Radical CPU coolers from CoolIT

[Davros]

I RMA'd two of these things. The first one took 3 months to die. The second one took 2 weeks to die. In both cases the pump just stopped pumping. Dead. The fan and TECS still worked, but that did no good with a dead water pump.

After the second RMA I just sold the unopened replacement on eBay and installed a Zalman 9700.

This is on a quad core QX6700 running OC to 3.0ghz.

 

[dragonsprayer]

total junk!

THG article is bs - to be quite frank!

These are total junk they do not work at all.

Why would anyone water cool a 65w cpu with a $200-$300 unit when you can get a killer koolance system complete for $300-$600

I saw this company on CNBC - what a scam - they have some high dollar investors behind them i am sure - this product suxs!

 

[dragonsprayer]

I have been useing a Freezone in one of my computers for over a year now. It is cooling an overclocked Opteron 165 (1.8GHz std) clocked at 2792MHz. It is extremely quiet. The only noise is the fan and that is very quiet. Under load of Prime 95 running on both cores it goes up to 58C, if I remember correctly (can't find my yellow pad that I wrote my notes on from a year ago).

If I overclocked any higher the temperature just would creep higher and higher; the Freezone is unable to handle any more heat generation. I even tested useing a much higher capacity fan and it only helped a little; but the noise of a 120CFM fan was intolerable for a couple of degree improvement.

Motherboard: DFI nF4 SLI-DR Expert
CPU: Opteron 165 CCB1E 0609FPMW @2792
Memory: 2 x 1GB OCZ DDR 500
Graphics card: XFX 7900GTX 512MB
PSU: Sparkle FSP650
CPU Cooling: Cool It - FreezeZone (thermo electric and liquid cooling)

i am sure your operon will not keep up with the 3.5ghz or 3.7ghz quad system i build with intel - sure i can use this to cool my 3.37ghz e6600 based systems which blows your opy away! right?


junk cooling (70-80C CRASH 2MINS ORTHOS) show below:

good cooling (UNLIMITED ORTHOS 50-55C) show below: (5TB 10 drive dual raptor raid 0 with 8 drive raid 5 storage - 350-450k speed - 3.55ghz quad core 12-13k 3dmark06 singel 8800gtx)

As shown, i tested both systems just recently! THG - PLEASE GET YOUR STORY RIGHT THIS COOLIT THING IS TOTAL JUNK!

 

[nicolasb]

I'm afraid I really can't see the point of reviewing devices like this at all if you're not going to provide a comparison with high-end air-cooling. You need to benchmark them alongside a Tuniq Tower, Thermalright Ultra-120 and (particularly) Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme. Otherwise there's no point in bothering.

And, has also been mentioned before, you need to do the benchmarking in a silent room and take decibel-level readings of the whole system. Noise really matters.

 

[crow_smiling]

I’ve noticed the quality of the articles and presentation of them has significantly dropped this year. This is another half arsed article as many others pointed out.

Toms Hardware – RIP.

It should be renamed to – (No longer) Tom’s Lameware.

 

[dragonsprayer]

Dude!

it costs $300 a koolance systems cost $300 and up and you get a case with the 736!!!!

How can u compare $40-$60 heat sinks to a $200 to $300 product since you need a case anyways, koolance systems are a great comparison.

This is nothing more then a compact poorly designed and thought out water cooler - i can throw a tec plate anywhere - but why would you!

This coolit thing sucks so bad! it starts out low and then keeps getting hotter and hotter - 120f/50c for modest applications and as i stated its a barn burner with a quad at 3.5ghz.

ok lets say you have a low end chip that this junker will work with - why spend $200-$300 to cool a low end chip with a poorly conceived product!

THG - your review sucks! total junk! i will probably get banned! I just tore one out last night i am so pizzed this thing sucs so bad! YES I AM MAD SINCE I JUST SPENT SO MUCH TIME WITH THIS TOTAL PIECE OF $%^&'N #$%^!

BELOW IS THE BEST PART:

REMOVED IS THE BEST PART!

SECOND BEST PART IS BOXED TO SELL ON EBAY!

total scam! junk! high maintenance - logiest nightmare - this reminds of that junk power supply by koolance $500 for couple of water bags and a 10 cent cast post holds on the radiator. dumb!

 

[grafton]

LMAO @ everyone with koolance system,
for ~$200 a custom setup cpu only set up will beat the pants off of any koolance system bc they suck,
just get thermochill 120.3, 3 yate loons, DDC-2 pump, and a D-tek fusion
and you have an awe inspiring wc system

 

[IcY18]

While i completely agree that the Watercooling setup you mentioned

-Thermochill PA120.3
-DDC-2 Pump
-D-tek Fuzion CPU block
-Yate loon fans

Would absolutely blow away a Koolance setup, it would also cost you around $300 bucks, not to mention any potential(pretty much guaranteed)modding you'd have to do, but also the time it would take to set it all up. It would be atleast 3x the amount of work a Koolance pre-built setup would require.

