CoolIT Vs. Cogage: Little Water And Big Air Compared

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ryanaxiom

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As per wikipedia regarding human perception of sound: The decibel's logarithmic scale, in which a doubling of power or intensity always causes an increase of approximately 3 dB, corresponds to this perception.

10 dB is not a doubling but more like a 10x difference.
 
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Good article. Good to show liquid cooling isn't always better. Sorry but I have to clear up some confusion on dB because some people seem confused. dB is calculated using = 10 Log10 ( power/refpower). Using algebra we find the relative change in loudness is = 10 ^ ((dB difference)/10)
so....
2x a sound intensity will be about 3 db higher
10x a sound intensity will be 10 db higher

our ears work on a log scale so we perceive a 10 dB change in sound intensity to be twice as loud
 

cadder

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1. Didn't the ALC replace one of the case fans? As such shouldn't the noise comparison be between the ALC alone vs. the air cooler PLUS one case fan? (Or maybe you already did that, it wasn't clear in the article.)

2. Comparing 2 coolers against each other is one thing, but we also want to know how they compare to known good coolers already on the market. I'm not a cooler expert but it looks like neither one of these is particularly good. What would the performance have been with the Xig s1283 for instance? That would make for a good comparison. (I have the S1283 myself and with the optional mounting bracket it was very easy for me to install it. Actually I had to buy the Black Knight version but they are almost the same.)
 

radium69

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@Thomas Soderstorm,

You should try the Cooler Master Z600 air cooler, its also compatible with the nehalems... Just make sure you get a big enoug case ;) , and scythe ultra kaze 3000RPM fans ;)
 
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Not sure I understand the power comparison -- the Domino is both a case fan and CPU cooler so wouldn't the Cogage plus case fan add up to about the same? This should be a net wash...
 

Crashman

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[citation][nom]adam37[/nom]Not sure I understand the power comparison -- the Domino is both a case fan and CPU cooler so wouldn't the Cogage plus case fan add up to about the same? This should be a net wash...[/citation]

No. Asuming you use the same fan, a CPU plus case fan in an open case will be 3db noiser than a case fan alone. The Domino is noisier than TEN True Spirits.

Ten. At least.

That's a lot of fans.

Furthermore, most cases contain some of the noise of internal fans. So hopefully the fan you would normally use on the exhaust is relatively quiet. If you replaced it with a Domino and shot for the highest possible overclock (most heat), your entire system would sound much louder.
 

Casper42

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Hey Thomas - Do me a favor and try this out.
Take a piece of cardboard (The thinner stuff like a Retail HDD Box) and cut it so you have a pice that is 100mm x 220mm or so.
Tape it so the center of the longer side is effectively covering the Speed control button.
Then fold the "wings" that stick out @ 90 degrees such that they fold back and touch the sides of the fan module and tape them down too.

Essentially what I am trying to describe is a shroud that will force the fan to pull air from closer to the Mobo and not just the completely open area above the water block.

I am curious to see 2 things
1) How much cooler are the IOH/VRM temps?
2) How much hotter is the CPU? (Since the radiator is being fed warmer air)

Depending on your findings, perhaps a modification to the design is in order.
 

starryman

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I'm going to redneck my mobo cooling system. Pour wax around the whole mobo sans the cpu. Then I'm going to retrofit my garden hose to cool that SOB cpu. Unless you are OC'ing, just stick to the fan you get with the cpu unless you bought an OEM version without one.
 
Nobody seems to be interested in testing coolers with amd processors. It would be nice to see how some of the newer coolers stack up. Frostytech still has the ultra 120 extreme as the top cooler for AMD, but I am getting better cooling and overclocks with my domino. I was using the Thermalright Ultra 120 on my X4 940 (idle 40, load 46-48C), but now I idle at 36C and peak at 42C at 3.7 Ghz with my domino.
It looks like this cogage cooler (who came up with that name?) is a nice midrange solution for i7.
 
oh, and like zodiac mentioned, I can now add 4 more gigs of ocz reaper which would have been impossible with the Ultra 120. I don't think I could have even added ANY more ram with that thing in the way.

Plus I no longer have bad dreams about my motherboard breaking in half from the weight in the middle of a fierce Heroes battle. :p
 
didn't seem to take my post..
So like zodiac mentioned, I can now add 4 more gigs of ocz reaper with the domino. I don't think I could have fit ANY kind of ram with the big ass ultra 120 in my way.
 

Crashman

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[citation][nom]buzznut[/nom]Nobody seems to be interested in testing coolers with amd processors. It would be nice to see how some of the newer coolers stack up. Frostytech still has the ultra 120 extreme as the top cooler for AMD, but I am getting better cooling and overclocks with my domino. I was using the Thermalright Ultra 120 on my X4 940 (idle 40, load 46-48C), but now I idle at 36C and peak at 42C at 3.7 Ghz with my domino. It looks like this cogage cooler (who came up with that name?) is a nice midrange solution for i7.[/citation]

It's kind of pointless to use anything less than the hottest processor that the cooler fits.
 

zodiacfml

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though the full mode is a lot noisier, the efficient 3.8 ghz overclock on the i7 probably won't require that fan speed.

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]No. Asuming you use the same fan, a CPU plus case fan in an open case will be 3db noiser than a case fan alone. The Domino is noisier than TEN True Spirits.Ten. At least.That's a lot of fans.Furthermore, most cases contain some of the noise of internal fans. So hopefully the fan you would normally use on the exhaust is relatively quiet. If you replaced it with a Domino and shot for the highest possible overclock (most heat), your entire system would sound much louder.[/citation]
 

Crashman

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[citation][nom]zodiacfml[/nom]though the full mode is a lot noisier, the efficient 3.8 ghz overclock on the i7 probably won't require that fan speed.[/citation]

That's true, it performs similarly to the stock Intel cooler up until the Intel cooler reaches its limit. Once you exceed the limit of Intel's stock cooler, the Domino proves that it's more powerful at higher noise levels.
 
I'm so glad some one decided to do a review like this. People buy these low cost WC kits and are always disappointed with these so called "low cost" liquid cooling systems performance. One must truly spend a bit to get a true WC system (ie D5+ 240 (or bigger) rad + GTZ)
 
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This is wrong a domino performs as well as things like the true 120 if not better especially at overclockage and if thats true that means the cocage is better then a true or even a spinq?

you can already see one sided thinking in his firs paragraph where he disses domino before the review and in the second he praises thermal like an almighty god i feel this was an unfair rating by someone already decided
 
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btw not to double post but i used a domino alc vs a spinq on a q9450 while it cooled better at stock speeds then the domino alc at high speeds the domino could handle moving the heat whereas the spinq could not

my results are at 2.88ghz the domino on full or performance settings hit 33c idle 45c load
 
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