X-bit labs

Victims of Compact Design and Original Ideas: Akasa Revo, AURAS Conditioner and XIGMATEK AIO-S80DP

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 05/12/2008 | 05:39 PM ]

Again we are going to talk about compact and affordable liquid-cooling systems and their performance against an air cooler. However, this article is going to cover not only liquid-cooling systems but also something much more interesting. Intrigued? Read the review for more details!

Table of contents:

• Akasa Revo (AK-925)
  
• Package and Accessories
  
• Design and Functionality
  
• Installation Tips
  
• AURAS Conditioner (GTO-990)
  
• Package and Accessories
  
• Design and Functionality
  
• Installation Tips
  
• XIGMATEK AIO-S80DP (AIO-S80DP-U1)
  
• Package and Accessories
  
• Design and Functionality
  
• Installation Tips
  
• Technical Specifications and Pricing
  
• Testbed and Methods
  
• Cooling Efficiency and Acoustic Performance
  
• Cooling Efficiency Tests
  
• Acoustic Tests
  
• Conclusion
  

The idea of placing compact liquid-cooling systems for CPUs inside the system case is not that new. Various manufacturers keep releasing new solutions like that and improving the existing ones. The reasons behind that are absolutely natural, because the words “liquid-cooling” are still pretty intriguing for commencing overclockers as well as for some mainstream users. And if systems like that are also being offered at quite democratic prices, then it is very hard to fight the temptation of purchasing something like that.

However, there is one problem here. The thing is that although this is liquid-cooling we are talking about, systems like that are often less efficient and much noisier than high-quality air coolers. So, keeping this fact in mind, it hardly makes much sense t go for system like that. Today, however, we are going to check things out ourselves. We will talk about two compact liquid-cooling systems from AURAS and XIGMATEK companies and introduce to you a very original and innovative cooler from Akasa. So, let’s get started, and let’s first talk about the exciting new product called Akasa Revo.

Akasa Revo (AK-925)

The first participant of our today’s test session is presented by Akasa Company. I doubt that overclocking fans know much about it and a variety of inexpensive aluminum heatsinks and simple fans that they make. We are going to make up for this omission and discuss their innovative cooling solution.

Package and Accessories

The cooler ships in a small cardboard box with almost a full-size cooler image on the front and a detailed description of its features and technical specifications on the back:

Besides the actual cooler, the box also contains two plastic retention brackets, and installation guide and a tube of Akasa thermal compound: