Ultra ChillTEC CPU Cooler Review

[Oklahoma Wolf]

This here's the official discussion thread for my very first hardware review. Looking forward to seeing what everyone thinks :)

Link to the review itself: http://www.jonnyguru.com/review_details.php?id=44

[madmat]

Wolf, you do know that you can rotate the mounts for the cooler (the ears you mount on the cooler) 90* so that the cooler can be pointed with the fan towards the front or rear of the case. I think if you set yours up like that so that the cooler was exhausting right into the rear case fan you might see better temps since the hot CPU air will be pulled out of the case directly.

Great read!

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Thanks - didn't realize that, but it does make sense. Not that I want to pull it out of the case anytime soon ;)

[burebista]

Congrats! It was a pleasure to read your first hardware review.
I was shocked that it wasn't about PSU's. :D
Nice cooling idea and pricey too.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

lol - only thing stopping me from PSU reviews is a lot of expensive equipment :D

[burebista]

You can try to heat up CPU's with S&M (http://testmem.nm.ru/snm.htm) (bottom of the page, click on версия 1.8.2(160). :D )
I don't know another program who heats up a CPU more than S&M.

[GalvanizedYankee]

Good job, fun read.

[Tazz]

Wolf, that was an excellent read. I am with mat though, I would turn the unit so its exhausting to the rear fan. It might give you a slight improvement on the temps.

Currently running one here on my FX57.

Front Display
Idle = 18 - 19
Load = 25 - 26

CPU
Idle = 26 - 28
Load = 44 - 46

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Yeah, I'll probably do that at some point when I have a free moment to shut down the computer. For the time being, I just went by the pics in the directions.

I'm still running the overclock - hasn't been powered off since the OC testing :)

[Tazz]

Cool. Ya lol pulling it back down to change that could be fun. I think I can pull mine off without removing the board, but it will still be a challenge.

[jonnyGURU]

Yeah.. I wish it used the standard bracket. The original version did, but then there was a different SKU for AM2 and 775 and that sucked. The new version allows for universal fitment.

FYI: I relayed the complaint about the inability to turn off the back light and the changing brightness of the LED and it seemed to have been well received. Perhaps a ChillTEC-2 may already be in the works? ;)

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Ok, I'm curious now... going to shut down and rotate the cooler since I have a little time :)

[kwak]

is it identical to the titan vanessa? the basic design looks the same to me, but it doesnt have the led fans so no changing in brightness.

[Tazz]

No, the only thing in common with the titan is that the titan is a heatpipe cooler. This uses the heatpipe as well as the peltier setup.

PS: LOL I want red as one of the color options for the display :).

[Oklahoma Wolf]

That I don't know, but the Ultra is the same OEM as the Vigor Monsoon II.

Cooler has been rotated - will update the review as soon as temps stabilize. I actually got my 8.5" long hands in there to unscrew the thumbscrews :D

[Tazz]

Cool Wolf.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Literally - just got the testing done, and I'm getting 3 degrees less :)

[kwak]

No, the only thing in common with the titan is that the titan is a heatpipe cooler. This uses the heatpipe as well as the peltier setup.
sorry, i meant the amanda, not the vanessa.

http://www.titan-cd.com/eng/heatpipe/amanda.html

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Could also be the same OEM, but the fans, mounts, and controller are all different.

[Tazz]

Cool Wolf, thought it might help a little with the temps.

Like Wolf says, it could be the same OEM, but things are definitely different. Hard to tell with the low quality pics they have.

[jonnyGURU]

Well... the OEM is Casetek MACS. These guys make stuff for Ultra, Thermaltake, Antec, Cooler Master... you're likely to see a lot of variations that look rather similar.

[Sir_ReeL]

Great job for a first review! Love your sense of humor, once I passed imported Canadian beer through my nose...not a pretty sight. _ReeL

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Thanks - I'm glad I was able to strike a good balance between adding some humor and the utter lunacy that usually occupies the space between my ears ;)

[Bbq]

I liked the diversion.

I really did!

[Terru]

First of all, I would like to say hello to everyone, I joined this forum just to post a comment, even though I've been trolling for ages ;)

Secondly, great review wolf!, but I have a few questions.

Where is the product information page from the manufacture, I cannot seem to find it on google. Also, seing as you are a fellow Canadian, where did you buy it? This cooler really seems like a mystery product, more so than the titan amada.

