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The
next part to get a design change is the waterblock, and here
CPUFX really did some noticeable improvements. First, this
waterblock uses the four mounting holes found on most
“cooling-friendly” Socket A mainboards, judging by the
colour you would perhaps think that it’s made of aluminum
but that is not the case.
A
nice detail on the waterblock that deserves a mention: after
a while copper corrodes, so they have plated it with silver
which doesn’t, another benefit is that it keeps bacteria
away and also gives somewhat better thermal performance.
The
last thing to get a design change are the fittings, now
water enters the waterblock in the centre, thus cooling the
core of the CPU most efficiently, the fittings are also
anodized, so just like the rest of the waterblock, they will
not corrode and keep bacteria away, and also look much
better.
The
last thing on the hose is a filler cap, due to the fact that
this is a “closed loop” system we need to somehow be
able to fill it with water, perhaps this filler cap is not
as athletic as the other parts but it gets the job done.
CPUFX
also offers a redesigned filler-housing for an extra $90;
this has got tabs on the sides to allow you to screw it
securely in your case plus a few other cosmetic changes.
I tested both the watercooler
(Z4) and air-cooler (Alpha 8045) with three different fans.
In the case of the Alpha, we tested with a quiet Pabst fan moving ca 19cfm of air at 1500rpm producing 12db of noise, one Sunon fan that is not so whisper quiet pushing 39cfm of air at 2900rpm. And lastly the infamous Delta 5000rpm fan pushing some impressive 68cfm of air!
The watercooler was tested with these three 120mm fans also sucking air, one whisper quiet Pabst fan pushing 55cfm of air at 1600rpm and producing only 26db of noise. The included Sunon fan which is pushing 90cfm of air at 3100rpm, and lastly a YS-Tech fan which is just as noisy as the Delta but creating an astonishing 131cfm of air at 2800rpm…
The CPU used was an Athlon TBird 1.4GHz, also tested
overclocked @ 1.6GHz in all setups.
Alpha 8045:
Delta fan, 1,75v, 1400mhz / 1,85v 1600mhz
41°C / 46°C
Sunon fan, 1,75v, 1400mhz / 1,85v 1600mhz
48°C / 57°C
Pabst fan, 1,75v, 1400mhz / 1,85v 1533mhz
57°C / 66°C |
Watercooler:
Pabst fan, 1,75v, 1400mhz / 1,85v 1600mhz
45°C / 53°C
Sunon fan, 1,75v, 1400mhz / 1,85v 1600mhz
43°C / 50°C
YS/Tech fan, 1,75v, 1400mhz / 1,85v 1600mhz
42°C / 48°C |
Impressively enough, the Alpha was able to beat the Z4 kit
by a slight margin when used with a high CFM rated fan, for
the rest the Watercooling kit does better. One of the
weakest points in the Z4 system is without doubt, the
radiator, I don't doubt with a more efficient (bigger) radiator the Alpha 8045 wouldn't have had a
chance.
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