about. We did not test undervolting the pump as CoolIT advices against it to prevent damage to the pump.

As with the Eliminator, if your case side panel features a fan or handle you need to improvise to make it all fit as the Freezone sits right next to the side panel. Unlike the cheaper Eliminator though there is no *bling* LED here to be seen when powered on:



CoolIT Freezone – Performance

We stressed the system for several hours and logged the CPU temperatures while turning the rheobus on the MTEC unit of the Freezone, we tested at default “medium”, max “High” and min “low” setting. Resulting in this little bit more crowded chart:



(1) At High performance setting the Freezone delivers impressive numbers, the CPU is at only 42.5°C under full load, the system is drawing more power from the wall outlet too compared to the Eliminator @ High, we’re now at 188W.
(2) At default “Medium” setting the CPU temperature crept up close to 60°C and then the MTEC temperature sensor kicked in, noticing the higher temperature, thereby increasing the power to the fan and TECs, at the (2) point the full system usage was 143W.
(3) With the extra cooling power which was auto-activated the CPU temperature settled at 55.5°C and power usage was up to 160W.
(4) We set the MTEC’s rheobus to the minimum setting and observed as the CPU temperature rose past the 60°C mark and going well on its way to 70°C.
(5) Again the MTEC unit kicked in and the temperature dropped to a maximum of 64.5°C at full system usage of 149W.
(6) We let the system idle until it reached the minimum CPU temperature with the Freezone running at maximum performance setting, with a room temperature of 22°C, the idle CPU temp was a mere 23°C, 1°C more. However…


The system ran for close to an hour at idle with the case closed, opening the cases did not reveal much, so let the system running, without side panel. About 1 hour later we checked up on the status and noticed on the cold side of the TEC this phenomenon:



Exposed to the ambient air at the cold side of the TEC hooked up the water block we can see condensation forming, our colleague reviewer at Overclex experienced the same thing, as he tested the products outside a case. However inside a case (with closed side panel) there was no sign of condensation… something to remember.

Let’s compare the performance and noise levels of the CoolIT products to some popular air cooling solutions ->

Performance Comparison

Since both CoolIT product make use of TECs to improve performance we thought it would be interesting to see how much more your system is using under full load. Do note that the pump and fan are also powered by the system, compared to a system installed with the stock Intel heatsink these are the results:



The Freezone at Low settings consumes only ~10W more compared to air cooling, leading us to believe that the TECs are simply turned off, since the pump uses up 8W and the fan about 2~3W. At Medium power usage is still acceptable at +22W, however at High setting you pay the toll for that extra performance, at 188W total wattage you bump overall usage quite a bit. The differences between the different settings are less stellar on the Eliminator unit, at Low already +24W, at maximum also close to the Freezone with 184W.

What are a few Watts more or less, if the temperature is kept low? Time to compare the CPU temperature results with those obtained by popular air cooled heatsinks. The Coolermaster Hyper TX covers the lower cost compact units, the Intel Alu reference for those who are still using default material, and two high end units, one equipped with a high noise fan, Tuniq Tower 120, the other with a quieter 120mm model, the Ultra-120;

Noise levels were recorded with the side panel removed, anything below <40dba is dead quiet, below <50dba quiet for most people; once you go over 50dba the system will become clearly audible in a room, 60dba can hear it next room. here are results:



Looking at the CPU temperature results only the CoolIT Freezone takes first place, besting the coolest air cooling solutions we tested to date, if only by 0.5°C. The Eliminator has a harder time keeping up with the competition, even at High setting it fails to improve on the Hyper TX from Coolermaster. The Stock Intel heatsink is easily beat; only at Low setting do both CoolIT models trail the default offering.

Noise wise however it’s a completely different story, no matter what the performance setting, nor the Freezone nor the Eliminator are quiet, with the fan at lowest setting the pump is still quiet audible, once the 92x92x38mm fan comes into play the noise level quickly rises and tops out slightly over 60dBA which makes it a very noise solution.


Conclusive Thoughts

While we include prices in almost our reviews to help us come up with a conclusive thought about the product tested, we are not quite encouraged to look for them here. Both CoolIT products cost more than $100 (~$150 and ~$250 to be precise) and that is simply too expensive when a sub $100 air cooled product can easily outperform these products, offering a better performance/noise ratio.

The performance of the Freezone is quite good if you can forget about the noisy fan, the Eliminator is not that different in design and specification but scores noticeably lower, keeping the CPU less cool than its bigger brother.

Both units however feature a fan which was picked for endurance, long life time and performance; neglecting an important piece of the pie: noise. For a 92mm fan to become silent it has to spin quite slowly and is unable to cool down a CPU heatsink, let alone a radiator heated by TECs. In order to drop noise without sacrificing performance you need to increase fan size and fan number, unlike what you would expect, installating two 120mm fans won’t make your system twice as loud compared to installing only one.

The Freezone and Eliminator need to accommodate not one but two 120mm fans running at low speed, the Pump must be able to throttle with more/less voltage provided (such DC fans exist, look at Danger Den’s 12V DC pump), only then will we get a product which will deliver performance and be quiet. To outdo the current crop of high end air cooled heatsinks they’ll have to expand the radiator size and maybe even add more TEC units. In the end you’ll have to ask yourself the question: where does it end, and how much is a few degrees shaved off the CPU under load worth to you?

While we would have loved “to love” these TEC using products from CoolIT we just can’t find any reason at this point in time to recommend them at their current price point and noise level.

We do encourage them to further explore the TEC world and provide us innovative products, all things said, the Freezone and Eliminator are quite unique products in a market filled with dozens of similar looking water and air cooled products.

Novelty


We thank CoolIT for allowing us to test their products and for their patience, thank you for reading.