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Liquid Cooling for Intel/AMD (AQUAGATES1) Motherboard

Posted by Josh under Motherboards

Cooler Master Aquagate Viva (single) Pros: Excellent GPU cooling. Application options are virtually endless. Self-contained system!Cons: Not for 8800 or 2900 cards. Not for most higher clocked CPU’s. Slight install curve.The Bottom Line: Worth every dime if you don’t have an 8800 or 2900 GPU. I thought about trying this on my kid’s e6300 CPU. Purchsed 2 of these to help cool 2 different video cards. I paid $29.99 after $20 MIR from Newegg.com My test subjects: eVGA Nvidia Geforce 7900GS in a Dell XPS 410 computer with 3gb DDR2 @ 667Mhz and an e6300 CPU. Asus Radeon x1900xt in a home-built e6600 OC’d to 3.2Ghz and 3gb DDR2 @ 880Mhz. The Dell my daughter uses has been the source of heat in her bedroom and I’ve been trying to eliminate the heat from her PC the best I can. Her CPU runs super cool since I removed all of the stock DELL thermal paste they use and replaced it with Arctic Silver 5. The only other sources of heat in her case are the PSU and the 7900GS. I decided to use her video card as the guinea pig in case it didn’t go so well :). After having success with her install I went ahead and did the install on my x1900xt card. Packaging: Item is packaged very well. While there is alot of ‘throw away’ packaging the cardboard can be taken to a recycling center or local collection area and the included molded plastic used to keep the parts secure during shipment is marked with a Triangular-1 which is recyclable in my area by simply placing it in the recycle bin at the road for weekly pickup. I love this since I try to reduce my impact as much as I can by recycling everything I possibly can. I just with my waste management company took cardboard since the gas I burn driving it to a collection place seems to counter-act the affect I’m having by recycling in the first place. LOL. For 6 months I’ll hold on to the packaging in case I need to RMA the merchandise. Instructions: 8 languages make this book seem like War and Peace. You’re only concerned with the first 13 pages. I found it interesting that all of the other languages took 13 pages as well. I have too much free time. I’m NOT one to read instructions but since I’ve never dealt with any product like this before I figured I’d protect myself against myself and read the entire 13 pages BEFORE removing the kit from it’s packaging. I’m glad I did. I had to re-read a couple of things before I had a mental picture of how to install it. This helped my install go MUCH smoother. As I performed the install I kept noticing things I would have neglected had I not read the manual thoroughly first. Installation: Removing the old GPU cooler can be a pain based on what card you have but most are just 4-8 small screws unplug the power connector from the PCB and you’re done with removing the old cooler. I FIRMLY suggest using Arctic Silver’s Arcti-Clean (found here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100010 ) before continuing with installation of the Aquagate Viva. Placing the included foam spacer on the bottom of the waterblock with attention paid to alignment I placed a small dab (half-a-pea) of Arctic Silver 5 thermal compound on the GPU and placed the water-block/pump over the GPU. I used the manual to help with screw placement and decided I had to use my own judgement for the x1900xt since the manual’s diagram was a little OFF and incoherent. Placing the screws into the waterblock’s holes then aligning them one-by-one with the stock holes in the PCB I figured out the screws included have a reverse-threaded fool-proof tightening design. At the TOP of each screw just under the head are reverse-threads used to ease the screw into the card’s screw holes and help secure a good flat fit onto the GPU. After all 4 screws were in place and reverse-threads were tightened I flipped the card over setting it on a towel for cushion. I then placed the white plastic o-rings over each screw followed by the springs. The nuts were a little cumbersome for someone with small fingers after the first couple my fingers got sore so I used a flat-head screwdriver to perform the initial ‘push-turn’ needed to get the nut to grab that first thread. The spring makes that process a little harder than it would be without the springs but the springs are an integral part in the install process. I snugged up each nut and flipped the card over checking for surface contact between GPU and waterblock. It looked to me to be an air-tight seal on both cards. Putting the cards into their cases: This in my opinion was the hardest part of the install. Finding room to fit this stuff and not just that finding room to efficiently keep everything cool and airflow as it needs to be. It was also rough trying to route the 4 3-pin connectors used to power the kit (with the included 4 3pin to 1-4pin adapter). On the Dell I