Thats all for now, thanks!

[jonnyGURU]

I can answer these questions. :D

The review sample was obtained directly from Ultra Products. They will begin shipping at the end of this month. I was also told that my guestimate on the price was a bit high. MSRP should be $129 with some retailers coming in even lower.

According to Mike (Ultra's web and copy guy) the product page should go live at the end of the week.

[Tazz]

Good to hear on the price jG.

[Terru]

Wow, thanks for the fast reply, I guess you spend more time on your own forums than XS :p

[jonnyGURU]

Umm... Yeah. ;)

Since I put these forums together, I don't spend much time at others.

[Bbq]

Just wondering, how is the performance on O.W's test rig compared to say.. A high end Air cooler (tuniq, noctua, infinity, etc)

[Oklahoma Wolf]

I don't have a high end air cooler to compare it to ;)

[CAD4466HK]

I would send you a Zalman 9500, but being as your snowed in, it could take awhile:p

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Heh - since I had to take the board out for this one I don't know that I want to take it out again anytime soon ;)

[CAD4466HK]

Good ole' backplates ;)

[Tazz]

ChillTEC
Idle = 26 - 28
Load = 44 - 46

Ultra X-Wind Copper 120mm
Idle = 33
Load = 44

[CAD4466HK]

ChillTEC
Idle = 26 - 28
Load = 44 - 46

Ultra X-Wind Copper 120mm
Idle = 33
Load = 44

Hmmmmm, what's wrong with this picture?

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Hmmmmm, what's wrong with this picture?

That dude's eyes are glowing :p

I figured that little 40x40 pelt probably wasn't going to do terribly much to help it compete with other less costly solutions, but I still like it.

[CAD4466HK]

That dude's eyes are glowing :p

I figured that little 40x40 pelt probably wasn't going to do terribly much to help it compete with other less costly solutions, but I still like it.

Goa'uld inside:D

I still woulden't mind having one to play with;)

[Tazz]

On the ChillTEC reading I gave earlier, I kicked on Prime95 Torture Test and Pi 8M calculation to hit a decent load) while I was reading the forums here. The furnace did kick on so that could have easily increased the temps overall. I wasn't watching it as if I was actually taking my review temps. My setup is a lot like Wolf's. If the furnace kicks on the temp immediately climbs (vent is straight across from this rig).

I haven't started tracking the numbers yet. So far until I took that reading my highest load temp achieved was 38 (at the CPU) and 28 (on the cold plate). I know with about 2 hours straight gaming on this setup 35 is what it is running as soon as I come out of the game.

FX57
EVGA uATX board
XFX 7900GS (SLI)
X2 PSU
X-Blaster case.

OK was running another 15 minute load test as I made this post. At 100% CPU usage for the 15 minute duration it ran 41 - 44 for load temps. So the furnace didn't affect this mornings run.

[CAD4466HK]

On the ChillTEC reading I gave earlier, I kicked on Prime95 Torture Test and Pi 8M calculation to hit a decent load) while I was reading the forums here. The furnace did kick on so that could have easily increased the temps overall. I wasn't watching it as if I was actually taking my review temps. My setup is a lot like Wolf's. If the furnace kicks on the temp immediately climbs (vent is straight across from this rig).

I haven't started tracking the numbers yet. So far until I took that reading my highest load temp achieved was 38 (at the CPU) and 28 (on the cold plate). I know with about 2 hours straight gaming on this setup 35 what its running as soon as I come out of the game.

FX57
EVGA uATX board
XFX 7900GS (SLI)
X2 PSU
X-Blaster case.


That's still nothing to be ashamed of:D
I wonder how it would do on a hotter running proc, such as a older Pressy
or Clawhammer XP:confused:

[Tazz]

Oh definitely nothing to be worried about. As stated I know my load temps (gaming loads) are running cooler than they did on the air coolers. If I had to make the decision right now based on what I have seen, I would easily buy one of these over a $60 air solution.

From what I have read up on them, they are suppose to perform even better at higher clocks (hotter of course), would like to see that result as well. This friggen EVGA board won't let me clock the FX57 any higher than it is stock so I can't test that out. I might slip this on the Sapphire board in my Aluminus rig and see what it does there. If I do I will swap the FX57 in place of the XP 64 3800.

[CAD4466HK]

Oh definitely nothing to be worried about. As stated I know my load temps (gaming loads) are running cooler than they did on the air coolers. If I had to make the decision right now based on what I have seen, I would easily buy one of these over a $60 air solution.

