CoolIT Freezone: any naysayers w/ my system?

harmattan

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My current cooling solution (Scythe INF) just isn't doing it for my current rig. With a moderate OC of 3.4ghz, I idle at 50c and load 60c. I think this is due to the hot summer weather coming on as my ambient temp has risen significantly in the room with my PC, and temps were much lower over the winter. I was considering lugging out my 8000btu AC, but I can deal with the heat and this definitely wouldn't be the most energy/cost-efficient way to keep my PC temps down.

I am looking at this:

http://www.crazypc.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=938200&Store_Code=120199

This seems like it would be excellent for me since it's low-maintenance and self-contained (I don't have the time or patience to deal with a balls-out liquid system yet). Unfortunately, I've only been able to find a couple canned, and probably biased, reviews on this solution. Has anyone had experience with the Freezone and care to comment? I'm also interested in how it would fit in my TT Armor. Any advice is much appreciated.
 

billdcat4

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My current cooling solution (Scythe INF) just isn't doing it for my current rig. With a moderate OC of 3.4ghz, I idle at 50c and load 60c. I think this is due to the hot summer weather coming on as my ambient temp has risen significantly in the room with my PC, and temps were much lower over the winter. I was considering lugging out my 8000btu AC, but I can deal with the heat and this definitely wouldn't be the most energy/cost-efficient way to keep my PC temps down.

I am looking at this:

http://www.crazypc.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=938200&Store_Code=120199

This seems like it would be excellent for me since it's low-maintenance and self-contained (I don't have the time or patience to deal with a balls-out liquid system yet). Unfortunately, I've only been able to find a couple canned, and probably biased, reviews on this solution. Has anyone had experience with the Freezone and care to comment? I'm also interested in how it would fit in my TT Armor. Any advice is much appreciated.

First of all, 3.4ghz is no mild OC.

From what I have heard, the Freezone Coolit watercooler, isnt much better than a high-end air-cooler like your Scythe. I would suggest getting a custom-water-cooled kit such as the one that Skyguy recently built. PM him and i_love_tacos for help

this is skyguys thread on how he watercooled his P180: http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/Antec-P180-Watercooling-101-ftopict235723.html
 

harmattan

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Jul 24, 2006
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My current cooling solution (Scythe INF) just isn't doing it for my current rig. With a moderate OC of 3.4ghz, I idle at 50c and load 60c. I think this is due to the hot summer weather coming on as my ambient temp has risen significantly in the room with my PC, and temps were much lower over the winter. I was considering lugging out my 8000btu AC, but I can deal with the heat and this definitely wouldn't be the most energy/cost-efficient way to keep my PC temps down.

I am looking at this:

http://www.crazypc.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=938200&Store_Code=120199

This seems like it would be excellent for me since it's low-maintenance and self-contained (I don't have the time or patience to deal with a balls-out liquid system yet). Unfortunately, I've only been able to find a couple canned, and probably biased, reviews on this solution. Has anyone had experience with the Freezone and care to comment? I'm also interested in how it would fit in my TT Armor. Any advice is much appreciated.

First of all, 3.4ghz is no mild OC.

From what I have heard, the Freezone Coolit watercooler, isnt much better than a high-end air-cooler like your Scythe. I would suggest getting a custom-water-cooled kit such as the one that Skyguy recently built. PM him and i_love_tacos for help

this is skyguys thread on how he watercooled his P180: http://forumz.tomshardware.com/hardware/Antec-P180-Watercooling-101-ftopict235723.html

Thanks for the insight. Yes, that's a nice set up. However, I'm dead set against watercooling, and building a custom system is entirely out of the question. I just don't have the time to construct or maintain - I need something that's "install and forget". From what I've read, the Freezone cools quite a bit better than any air HSF and seems to be easy to install.
 

phreejak

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What you do would really depend on, exactly, what you hope to achieve. Water cooling is the next logical step and with the proper equiptment, you could achieve much better results than air cooling. Be mindful, though, that water cooling will just get you closer to ambient. Of course, this will be better than the true temps your CPU would generate.

However, if you wish to go "sub-ambient" than you are going to have to look towards Peltier or phase-change solutions.

To support what billdcat4 said earlier, I, too, have heard that the freezone unit doesn't produce results much better than high-end air cooling. If I were going to use peltiers in my cooling solution it just makes sense to do it right and build your loop the do-it-yourself route instead of premade kits. I built my TEC loop through various parts and have enjoyed extremely excellent results for the better part of two years now.
 

fate0n3

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First off I would have to disagree with the other posters I myself just got rid of my Coolit Eliminator. And it was incredible, I went from idle temps with a TT120 which i think most consider to be a high end air cooler of close to 38-41c in these hot summer days to 27-30c. And that was with stock thermal compound. I was running close to 58-60c (Load) with my Tuniq with the Eliminator I was barely hitting 35c. And that is with the Elimnator the smaller of their 2 TEC Coolers. If you have the money i would def invest in one. It is a breeze to install especially if you are like me and don't care much for water cooling yes i agree i don't think it would run too much with really high end custom water cooling. But i have been there and done that with water cooling too much work and hassle especially if you LAN at all. I will stop talking and let some reviews talk for themselves.

http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/CoolIT_Freezone/index.shtml
http://www.hardcoreware.net/reviews/review-327-1.htm
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/CoolIT/Freezone
http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1055
http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/coolitfreezone/1.htm
http://www.hi-techreviews.com/Joomla/content/view/3655/27/
http://www.extrememhz.com/freezone-p1.shtml

These are just some of the sites i found with a simple search with google. I have tried to keep most of them legit and trust worthy sites for the most part i think these are just search and there are quite a few more to browse through.

