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Cooler Master Aquagate Viva Liquid Cooling System Review (page 2)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

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

Design

The heatsink is the largest component of the Aquagate Viva. It is a common notion among overclockers that the heatsink and its fans is the vital component of a modern liquid cooling system. Cooler Master doesn’t seem to agree with that because the heatsink of the Aquagate Viva is made out of aluminum and has a modest size at 175 x 75 x 44mm.

The dimensions include the fastening frame, so the heatsink is in fact fully covered by the two 70mm fans it is equipped with and its total dissipation area measures only 140x70mm. When assembled, it weighs a mere 160g. The photo shows the screw that closes the hole for adding coolant into the system.

There are a few holes in the aluminum frame at reverse side of the heatsink. The holes are threaded and you can use them to install a couple of 70mm fans more.

If you examine the photo carefully, you can notice a couple of green dots in between the heatsink’s ribs. These are the ends of thermal sensors that help vary the speed of the fans.

The manufacturer’s name is embossed on both butt ends of the heatsink:

Each fan is secured with four screws at the corners.

The cooling system uses fans manufactured by Cooler Master itself. These fans run on a slide bearing and are marked as А7015-48RB-3AN-L1. The Aquagate Viva specification says the fan speed is automatically varied from 1000 to 4800rpm depending on the reading of the thermal sensors. The noise level changes from 20 to 37.7dBA at that. The fans provide a max airflow of 33.948CFM.