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Cooler Master Aquagate Viva

Author:	Vu Le
Date:	2006.11.20
Topic:	Cooling
Provider:	Cooler Master
Manufacturer:	Cooler Master

Page 1

Cooler Master AQUAGATE Viva - Liquid cooling for your CPU and GPU

Introduction

Cooler Master is no stranger to cases and cooling and we were quite pleased to see another innovative product land on our doorsteps. The current self contained systems either aren't up to par with my performance standards or they are a bit too expensive. I never understood why more manufacturer's haven't released more self contained liquid cooling systems. Let's face it, not everyone has the time, patience or technical know-how to purchase an all out water cooling kit with separate components. It can also get very expensive and messy if you don't know what you are doing.

The AQUAGATE Viva looks to solve those issues. When I first saw the product, I was taken back. Could this be the answer I've been wishing for? On paper, this would be the perfect solution. I needed a simple all in one liquid cooling solution that required little or no maintenance, was easy to install and performed well. Pricing is also an important factor. I was actually shocked to see the AQUAGATE Viva priced lower than its older sibling, the AQUAGATE mini. Is it too good to be true?

Specifications

Compatibility	Universal retention plate supports nVIDIA & ATI VGA cards or K8, AM2, P4, LGA775 CPUs
Material	Aluminum
Dimension	1757544mm
Weight (Full Set)	748g / 26.38oz / 1.65lbs
Fan Dimension	707015mm
Fan Speed	100~4800 R.P.M
Fan Bearing Type	Long life sleeve bearing
Fan Life Cycle	40,000 hrs
Fan Noise	20 dBA (Min)
Fan Speed Control	Thermistor
Material of Base	Copper
Dimension of Base	40mm (dia.)
Rated Voltage of Pump	DC 12V
Bearing of Pump	Ceramics Bearing
Life Cycle of Pump	50,000 hrs
Rotation Speed of Pump	2600~3100 R.P.M
Water Flow	150/70/42 L/H (pump/water block/whole system)
Noise of Pump	20 dBA
Dimension (full set)	766424.5mm
Length	500mm; 300mm; 300mm
Caliber of Pipe (inside)	ID=6
Caliber of Pipe (outside)	OD=10
Dimension	484226mm
Rated Voltage	DC 12V
Color	Blue
Melting Point	-30 C
Boiling Point	197.6 C
pH Value	6.5~7.5
UPC Code	870423000297

Page 2

Unpacking

Click on image to enlarge


Box	VGA and CPU manual


Fan adatper, CPU bracket, refill syringe, mounting hardware, thermal grease	AQUAGATE Viva unit


Top of water block	Bottom of water block

Page 3

Unpacking - continued


Top of radiator with (2) 70mm thermal fans	Bottom of radiator


PCI mounting kit for radiator	Water block cover for video card


Power cables	Alarm Module

Page 4

Installation

The installation is pretty much straight forward - follow the instructions, remove the current cooler, install AQUAGATE Viva. Boy, do I wish that was true. Not only did I run into a wealth of issues, now I have to explain them :).

The first annoying thing I encountered was the protective label over the water block. Once peeled off, it left a sticky film and it was a mess. It took me a good 10 minutes to clean it. I have never encountered this before with any type of protective label on a heat sink or water block.

Video Card Install

The second annoyance was the lack of clearance with my installed ram heat sinks. It was a minor nuisance, since turning the water block 90 degrees solved the issue. However, I had to remove the snazzy looking water block cover as it would prevent me from installing the video card into the PCI-E slot.


Water block installed on video card	Water block cover looking aero dynamic- too bad it had to be removed.

The third annoyance was the horrible grinding noise that emitted from the water block. Once I shutdown the PC and re-started, the noise went away. Perhaps, I received a bad unit. Could the inverted layout of the Lian-Li case be the issue or maybe the lack of power upon boot up? That's a mystery for now.