From what I have read up on them, they are suppose to perform even better at higher clocks (hotter of course), would like to see that result as well. This friggen EVGA board won't let me clock the FX57 any higher than it is stock so I can't test that out. I might slip this on the Sapphire board in my Aluminus rig and see what it does there. If I do I will swap the FX57 in place of the XP 64 3800.

Post back with results, that is unless OW has a problem with that:o
But I don't think he would:p
For a wolf, he's pretty laid back;)

[Fenix-Dark]

I didn't see it in the article, but I found that when installing my thermaltake big typhoon you SHOULDN'T remove the plastic sticker cover on the squish foam that goes between the motherboard and backplate... if you ever want to be able to remove it. That should also apply to the reviewed cpu cooler.

[jonnyGURU]

I don't think there is "squish foam" on this cooler's back plate.

[Tazz]

Random ramblings from me... bla bla bla, I wasn't awake.

[jonnyGURU]

I think he's talking about the foam square that's on some back plates. Not the thermal pad. :)

Some back plates have a pad so the PCB doesn't scratch up, etc.

EDIT: Don't mind me either. Obviously there's foam on this back plate as well. :o

[Tazz]

LMAO to early for me.

[WeStSiDePLaYa]

ok, time to ditch that controller thing and hook it up directly to a 12v source to see how it does.

[jonnyGURU]

ok, time to ditch that controller thing and hook it up directly to a 12v source to see how it does.

:D

Ice cubes for everyone! :D

I have the old version (the one without the second set of heatpipes on the CPU side of the TEC) and hooked it straight to a 12V source and there was water dripping from it in under 10 minutes. :(

Unfortunately, that unit is now in several pieces. I was going to make a beer bottle cooler out of the pelt, but... well.. I got distracted.

But that does give me a good idea!

OKW! You should probe the voltage inputs of the TEC while it's running and see what kind of juice is getting delivered to it. I think that would be pretty interesting. Useless information really, but interesting. :D

[Oklahoma Wolf]

you SHOULDN'T remove the plastic sticker cover on the squish foam that goes between the motherboard and backplate...

There was no sticker cover ;)

I'll have to make you guys wait for voltage measurements on the pelt leads - having two teeth yanked today and probably won't feel like doing much afterwards.

[Tazz]

Hey Wolf,

If you want the display to not show light I might have an option for you. The display does about 6 different colors, rather than jack with trying to find an LED that will do the same amount of color variations but with RED being one. I decided to try out a quick mod on the display.

http://tazz.ndtechs.net/Tazz/ChillTECRed1.jpg

http://tazz.ndtechs.net/Tazz/ChillTECRed.jpg
This picture, I have the flash in just the right spot so you can see that the display is still working, its a lot darker than that.

I pulled the displays board out moved it from in front of the mounts to behind the mounts to give me more room between the screen and the front cover. I then cut a piece of red plexi and attached it to the back of the cover. I used a couple of layers of double sided tape on the knob covers to make up the difference. They are still recessed a little but useable. I only have to color options Red and Off (the off mode is simply 3 of the color options not working with the red plexi).

Jonny (the name I gave my little guy) is still digging away. I still have to make a red cover to overlay the black but thats no problem.

[jonnyGURU]

Jonny (the name I gave my little guy) is still digging away.


:rolleyes:

[Oklahoma Wolf]

I'm ok with the display as is as long as my case has a door on it :)

[CAD4466HK]

There was no sticker cover ;)

I'll have to make you guys wait for voltage measurements on the pelt leads - having two teeth yanked today and probably won't feel like doing much afterwards.

I hope the butchers didn't extract your canine's:confused:
Compared to MAN, it would be like having your nuts chopped off, with a rusty steak knife :lol:

[Oklahoma Wolf]

I hope the butchers didn't extract your canine's:confused:

The last of the wisdom teeth ;)

[Praxis1452]

nice review :)

[jmke]

Heh - since I had to take the board out for this one I don't know that I want to take it out again anytime soon ;)

I think I removed my DFI NF3 mobo about 200+ times for HSF reviews;)

[Tazz]

Yup it does get old after a while.

[jmke]

I do appreciate the plug and play ones more :)

[Tazz]

You get lucky every now and then, I was able to do the last 4 cooler reviews utilizing my stock backplate :). Granted not all are that easy though.

