Aguatec Blue Ice CP-101 - Testing and Conclusion page 3

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Testing

As always, I test my heat sinks with no case fans to aid in cooling.  A temperature probe was used and placed close enough to touch the CPU core but not causing any interference between the heat sink and the core.  A fresh layer of Arctic Silver III was applied.  The room temperature was consistent at 19.7C throughout the entire testing process.

One note about this particular testing process is that I used a small thin profile 70mm fan that spins at 3800 RPM and produces 35 dB.  Although stated at 35 dB, this fan is near silent.  There is a reason why I chose a 70mm quiet fan to test against the Aguatec Blue Ice.  One reason is that the 60mm fan could not be taken off.  The second reason is that 60mm fans do not fit on the Swiftech MCX4000.  The last reason is the performance and noise difference.  You will know what I mean after you see the results.

Test System

1. Intel Celeron 1.7GHZ @ 1.87GHZ (17x110) @ 2.0v

2. ABIT BG7

3. 256mb Samsung PC2700

4. Seagate Barracuda III 20gb 7200rpm

5. ATI Radeon 7500

6. Generic 52x CDRom

7. Antec SX830

8. Vantec 420watt power supply

Test Fans

For Aguatec Blue Ice:

1. 60mm - 6000 RPM @ 38.7 dB

For Swiftech MCX4000:

1. 70mm - 3800 RPM @ 35 dB

Test Burn-Ins:

1. Idle time of 30 minutes

2. Folding@Home for 30 minutes

I have found that folding@home to be the most CPU intensive program.  It makes my CPU work harder than any benchmark program I have used and keeps the temps very high as long as it is running.

Results

 

After reviewing the results, I hope that you can understand why I have chosen to use a low profile 70mm fan to test against the Aguatec Blue Ice.  This just proves that a Swiftech MCX4000 paired with an ultra quiet fan is still able to outperform the noisy Aguatec Blue Ice. 

Concerns

My major concern about the Blue Ice is the mounting system for the socket A motherboards.  It requires a tremendous amount of force to push the clip down to clamp onto the socket.  I did not test it on AMD processors for fear of the tremendous pressure crushing the core. 

Conclusion

The Aguatec Blue Ice CP-101 has been broken down into details, both good and bad.  A quick and simple conclusion can be drawn from the tests conducted.  Aguatec should take the Blue Ice CP-101 back to its drawing boards and redesign this heat sink from the ground up.  I believe it has potential.  As for right now, this is definitely something that overclockers need to stay away from.  This heat sink is only a simple eye-catcher and nothing more.

HIGHS

1. Looks Awesome!

2. Socket 478 brackets have rubber grommets for feet

3. Innovative

LOWS

1. Very loud - close to a Delta sound

2. Weak performance

3. No fan options - fan not removable

4. Heat sink design is not really effective

5. Very expensive

6. Aluminum base

7. Clips are hard to push down for Socket A users

8. Hard to find (this should be a good thing?)

Rating: 2/10

We'd like to thank you for joining us here today for the Aquatech Blue Ice CP-101 HSF review.

Editor's Note: Do we recommend this product? Obviously not, so if your considering a purchase, you may want to think twice. This review sample originally came from IceePC.com and we would like to thank them for graciously providing the unit. However, they no longer stock the unit for obvious reasons. You can purchase it at Plycon.com (on sale) but they strongly recommend NOT using it on AMD systems as was stated in our review, AND they clearly state they will not give refunds or returns on this and other water cooling items. My suggestion? Pass this one up at all costs. Want to discuss it in our forums?

DISCLAIMER: The content provided in this article is not warranted or guaranteed by Developer Shed, Inc. The content provided is intended for entertainment and/or educational purposes in order to introduce to the reader key ideas, concepts, and/or product reviews. As such it is incumbent upon the reader to employ real-world tactics for security and implementation of best practices. We are not liable for any negative consequences that may result from implementing any information covered in our articles or tutorials. If this is a hardware review, it is not recommended to open and/or modify your hardware.

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