X-bit labs

Cooler Master Aquagate Viva Liquid Cooling System Review

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 02/02/2007 | 09:40 AM ]

Cooler Master, a brand familiar to every overclocker, has recently begun to ship its new liquid cooling system called Aquagate Viva. It stands out in the crowd of off-the-shelf liquid cooling solutions thatnks to unique design peculiarities. But how efficient it turned out? Let's find out now!

Table of contents:

• Package and Accessories
  
• Design
  
• Installation
  
• Specifications
  
• Noise
  
• Thermal Performance
  
• Tested on Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX
  
• Tested on an Intel Core 2 Duo
  
• Conclusion
  

Cooler Master, a brand familiar to every overclocker, has recently begun to ship its new liquid cooling system called Aquagate Viva. Two things make it stand out in the crowd of off-the-shelf liquid cooling solutions. F

irst, its water-block can be installed on a graphics card as well as on a CPU (the Aquagate Viva supports almost all modern graphics cards and all CPU platforms currently in use). Second, the recommended price of this product, $57, is comparable to or even cheaper than the price of super-coolers, let alone water cooling systems from other manufacturers.

We couldn’t help checking the Aquagate Viva in our labs. Let’s first see what it looks like.

Package and Accessories

The new liquid cooling system comes in a medium-sized box with a plastic handle:

The front of the box shows a full-size photo of the system in a rather curious fashion. The pictured rubber pipes connecting the system components end in a plastic window that the real, not pictured, control unit of the system can be seen through. It is emphasized that the Aquagate Viva is the world’s first liquid cooling system for graphics cards that can also be installed on the CPU.

The back side of the box gives you loads of information:

You can learn the system’s specification, view photographs of its main components accompanied with descriptions of their key features, examine the few possible ways of installation of the heatsink with fans, and even read a full list of tests the system undergoes prior to its release. I just can’t think of anything else that might be added to all this information.

There is a plastic box inside the package. Its compartments contain the system’s components:

The Aquagate Viva is shipped ready to be installed on the graphics card, so it has few accessories:

• Multilingual manual on installing and using the liquid cooling system
• Textolite bar to install the heatsink into a mainboard’s PCI slot
• Box with accessories to upgrade the liquid cooling system for its installation on the CPU
• Decorative panel for the water-block
• Syringe with a nozzle
• Metallic frame to fasten the heatsink in the PC case
• Screws, spacers and springs (not shown in the photograph)
• Power cable

A separate small box contains components you’ll need to upgrade the system’s water-block to install it on your CPU. Here are they are:

• Assembly and installation manual
• Plastic frame to install a 80mm fan on the water-block
• Universal steel frame to secure the water-block on the CPU
• Screws, bushings, plastic spacers, nuts and a key

That’s all the items you’ll find in the package. Now let’s have a closer look at the main components of the system.