Edit: Forgot a word... Spelling
 

phreejak

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Those are nice results and I don't mean to take away from the kits value but my experience with TEC cooling gives me results far beyond what CoolIt is capable of and it is from that experience that I speak of.

With my C2D set to 3.2 my temps are showing to be 0 degrees celsius. This is both at idle and under load. I've no spftware to report temps below the 0 degrees so I don't know the actual dip. The larger of the two CoolIt kits I found to be around $325. I put my CPU kit together for a little bit more than that (around $400). Also, the larger of the two CoolIt kits has a capability of handling up to 175 watts of heat whereas, my kit (using the Swiftech TEC waterblock) can handle 226 watts.
 

harmattan

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Those are nice results and I don't mean to take away from the kits value but my experience with TEC cooling gives me results far beyond what CoolIt is capable of and it is from that experience that I speak of.

With my C2D set to 3.2 my temps are showing to be 0 degrees celsius. This is both at idle and under load. I've no spftware to report temps below the 0 degrees so I don't know the actual dip. The larger of the two CoolIt kits I found to be around $325. I put my CPU kit together for a little bit more than that (around $400). Also, the larger of the two CoolIt kits has a capability of handling up to 175 watts of heat whereas, my kit (using the Swiftech TEC waterblock) can handle 226 watts.

After re-looking at some reviews, I'm now taking other options into considerations (although still considering the Freezone...). It seems that while the Freezone cool terrifically at idle and moderate load, at high load it suffers because the loop just isn't big enough to cool the block.

How involved was building your TEC setup (How long did it take? How much prior expertise?) Which parts did you use? Have you posted a step-by-step or know where I could find one? Sorry for all the questions...

My main issue with something like this is 1) I'd be a newb at building TEC 2) I'm worried about maintenance: this my main issue with water-cooling. I really don't have time to keep readjusting/recalibrating/refitting/refilling parts.

I don't really have any cost-constraints... I was looking at something like this, but then I would need to worry about condensation.

http://www.frozencpu.com/cat/l1/g41/Phase_Change.html?id=raWEzXfk
 

fate0n3

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Like i said i do agree with the fact that these systems can not run down high end water cooling builds. But the simple fact is that they do run excellent and have 0 maintenance on them and a very easy installation for most. For what the OP has said something like this would work great. I think these are for the people who want water cooling results but don't want to have to work and deal with hassles of water cooling. I mean lets look at the fact that all you have to do with this kit is install 4 standoffs in MB. Place CPU block down tighten down securely with 4 thumbs screws then 4 screws in the back of your case to secure the actual unit, then mount the units controller and hook up cables and you are done. Also the unit will self regulate itself so that condensation does not form.
 

harmattan

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Like i said i do agree with the fact that these systems can not run down high end water cooling builds. But the simple fact is that they do run excellent and have 0 maintenance on them and a very easy installation for most. For what the OP has said something like this would work great. I think these are for the people who want water cooling results but don't want to have to work and deal with hassles of water cooling. I mean lets look at the fact that all you have to do with this kit is install 4 standoffs in MB. Place CPU block down tighten down securely with 4 thumbs screws then 4 screws in the back of your case to secure the actual unit, then mount the units controller and hook up cables and you are done. Also the unit will self regulate itself so that condensation does not form.

The hottie on the CoolIT installation video has almost convinced me. I think I'm going with the Freezone. Seriously though, that installation video is a great touch and helpful.

http://www.coolitsystems.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=94&Itemid=40

Sure, I could get better results by building my own TEC, but that would cost more and, above all, take more time/effort. Thanks all for the advice.
 

IcY18

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I think like what FateON said for the time and effort it takes to install and maintain the CoolIT Freezone it is a viable option for the OP especially since he is not on a very tight budget.

@Harm
The OP has said numerous times he doesn't have the time to build any type of a watercooling loop and one with a peltier would be no different. To me since price is not the most important factor the Freezone is a fire and forget type cooler just like with aircooling and is something that will deliver better temps. He can also convert to a 120mm fan for better performance.

Unfortunately i don't think you have very many other options that could result in that type of performance without having to do a lot of work. The only other option i see is a Waterkeg III.

WaterKeg III

Its a completely external box that has quality watercooling components thats already been assembled and would deliver superior cooling. The price is high but you said your budget isn't limited. You would still have to buy a water cooling block to go with it, i'd recommend a Apogee GTX. Its one of the best blocks you can buy.

This would take much more time to install and setup but you would not have to actually build your own system obviously minimizing most of the effort that would need to be spent on watercooling. This setup would deliver the best performance out of any of the options you have right now.
 

fate0n3

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Yea she is defintely a good touch to the Video. They all know if it would have been guy we wouldn't have paid as much attention as we would with a hottie lol. Like i said i got great results out of mine. I don't think you could go wrong getting something like this but that is my opinion. I have found some of the best prices at

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=202&products_id=21604

$289.95 That is a lot lower then most of the other sites and this one is just as reputable as the rest, no worries about that. I have ordered tons of stuff through them quick service friendly to deal with fast shipping what more can you ask for. Other then the hottie to be placed in the box when shipped but we can always dream. lol hope that helps some