Installation

Before we get to the installation, let's have a quick look at the test system specs...

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Now, it was the install that revealed its only design flaw.  Unlike the Freezone, the tubing was much shorter, making installation on a full tower chassis more difficult.  On top of that, I had to make some changes in order to accommodate the Eliminator on the Gigabyte 3D Aurora.  This excellent chassis sports two rear 120mm fans.  With the Freezone, I was able to easily mount it where the top fan was located.  With the Eliminator, I actually had to move the lower fan to the top mount and install the Eliminator in the lower fan mount.  This was a bit disappointing, as having the large 120mm fan on the lower mount would help dissipate the heat generated from the Asus EAX1600XT Video Card.  For those of you with this particular card, you know just how hot it gets.  It sports a fanless design with a very large heatpipe cooler and the fins get so hot, you can't even keep your fingers on it.

The first thing you want to do is remove whatever cooler you have installed and thoroughly clean the processor.  As I've suggested to many over the years, the best method is to use some trusty WD-40 followed by some alcohol.  No other method will remove all the compound as well.  Now, unlike the Freezone, I couldn't rest the unit on the drive bay and install the heat exchanger as the instructions recommended.  The tubing was simply not long enough.  I had to rest the unit on the motherboard itself to install the CPU block.  After you have properly installed the retention brackets and have secured the block in place well, simply flip the Eliminator over and mount it onto the rear fan mount on your case using the included screws.

Finally, a couple of pics showing both the Freezone and the Eliminator mounted on the test bed.  As I mentioned earlier, you can see that due to the length of the tubing on the Eliminator, I had to resort to mounting it on the lower rear fan mount.  Regardless, what most should note is that it is fairly unobtrusive and will not take up a PCI slot or interfere with other components and/or card you have installed in your system.

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One last thing worth mentioning is that the Eliminator sports some blue LEDs to not only enhance its appearance, but give you the peace of mind that the unit is indeed powered and working.  With the Freezone, you really had no visual indication that the unit was working.  While a minor change, I personally think it was a smart one.  With that said, those fans of blue LEDs will find the unit will blend in quite well with your system.

Now, one important difference to note is that I found the Eliminator to be noisier than the Freezone.  This was due to the larger exhaust fan found on the unit. 

Performance

In this area, I have the luxury of not only providing you all with the cooling performance of the new Eliminator, but also compare the results with their higher end Freezone.  Extensive testing was done with both units running both at stock speed and maximum overclock.  To capture temps, the excellent SpeedFan application was used.  To load the system, the latest version of Sisoftware's SANDRA Business Pro XI and Prime95 was used.  Ambient Temperature when conducting all tests was 74ºF.

Now, the 4400+ (Toledo) processor is an interesting one.  Run it at stock speeds, and it runs very cool.  In fact, it runs cooler than most single core AMD 64 processors like the 3700+.  Overclock the bastard and run it at its maximum stable overclock, and you'll really notice the difference in the amount of heat that is generated from it.  This is why this was an excellent choice to test this product, as it will show you just how impressive its cooling potential is.

1. Cooling Performance - AMD X2 Dual Core (Stock)

One thing is certain here though.  Install any of the coolers from CoolIT, and expect temps in the teens or twenties at stock speed under the right environment.  You'll instantly know how good it is working because if you touch the block, it will be very cold to the touch.  Standard watercooling options simply cannot provide this level of cooling.   Above, you can see the differences between the Freezone and the Eliminator.  These temps were as accurate as I can possibly capture them using a number of tools to confirm the numbers were accurate.  We see that even loading the system did yield some impressive results, keeping both easily in the low 30's.   Under load, you can really see where the Eliminator fails to provide the cooling performance of the Freezone.  However, at stock speed, the difference was not that significant at all. 

2. Cooling Performance - AMD X2 Dual Core (Max OC)

This is where things change quite a bit and where you'll find just how hot the X2 Toledo gets when running at max OC.  Idle, the Eliminator was able to still keep the temps in the very low 20's.  However, it was when I loaded the system that the change was significant.  When loading the system heavily, the eliminator did hit the 40's with this processor.  The Freezone is easily capable of keeping AMD Dual Core processor temps under 40ºC.  The Eliminator was able to keep temps in the 40's, maxing out at 46ºC.  Regardless, you will not achieve these temps with air cooling or even standard watercooling.  Whoever tells you otherwise is pulling your leg and is full of it.  As an IT professional, I've build and tested countless systems.  Temps in the 20's and 30's are just not possible without high-end cooling options.

Keep in mind that the results will vary depending on your system specs and the type of dual core processor you are running.  In this case, it was a good example in the sense that the X2 4400+ runs substantially hotter when overclocking.  Also, I do load the system for a considerable amount of time and therefore, I capture the very highest temp reading during testing.  In standard use, neither of this coolers will even reach temps this high and that's what you should take from this section in order to give you a good idea of how well these coolers do perform.

3. Overclocking Results

Now, before I show you the results of the overclocking tests, it is important to note that in order to achieve a very high level of stability, you will need to play with the voltage quite a bit.  Overclocking does not happen overnight folks.  It is a long process that involves a great deal of time and patience.  What all should know is that increasing the voltage of your CPU to gain higher stability will result in much higher temperatures.  This is where your cooler of choice comes into play.  Those wanting to achieve the highest stable overclock, will want to use the best cooling solution you can afford.  While overclocking also depends heavily on your system components such as your motherboard and RAM, it is the voltage adjustments that will help you achieve the highest level of stability. 

With that said, let's have a look at the results.  These are realistic results as I put any system to rigorous stress before I decide to run them at any given speed.  I do a lot of image and video editing and cannot sacrifice speed over stability. 

With the Freezone, I can very easily take the X2 4400+ to an impressive 3.1GHz.  This was completely stable for standard use.  However, I like to provide you all with more realistic numbers after extensively loading the system for quite some time.  The Freezone was able to achieve a very stable overclock of just over 2.9GHz.  The results from their new Eliminator were also impressive, able to reach a very stable overlock of just over 2.8GHz.  Folks, I do not care what you read or what anyone has told you.  You cannot achieve these results while maintaining the highest level of stability with air or most standard watercooling options on the market.  People seem to have a misperception on the term stability.  What may be stable to most, may be unacceptable to others. 

Next: Conclusions