The last issue was installing the radiator in the PCI slot. Due to the inverted layout of the Lian-Li case, the radiator was upside down, which caused the alarm to go off. I had to improvise and mount the radiator to the back of the case. It mounted perfectly with thumbscrews through the mesh material of the Lian-Li case.


Radiator pointing down - no go	Improvisation :)

I could have mounted the radiator in one of the 5-1/4" or 3-1/2" bays, but Cooler Master recommends the radiator be at the highest point out of all the components (water block, alarm module).

With a little patience and elbow grease, I was ready to go.

CPU Install

The installation for the CPU went smoothly. The only hassle was removing the motherboard from the case. However, this comes with the territory.


Water block installed on CPU	Installed and ready to go

Page 5

Test Setup

Processor	Intel Core 2 Duo E6300
Motherboard	Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3
Memory	G. Skill DDR2 PC2-6400 (2x1gb)
Video Card	3D Fuzion Geforce 7800GT
Hard Drive	Western Digital Raptor 74gb
Operating System	Windows XP w/SP2
Case	Lian Li PC-V1000BW Plus II
Power Supply	Seasonic S12-430
GPU Cooler	Zalman V700-AlCu
CPU Cooler	Scythe Ninja Plus w/Yate Loon D12SL-12 fan

*Arctic Silver 5 was used on all heat sinks/water blocks.

Testing

Idle temperatures are measured at 15 minutes of inactivity. Load temperatures for the GPU are measured with rthdribl v1.2 running for 15 minutes. Load temperatures for the CPU are measured with Orthos (Large, in-place FFTs) running for 15 minutes. Room temperature is 24c.

Temperature - GPU (Video Card)

Stock VGA cooler idle		45c
Stock VGA cooler load		70c
Zalman V700-AlCu idle (max fan)		41c
Zalman V700-AlCu load (max fan)		60c
AQUAGATE Viva idle		38c
AQUAGATE Viva load		48c

As you can see from the results, the GPU performance for the AQUAGATE Viva is incredible. The temperature dropped 22 degrees compared to the stock VGA cooler!

Temperature - CPU Stock speeds

Scythe Ninja - idle @ 1.86ghz		29c
Scythe Ninja - load @ 1.86ghz		45c
AQUAGATE Viva idle @ 1.86ghz		32c
AQUAGATE Viva load @ 1.86ghz		52c

Temperature - CPU Over-clocked

Scythe Ninja - idle @ 3.325ghz		33c
Scythe Ninja - load @ 3.325ghz		59c
AQUAGATE Viva idle @ 3.325ghz		33c
AQUAGATE Viva load @ 3.325ghz		61c

The CPU performance is decent, however, the Scythe Ninja still performs better at stock and over-clocked speeds.

Page 6

Noise

Noise is very subjective. One man's silent fan could be another man's vacuum cleaner. I'm somewhat picky when it comes to noise. At idle, the noise from the dual 70mm fans were virtually nonexistent. As a comparison, the Yate Loon D12SL-12 is known to be a pretty quiet 120mm fan and I was able to hear it over the dual 70mm Cooler Master fans. However, things quickly changed when the fan sensors detected some heat. The fan noise ramped up. It became the second loudest component of the system, but it wasn't unbearable by any means.

Fan sensor

Unfortunately, I can't say the same for the water block. The built-in pump made a very annoying buzzing/whining sound (on top of the intermittent grinding noise). It could be heard over all components of the test system. For you super silent PC enthusiasts out there, this may be a disappointment when it comes to noise.

Compared to the stock GPU cooler, the AQUAGATE Viva is definitely quieter, even with the dual 70mm fans spinning at 4800rpm. However, the AQUAGATE Viva can't compete with the silent Zalman V700-AlCu or the Yate Loon D12SL-12 CPU fan when it comes to noise.

Power Consumption

Using my Kill-A-Watt power meter, I measured the power consumption of the system. There isn't much to report here. The Cooler Master AQUAGATE Viva barely adds an additional 4 watts - not bad at all.