opted to use the PCI adapter which requires removal of both fans and placement of a PCI plate used to secure the radiator to a PCI slot. Removing the fans was simple 8 screws total. Place the PCI adapter in place along with the PCI-slot bracket and replace fans with all 8 screws. It was easy. The hard part was finding somewhere to stick the velcro’d flow alarm where it would (a)-Stick (b)-not kink the hoses (c)-not be in the way of airflow or harm any other devices inside. I stuck the flow alarm to her CPU fan duct and the side panel closes well. Install in my home-built PC: This was a little more challenging since I’m a little more picky about my own PC and have more devices inside my case like the Zalman 9500LED CPU HSF setup along with the Antec SpotCool fan cooling my Northbridge heatsink. In my Cooler Master Centurion 5 I decided to mount the radiator in a 5.25 drive bay. I popped off the face of the case removed the metal plates in all the unused drives to maximize airflow in that area and mounted the radiator to one side of the drive bay. It holds well and seems quite secure. No noise issues or otherwise have been noticed in the month I’ve had this up and running. Issues: I’ve had issues with the flow alarm box in my home-built PC. I really don’t have anywhere ‘comfy’ to stick it and have it stuck to the rear of the case under the 120mm exhaust fan. Sometimes it will become partially un-stuck and cause the alarm to sound when I turn the PC on. This causes me to have to turn the PC off remove the side panel and re-stick it where it goes. Another issue. On my home-built PC I was able to plug in the 3-pin wire to an available header on the motherboard. On the DELL I was unable to do that (since Dell didn’t leave an open fan header on the motherboard). I’m assuming this header helps control fan speeds on the radiator. Why do I assume this? Well the home-built PC’s radiator fans run quietly. The Dell’s fans run FULL BLAST and are MUCH louder. I’ll work on that one later. Other issues lie in keeping your card’s memory cool. Read on: Keeping your memory cool: So you’ve taken care of the GPU and shown much love to it. It will thank you very soon but NOT before you show some love to the memory chips as well. Don’t even think you can just hook this baby up and play. Cooler Master included 8 ramsinks to stick to your memory. They are somewhat V-shaped fins and quite small but cut to the exact size of your memory. They are blue anodized aluminum (from what I can tell) and I didn’t feel they’d be adequate enough for my use as ramsinks. I purchased some Swiftech MC14 VGA Forged Copper BGA Ramsinks from a local seller for $16 and stuck em to the memory after cleaning each chip. The DELL’s BTX design has the 7900GS card fan-side-up so the heatsinks stick GREAT! No gravity to contradict the thermal tape. The x1900xt sits fan-side-down so I knew this was more of a challenge. I had a few RAMSINKS that didn’t stick well after installing the card. I’d notice a couple on the bottom of the case after a day or two and decided to just stick them on with Arctic Silver 5 compound. Who knew that stuff was so sticky! It worked great. Dangers in this is : be careful Arctic Silver is highly conductive material and if you have a blob that goes over the side of the memory chip it could short out onto the PCB. For the novice I’d try Arctic Silver Ceramique since it’s non-conductive and safe for use in that application. What I did with the included RamSinks: I used them to cool the mosfets located on the rear of my x1900xt card. You can use them to help draw heat from most anything hot in your PC. If you’re brave with the PC on for a little while reach in and carefully (with a flashlight guiding you) touch varied chips on your motherboard or other cards. These ramsinks stick well in most cases and will help your PC stay cooler thus prolonging the life of it and making it run smoother/faster. Temps the Biggest Loser:(all temps in Celsius and Idle/Load after 4 runs of 3dmark06 7900GS before: 46/60 7900GS after : 34/36 1900xt before: 48/82 1900xt after : 41/48 As you can see the payoff is amazing for what this kit cost me. The idle temps didn’t drop much but the load temps are BIG improvements over stock cooling. I’ve read where people have used this on dual-core CPU’s and had success. I’ve read where people used it on 2.4Ghz and higher CPU’s and been disappointed. If you’re buying this to quiet your system down odds are you’ll be a little pleased. I’ve noticed the noise from my x1900xt’s stock fan is gone! but replaced with another fan sound. It’s not as loud but it’s still there. If you’re buying this to shave some degrees off your GPU hear-hear! Jump in and buy a kit! I don’t overclock since my FPS ratings in all games is fine for my tastes. This system is NOT recommended for the 8800 series Nvidia or the 2900 series Radeon cards. Don’t even bother. Recommended:Yes Amount Paid (US$): 29.99 w MIR