Coolit Domino vs Cheap Air Cooler [ Yummy HD Pics :) ]

[valmadasss]

this fcking b@st@rd is trying to trick us!!! dont believe this video!!! first of all an aircooler cant keep so low temperatures... second the liquidcooling temps you show us are similar to cpu's stock cooler... all that you say seem like you want to make people believe that must not buy this product...

[soma1509]

@valmadasss : And yet the fact remains that you probably didn't even bother to read the description box, or the annotations for that matter. Regardless of the idle or load temps, the temperature delta seems pretty accurate to me.

Wanna know something else? This unit had FAIL written all over it. I don't even have to look hard for evidence. Go ahead an look under Newegg's reviews, and you will see the general consensus of one big problem: the pipes on this unit BREAK! The same happened to me.

[soma1509]

@valmadasss : Oh wait...never mind. Why bother trying to convince a troll. You have no vids to make a valid counter argument, let alone prove me wrong. Besides, Coolit Understands this product needed improvement, hence the Coolit ECO.

I am only sharing my experiences, but if an underaged idiot like you wants to ramble over something so simplistic then go right ahead. Just do it elsewhere.

[/blocked]

[asus3571]

@valmadasss why do you say an air cooler cant keep such low temps???

[bobiana289]

@asus3571 Usually an air cooler does not perform to the point of keeping a hot running processor such as the Q6600 at load temps anywhere close to 40deg C. As 3DGM tested the CM V10 on an i7 920 and held temps @ load around 66deg C. Hope this helps any questions you have. BTW: I'm cooling a E6300 (stock: 2.13ghz) @ 2.7Ghz at around 47deg C on load on a custom WC loop with a 360mm rad and an enzotech waterblock.

[asus3571]

@bobiana289 ur right usually an air cooler doesnt do as well except when it comes to closed loop sytems like the h50 most if not all high end tower coolers crush them

[Exkiezie]

Mine just broke on me killed my 480gtx ;( trying to get this thing off the back plate screws are dumb I can't seem to get them offer with any screwdriver I use any suggestions ?

[soma1509]

@Exkiezie : Im assuming the screws are worn out? Try using a flathead [if not already] and see if that helps, otherwise I wish you the very best of luck not trying to break your cpu or mobo. I remember the screws were awful to deal with.

[mhaneline]

One other thing... in your Info section ->

It says your room is 10c. That's 50degrees dude. That can't be right.

[soma1509]

Well, the room was pretty chilly, though I did say AROUND 10*C but I see your point.

So since the air conditioning was pretty strong that I nearly shivered most of the time, especially while doing this test, then I'll say give or take 5*C more or less.

I honestly did not measure the room temperature . I only went by what the thermostat was set at and what it reported. But now that you mention it, the HWMonitor reported 7*C on idle for the air cooler, which I thought it was a bug. Go figure xD

[mhaneline]

The coolest household air conditioners can get down to 16c, but that's directly out of the compressor. It also depends on the outside temperature. You could probably get your room to 19-20c with an air conditioner.

Something is fishy with your temperature reporting. Use a thermometer and check a glass of water. That will give you an accurate base to go against.

[soma1509]

Yeah that's what I would usually do...except sadly I've long since left that dorm room and no longer live there.

I remember the test was done in the evening and it was raining hard...

Nevertheless I still find it awkward that HWMonitor reported such awkward temperatures, thankfully I used Realtemp instead.

Despite the weirdness, I will stand by what I said. The Coolit Unit was crap, especially since I actually managed to break it, which the company said that was impossible to do.

[soma1509]

At any rate, as I said before, I only went by the difference in temperature both coolers reported, and to my surprise, case and point, the air cooler took it home.

Anyway, I don't plan to do any real watercooling setup for a very long time.

[mhaneline]

Lots of Cool-it systems are breaking right and left.

If you want a very solid liquid cooling kit, go with the Swiftech H20-220 Apex Ultima. All parts are either #1 or in the top 3 for performance and build quality. As long as you set up the kit right, and use non-conductive cooling liquid, there's no risk.

The performance is crazy good too. My i7 920 never goes above 38c at full load and I live in a HOT country.

[atomdragon4]

You have better idle but worse load temps as me.

I have Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro rev 2

[soma1509]

Worse from which cooler? The Zerotherm or the Coolit? By how much? What are your load temps and what torture test program are you using to determine this?

[atomdragon4]

Worse from the Coolit ALC Domino.

My load temps are:54-55 (but when gaming only gets up to 50-51)

Idle temps:44-40 NOTE: i have bug that one of my cores wouldn't drop below 44 NO MATTER WHAT.

I used OCCT.

[soma1509]

I have a Prolimatech Megahalems cooler now...much better than this coolit crap.

Most processors also have the tendency of having a stuck temperature probe for any of the cores, especially with the 45nm chips.

I used IntelBurnTest...it can put any processor to its misery.

