MaximumPC 2008 06

H

ands down, CoolIT’s chilled-water

Peltier coolers provide the best way

to cool your CPU. However, as the

technology for these coolers has advanced,

so has their complexity and size.

Like CoolIT’s Eliminator Peltier device

(reviewed April 2007), the Freezone Elite

sports six thermoelectric coolers (TECs),

which transfer heat from the coolant to the

device’s 12.1cm-long heatsink. But the Elite

rocks a 12cm fan rather than the Eliminator’s

9.2cm air pusher, and instead of a three-

setting toggle switch to control fan speed

and TEC power, the Elite comes with CoolIT’s

MTEC Control Center, which lets you control

the device via the operating system.

Controlling the cooler is as easy as

installing the included software and setting

a temperature for the coolant: The program

adjusts the cooler’s fan speed and TEC pow-

er to attain the desired temperature. This

keeps the fan from having to be set at full

bore (and saves our hear-

ing in the process—at

full speed, this fan

brings the noise).

But that’s just

the begin-

ner mode.

Enthusiasts

can set

minimum and

maximum power points to ensure certain

levels of performance independent of what

is established as the coolant temperature.

It’s especially helpful if you’re obsessed with

either cold temperatures or quiet operation.

Installing the cooler requires mother-

board removal—and a bit of luck, since the

Elite rests perilously close to critical com-

ponents. We were worried that the device’s

entanglement of tubing and power cords

wouldn’t fit above our CPU. And our fears

persisted when we had trouble connect-

ing the fan and power cords to the cooler’s

MTEC box. We had to bend the prongs of the

MTEC’s fan connectors to achieve a lock-

solid connection.

The payoff, however, is exceptional cool-

ing. When we ran the Elite at its bare power

minimums, it chilled our CPU like a quiet

stock cooler. But cranking the Elite’s settings

to full blast destroys the competition—save

for CoolIT’s very own 12-TEC Boreas cooler.

The Elite’s cooling prowess comes with a

steep price and a bit of a tricky installation,

but it’s easily the most practical of the super-

chilling CPU coolers. – D A V I D M U R P H Y

84 |MAMAMAXIMXIMXIMXIMUUUUMMPPPCC| JUN 08 | http://www.maximumpc.com

IN THE LAB^

REVIEWS OF THE LATEST HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE

CoolIT Freezone Elite

Powerful performance makes tricky installation tolerable

If only CoolIT enclosed

the cooler’s parts—

the jumble of wiring,

tubes, and control

boxes lacks a

power-user

look.

+ -

VERDICT

$450, http://www.coolitsystems.com

8

Powerful cooling and

control, thanks to the

MTEC software.

Not the easiest

cooler to install.

Expensive!

BRUTES

COOLIT FREEZONE ELITE

ELITES CoolIT Freezone CoolIT Freezone Zalman Stock

Elite (low) Elite (high) CNPS9700 Cooler

Idle (C) 38.0 14.0 31.0 39.0

100% Burn (C) 68.0 32.0 48.0 67.0

Best scores are bolded. Idle temperatures were measured after an hour of inactivity; load temperatures were measured after an hour’s worth of CPU Burn-In (four instances). Test system consists of a stock-clock Q6700 processor on an EVGA 680i motherboard.

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