CoolerMaster AquaGate-Mini Review

CoolerMaster AquaGate-Mini Review
Posted :: Mar 28, 2005 by Impact

Testing:
After installing the AquaGate-Mini, it was time to do some testing.
I can't stress this point enough. Don't just boot up, get into BIOS as quickly as possible, and watch your system temperatures. The first time I went to boot up, I hadn't tightened down the screws tight enough to the motherboard, so my CPU temp just kept rising at a rate of about 1 degree Celsius every second or two. I recommend watching the temperature in BIOS for at least a few minutes to make sure that the temperature is hovering around a reasonable value (30 to 50 degrees Celsius).
Note: After checking to make sure that the system not going to overheat before reaching the operating system, start up the computer.

After booting to Windows I started Motherboard Monitor (MBM5). MBM5 allows you to easily read CPU temps while in Windows. I left the computer on, allowing Windows to idle at the desktop for about 10 minutes to see what happened to the temperature. Although the readings were slightly higher than in the BIOS, it idled at around 35 degrees Celsius (a very nice temperature). After verifying the idling temperature, it was now time to test it. A good way of testing how well a cooling system performs is by running it under a heavy load. Many people use Prime95 for this, I've always had good luck with PCMark04, because it gives a load much closer to that of a user. I ran PCMark04 a few times through the tests while watching the temperature in MBM5. The temperatures quickly rose from 35oC to 44oC, and then hovered around 44 to 46 oC during different parts of the tests.

When the fan speed was set as low as low as it would go (using the PCI knob), and did the same set of tests, and the AquaGate-Mini had the Athlon XP2100+ idling at 37 oC, and at 49 oC under load.

To give an idea of how well this compares with other cooling systems, the Koolance PC2-601 (cooling system and case) also tested on the same hardware. The Koolance has settings for fan speed; the most basic options are High and Low speeds. When run on low speed the temperatures were around 38-39 oC when idle, and 47 oC max during a few loops through PCMark04. On the high fan speed, the temperatures were around 35-36 oC idle, and 45 oC max using the same test.

For comparison purposes, a typical CPU cooled with a heat sink and fan combo runs in from about 45 oC to 50oC when idling, and can reach the 55oC to 60oC range under load.

Conclusions:
The CoolerMaster AquaGate-Mini is an impressive water cooling system. It was very easy to setup as far as water cooling systems go, very easy to expand to new chipsets due to the multitude of included brackets, and best of all, the AquaGate-Mini cooled the Athlon XP2100+ CPU quite well.

Pros:

Easy to setup
Fits many chipsets
Water is self-contained (no need to fill it)
Cools well
Can be added to an existing case
Fan speed knob
Quiet (compared to the Koolance and heatsink fan combos)
Cheap! ($89-$99 MSRP)

Cons:

Directions slightly confusing at some points
Doesn't fit cases using the quick-attach fan slots in certain cases

Overall: A great system for a beginning water cooler. There are systems that out-perform the Aquagate-Mini, but they are far more costly and far more difficult to setup.