Extreme Cooling 169
hakkikt writes "Icrontic brings us a review about a CPU-cooling device every self-respecting overclocker and cpu-speed freak must get. The device is called MX-EVA3. With a price of US$500, it's not for the faint of wallet, but the performance is awesome."
LOL (Score:1, Funny)
Sometimes (Score:1)
Re:Sometimes (Score:1)
Re:Sometimes (Score:1)
Re:LOL (Score:3, Insightful)
Simply put the whole of the PC inside!
Re:LOL (Score:1, Insightful)
Re:LOL (Score:1)
Gonna seal up the mobo? Road trip!
$500 (Score:1)
Re:$500 (Score:2)
Seriously, practical overclocking is currently dead. It died when my Celeron 533 running at 824 (and even the 533's that could hit 1GHz) stopped cutting it for the latest games. The price/performance ratio advantage that overclocking used to give you simply doesn't exist with current hardware.
My brother boasted to me the other day about how his video card can be overclocked in software and it doesn't void the warranty. Hello? This isn't overclocking, it's the manufacturer underclocking to sell more units to people who are so far into the rice boy mentality that their mind shuts down and their wallet opens up when they see the word "overclock".
Re:$500 (Score:2)
I don't really see much point in it, since I'm only interested in price/performance. I can find much better solutions than overclocking (usually, switching software or CPU architecture).
If someone wants to create the ultimate desktop system, I'd suggest investing in server technology rather than pushing consumer technology to its limits. You can get some really cool stuff off ebay for pennies on the dollar... too bad that there's nothing really pushing consumer technology to its limits, except for benchmarks.
Re:$500 (Score:1)
Re:$500 (Score:1)
overclocking will reach its limits when a one of a couple of thigns happen:
1. the chip core cannot disperse the heat fast enough and the chip fries... no matter how bad as your fan is the heat must still be pulled away to the heat sink and then dispersed... if its hot enough it will fry the chip first.
2. to even get a extremely high overclock one must give the chip more voltage... this usually requires a soldering iron and some new capacitors and voltage regulators... very difficult and still wont speed it up...
3. the rest of the system cannot handle it... if the core logic chipset cannot handle the speed then your cpu and ram cannot speak to each other and any work the cpu does will be for no good cause you have already crashed.
Re:$500 (Score:1)
isnt the idea of overclocking to NOT have to buy the super fast hardware in the first place??? and as for hacking the mobo you do sometimes need to solder on new parts... otherwise the old parts are pushe to their limit and technically they CAN run but stability is an issue for most people...
Re:$500 (Score:1)
turn this phrase (Score:1)
Horay for Server administration (Score:2, Troll)
On the other hand, I do like mysql, but it seems nobody configures it to have a load on it. Oh well, a good
Re:Horay for Server administration (Score:2, Informative)
What, 10 posts in... (Score:2, Funny)
Sheesh.
Perhaps they should've used the $500 dollar heat sink on their server and kicked it up a notch.
Re:What, 10 posts in... (Score:1)
Okay, you're getting sued by Emeril [emerils.com].
500 bucks? (Score:1)
Overclocking cost? (Score:3, Insightful)
And nevermind those, "I have my Celeron 300 running at 2.3 gigahertz!" folks. CPU speed is so overrated - remember, fast RAM, and lots of it, is the best thing you can do to increase system performance. Don't fall victim to the overclocking madness - spend that $500 on a gig of RAM.
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:1)
Maybe so, but christ, donate it to a charity or something. Do something good for those who can't afford purchase ridiculous CPU cooling devices - not to mention provide food and clean housing for their children.
And that, in a nutshell, is the problem with the western world.
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:2)
It is necessary.
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:1)
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:5, Insightful)
I never use more than 256megs of ram, so buying more ram wont help.
2) Its not all about cpu speed.
You are completely right, thats why, if you read the site and looked at the screenies, the guy overclocked his System Bus (thus affecting ram and all) to 181Mhz (from a default 133). THAT IS A LOT. That is a very noticable speed difference.
3) use the money for something else
call this an investment. If this thing lasts for 3 computers, then you have probably "saved" more money by not having to pay for permium speed. Your example was having a 900mhz and going to 1.4ghz. Thats pretty sweet, but what about going from 2ghz to 3.4ghz. 3.4ghz is beyond any chip in production right now, but i've seen shots from a person who has been able to get that speed. This device isn't for people with a p3 900, it is for the extreme people and for them the benefits outweigh the costs.
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:1)
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:1)
> more ram wont help.
Yes, it will. More ram-cache.
Much to learn, you have
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:1)
Just as a note, do you even look at your memory usage? if it was used for a swapping, I believe you would see significant spikes in the usage monitor, even if was updated every 1 second. (like mine) I have never seen this monitor go over 70 or so during normal usage.
