CoolIT Freezone Elite

Item: CoolIT Freezone Elite
Author: Brett Thomas

Written by Brett Thomas

May 14, 2008 | 15:05

Tags: #tec

Companies: #coolit #pure

Software

Before we run off to cover the results, I thought I'd take a moment to highlight the MTEC software that CoolIT offers with the controller.

Its point is pretty simple and highly effective. You answer a couple questions about your product (to make sure that the controller is reading it correctly), and then start choosing temperatures, power levels, alerts and more.

The interface is really quite robust in this regard – you can set up email alerts for temperature levels, choose a fluid temperature and even choose a maximum power percentage and/or fan percentage. Once configured, the software does its thing quietly in the background. Should you choose to leave it open, it will show you the CPU die temperature, the internal fluid temps, status of the fan and TEC power systems. It will also give you a load graph of each core on the die (four, in my case).

The MTEC software can happily monitor and control two separate systems simultaneously as long as they're plugged into the controller. This means that you can have two CPU systems, a CPU and VGA system or any other combination running using one software instance and not have to open the case again.

I tested the readings with my Speedfan results to make sure that they agreed, and they (of course) did. So, there's not really any smoke and mirrors going on.

Results

And now we get to the part you've all been waiting for – the results section. Is it better?

Well, no. But it also really isn't half bad, either.

As we can see from the numbers above, a well-tuned watercooling system is going to leave the Freezone Elite behind a bit. But we also have to look behind the numbers to see some problems going on and some possible solutions to those problems.

For starters, even the idle temps for the Freezone are about six degrees over the target fluid temperature. This immediately tells us two things – first, the fluid temperatures are staying stable, meaning that the TEC setup is doing its job on the backend. Second, it means we have a transfer problem from the CPU to the block and/or from the block to the coolant inside.

I'll be honest – I don't like this CPU block. I haven't even opened it up and I'm already not all that thrilled with it. What's more, I don't like the paste and I don't particularly like the retention either. Any and all of these problems can contribute to a permanent six degree loss of efficiency. It makes me think about dissecting this unit and putting a good, staunch performing low-flow block (like the Aquacomputer Cuplex XT) and trying it out again.

On an unrelated note, the control software functions admirably to say the least, though the fan is quite noisy at full speed. I suppose that's to be expected – from the results, it's doing almost as much work as two fans on my watercooling rig, and at full speed they aren't exactly silent either.

If we take away that six degree difference to even the idle temperatures, the Freezone Elite would beat an equivalent watercooling setup. But we can't – and for the cost, we shouldn't be expected to, either.

Conclusion

The whole concept of the Freezone Elite is a bit of an odd duck – it's an enthusiast performance watercooler wrapped up in a mainstream package. The strangest thing is that it might actually be successful at it.

We've seen these types of creations before, and most are ill-fated. Every major attempt to make watercooling more accessible has ended in a lack of quality, results or both. The closest we've ever come to something even being worth its time is the good old Corsair Nautilus – and that wasn't exactly the best performer in the world.

However, CoolIT has approached this from a very different angle. It really does deliver – 38 degrees with four cores on full load is certainly nothing to sneeze at. When it comes to the actual system, it's no fuss, no muss and can be installed/removed without a single headache that we watercooling devotees have to deal with. Its TEC design is powerful and well thought out with a great concept and good efficiency.

And that's where it, like so many others, goes wrong. A good radiator is a good radiator. Good controllers are good controllers. Somewhere everyone has a niche, and the implementation of the TEC system may just be CoolIT's niche. The mismatch of the waterblock, which is the only possible source of discrepancy (except if the internal coolant temperature probe is lying, which I doubt) is disappointing and shows that no matter how great the understanding is for technology behind the hoses, you can't master it all.
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The Freezone Elite will definitely beat anything you can likely build to fit in anywhere near the same space by a mile - let alone any pre-built kits. But its price class puts it in a whole different realm, which is why I built such a big system to compare it to. An enthusiast is going to look at what he or she can build for a similar cost, not just what fits in the same space.

The watercooling system I compared to costs around £200 in the UK (and $320 in the US) – that's about £50 less, and it's quieter and cooler. However, every time I need to make a change, I invest twenty minutes in undoing everything, draining the loop, etc. And that's in a case that's designed for it.

It took me all of two minutes to disconnect the Freezone Elite. Of course, then it took another five to get all the pre-applied thermal paste off, then a hunt for the manual to hook it back up again when I couldn't remember which unmarked cable goes where. They may seem like minor niggles, and they are – but for almost £250 of yours or my money, you can damn well bet that I don't want to be talking about little niggles.

With the Freezone Elite, I think CoolIT has a good product...but it has a better foundation for a great product. There's a lot of potential here, but I think it's not yet realised in this particular model. With the brilliant MTEC software and controller, the great TEC performance and the incredible ease of use, it's off to a great start – but it will only ever get rid of as much heat as that CPU block can absorb.