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For starters the new Vapochills
are delivered to the user significantly closer to a final
assembly than the prior version. This is due in part to
the new "CPU-Kit" package that Asetek has designed for Socket
478 motherboards, as well as Socket A platforms.
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| Installation
and Setup Of The Vapochill |
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Not for the novice but neither
is it rocket science |
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The case is a
fairly sturdy, tall and wide unit but still can be
considered a Mid Tower form factor, The unit is
actually somewhat shorter than the Vapochill of old that we
tested a couple of years back. It comes with the
Condenser and Compressor assembly already mounted.
There is also a pop out motherboard tray which is nice but
not optimal, as we would have liked the slide out variety
for easier mounting back in the case. Additionally,
the tray itself uses plastic press-fit pins to mount the
motherboard. Again, not optimal in our opinion
but they serve the purpose. The "ChillControl"
unit has been significantly upgraded since the first meeting with our
friend Vapochill. There is now an LED display readout
that indicates the Cold Plate temperature, Condenser Fan Speed, System
Clock Speed (user programmed) and various error messages,
should the system fail to power up correctly. The
control circuit also holds the motherboard in a reset soft
power off state, until the Cold Plate reaches a preset
minimal temperature. It is factory set to -5°C by
default and we left it at this setting as it seemed to be
optimal. Regardless, the main function the ChillControl serves is to keep the system from trying to
power up with a "hot start" before the refrigeration process
has built up enough chill behind it to boot the CPU with
full stability.
On the far right, you can see
the various components of the CPU and Motherboard kit.
Assembly at first seems a little dramatic but in actuality,
once you've been through it, it is a lot easier than it
seems at first glance. Granted, you are doing some
pretty unholy things to your CPU and Motherboard, as you can
see in the shots below.
Asetek instructs
you to completely cover the transistors on the backside of
the Pentium 4, with thermal grease. You also are
instructed to fill all the pin holes in the motherboard socket
with thermal grease as well. Both of these steps are
counter measures to avoid condensation problems
when your CPU is super chilled but has warm ambient airflow
around the socket. Asetek reports that these are only
extra precautions and are not really necessary in most
system configurations. However, better safe than sorry!
A quick bath in alcohol will remove any thermal paste if
you ever want to clean things up for use in a standard
system.
Then there is
the method of heating the pins of the CPU, while
simultaneously chilling the core. The square socket
and motherboard heater patches, are connected to the ChillControl unit which is programmed with a specific power
load to generate up to 4 watts of heat. These square
elements warm the underside of the motherboard and top side
of the CPU, so that the pins are also warm, while the cold
plate cools the CPU core. This is again an
anti-condensation, and ultimately a corrosion control method,
so that the pins don't get wet and rust over extended
periods of use. They also serve to keep condensation
from forming on the motherboard area around the CPU socket,
since the core itself is chilled to well below the ambient air
temperature. Notice as well, in the far right shot,
that the plastic heat sink bracket is now mounted on the
motherboard with screws and plastic nuts. This is all
included hardware found in the CPU assembly kit
pictured above. More
Setup and Power-Up
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