VapoChill XE II
Some More Benches & Our Conclusion
Before wrapping things up, we ran one last set of benchmarks with Doom 3 to illustrate the effect of the overclock we achieved with the Vapochill XE II.
 |
|
Doom 3 showed a marked improvement while the system was overclocked. The higher clock speed attainable with the Vapochill XE II equated to a 16.5% increase in overall performance in our custom low-resolution, multi-player Doom 3 benchmark.
We have mixed feelings regarding Asetek's Vapochill XE II. On one hand, the excellent cooling performance offered by the Danfoss compressor and R507 refrigerant cannot be denied. The Vapochill XE II allowed us to take a first-run, socket 478 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Extreme Edition CPU all the way up to 4.128GHz, while maintaining sub- or near-zero core temperatures. We also like the fact that the compressor used in the XE II does not draw its power from the system's PSU. The ChillControl USB software is another plus, because all of the Vapochill XE II's setting can easily be altered from within Windows.
On the other hand, the fact that the Vapochill's case hasn't been updated in about 2 years doesn't sit well with us. Because the enclosure is so dated, it lacks some useful modern features, like front mounted USB and audio ports, and toolless assembly. We were also turned of by the fact that the Vapochill XE II doesn't have the same LED readout found on older Vapochills that scrolled information like evaporator temperature and fan speeds. We think Asetek could do more pre-assembly, like pre-installing the neoprene foam and heating element onto the motherboard plate, and installing the heating element into the clamshell. Overall though, for those looking for the ultimate all-in-one case / overclocking tool, the Vapochill XE II is an excellent choice. We just wish Asetek would modernize the unit a bit more, considering they still command upwards of $900 online. For that kind of money, consumers shouldn't have to feel like they have to give up some useful features, even though the cooling performance is phenomenal. We're giving the Vapochill XE II a 7.5 on the Heat Meter.
 |
 |
| •_Awesome Cooling Performance •_Doesn't draw power from PSU •_Easy to upgrade, once built |
•_Case lacks some features •_Pricey •_A bit loud when running the fans at 100% |