[atomdragon4]

Nice, what temps you getting that cooler?

[soma1509]

Using IBT I am getting around 55 degrees celsius more or less on my core 2 duo e6850 at 3.615Ghz with 1.4125V VCore on my 780i board with the Megahalems. This time I am NOT using my Ultra Kaze fan since it's too loud for my current system. Instead I'm using a Coolermaster r4 120mm fan, rated at 90CFM instead of Ultra Kaze's 133CFM.

It struggles to reach 50C if I use Prime95 though.

*Using Artic Silver 5 with the credit card method this time.

Definitely have room to overclock.

[soma1509]

People, seriously...stop whining about the amount of thermal paste I've used, or the brand I used, or for how long I let it settle for.

First and foremost, the load program I used is IntelBurnTest, NOT Prime95. IBT causes a LOT more heat!

Also, Im sure most "professional" or "amateur" reviewers out there don't let their thermal paste settle 200 hrs to make a decision of the best cooler there is, they just don't have that much time. Im not a reviewer, Im just a regular joe who likes computers.

[soma1509]

Lastly, if you haven't paid attention, I used the same fan and paste for BOTH coolers. To me, this is consistent. I will also say it again, this fan is powerful. If set up correctly, it can be very beneficial to any cooler.

Before this video, I've owned and USED the Coolit Domino for at least a month before one of its pipes BROKE and spilled its disgusting green liquid everywhere on my system.

This video is to make people realize that cheaper coolers can be better with a better fan.

[zentetsu32]

That therm paste needs time to set.. My domino keeps me 45 to 50 c on load.. So something very wrong..

[soma1509]

Under load using what program, Prime95? IntelBurnTest? It really depends on what you use. I used IntelBurnTest, which causes the most amount of heat.

It doesn't matter how much thermal paste I used, or for how long I let it settle (I have owned and used the Coolit for over a month and the air cooler for like 3 months or more), or even if I've used Artic Silver 5, or any other brand, the results are always the same: the Zerotherm beats it...even after I changed the fans (which I did here).

[sladeoss]

Needs to set? No it doesn't you fool..

[zentetsu32]

Your telling me Thermal paste does not need to set? Go study before you comment.. you fool..

[soma1509]

You're right in general, but for short-term testing like this it doesn't really matter though. I mean, even If I let it settle for say about 200 hours, what temperature difference will I see? 1-5 degrees tops?

The point being is that letting it settle for just a few degrees difference is negligible.

[soma1509]

If we had to let Artic Silver 5 (or any dense Thermal Paste) settle completely without any immediate contact between the CPU and the heatsink, thousands of people would be pissed.

Thermal paste is meant to work immediately, even if (for some reason) it doesn't perform to its "full" potential.

Liquid silver has the BEST contact between a CPU heatsink and the cooler with very little time to completely settle, but of course, I'd be crazy to spend over 50 bucks for like 12 grams of liquid silver.

[taylorisguitarded]

what the hell!!!!

wayy to much thermal paste. No wonder its not working as well as it should!

[soma1509]

I tried this under several methods...tried the credit card method, the "pea-size" method, and my paintbrush method, each one with a different amount of paste.

Be it too little or to much, they all pretty much leaned towards the same result to me. The ALC still couldn't catch up to the air cooler even after I modded the domino with a different fan with more CFM's.

Not like it matters anymore now. I no longer have this unit since the pipe decided to break and spill disgusting green liquid.

[CheatEnginer]

Domino ALC i mean

[CheatEnginer]

It keeps my temps at under 50 degrees when in full load. Maybe u got too much thermal paste?

[soma1509]

Which load program did you use? IntelBurnTest or Prime95? Those are 2 completely different programs. And even then, there's the case of how much stress did you enable on each program. Did you run Prime95 under small FFT's (which does the most work and makes the most heat), or did you do large FFTs (which tests for basic stress stability of the system in a balanced manner without stressing the CPU too much).

If you used IBT, did you test it under full stress (MAX RAM) or half-stress?

[CheatEnginer]

Basicly i play gta iv wich almost keeps the cpu in full load. But ill do a stress test and find out soon.

[Aaronage1]

Everyone has there own way of applying thermal paste, and i'm not saying your method is bad, but i've found that a thin, almost transparent layer is most efficient :)

I've removed my OC Z Vendetta many times and tried many methods of applying paste, but I've found that spreading a small amount (half a grain of rice) thin across the CPU gives best temps and best contact between CPU and cooler. I use Arctic Alumina BTW :)

Great video! Was considering the Domino, but price/perf is pretty bad :)

[popothecatathome]

no 1/2 a pea is 1/2 too little and air bubbles on thermal paste doesnt matter

[mannyfit75]

You are better off with a Corsair H50 CPU Cooler. It runs better than Coolit Domino ALC. There are no leaking issues. I use to have Coolit and three of them failed. The first one pump failed after 3 months of use, and the replacement leaked.

