Cooling Efficiency and Acoustic Performance

First come the results of our processor temperature measurements taken for the CPU cooled with a liquid-cooling solution and with the participating air coolers:

As we can see, the mass production liquid-cooling system once again turned out weaker than the air cooling solutions. In case of Cooler Master Aquagate S1 we would like to say that with only one single fan for air exhaust, or when the rotation speed of the default fan is increased to its maximum of ~2400RPM, the system becomes much more efficient (its performance improves by 10ºC or more). It indicates primarily that Aquagate S1 is highly dependent on the efficiency of its radiator cooling and that its pump and water unit are powerful enough to ensure proper cooling of a single CPU. Nevertheless, even at maximum capacity Aquagate S1 still loses to the air cooler selling for half the price.

And in conclusion let’s check out the level of noise generated by the liquid-cooling system and its today’s competitors:

With the default fan rotating at ~1250RPM Aquagate S1 is extremely quiet. In fact, at 1250RPM the noise generated by the fan dissolves in the noise generated by the pump. In other words, the water block pump is extremely quiet, which is a definite advantage of the new liquid-cooling system. A second fan ousting the air out at the same rotation speed added to the cooler (we used another 9-blade Scythe Minebea fan) hardly affects the noise readings. However, once the default Aquagate S1 fan is sped up to the maximum ~2400RPM, the whole system becomes very loud. Well, I guess this is the price you have to pay for the maximum efficiency of your liquid-cooling system these days.