And to quotith the poster, Much to learn you have.
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:2)
Really? How about getting a gig or two of memory and copying the whole system to ramdrive during startup? The copying will take something like 30s so it even boots faster than that above mentioned cooler setup. Guess if loading an application from memory is faster than loading it from disk? Of couse, if all you do is scientific calculations and you're CPU bound then it doesn't help, but in that case you probably would need more than 256MB to boot and money is better spent in SMP box anyway...
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:2)
Now, using such minute mounts of ram, and boasting the need for a 3.4 GHZ processor, perhaps you are doing some really intense compiling?? (Still couldn't hurt to have X-tra ram)
You are obviously not running Windows, or the memory leaks alone would have you over 256 in a heart beat. 2000 and XP both can suck up 256 MB RAM on boot. They swap alot of that out, but that degrades performance. Please don't tell me you spend all of that to get the CPU overclocked and still use Virtual Memory??
Now, most overclockers are Gamers. Gamers can benefit from better drives and a raid controller more than a fast CPU. But, they also would find 256MB RAM to be restrictive too.
I personally think you don't know what you're talking about, and probably have no earthly idea what kind of RAM your machine uses. Now, you can come back and tell me you're running Linux, console only and need that 3.4GHz CPU for Seti-A-Home, but that just mkakes you a sap.
Also, if you really run a *NIX and don't use more than 256 MB RAM, why not use that 500 Bucks to get yourself a real computer. Refurbed RS/6000's and Sun Ultra's, Sun Blades, O2's, etc can all be found at great prices, and should outperform any Intel shitbox on the market.
My analysis, save the 500 Bucks and get a Raid, or some fast drives, Cable Internet, or any of 100 things that might get your tasks done faster. But the Overclockers out there have become nothing more than MHZ freaks who like to boast about "How many MHZ they can squeeze out of a P4 2.2". And if that's the case, save up for aq 29-36" monitor. that really wow's 'em when the visit the Geek Kingdom.
But hey, give me some of the ways you actually use your computer. Maybe you do really need that 3.4GHZ with 256MB ram. I would love to hear how having more than 256MB won't help. (All of mine at home are 512 or greater.)(Yep, even the old Sparc 20)
~Jason
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:3, Insightful)
One other thing to consider is that with something with such massive cooling capacity, and the fact that it uses templates to attach to the cpu, you have a fairly future proof cooling solution. Even the 64bit monster that AMD is coming out with should be effectively cooled by this thing, assuming you can get it to fit on the cpu.
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Overclocking cost? (Score:1)
Although this particular device is overkill and too costly, things like basic water cooling are good even for the non-overclocker. I want a well-cooled quiet machine, and that's what water-cooling does for you.
Spending a little of money on cooling is generally a good investment. Because you can reuse your cooling setup with each new processor you purchase. The only probably may occur if your new processor and heatsink/waterblock aren't compatible. But Socket A has been going for a while..
Re:Gotta disagree with ya there, Bob... (Score:1)
Now what do you do with this kind of power?
Actually not much specifically. I guess it's all about just having something with higher stats than everyone else.
wow... (Score:2)
whoever it is who's buying these, can i sell you my new super-conducting speaker cables, and a liquid nitrogen supply contract?
Re:wow... (Score:2)
Personally, anything that promotes this kind of obsessive behaviour I find quite reassuring. It means it's all the more likely that my OWN little obsessions will be catered for
Having said that - omg $500US is insane!!
a grrl & her server [danamania.com]
Re:wow... (Score:1)
Overclocking is fun!
Re:wow... (Score:2)
I say 'insane' from a non-overclockers point of view... Probably in the same way as I'd be called insane when y'see what I paid for some absolutely archaic piece of hardware. Opposites in practice, but it's all the same fun
if not THE fastest, desktop machine in the world. THAT is the appeal of overclocking.
That was my point
a grrl & her server [danamania.com]
Re:wow... (Score:3, Funny)
the funniest part is that most O/C'd systems have drive subsystems that are far from top-of-the-line, and overall system performance would be helped more by fixing that part of the system.
Most of these people don't need fast disks (Score:1)
Re:Most of these people don't need fast disks (Score:1)
Do they even make slow drives like that anymore?
Re:Most of these people don't need fast disks (Score:2)
Re:wow... (Score:2)
You're just jealous of my underbody neon light setup.
Re:wow... (Score:1)
If you hosed your system by watercooling it, I think you need to go back to the design stage...
well (Score:1)
Re:well (Score:2, Informative)
as listed on amazon.com (Score:4, Funny)
2500' suspension bridge: $19.65
pet rock (polished granite): $14.95
enron stock: $87.23
--m
Slashdotted already? (Score:2)
Re:Slashdotted already? (Score:3, Funny)
overclocking is a social phenomenon (Score:2, Funny)
Re:overclocking is a social phenomenon (Score:1)
Re:overclocking is a social phenomenon (Score:1)
$500 may not be too much for a cooling system (Score:3, Insightful)
The reason for this is that there are some cases/places where the ambient temperature may be too high for a computer with a normal fan.