[Terru]

Any more news on this guy? Things seem pretty quiet, even though it looks pretty darn cool. This and that 1Kw PSU may boost Ultra's rep a fair bit :)

[Tazz]

The ChillTEC is making its debut soon, and personally I think Ultras rep is just fine. I have several Ultra products and can't say much bad about them. Sure they have had a few issues, but who hasn't?

[jonnyGURU]

I do have to say this thing can raise frustration a bit when doing a build! :D

I just installed one on an eVGA 680i board and.....

1. The plate isn't flush w/ the bottom of the motherboard because eVGA uses those little plastic snap-clips to mount a heatsink to the bank of CPU VR's just North of the CPU socket and the Northbridge heatsink just South of the CPU socket. This isn't really a Chill-TEC problem as much as just board layout. I did get it on there w/ no problem and there's threads to spare on the mounting pins. EDIT: Come to think of it, I suppose I could have turned the plate around and right now can't think of why I didn't. There must have been a reason. :(

2. I can get to the screw that holds the motherboard to the tray in the North East corner of the board (just North of the RAM.) Fortunately, on the Socket 775, because of the "X" layout of the mounting holes, you can actually get to the thumbscrews that hold the Chill-TEC down onto the socket. So it's not a big deal. I just hate having to take the cooler back off after having mounted it outside of the case.

3. Still having problems clearing the Corsair Dominator RAM. But I'm not going to blame the Chill-TEC for that one. The Chill-TEC stands over an inch over the motherboard PCB. It's the fact that the heatspreaders on the Corsair RAM make it stand an inch and 1/4 tall! I do have the Corsair in there with the Chill-TEC, but the fins on the Corsair RAM are wedged into the shroud of the Chill-TEC. :D

But that aside, it's mounted. It's working great on a QX6700 and hopefully I won't have to pull the thing back out any time soon. :D

[Oklahoma Wolf]

I feel the same way about pulling this one back out anytime soon ;)

Still have the overclock from the review running... I've powered the system off maybe once for 5 minutes to get my old 45gb Western Digital to behave itself again (I sense another hard drive in my future), but other than that temps have been pretty much the same.

[Tazz]

1. You talking about the support plate that goes behind the mb? If so I think the plate is the same both ways, which would give you the same result either way its flipped.

2. Totally agree, lol and I got to do it one more time :).

3. Ya if anything I would blame the ram, with the current cooling options on the market, more and more heatsinks / coolers are covering as much unused space as possible. With ram that tall your going to be very limited on the cooler design you choose.

[jonnyGURU]

Yeah... I keep looking at it (backplate) thinking I should have put it the other way. Been debating taking the board back out and changing it, but I guess if it works, why bother.

[templar_m1a1]

Good review Wolf, just have one question regarding weight of that cooler and what effect it has on motherboard.
(maxim reference design weight for AM2 and LGA 775 is 450 grams or about 1 pound, on the box for this cooler it says 978 grams :eek:)

It looks like a good cooler, besides the weight, but if you over clock and hitting over 60 +/-5 *C (which this cooler have not, max operating temp. for a CPU is about 75-80*C) considering you got good ventilation in your case. If you do, it could be time to consider a good liquid cooling for the whole system (CPU, north/south bridge, VGA card, RAM:crazy:) instead.

But I dislike the idea of having liquid in close proximity to electricity , that is why I don't over clock much. I only wish they made this cooler a bit lighter without sacrificing efficiency, or keep the tower on its side so it doesn't put to much strain on the motherboard?

[Tazz]

50% or more heatsinks offered today are over the 450g. I have two of them sitting here running right now and see no problems with them. If your going to move the rig around with the cooler installed then you might want to take extra care with it.

[jonnyGURU]

Good review Wolf, just have one question regarding weight of that cooler and what effect it has on motherboard.
(maxim reference design weight for AM2 and LGA 775 is 450 grams or about 1 pound, on the box for this cooler it says 978 grams :eek:)

It looks like a good cooler, besides the weight, but if you over clock and hitting over 60 +/-5 *C (which this cooler have not, max operating temp. for a CPU is about 75-80*C) considering you got good ventilation in your case. If you do, it could be time to consider a good liquid cooling for the whole system (CPU, north/south bridge, VGA card, RAM:crazy:) instead.