[rmalik23]

You did something wrong. An air cooler will NEVER, EVER go lower than ambient temperature.

[soma1509]

My ambient temp at the time was around 10C with my AC cranked all the way up...I was even beginning to shiver...lol!

Plus I guess theres the Ultra-kazes

[rmalik23]

Still, it will never go lower than 10C. It's physically impossible. A fan can only cool as low as the air is pushes. It doesn't reduces temps, it just pushes the hot air away.

[soma1509]

Dunno, but I usually rely on Realtemp more anyway, since recording CPU Die temperatures isn't always accurate.

I say it still performs a lot better than my Coolit.

[rmalik23]

The Coolit systems usually perform on par with a TRUE 1366.

[soma1509]

According to HardwareCanucks, both systems roughly perform the same, and if anything, the TRUE pulls a little ahead by a few degrees.

But my main point of this video is that I don't need to spend 75-80 bucks for high-performance cooling when all I need is a cheap air cooler and a High-Performance fan. This is good for me since I don't really care about noise, and if you actually used the Coolit Unit, you'll know instantly it's not silent at max settings (which is what I used in this video).

[soma1509]

Here's an estimated price for each cooler (as of July 6, 2008 on Newegg and FrozenCPU):

My Zerotherm Air cooler: $41.99 ($21.99 w/rebate on Newegg)

Thermalright TRUE Black (from FrozenCPU): $74.95

*Note that you might need to purchase the 1366 bracket separately

Thermalright TRUE copper (from FrozenCPU): $109.99

Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme RT (from FrozenCPU): $74.95

Coolit Domino ALC (from FrozenCPU): $79.99

[pamew]

Hate to be a critic, but I'd avoid applying thermal compound with a paintbrush, you're just going to get air bubbles aplenty. You also appeared to be using way more than needed, just try squeezing out an amount about half the size of a small pea onto the center of the CPU die, the cooler should flatten it out nicely and evenly, always does for me.

Interesting review, made me change my mind about trying out one of these.

[soma1509]

Believe it or not, I actually agree with you. The thermal compound I used was very was to spread even with a paintbrush, so I probably misjudged...nevertheless, I still prefer my paintbrush method instead of the credit card method...I could never get the latter method quiet right and I always made a mess.

Right now I am using thermal paste from rosewill...you can look it up on newegg if you want, actually. The bottle looks like nail polish, and it actually uses a brush to spread the paste.

[soma1509]

Small edit: I meant that the Zerotherm Paste was very hard to spread xD

But yeah, the Rosewill compound has been the easiest paste I've ever worked with, and I don't even use that much now...just one swipe-through and I'm done :)

But yeah, this Coolit unit actually broke and spilled its liquid on my system. I'm not trusting Coolit or any other similar kits again. Right now I am using the new Prolimatech Megahalems CPU heatsink just for kicks...it actually does a very nice job.

[pamew]

Hmm, that's interesting, I'll give it it a google :)

Didn't want to seem an ass with my comment btw, just too much paste will raise your temps as I'm sure you'll know.

Like i say, there's no real need to spread it, just put on a little blob dead center, and the pressure from your heat sink irons it out into a nice, even spread.

[soma1509]

lol! It's all good...it's just paranoid habit for me since I used to paint model cars back in the day and stuff like that when I was bored.

But yeah, if you're still looking for that type of Rosewill paste, on the newegg search type up "Rosewill RCX-TC060"

[Homebrew2all]

wow professional skill of video editing

btw i subed to u

and DAMN!coolit water cooling sux hard!

[soma1509]

lol! Thanks...I was actually bored with my camera when I made this.

And yeah, even with a fan mod, the Coolit was dragging behind....kinda dissapointing.

[TehNubinz]

Nice comparison video, hopefully the people who are interested in purchasing a Coolit Domino see this (A cheaper air cooler beating it).

Maybe re-name this Coolit Domino vs Air Cooler? No?

-later

[soma1509]

You are absolutely right in the title.

It has been changed :)

Thanks a lot!

And yeah...even with a fan mod, it was still beaten by a long shot. What's funny is that my air cooler can still maintain a 25*C Delta all throughout when I increase the room temp a bit.

[15eman]

man the quality of your video is really good. very pro good work

[soma1509]

Thanks a lot!

Pictures are the only thing I can pull off at the moment until I can afford an HD Camcorder :)

Just thought I'd re-do a cooler test since the other one was kinda done sloppy.

With the outside heat out of the way, you can really see how each one performs...and I think I'm definitely sticking with my 45-dollar heatsink for now...I still can't believe it, 7*C...on idle! lol!

Thank God for air conditioning:)

[Fightbird2013]

Room temp 10°C ? niice :D

and nice reslults man 7°C is sick

[soma1509]

I know...I surely wasn't expecting that at all!

Then again, I was kind of shivering when I had my AC maxed out...lol!

I usually keep it between the 10-20*C range though