A koolance setup offers those who don't have the exact know how on setting up a custom watercooling setup, but want better performance than a high end aircooler/the cool look of watercooling. So for $200 it's not that bad of deal.

 

[cleeve]

I'm afraid I really can't see the point of reviewing devices like this at all if you're not going to provide a comparison with high-end air-cooling.

At $250 - $300, the CoolIT coolers aren't competing against air coolers, they're competing against water coolers.

Toms Hardware – RIP.

I always find it funny how fashonable it's become to bash Tom's.

Instead of walking away with a bit of useful info - like the fact that we've compared the CoolIT solutions against comperably priced water cooling, which nobody else has bothered trying - our forums are filled with readers who a) obviously find enough value in our investigations to spend the time reading our stuff, and then b) invest even more time on the forums to complain about what we didn't do.

It'd be nice if we got a little support from our own community like other sites. Constructive criticism would probably work a little better as far as letting us know what you want to see instead of posts like "Toms=RIP". I mean, seriously.

 

[IcY18]

While both the Koolance WC Setup and the CoolIT Freezone/Eliminator are competing with each that isn't to say they are worth there price.

It'd be nice to have seen a high end air cooler and compare the results. While the stock intel cooler may have been your control the difference in cooling results didn't really show how well/bad the cooler's performed. The ideal situation would have been to compare to it a Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme, while i know it'd be hard to get all these components in at relatively the same time, that'd be the best way to determine whether spending ~$100-200 more on more exotic cooling setup would be worth it. Enthusiasts that are thinking about making a jump into more exotic cooling, like the prebuilt CoolIT or Koolance setups,most likely would also be considering the most high end air cooling there is.

While CoolIT and Koolance provide the intermediate step between high end air cooling and a custom built water loop, it'd be interesting to see if they are worth there price. While that may not have been your main focus on the article it certainly could have provided the readers a better way to compare the products performance.

 

[custompcz]

After reading your post as well as the other post regarding "whining" by people who have anything critical to say about a review, I felt a reply without blatant flamming was due.

First of all, ANY cooling review performed by anyone, anywhere needs to examine all relevant information. IE; all types of cooling solutions and there cooling capabilities per watt per dollar, and how they compare. This should include air, water, TEC, and any combination of them.

While some criticism may come across a bit harsh, it has significant value. It points out the shortcomings and isssues overlooked by the reviewer. This in turn educates ALL who read what they post if they have legitimate knowledge and are not just spewing ignorant opinion. In any event, MANY people learn something they may not know.

Would you prefer an Newb to read the review and say, "Hey, great article, I think I'll go out and buy that" and drop some hard earned cash for a system that dissapoints and then feels the review they read was BS and Tom's really sucks? I would think not. Instead they read the critical replies and say "Hmmmm.....I better do some research" and are grateful for the Forumz and to have learned something rather than getting screwed.

One last note. I've noticed that those who criticize are usually enthusiasts who have a damn good idea as to what they're doing and what they know.
On the other hand, those who are just mainstream novices usually don't push their hardware's capabilities and are more focused on being critical of other posters and the "politics" of the forum.

By the way, I noticed your sig and was wondering why you've got such a lame OC on an E4300? I had mine at 3.4Ghz before trying the new E2160 for $hits and giggles. Maybe your just not an enthusiast, eh?

 

[p8ntslinger676]

O jesus, not this again, every time someone reviews this I always have to tell people, DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY ON IT. Put together a real loop and stop pulling this crap out and saying your 1337, It is so overpriced it just blows my mind, and BTW that is no decent TEC setup and will get you no further than a regular water loop, this is NOT recommended for Quad Core overclocking.

One of my previous builds with a 320watt tec and sitting on top of the meanwell psu that is powering it, temp @ -10*C

If you have never really built crazy cooling loops like this, you wouldn't begin to understand the half of it.


BOTTOM LINE: Dont buy CoolIT products, they are overpriced and the performance of them is not where it needs to be at such a price.

 

[cleeve]

While some criticism may come across a bit harsh, it has significant value.

Sure it does! You completely misunderstand my position. I value criticism, welcome it, invite it.
But saying "Toms=RIP" isn't criticism, is it? It's useless whining, and does nothing to further the interests oif the community or site, does it? Honestly, I'm not sure how or why you could defend that kind of statement.