For example, Texas, in the summer, when the AC goes out (or if there is no AC to begin with.)
Most people would just say, "Hey, turn off the computer then." That doesn't work if you're away
Re:$500 may not be too much for a cooling system (Score:1)
or if it's a server. it's not that hard for a temperature monitor to shut the system off, but if you loose > $1000/hr the machine is down, $500 is cheap
It's not about cost-effectiveness (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:It's not about cost-effectiveness (Score:1)
that $500 is well-spent if it lets him clock his 1.6 GHz chip to 2.8 GHz.
A quick trip to newegg.com shows that a retail 1.6A GHz pentium 4 processor runs $137.00, while a retail 2.4 GHz northwood pentium 4 processor runs $564. Net difference: $427.
I understand that your post may be oriented as a general commentary on those who buy the latest and greatest, but looking at it from this basic price perspective, the ability to get a 2.8 GHz processor for another $500 almost becomes good financial sense for those who have the know-how (partly because of Intel's ridiculous pricing extremes).
Re:It's not about cost-effectiveness (Score:1)
Buy a 'fridge & put it inside = COOL CASE MOD (Score:1)
Plus it'll be cool to show your freinds this AWESOME CASE MOD. Kinda freak them out when you open the 'fridge to pop a CD in
Overclocking as a hobby (Score:1)
Re:Overclocking as a hobby (Score:1)
Awesome! (Score:1)
Err.. (Score:1)
I don't get it. (Score:1)
$500 for a 2% gain? I can think of better things to spend my money on.
Direct links and a quote (Score:4, Informative)
Good things
As you can see the MX-EVA3 can take care of some very high heat load. It is by far the best extreme cooling solution on the market today. I've used all sorts of cooling to get to the top and I was under the impression that my 220 pelt and chilled water cooler was bringing my chip to its limits. I was wrong.
With the MX-EVA3 you can eliminate the use of pelts, extra power supplies and water. Now you use just one simple evaporator hook up.
It also is pretty good for space. It fits under your case so all you're doing is adding about 9 inches to the height of your case. As far as the noise level it is very tolerable for any Xtreme Overclocker. This can only be written up as a good thing.
Bad things
I'll start with the instructions. They are very good for condensation proofing but that's about it. There are no instructions for adjusting the Digital Display as far as setting the boot temperature or setting what ever it is you can set with the 4 buttons on the Digital Display. This would be nice to know.
They have no recommendation on moving your 4 AMD CPU tabs which in my opinion is a critical must.
Mounting is a bit tough but if you take your time you can get it right. It's always a scary moment when it comes to risking frying your CPU. I'm sure the Intel 478 mounting may be a lot easier.
Story Department (Score:1)
Icrontic always hosed (Score:1)
Re:Icrontic always hosed (Score:1)
Other cpu cooler uses? (Score:2, Funny)
$500 ??! (Score:1)
Wow...for that kinda of money i could put small desk and computer in a walk-in refrigerator.
It does look pretty cool though ;-)
OLD NEWS. (Score:1)
scary (Score:4, Funny)
graspee
Re:scary (Score:1)
Ah yes, the one that went down into the volcano. (Well, Unit 01 did too.) I guess Unit 02 must have had a pretty decent cooling system - actually probably more than $500 worth.
Central Cooling? (Score:3, Interesting)
. . .
At work, people I know are more interested in the water cooling scene, hoping one day for quieter machines. . .
But now, with an external *piped* cooling device on the market, we're just waiting for the advent of building facility CPU cooling ducts, just like the air - con.
Yup, rent new office, bring in desk, plug CPU into cooling duct (obviously with your case and machine coming standard with a nice clean bit of plumbing), connect cat5 (or fiber, come on this is an _ideal_ office :) and go . . .
Final thought, is there any reliability gain to be had from using such a cooler and _not_ overclocking? Okay, I could probably answer that one if I tried, but it's breakfast time and I'm hungry . . .
is there any reliability gain to be had from.... (Score:1, Interesting)
Running the chip at a reduced temperature will prolong the life of the chip. The silicon will be less prone to surges in power supply rails and will degrade more slowly as the atoms will move around less. For optimum lifetime you should also store your CPU at low low temperatures. There's absolutely no doubt that reducing the chip temperature will extend it's life.
Our real issue here is with the reliability of the cooling systems.
