CoolerMaster Aquagate MAX review CPU liquid cooling Guru3D

Today a test on the CoolerMaster Aquagate MAX. This system is designed to be used inside your computer case for a completely self-contained system. If you are looking for a liquid cooling system to...

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Ouch, 79*C after only 5 minutes of prime. :O

Did you take the block apart and check out the internals Hilbert? Obviously with a relatively low power pump like that I would have thought the block would have been a fairly low restriction pin matrix design (jet impingement blocks obviously require high amounts of head pressure to get the most from).

Still, at least it destroys CoolerMasters claim that the unit can dissipate 600W of heat (even a ThermoChill PA120.3 struggles to remove that much heat).

 

Not a bad performance from a kit, but why did they have to stick all that bling crap to the front of it? The rad looks pretty decent; weird they didn't put the temp sensors inside the main unit though, would've been a better solution imo. Good to see they've used compression fittings, less chance of leaks and easier to use.

 

2400RPM! My Yates run at half that! Has to be one loud MOFO at those speeds. Little too expensive for what it really offers IMO, but I suppose it's nice for those who just want to plug-and-play and like the "bling" this unit offers (which of course is all about personal taste).

 

"Dual 1200mm radiator..."

Monstrous!

 

id love that main unit. i do like the looks after all. i wonder how it would perform with a DD or EK waterblock

 

I'm sorry, but i have been a long time reader of Guru3d and never registered with your forum as you only cater to the extreme end products in your reviews, which is good to get an insight into what the current top end products performance levels and benchmarks.

But after reading your review of the coolermaster aquagate I am completley astonished you even published the article, let alone give it a guru 3d recomendation. Yes times are hard, yes theres a global recession, yes you have sponsors to please but to suggest that this poor excuse of a water cooling solution deserves your mark of approval is frankly outright disgusting.

I'm very quickly loosing alot of faith in the competency of your recent reviews and i'm starting to question why i have your page book marked to open every time i load firefox.

this product should have been given a 5/10 at best. To suggest that the cpu block provided by coolermaster is actually better than a stock cooler is insulting at best. Just from the test results the radiator provided in this kit looks to be very suspect aswell.

I'm truely dissapointed in this article and hence my very negative attack at this site in my first ever post on hear after reading your reviews for over 3 years now.

 

^ WTF.Thumbs down to this bloody idiot.Great review Hilbert,guru3d deserves all the best.

 

I do agree with the kit not deserving a recommended award, but come on caveman; it was a good, solid review.

 

Everybody's free to voice his opinion here, but insulting the owner of the web site with your first post ever, certainly doesn't make a good first impression. Again: this is not about you criticizing an article, but the way you do it, caveman_. Maybe you should just delete your bookmark to this web site caveman_, like I delete your membership in this forum.

 

As far as "kits" go, this one's not bad. Granted, it's not a Petra kit, but those are made with parts that we would actually buy separately. This isn't geared for somebody that wants to take a quad core to 4Ghz. This is geared more for somebody that wants a silent PC. For that, it's absolutely acceptable and worthy of a recommendation. If you want every bleeding ounce of performance, buy a Fezer Rad, some Tygon 1/2" ID, a GTZ and some paps. That goes without saying.

 

I'd also like to add that Guru3D does not 'only cater to the extreme end products' as you seem to think, but to more mainstream products too. If you've been reading the reviews for the last 3 years, you would know that.

I'm not quite sure what kind of results you were expecting from a mainstream kit cooling an overclocked quad with 1.6v across it, but I'm thinking it didn't do too badly, all things considered. I figure it probably also got some points for originality with ESA support.

 

I'd love to go watercooling but it's expensive. I think I'll stick with fans...

 

lol i was actually banned :S

well fair enough my previous post more of a mindless rant than constructive critism so i try to put accross why i didnt agree with the review from hilbert this time.

First thing i found strange and very unlike a guru3d reviews was data shown was from the aquagate only, no other wc kit or air cooled solution was used to compare it too.

Then only a passing reference was made that the aquagate performs better than a thermtake bigwater without any evidence to back up this statement. Not that i disagree with it as i have no doubt the aquagate is better than a big water kit, but the aquagate is almost double the price of a thermaltake bigwater kit (at least it is here in the UK)

You also pointed out that radiators dont fit any cases other than a CM case and the fact that not many users will be able to control the pump and fans because of the ESA feature. The tubing is of poor quality as it "kinked" on you many times which is the worst thing that can happen in a water loop aside from springing a leak. And then the fans provided with the kit are extremely noisy when spinning at full rpm.

With all these negative points and not going on to compare how the cpu block performs compared to other cpu blocks, it left me confused as too how you can give it a guru3d recommended

I also would of expected the swiftech h20 kit to be compared as its in the same price bracket as the aquagate

morbias:
80C with 1.6 is what i would expect to see with a high end heatsink & fan, not that high under water, thats bordering on turning a avg oc into a suicide run

You can ban this acc if you feel its necessary, it wont stop me from reading articles on the site i just felt i had to give my opinion on this article, as i do like the reviews on here i just dont want to see it turn into a site with ridiculous reviews like 3dgameman where everything under the sun gets the 100% seal of approval

 

Yes very true, but you'd have to agree most, if not all low-end water kits are generally accepted as being on par with high-end air. I think it's fair to say that you shouldn't buy the kit unless you have a fan controller or an ESA setup, that's already mentioned in the review. I wouldn't call 1.6v an average oc though, most people only use that kind of voltage on 45nm with a phase-change setup.

Also, you were banned because we've had people signing up in the past just to rant and rave at something they didn't agree with, or previously banned members coming back just to cause trouble, and to be fair your post seemed pretty similar to those.

 

those temp sensors cud by the look ov them be coneccted to any thing that has external sensors like 5/12 inch drive bay fan conntrollers ive had a few and they were never fussed wich way they were put on pin wise so they shud work if your desperate to now wot the flow temps are :nerd:

 

Would be interesting to see this unit compared with the ULTRA 120Ex

 

Hey guys! Just recently started looking into various Water Cooling 'Kits' for my computer because i'd like everything to simply "work and fit together" for my first time doing this. I am however looking for some opinions.. Trust me I love buying quality equipment and have no problem dishing out the money. I understand that this pump is not that strong. I also realize that it may be considered 'loud'... And i'm comfortable with purchasing another Waterblock. My questions to you guys is:

1) I'm shooting for 4.2 - 4.4 Ghz (3.62 w/ air now 129 F Idle 172 F Full Load NOW)
is this achievable with this assuming i swap out the waterblock?

2) What are some other Ideas / routes that I can take to achieve what i'm looking for

3) Is there a better 'All-in-one' kit that I can look at? So far i've researched 16 of them. Aside from the ones that I can find to purchase this looks to be the best.

4) opinions

Thanks in advance guys!

 

I like this thing, I want to go water, but the bigger kits and do it your self stuff scares me.
I also dont know if I would realy be able to push any more out of my rig even with water.

 

Well I have the Thermaltake BigWater 760is because it was cheap and easy (inb4 my mum) and it really isn't great. High end air got better results than me. My airflow sucks a man though so i'm not sure. But I won't be buying a kit again that's for sure.