Introduction

What constitutes as a bang for buck cooler? First, It must be supplied with a decent fan (or two), have support for both Intel and AMD platforms, and further still must have the same high performance cooling as the elite coolers but without the same expensive price tag. Akasa must be one of those companies who have that very list pinned up on their walls at the technical office. As of late, they have produced an array of coolers and fans that provide the user the means to achieve higher overclocks and lower temperatures with coolers that cost near half the price of the big brand names in the business like Prolimatech and Thermalright. Today we are taking a look at Akasa’s lower end new cooler; the Freedom Tower. Both Venom and Nero S have graced our labs at OCT. Can the lower model of the three keep the trend running of performance without the cost?

About Akasa

Akasa design and manufacture a comprehensive range of high quality technology products including coolers, heatsinks and fans. They work closely with Intel and AMD to ensure the products match the complex demands of CPU and form-factor technology. So when new, advanced technology arrives, Akasa have the products and expertise to make it work for you.

Specifications

Heatsink Material: Aluminum fins, 4x Copper heatpipes

Weight: 774g

Cooler Dimensions: 160x120x65mm

Socket: Intel LGA775/1156/1366, AMD AM2/AM3

Fan Speed: 500-1700RPM (PWM Controlled)

Noise Level: 18.3.9-27.18dB(A)

Introduction

We reviewed the Akasa’ Nero S CPU cooler only just last month dubbed their “premium cooler”. Now however Akasa have come to the market with a cooler capable of mounting two 120mm fans titled, the “Venom”, not to be confused with the Venomous X from Thermalright. Akasa state on the box “King of Cooling”. Now this isn’t to be taken offense but Akasa is more known for their low cost budget coolers delivering serious bang for buck for any consumer, CPU or GPU cooling. When a company takes a brave step to dub there cooler so, one can only be pessimistic. However, no doubt it will probably be the best cooler Akasa produce to date. With the tag line on the box, “unlock Venom GAME ON!”, we could be in for a real treat with a cooler offering a lot of cooling potential.

About Akasa

Akasa design and manufacture a comprehensive range of high quality technology products including coolers, heatsinks and fans. They work closely with Intel and AMD to ensure the products match the complex demands of CPU and form-factor technology. So when new, advanced technology arrives, Akasa have the products and expertise to make it work for you.

Specifications

Heatsink Material: Aluminum fins, Copper heatpipes

Weight: 805g

Cooler Dimensions: 120x96x160mm

Socket: Intel LGA775/1156/1366, AMD AM2/AM3

Fan Speed: 600-1900RPM (PWM Controlled)

Noise Level: 6.9-28.9dB(A)

Introduction

While heatsinks have become a common feature at Overclockers Tech since the start of this year, Prolimatech’s Megahalems never really made much of an impact in our testing. That said we did review the more expensive Mega Shadow variant that wasn’t worth the extra £20 premium over the original and didn’t perform too well on AM3 based systems compared to the Venomous X or Titan Fenrir. The Megahalems was and still is a cooler capable of serious cooling with high performance, high static pressure fans. The introduction of Cogage (Thermalright’s sister company) and their new Arrow cooler based on an update of the IFX-14 has all but taken the crown from the big boys and now reigns king here at OCT. However such coolers like the Arrow and Noctua’s NH-D14 are huge twin tower cooling beasts that are not compatible for most people regarding space requirements. What Prolimatech have done is they have brought a small sized (not pocket-sized) cooler that still will pack a serious blow with its 6 heatpipes and the ability to mount two 140mm fans. The Armageddon has some pretty big shoes to fill, but can it still perform with the best?

About Prolimatech

Prolimatech (founded in 2008 and based in Taiwan) stands for Professionalism exceeding beyond all Limits. We are here to challenge any limits that stand in our way to achieve what was thought to be impossible. Prolimatech incorporates integration of the aerospace resource-saving technology and advanced heat conduction technology to create the best heat absorption and dissipation solutions while pertaining to the science of aesthetics. Our never-ending quest is to satisfy every computer overclocker’s and every enthusiast’s needs for high quality and performance oriented thermal solutions for their high-end computer components.

Specifications

Size (LxWxH): 144x60x160mm

Weight: 1.65 LBS (750 Grams)

Heatpipes: 6x 6mm Sintered

Fan(s): Supports 2x 140mm or 120mm fans

Socket: Intel LGA775/1156/1366

Clip System: Bolt-Through with Back-Plate

Base: Polished Nickel Plated Copper

Sound cards: an industry that has long been dominated by the likes of Creative; with their Sound Blaster series of add-on devices. One could say that using the aforementioned company products is a mixed bag as they blessed us with decent voice synthesis to replace the old Adlib cards. Since then Creative has dominated the market with a slowly increasing line of products. However the other side of the coin is that a rising company back in 1992 (around the time when Doom was launched) going by the name of ‘Advanced Gravis’- released the Ultrasound range of cards (or GUS was its friendly moniker) they for a short while gave Creative a run for their money; with its first generation wave table cards, programmable musical instruments etc. However the world was hooked like sheep onto the Sound Blaster name and despite having a big name in the music world and being technically superior in every way, the advanced Gravis Ultrasound died a lonely death! This reviewer remembers this sound card with great fondness.