By the way, I noticed your sig and was wondering why you've got such a lame OC on an E4300? I had mine at 3.4Ghz before trying the new E2160 for $hits and giggles. Maybe your just not an enthusiast, eh?

lol. Well, that's great that you feel the need to brandish your e-penis.

Personally, I got the lame OC on the 4300 because I haven't tried yet.
As I stated in the Koolance review, I took it up to about as high as the stock cooler would handle at a temp I found acceptable, so I could compare the stock cooler results. If I took it higher I couldn't have compared with the stock cooler...

But thanks for your concern. Should I ever feel the need to associate my self esteem with a CPU overclock like you did, you'll be the first one to know... :lol:

 

[gm0n3y]

@DragonSpayer and others

If you worded your criticisms more constructively and dropped the CAPS and !!!, then you wouldn't run the risk of getting banned AND people would be more likely to listen to you. There really is no need to bash the site that much. Just let them know your opinion and what you think they should have done differently. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no need to be rude about it and insult other people.

 

[iampowerslave]

I read the article, I read this topic (which became a bil of flaming)

I just want an answer from the author. WHERE IS THE AMBIENT TEMP PUBLISHED?

It seems that with IDLE CPU the WC (full speed) gets to 18 Celsius. And there's a comment from the author that says "see how it can't go below ambient temp?"

So I assume your amb temp is at the most 18 Celsius degrees. A stock cooler is enough for that job. ALL tests should be done at 20 or 25 Celsius which are two standard temps (depending on the subject 20 or 25 is used)

Or even more than that. Since I have a ThermalRight XP-120 which does it job silently with room temps of 30 Celsius on a Pentium D at 65 Celsius (both cores running F@H)

Also an E6600 with Prime95 at 2.8GHz that uses a stock cooler and in room temps of 20 Celsius can do the job.

If your room temp is 30 Celsius how the WC and this system.

 

[Luscious]

I guess the CoolIT products do have some rather nice advantages over traditional water-cooled setups. One being that it requires no maintenance over a 5 year life, letting you install it and forget it. The second, it's relatively compact size, letting you install it without heavily modding the case.

Builders of HTPC systems in particular would appreciate a cooler with such characteristics. Instead of overclocking, you want a cooler that is quieter. Air coolers are loud and case internals are small. A water cooler can do a quieter job without adding heat inside your case.

But the thing with HTPC cases is that once they are installed with the rest of the home theater gear, you cannot really tinker with it like you would a regular mid-tower case. That rules out cooling solutions that require access to the case internals for maintenance.

Except that the CoolIT isn't a great cooler at all. Other than the fact that it technically works, it is still not a "silent" cooler. One reply here mentioned that changing the fan did little to improve, so I can only assume that the design of the cooler is less than optimal.

Were it a near-silent cooler, I would say that it is great choice.

A better alternative??? $190-$250 will get you a good Swiftech cpu block, some 1/2" tubing, a silent 120mm fan/radiator, pump and reservoir. Minimum modding and some maintenance aside, you will get considerably cooler temps, near-silent operation, and you won't need to throw it away after five years either.

 

[cleeve]

I just want an answer from the author. WHERE IS THE AMBIENT TEMP PUBLISHED?

It seems that with IDLE CPU the WC (full speed) gets to 18 Celsius. And there's a comment from the author that says "see how it can't go below ambient temp?"

You're totally right, I missed including that. The ambient temp was 21 degrees.

The watercooling system in theory is limited to ambient temp, although in reality we can see it go a couple degrees below in this case. I'm not positive how that worked - either air movement over condensation on the the radiator caused evaporation to cool it below ambient, or the temp sensor was out a few degrees.

 

[IcY18]

Cleeve,

How hard/easy to you see it being to basically daisy chain to Freezone's together?

Also i'm sure you mentioned the tubing size but do you have any clue on how strong the pumps would be, possibly considering a different cpu block.

 

[cleeve]

Hmmmm... good question. I don't have one with me at the moment but I'd suspect daisy chaining these would introduce more variables than you'd like to deal with. Who knows how much power the control unit puts out - and how many TECs it could control. Space would be an issue, too.

I think if you wanted to experiement you'd be better off building your own custom system from TECs/hoses/waterblocks and other parts, but I can't say I'm sure it'd be worth it.

 

[crow_smiling]

Why the hell do people whine about the reviews. If they don't like it, write there own! 😛

If you meet up with a friend and he has a turd hanging from the back of his jacket, you tell him because he’s your friend. Not because you are laughing at him or wish him badly, but because he really should know that he has a turd on his jacket.

