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Installation & Testing
**click to enlarge**
I did not have any cases around that have an
80mm exhaust except the Guardian, and the fan box knocked it out too. I ended
up using the Z-Alien with a 120mm to 80mm fan adaptor, and moving the included
fan around to the other side of the radiator. Aside from that little problem,
the setup went very easily. Assuming you’re even mildly paranoid about your
chip, you’ll stop tightening down on the clamps long before you crush a
processor. I’d still prefer to see some sort of safety device, however.
The Poseidon draws power from the fan system, and starts right up when the
system does. This is good and bad at the same time…because it means when you
shut down the system, your processor stops getting cooled. Even a brief 10
minute cool down cycle will be needed to ensure that there are no heat spikes.
This could be a very bad thing if you’re a bit close to the edge as far as
temperature is concerned. I also ended up moving the reservoir to a slightly
higher position on the support cross member in the Z-Alien. The low spot on
the radiator was allowing the small amount of air in the system to get to the
pump, and the move corrected the issue. The hoses are just slightly prone to
kinking, and care must be taken to ensure proper water flow.
So, here are the resulting test numbers. I’ve also included the numbers from
our Chill Vent II review, as they were on the same system at the same ambient
temperature. The CPU cooler in that setup was a Spire Falconrock II.
Test System
• Z-Alien ATX tower case
• Abit NF7-S rev 2 motherboard
• AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton
• Corsair XMS 2700 RAM
• Asus Ti4200 Geforce4 Video Card
|
Cooler |
Idle Temp |
Load Temp |
|
Falconrock II |
44ºC |
50ºC |
| Falconrock II
+ Chill Vent II |
41ºC |
48ºC |
| Poseidon
WCL-03 |
42ºC |
44ºC |
The numbers are overwhelmingly in favor of the
Poseidon system. Keep in mind that even a water cooled system relies on the
ambient air at the radiator for cooling, and thus limits the lowest
temperature possible. The load tests are were the real cooling power can be
seen.
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