Recently Creative has courted controversy by deliberately disabling certain features in their drivers so as to cause complications in Windows Vista. This was done in order to force owners to purchase their Alchemy software which re-enabled those same features again. A gentleman known as Daniel_k discovered this issue and re-enabled the features again, by the use of a software hack. Creative then threatened to prosecute the aforementioned gentleman; however this all back-fired when Daniel reported this to the press and instantly Creative shares dropped by seven percent overnight. Anyone whom uses Creative sound cards will freely recognize the bloatware drivers and the issue of the aforementioned drivers causing a slower boot up time.

Today Overclockers Tech can possibly offer the consumer an alternative by Asus, namely the Xonar Essence ST! Billed as a musicians sound card first and a gamers card second, one can not help but be thrown back to the year 1992 and the era of the Advanced Gravis Ultrasound!

]]> http://www.overclockerstech.com/asus-xonar-essence-st-soundcard-review/feed/ 0 http://www.overclockerstech.com/xspc-rasa-cpu-water-block-review/ http://www.overclockerstech.com/xspc-rasa-cpu-water-block-review/#comments Mon, 26 Apr 2010 03:22:00 +0000 Gilgamesh http://www.overclockerstech.com/?p=2664

Introduction

In the performance water cooling industry, we have seen many CPU blocks vie for our attention; with many products and a myriad of interesting ideas. A company that has hugged the limelight is with their heat killer range of blocks and indeed they have been bestowed with the performance’ crown for a log time. With baited breath water cooling enthusiasts have been expecting the new heatkiller killer for quite some time! This is where the new XSPC RASA steps in with its new mounting mechanism, which is of a similar nature to that of the Swiftech XT.

XSPC have been around for many years, offering cooling parts for the computer consumer. They made their name with their range of radiators and of their quality water cooling tubing. In recent times XSPC have purchased ‘Thermochill’ which is in joint ownership with Watercoolinguk and it has seen to have gone from strength to strength.  With the release of their new RX radiators time is indeed looking good for XSPC!  Those ‘good times’ may be set to continue with the launch of their new CPU water block entitled Rasa. The word or concept Rasa is Sanskrit for the concept of ‘essence’, it is also Latin meaning ‘Slate’ as in Tubular Rasa’ meaning blank slate’.  The reason why the block was called this as that this block is not based upon any existing XSPC product, rather they started from ‘scratch’-hence the name Rasa!

Without further delay let us look further into the Rasa’s capabilities.

Specifications

• ¼ inch thread mounting holes for the barbs
• Chrome mounting bracket
• Weight 150 Grammes
• Compatible with Intel Sockets 775, 1156, and 1366

One must note that the block that this reviewer received was the final revision prototype, this means that the chrome is not as polished as the final sales version that the consumer would see. Additionally the screws holding the Rasa block together will be stainless instead of mild steel.

We recall from last year a question that many pondered – just how far can air cooling go? Air cooling can only go so far and it won’t be long until we hit the limit. We’ve already seen some companies take to water cooling solutions with all-in-one kits – some more successful than others. It won’t be long until some of the bigger names start to find new ways to adapt air cooling for the masses and take it to a new level. There are already rumours of vapour chambers and TEC’s in the future. However, one such company that we are reviewing today has taken a step ahead of the big rivals and taken air cooling to a whole new level – liquid metal.

About

Many people will be unfamiliar with Danamics and wouldn’t have known they produce CPU coolers. Founded on the principle of providing manufacturers of electronic hot spots the very best in cooling, Danamics started in 2005. Since then, Danamics has worked on developing, manufacturing and commercializing their core technology, which centres around the principle of using liquid metal as a heat remover. Danamics were keen to improve on their earlier cooler; the LM10. Much hyped and talked about, it proved to be only average and couldn’t keep up with the very best standard air coolers, let alone justify such a high price tag! They redesigned the whole cooler from the ground up but have kept the same Sodium Potassium Alloy used for cooling.

Liquid Metal you say?

Sodium Potassium Alloy (aka NaK) is a top substance for heat transfer. However, reading through the nice detailed warning booklet, it is highly reactive to air and water. Something that puts many people off due to the fact that if the substance were to leak, well, watch out for an explosion! This NaK is pumped around the cooler’s nickel plated heatpipes via the electromagnetic pump which is silent and features no moving parts. This pump is a REV.2 (PowerBooster 2) over the previous LMX Pump, which Danamics has told me is smaller, cheaper and more effective. Note – this does get very hot so be careful! Moving parts are totally eliminated as the magnetic force is created within the particles of the liquid metal causing it to flow.

See the image below for the step-by-step of how this electromagnetic flow works:

Step-by-step