A shaped lump of aliminum or copper without a fan just isn't going to go wrong. Ever. (OK.. maybe it'll fall off the chip). But those cheap fans they insist on bolting on... 12 months normally.. 4 years tops.
Let's go for 5 years as the figure to beat.
Keeping that compressor running will probably not be much of a reliability issue. Compressors are old-tech well-known, well constructed and easily have a lifetime of 10-20 years in most refrigerators. In spite of the fact that there's moving parts, the design of the coolant gasses and lubricants means that the compressor is not exposed to corrosion or built up of any residues inside. It remains clean and smooth running until the motor burns out, or the metal breaks. The compressor itself is very reliable.. that's not our problem.
Our problem is almost certainly going to be with the hoses that connect the compressor to the cold plate. These hoses are under very high pressure. They have to carry compressed gas to the cold plate so it can be pushed through a pinhole (at which point it expands and cools) and then circle it back to the compressor. In a refrigerator, these hoses are all solid metal, and soldered together. 90% of the airconditioning system in my car also uses real copper tubes. Our problem if any is going to be with those tubes...
With good maintenance and care, they could last 10 years. In reality, I'd give 'em around 3 years before a razor sharp bit of case pierces one of 'em whilst you're bolting your chiller onto you AMD Pentathlon4 @4.5Ghz
There's lots of parts inside the compressor, flexible rubber tubing and lots of gas moving around under rather high pressures. In terms of reliability, I'd figure that the chiller unit could match a standard refrigerator (10 years? more?).
WHAT do you expect ? (Score:2)
It's a freon pressure pump (likely not pumping freon though) and if you ever 'looked-inside' your parents refridgerator with the help of a screwdriver and a few 8-12mm keys, you have already seen one exactly like this. Although this one is likely to function better that your parents frigo after your 'autopsy'
ahhh, cool... (Score:1)
Extreme cooling (Score:1)
Thermal management (Score:1)
FWIW(2c)
Split the box so the drives and PSU are in a separate compartment, then use Peltier on the CPU(s), and duct cold air from a small industrial air chiller onto all the heatsinks and areas that need local cooling.
You might need some form of discharge brush system to stop static (there's a bit of a Van Der Graaff effect). I've never tried it on a PC but the version we built in the 80s got the main board down to -5C, allowing the memory and IO buses to run rather faster than the makers intended.
VapoChill (Score:1)
Been Mentioned before but... (Score:1)
Vapochill [vapochill.com]
For $695, you get the unit inside a mid/full tower case with a full warrenty on it, atleast vapochill knows what they are doing, after all they've been around for a few yeras.
Kryotech (Score:1)
I know what to use this on! (Score:1)
Overclock your graphics card.
Buy two and overclock a Dual G4 Tower.
Use several to cool some RDRAM.
Cool the Northbridge on your motherboard.
Overclock your Pentium 60.
Make your old 2GB Seagate Barracuda more reliable.
Clamp one onto an unsuspecting sleeping victim.
Overclock your brain.
yeah. . . (Score:1)
-bpl
Re:Mirror (Score:1)
Re:Mirror (Score:1)
Re:hey! (Score:3, Offtopic)
I could ask you the same; getting drunk in your room alone isn't cool!
Re:hey! (Score:3, Funny)
what's wrong with hitting the bottle alone, though?!
These words [sphosting.com] from your site [sphosting.com]:
Uh-huh. Oh, yeah. Feel the burn ... of QuickBasic!
Re:hey! (Score:2)
BTW, language is largely irrelevant. Quickbasic provides the means for low level hardware access, and for the most part, it's so goddamned slow, it forces any coders who actually want to get anything done in that language to learn heavy optimization techiques. I'd say that's not too bad for a language I just picked up one day because it actually had well documented graphics routines(something which is very important for the first few programs I wrote). It's also good because what you can and cannot do in it remains extremely constant. When I tried setting a pointer to 0xA0000000 in C, only one of 5 compilers I tried would let me without giving me an error message, and only that same one would let me write the ASM code to set the video mode.
Hell, my current project still uses it (Quest for a King), because I don't feel like porting thousands of lines of code to C. On the other hand, look at my code. It's fast(for QB), it's all very low level, IMHO it's fairly well structured, and it all works. That's more than I can say for a large number of beginners projects coded in C.
Two things puzzle me, however. First, why did you respond to an AC with something from MY site? Secondly, what does WC have to do with people getting drunk alone?
Re:hey! (Score:1)
Two things puzzle me, however. First, why did you respond to an AC with something from MY site? Secondly, what does WC have to do with people getting drunk alone?
In answer to your first question: I mixed-up the posters in the thread. Don't ask how, but "No. It had nothing to do with alvohol in my system." :p
In answer to your second: WC?
Re:hey! (Score:2)
Re:hey! (Score:2)
Re:Stop stop stop! (Score:1)