Aquamate Watercooling Kit

December 6, 2005 admin Uncategorized 0

Kit Test – Joe

SUMMARY: Versatile, easy to mount two-piece entry level watercooling kit.

Kit

The good guys at Eastar Trading GmbH (Germany) were nice enough to send a sample of their Aquamate watercooling kit to try out. This is a compact two-piece kit – the waterpump is integrated into the waterblock as a single unit. The kit includes parts for LGA775, AMD 64 S754/S939/S940, P4 478, AMD S462 and Intel Xeon. The kit comes fully charged with liquid, so there is no filling involved.

System Specs:

  • Waterblock and Pump:
    • Size: 50 x 50 x 77 mm
    • Power: 4 watts
    • Pump Specs: 500 L/hour waterflow, head 1.5 meters
    • Weight: 200 grams
    • Life Expectancy: 50,000 hours
    • Connector: 3 Pin
  • 120 mm Radiator:
    • Size: 160 x 120 x 40 mm
    • Material: Aluminium
    • Fan Power: 1.8 watts
    • Fan Speed: Variable 1200 – 1900 rpm
    • Connector: 3 Pin
    • Fan Size: 120 x 120 x 25 mm


The aluminum radiator features two headers connected by 14 flat tubes:

Rad

The cap at the top is for adding liquid to the system.

The kit ships with a rheostat to control fan speed:

Rheostat

I found it to vary fan speeds from about 1100 to 1900 rpm.

The base is well finished but does have polishing marks that you can feel when dragging your nail over it:

Base

The four holes are used to secure various mounting plates.

Parts that ship with the Aquamate include mounting plates for just about every conceivable CPU:

Parts

Note that the waterblock/pump unit is spring mounted.

TEST RESULTS

The Aquamate was tested using the CPU Die Simulator. Noise was measured 8″ from the fan’s intake with a Radio Shack sound meter – 50 dBA at this distance is very quiet 3 feet from the fan. I used the Aquamate’s rheostat to vary fan temps, with the following results:

Test

Die Temp

Ambient Temp

C/W

Aquamate, 1910 rpm, 56 dBA

43.9

19.1

0.36

Aquamate, 1274 rpm, <50 dBA

45.3

19.1

0.38

Results place the Aquamate, with the fan on high, in the lower rank of watercooling kits tested to date (Watercooling Kits Ranking), in company with other entry level kits.

In addition, I tested the Aquamate on an Acorp 4S845A motherboard with a modified P4 1500 to read CPU case temps. I used the Aquamate’s rheostat to vary fan temps, with the following results:

Watercooling Kit
Case Temp
Ambient Temp
C/W
Die Temp¹
Aquamate, 1870 rpm, 56 dBA
27.2 C
17.8 C
0.16
28
Aquamate, 1179 rpm, <50 dBA
28.4 C
17.7 C
0.19
29

¹Die Temp as measured by the P4 on-die diode, per MBM.

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.

These results place the Aquamate near the top of P4 aircooled heatsinks tested to date (Heatsink Ranking).

CONCLUSIONS

The Aquamate is a nice kit for a simple two-piece unit – its performance is in line with what might be expected for a low-flow waterpump and 120 mm radiator. For non-aggressive P4 use, the Aquamate turns in a very credible performance compared to air cooled heatsinks.

Thanks again to Eastar Trading GmbH for sending us the Aquamate to try out. USA availability is planned for next year – MSRP $79.

Disclosure: Joe Citarella has a financial interest in a company developing thermosyphon products for electronic chip cooling.

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