Performance
MSI P4N Diamond: Intel P4 3.73 Extreme Edition, 2 x 512MB Corsair TWINX PC5400 Pro, MSI 6800GT, 160GB Seagate SATA 7200.7.
MSI K8N: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (Socket-939), 2 x 512MB Corsair TWINX PC3200XL, MSI 6800GT, 160GB Seagate SATA 7200.7.
We'll be testing both AMD and Intel setups with near identical hardware save the CPU and motherboard. The asetek VapoChill Micro version in the results will be of the Extreme Performance. Stock coolers from Intel and AMD were also thrown into the mix for comparison, as well as our current air cooling champ, the Thermaltake Big Typhoon, and a Koolance EXOS water cooling unit (in mode 3 - performance). Arctic Silver 5 was the thermal paste used for all the setups.
Prime95 was run for nine hours, with Folding @ Home running in the background everyday for four days to load the system and allow the thermal paste to even out. During the actual tests, we ran SiSoft Sandra's CPU Burn for 15 minutes, with Folding @ Home running in the background. Ambient room temperature was maintained at 23°C/74°F.
The asetek VapoChill Micro placed second among our coolers and first among the air coolers. The score wasn't too far off the Koolance unit, which was quite a bit louder given that we were running it at full speed. Compared to the air coolers, the VapoChill Micro was the loudest of the bunch, but the tradeoff was better performance. If noise is an issue, here are our results with the other fans:
|
Low Noise
|
High-End
|
Extreme Performance
|
| AMD |
50
|
48
|
47
|
| Intel |
56
|
54
|
53
|
No surprises as the lowest fan speeds net the worst performance but the noise levels were much lower. The High-End falls between the two extremes of performance, but given the marginal increase in performance compared to low, we would lean towards the low noise fan or the Extreme Performance depending on your needs.
Final Words
asetek really put together a nice package in the VapoChill Micro. Whether you're looking for a quiet solution, or a high-performance one, an AMD setup, or an Intel one, they will have a kit for you. The VapoChill Micro itself is a high quality product and the workmanship really shows when working with it. On the flipside, the same can't really be said for the fan shroud and CPU retention plates. The plates look and feel like leftover pieces of sheet metal, but at least they are sturdy. The fan shroud is not impressive at all, and it's a shame asetek didn't use a stiffer plastic or maybe thin aluminum instead.
One thing to point out for those using removable motherboard trays, the cooler should be installed with the tray in place in the case. On our Cooler Master Wave Master setup, we were unable to slide the tray into place with the fully assembled unit in place. Removing the fan shroud helped, but if your case is thinner than usual, you will have problems. Also, any case with CPU fan shrouds will have to have these removed as the VapoChill Micro will almost certainly cause problems.
Otherwise, installation is a breeze, regardless of platform or fan choices. Being an enthusiast oriented site, we'll never be ones to tell you to skip on high performance coolers due to complicated installation procedures, but in this case, the VapoChill Micro is the fastest way to get a good performing cooler into your system. On that note...
The performance is the real story, as the asetek VapoChill Micro excelled in our testing, specifically when used with their Extreme Performance fan. Yes, it is noisy, but if you want to sacrifice a bit of cooling, by all means go for the Low Noise setup.
Pros: Excellent performance, extremely easy to setup.
Cons: Cheap looking fan shroud and CPU retention plates.
Bottom Line: It's not the best performing air cooler we've used, but the ease of use and configuration options make the asetek VapoChill Micro a winner in our books. Our only recommendation for asetek is to replace their fan shroud with something that mirrors the quality of the rest of the unit.
If you have any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.
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