System Power Consumption

without AQUAGATE Viva idle		128w
without AQUAGATE Viva load		230w
AQUAGATE Viva idle		134w
AQUAGATE Viva load		234w

Maintenance

Although this is a complete unit, there is some maintenance involved. Luckily, Cooler Master provides you with detailed instructions on how to refill your water coolant, should you need to. Cooler Master states, "The coolant refill opening cannot be opened if this product is still within 6 months from its initial use," so you shouldn't have to bother with maintenance for a while.

Unscrew the stopper screw to refill

Warnings

For the brave souls that don't care about the warranty, you can skip to my final thoughts.

"Tampering with any of the AQUAGATE Viva's hose clips, the 4 reverse hexagonal screws, or the alarm's metal connectors may void the product warranty."

This is a bit disappointing if you would like to shorten or extend the hoses due to your case layout or mounting positions.
Page 7

Final Thoughts

This unit was a mixed bag. I was really excited, until the installation. This is where I ran into so many problems. One of the major reasons stem from the inverted motherboard layout of my case. That's forgivable. Some slight modifications and everything was fine. Traditional cases should have no problem with the install.

The majority of video cards need memory cooling. It seems like a big oversight to forget one of the most essential parts - ram heat sinks. Good thing the Zalman V700-AlCu came with heat sinks, but some of you may not be so lucky. Now I know why there are clearance issues if installed as directed - Cooler Master didn't factor in ram heat sinks! Although I did get it to work, it's a minor faux pas on Cooler Master's part. It's not an issue if your video card doesn't have any cooling for the memory.

As stated previously, I'm a bit picky when it comes to noise and the water block buzzing was a tad on the noisy side. Again, I'm very critical of noise, so it may not bother others as much. If you have a stock cooler, chances are the AQUAGATE Viva is much quieter.

With that said, the performance of this product cannot be ignored. I wasn't expecting much, given the price of the unit, the track record of "all-in-one solutions" and the installation problems. However, the AQUAGATE Viva performance is astounding when used on a video card. The Arctic Silver 5 hasn't had any time to cure yet, so you can expect another 1-2c drop in temperatures once it's fully cured. For the hardcore enthusiasts out there, you can also expect more drops in temperature by lapping the water block, which it can definitely use.

Using the AQUAGATE Viva as a CPU cooler tells a different story. A high end air cooling solution will perform a bit better without the added noise. Adding a 80mm fan to the water block did not change the temperatures at all. To be fair, the purpose of the 80mm fan is to cool the surrounding components, not the CPU.

Is this going to replace individual water cooling components? Definitely not. Products like this can simply co-exist. For the price, the performance is good. However, the short comings of the AQUAGATE Viva is preventing it from being a great product. The installation issues I can live with, but the buzzing water block is a major pitfall in my opinion. It's really a shame, as this could have been an unbeatable product. I do have to give kudos to Cooler Master for bringing this one of a kind product to market. Hopefully other manufacturers will follow in Cooler Master's footsteps. In the end, I would recommend this over your stock cooling.

Pros
- Excellent performance for video card
- Price
- Compatibility
- Multiple mounting options

Cons
- Buzzing water block/pump
- Loud fans at full load
- Installation issues with inverted cases (Lian-Li)
- Clearance issue with ram sinks
- Ram sinks not included

If Cooler Master is listening, here are some improvements I would recommend:

Resolve buzzing noise from water block.
Include small rheostat to control the fans.
Resolve the clearance issue with ram heat sinks.
Include ram heat sinks.
*Include another water block to cool the GPU and CPU simultaneously.

*This could already been in the works, as I saw a version of the AQUAGATE Viva with two water blocks on Cooler Master's website, but it mysteriously disappeared.

We'd like to give a big thanks to Cooler Master for allowing us to evaluate this unit.
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