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"3R System Poseidon WCL-02"
SUMMARY: Entry level kits with moderate performance.
The good guys at 3R System Co. were nice enough to send samples of the Poseidon WCL-02 watercooling kit. There are two versions of this kit - the difference between them is the radiator:
The WCL-90 features a 92mm fan and the WCL-120 a 120mm fan. The 92 mm fan is rated at 78 cfm, 4000 rpm and the 120 at 116 cfm, 3000 rpm. Noise at these speeds was moderate.
Key Features:
The waterblock's base is not well finished:
I could feel polishing ridges very distinctly with my fingernail.
Mounts (Intel CPU - Prescott, P4, P3, Xeon; AMD CPU - Barton, Duron, Athlon) that ship with the kit are quite good:
They distribute pressure over the CPU core, where it should be. I would not use a screwdriver to tighten - finger pressure is adequate to the task.
The radiator features a plenum on both sides
and tubes between.
The parts that ship with the kit
include GPU and northbridge waterblocks, assorted fittings, fluid and a rheostat for fan control. The waterblocks for the GPU and northbridge have aluminum bases compared to copper for the CPU waterblock:
The WCLs were tested using the CPU Die Simulator. The tests were run using the same components each time - the only difference was changing radiators; the waterblock was not dismounted from the die simulator during testing.
Interpreting C/W: For every watt (CPUw) that the CPU
consumes, the HSF will limit the CPU's temperature rise to (C/W x CPUw)
plus the temperature at the HSF's fan inlet. For example, at an ambient temp of 25 C, a C/W of 0.25 with a CPU radiating 50 watts means that CPU temp will increase 50 x 0.25 = 12.5 C over ambient temp, or 37.5 C. The lower the C/W, the better.
What I found interesting is the relatively small difference between the 90 and 120 mm fan results - I would have expected the 120 to be marginally better. I measured the radiators and found that, to my surprise, the face areas are the same - the 90 measures 3 ½" x 4¼" and the 120 4¼" x 3 ½" - both equal at 14.9 square inches (visually the 120 looks bigger). These results were confirmed in multiple tests¹ over three days - no fluke.
Die Simulator results place the Poseidon WCL-02s in the lower rank of watercooling kits tested to date (Heatsink Ranking).
The WCL-02 kits tested about where I thought they would - OK for an entry level kit and OK for non-aggressive cooling. I would recommend the 120 over the 90 as fan noise is somewhat lower.
Thanks again to 3R System Co. for sending these our way to check out.
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