Liquid Cooling System Is Cumbersome

There's no doubt that today's PCs need high wattage thermal electric cooling systems to achieve clock speeds. One solution is CoolIT Systems' Eliminator, which is perhaps one of the most exotic cooling systems on the market. The Eliminator uses liquid refrigerant so it can achieve very low temperatures and takes up less space than existing water cooling systems.

PRODUCT NAME: Eliminator PRICE: $199 WARRANTY: One year DISTRIBUTORS/ INTEGRATORS: D&H COMPANY: CoolIT Systems Calgary, Alberta (866) 621-COOL www.coolitsystems.com

Unfortunately, installing the Eliminator is far from easy as it requires a lot more space than all other water based cooling systems on the market. And finding a place for the heat exchanger only solves part of the assembly woes. CoolIT recommends placing the chiller in the space allotted for the back fan, but before the chiller can be installed, system builders must visualize the installation process for a specific motherboard; otherwise, the pipes can get twisted once the chiller is in place.

The Eliminator's heat exchanger requires two screws and two metal standoffs to hold it in place. Once the orientation of the standoffs is situated, system builders have to remove the original heat sink brackets. The bars that are fastened to the standoffs then must be locked to the surface of the heat sink so they cannot be blocked.

CoolIT provides M-shape standoffs for AMD-style motherboards and H-shape for Intel. On Intel-style motherboards, the bars have to be inserted after the heat sink. CRN engineers recommend installing any graphics, sound or RAID card, including memory chips, after the heat exchanger is in place.

After mounting the heat exchanger on the CPU and chiller at the back of the case, system builders have to make sure the Thermal Control Module (TCM) is not blocked by wires so that it can detect air temperature of a system accurately. The TCM regulates the flow of coolant in the Eliminator.

If the control knob in the TCM is not set correctly, condensation can occur around the CPU. Unfortunately, the installation guide was not clear on how to install the module. When overclocking a CPU, CoolIT recommends using the highest settings to fully power the chiller and exhaust fan.