But I dislike the idea of having liquid in close proximity to electricity , that is why I don't over clock much. I only wish they made this cooler a bit lighter without sacrificing efficiency, or keep the tower on its side so it doesn't put to much strain on the motherboard?

You know, I've installed four of these so far now and they're really not that heavy. I mean... they're heavy, but like Tazz says, most aftermarket coolers are heavier. And now I have an FX62 stock cooler here (the one with the copper heatpipes) and I'm thinking it's heavier than the Chill-TEC! :eek:

[madmat]

It's not that bad really, yeah the stock X2 4800+ heat pipe cooler I messed with seemed heavier.

I've got to say I wish the fan didn't spin up and down so much, it kept stopping altogether :O I'm just glad I didn't have the "Shut down on CPU fan failure" checked in the bios :D It would've been annoying to have to run an extender from the chipset fan to the CPU fan header so I could get into the bios long enough to reset it ;)

[jonnyGURU]

LOL! Yeah. The fan does have a mind of it's own. :D

It seems the control unit drops the voltage below what the fan needs to spin.

I'm afraid that's probably my fault.

When I was in Taiwan, I saw the prototype of this thing (the one that, unchanged, became the Vigor Monsoon II.) I liked it, but commented on how the fan was still a little too loud. The engineer experimented with different resistors in line between the control unit and fan until the RPM dropped to a point where it was slower than stock, but didn't affect the temperatures. Apparently, that resistor also drops the voltage below what the fan needs to spin (probably around 7V.)

[Oklahoma Wolf]

My fan hasn't stopped yet, but it's still wee-ooh'ing... it's even more noticeable in the Grid than it was in the Antec. Planning on swapping in a Panaflo at some point.

[Tazz]

Well on my SLI setup I can easily notice the voltage changes pretty easily. On this rig from power up to power down there are no stops at all. The fan will do the up and down motions (more so at idle).

On my Meshie mod things are a little different, the rpm increases are not as noticeable due to my cooling setup (running the mesh front panel increases the noise from the front case fan). When it is powered up the fan will go through about a 10 second spell where it will hit and miss (try to spin up and stop) once the temps hits 26C on the cold plate it will kick in and stay on from that point.

On the weight. I have been through 5 cooling setups on my FX57 in the last month alone. Four of which are after market Ultra coolers and one stock AMD cooler. All four after market coolers mounted using 2 fasteners to the sockets support plate. The ChillTEC is the heaviest of the four coolers. One of the four is less weight than the recommended weight for the socket. After installing everyone of them to spec I seriously have no problems in mounting the TEC cooler after seeing what the stock AMD cooler did to the board. I wish I would have taken a picture. Snapping the stock cooler on the socket and latching the arm (which is tough to do none the less, I could have sworn I was going to twist the end right off of it). The stock AMD cooler put more stress and warped the motherboard well over double what the TEC cooler appears to.

You can take the TEC cooler installed on the motherboard and see that it does cause a little bending of the board once its tightened up. Looking at the motherboard with the stock AMD cooler installed was more than enough for me to immediately release the lever to release some of the pressure it was applying to the board. I had seen several people that had broken the stock brackets for their mb by using a stock AMD heatsink and I thought surely it was operator error. After actually getting a stock heatsink and installing it, there is no doubt in my mind that the cooler was the problem.

[madmat]

Thankfully my stock cooler wasn't as bad although it was a right bitch to get off the mobo. On mine the ChillTEC does the stop/start boogie until it locks up then the proc seems to load up to the point that the fan runs continuously. Upon restart though it's back to start/stop again.

It's not bad it's just that in that TJ09 the CPU cooler and the NB cooler are the only fans I hear running, the other fans (all 5 120's) are pretty much silent. That's seems to accentuate it more than a case with a couple of mid-range db fans would be.

[jonnyGURU]

I'd have to wonder if there's just something wrong with your unit.

My fan never "stops again" on five different units. Yes, the RPM will go up and down at idle, but once it gets going, it stays going.

[madmat]

Or my CPU just runs that freakishly cool :)

[jonnyGURU]

Well.. I suppose that's always a possibility. I've only used it on QX6700 CPU's, an X6800 CPU and a couple FX62 CPU's. Nothing really "slower" than that.

What's your display read? Mine starts off at 25C and goes up from there to about 31C under load.

[madmat]

Generally it hovers around 23-24C and hits 26C when the PC locks up. That's when the fan stays spinning but when it's idling it's at those temps.