Well I’m simply saying this article is a turd, as many people here have agreed. And worse than that it was deliberately placed on the site! Shame on the writer and even more so on the editor. This is the lamest article I’ve ever seen on a review site that I thought had credibility. I no longer think Toms has credibility and when I say Toms RIP I am simply saying that it is now dead to me as a credible site.

The recent standard of readability has dropped off to the point where you can’t even be bothered to graph basic data in certain articles but get really carried away in other areas and graphing anything that moves. I’m referring to the articles on PC power consumption.

I don’t blame the writer, but the editor. Sack the editor I say before Tom’s becomes a laughing stock.

Note. Turd = faeces.

P.S.
It’s hopefully just a passing phase and you’ll get back on track soon but better to make a noise now than wait until it reaches a point where I don’t even think it’s worth mentioning.

 

[gm0n3y]

This is the lamest article I’ve ever seen on a review site that I thought had credibility. I no longer think Toms has credibility and when I say Toms RIP I am simply saying that it is now dead to me as a credible site.

A tad over dramatic don't you think?

 

[IcY18]

I see, well the reason for my contemplations is to really avoid having to neatly put together a complete watercooling kit. The look of the CooIT Freezone is very nice. I've figured all the space you would really need would be a case that houses two 120mm exhaust fans. Something like the Gigabyte Aurora. Also if someone were to potential drop $600 on these then the PSU would be a non issue.

Could you possible hook up the two both TCMs so they could regulate temperature accordingly and either put the second 3-pin connector into another mobo fan header. Or i've seen before where you can hook many fans up to a single 3-pin, could this also be employed?

 

[dragonsprayer]

I'm afraid I really can't see the point of reviewing devices like this at all if you're not going to provide a comparison with high-end air-cooling.

At $250 - $300, the CoolIT coolers aren't competing against air coolers, they're competing against water coolers.

Toms Hardware – RIP.

I always find it funny how fashonable it's become to bash Tom's.

Instead of walking away with a bit of useful info - like the fact that we've compared the CoolIT solutions against comperably priced water cooling, which nobody else has bothered trying - our forums are filled with readers who a) obviously find enough value in our investigations to spend the time reading our stuff, and then b) invest even more time on the forums to complain about what we didn't do.

It'd be nice if we got a little support from our own community like other sites. Constructive criticism would probably work a little better as far as letting us know what you want to see instead of posts like "Toms=RIP". I mean, seriously.

forums are to speak the truth - why did tom's let such a poor product slide with a ok review?

advertising dollars?

big business relationships?


THG - rocks! this article sucks!

the coolit system is a terrible product that serves no purpose - again - yes it works on low watt chips but why would you need such in efficient cooling?

it complete fails to cool high end chips - so what purpose can this product serve? what role?

i own one and its total junk and its so obvious, why can THG noT come to that same conclusion? if i am wrong then explain to me who would use this useless over-hyped inefficient product?


THG ROCKS! ITS A GREAT SITE!

 

[dragonsprayer]

I guess the CoolIT products do have some rather nice advantages over traditional water-cooled setups. One being that it requires no maintenance over a 5 year life, letting you install it and forget it. The second, it's relatively compact size, letting you install it without heavily modding the case.

Builders of HTPC systems in particular would appreciate a cooler with such characteristics..

Except that the CoolIT isn't a great cooler at all. Were it a near-silent cooler, I would say that it is great choice.

A better alternative??? $190-$250 will row it away after five years either.

SHOW ME ONE UNIT IN 5 YEARS AND I SHOW YOU A FAILED UNIT! THESE WILL NOT EVEN COME CLOSE TO 5 YEARS - IN 5 YEARS FROM THE DAY THE FIRST UNIT SHIPPED FOR TRIAL THIS COMPANY WILL BE LONG GONE!

The dragon has spoken :twisted:

i will pay evey coolit owner $10 that owns and works for 5 years!

 

[dragonsprayer]

@DragonSpayer and others

If you worded your criticisms more constructively and dropped the CAPS and !!!, then you wouldn't run the risk of getting banned AND people would be more likely to listen to you. There really is no need to bash the site that much. Just let them know your opinion and what you think they should have done differently. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, no need to be rude about it and insult other people.

First i apologize for yelling - you are right - even though i just capped again! i hate caps

2nd - you would have to understand the timing - i just got done with a marthon with this product on $6k parts and it totally does not work. Then what do i see 12 hours later a THG on the same $%^&'n product (sorry again but i have a bad temper) - yes i may be a poor write and yes i may have a bad temper but this product does NOT work.

THG should clearly point out that for $200 or $300 this is a horrible over hyped, poorly engineered product.

I hope THG will respect that i only want to help this site by having good honest reviews.

90c - i can get better cooling with a stock intel cooler - you get air lock with this thing.