I haven't played with OC'ing it or adjusted the VCore due to it being about as stable as the ex-Mrs. Harris.

[jonnyGURU]

Why is it locking up? Is that Abit Fatal1ty board just bad?

[madmat]

I dunno, I've got a 3200+ I bought for it, dunno when it'll get shipped though. I got it on [H] forums and the seller isn't being very communicative sadly, I know he got the payment yesterday by Track & Confirm although I know he's been on there today he didn't tell me anything. I'm hoping that the single core will cure my ills with it.

Funny thing is that Windows installs flawlessly but after it's all installed and up and going with all the drivers it starts locking up...could be a dual core thing but I dunno, I lose my patience with it and put the CPU back in my ASUS since I can't keep it going long enough to try any hotfixes or patches.

The MS Hotfix (V.3) cured the hitching the ASUS was suffering, if I could keep the abit going long enough to put it on there maybe it'd fix it...

[Shift]

Kung Pow was such a good movie :D

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Been a while since the review, but I finally got my system overclocked enough to find the high gear in the ChillTEC's fan. The X2 is at 250 x10, 1.4v. System temp given by Speedfan is 33 degrees, with 31 on the front panel. CPU temp is holding at 49.5 degrees. This is while encoding video btw ;)

Hoping to hit at least 2600 before I quit overclocking this chip. I think the Grid needs a little better cooling itself to go much higher. Running the Silverstone ST56ZF at the moment - wanted to see what would happen without the X-Pro 600's gigantic fan in there helping things. Now, I can say for sure the 120mm Ultra case fans are running a bit too slow to get the ChillTEC's heat out of the case.

[digicidal]

Generally it hovers around 23-24C and hits 26C when the PC locks up. That's when the fan stays spinning but when it's idling it's at those temps.


I also have the stop-start thing going on in mine - basically, it had me worried enough to do some searching on the web and I came across this forum... so I give it credit for something good!

I also have an abit fatality board, but the one for 775 not the AMD. My temps on the display go from 22-23C during the off phase... then as the temps hit 26C fan comes on (thankfully no lockup like you have) - it runs for about 3-6 seconds... temps drop to 22C quickly, then off again. Ran two SuperPI instances to bring up the load - fan stays on then - but still quiet, and temps stay at 26-28C! :D

Oh guess I should say for referrence that I'm running a Core2Duo E6300 which is overclocked to a 1333MHz(QP) frontside so ~2333MHz core speed from 1.86GHz stock. Motherboard monitor puts the CPU under load with this setup at 29-31C... so front panel is off, but not by that much. If it weren't for the chipset being passively cooled I know I could go much higher with the chip!

Anyway back to the start-stop thing, I'd guess that they might have changed fans during production runs and perhaps the later ones are too close to the edge for the 7V resisted mode and the fan stops altogether. I don't mind because I think if it weren't for the peltier generating heat I could probably do without the fan at all when idle... no under load, but then the fan is running so all is pretty good. Panaflow will get swapped in when I have time/get frustrated enough with the fan that's in there.. but for now it's fine.

[Tazz]

On my FX57 and my 64 3800 mine would do the start/stop at boot, but quit once the system is loaded up. Since changing over to the 64 5600 it no longer does it.

I think your just running right on the borderline, once the system is loaded and the CPU generates enough heat the ChillTec kicks in.

On the Temp display being off compared to a software monitor. Its not meant to be the same. The temp monitor software is reporting temps at the sensors (which is normally inaccurate). The ChillTec display reports the temperature of the COLD plate on the ChillTec itself. It should be lower than the CPU temps.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

The ChillTec display reports the temperature of the COLD plate on the ChillTec itself. It should be lower than the CPU temps.

My review sample finally showed me temps over 37 degrees on the display panel a couple days ago... CPU temps were 45 degrees idle, even with the board out of the case. Ever since, the ChillTEC goes right into high gear as soon as the system gets power. Yours truly knocked it too hard while unplugging an optical and apparently hosed it. A bracket was bent, but straightening it didn't help any.

Still, I'm impressed by how long it lasted... it would still be going if I hadn't been so clumsy ;)

[Tazz]

Doh, that doesnt sound good.

[Oklahoma Wolf]

Yeah - happened about a week after I spotted the power connector at the control box going black thanks to the Silverstone's Molexes being loose... fixed that problem easily enough, but I can't seem to bring it back this time :(