Installation and Performance

Test Setup - ASUS P5WD2 Premium (955X): Intel P4 Extreme Edition 840, 2 x 512MB Corsair TWINX PC5400 Pro, ATI X850XT-PE, 160GB Seagate SATA 7200.7

Installing the Aquagate Mini will require the removal of the motherboard, regardless of the socket type. We've criticized Cooler Master for using thumbnail pictures on poorly printed instruction sheets in the past, and things are much better this time around. For the Aquagate Mini, we got an actual manual now, and the pictures are no longer tiny 1"x1". It still needs some work (clearer drawings, maybe some colour coding), but it's quite clear the installation procedure this time.

Using a Pentium Extreme Edition 840 as our test bed, we began by installing the motherboard screws into the retention plate. This plate is then screwed into the CPU block through the four screws we mentioned earlier. Next up is placing four rubber washers around each motherboard hole. The washers have a bit of adhesive to keep them in place, but we should warn you they are not very forgiving if you misplace them. The adhesive is one of those "one shot" deals, and if you goof up, you'll need to use some double sided tape perhaps to keep them in place.

Once the CPU is in place and you've applied thermal paste (also included), place the CPU block through the rubber washer/motherboard hole. Flip the motherboard over and place a nylon washer over the screw thread, followed by a metal hex nut. Repeat for the remaining 3. The little hex nut tool we mentioned earlier? Now is the time to put it on the screwdriver and twist all four hex nuts until it's finger tight. Finally, plug in the pump, reinstall the board and the motherboard portion is now done.

The final steps are a bit tricky depending on the case layout. In our Lian Li V1000, the 120mm fan opening is actually quite close to the CPU socket, so we chose to place the fan between the radiator and the rear of the case drawing air in. Again, your mileage may vary, but we had the best cooling performance doing things this way. Once you determine how you're going to put everything together, screw it in, connect the fan to a power source and you're done.

Above is just another shot of how close our radiator was to the CPU block. The potential of installing dual 120mm fans is possible, but not so in our case.

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.

Comparison coolers are an asetek VapoChill Micro, Zalman CPNS9500 and a Koolance EXOS-Al. The Koolance is a self contained water-cooling kit, considerably more expensive than the Aquagate Mini, but it was the only "easy-to-install" kit we had handy. The two air coolers are only slightly cheaper than the Aquagate, but represent the best air cooling has to offer. All the setups were run with the fan speeds set to maximum.

The Aquagate Mini is good enough for a second place finish which is quite good considering the cost of the unit compared to the Koolance EXOS. Furthermore, even at the high settings, the Aquagate quieter than the Koolance at high, though I'd rather not have either at those settings if I'm cooling a HTPC.

The performance at low speed is excellent, tying the two air coolers which are running at their maximum speeds.

Going back to the liquid coolers, in Koolance's defense, we are using a thermal insert that is required for the Koolance water block. This is a far from ideal solution, as we feel it's a detriment to performance, but has been addressed by their newer kits.

Final Words

In our opinion, three key areas were addressed by Cooler Master with the Aquagate Mini R120; ease of use, price and performance.

The Cooler Master Aquagate Mini R120 is by far the easiest liquid cooling setup we've ever worked with. It's not a click and run type of deal, but it's no harder than most performance air coolers and much easier than even the Koolance EXOS to setup. Everything is done; fill and bleed, clamping tubes, kit assembly. All the user has to do is put it into their setup and that's it. Total installation time from an already removed motherboard was 10 minutes (installation and putting the motherboard back into the case and installing the radiator), which I'm sure is a record in our labs.

We've found the kit to be sold as low as $77 USD, which is dirt cheap for a self contained water cooling kit. The build quality is very good, and we're absolutely comfortable and unworried about leakage. Someone tries to sell me a $75 water cooling kit on the street, well, I doubt I'll feel as secure.

Performance was excellent in our books. Yes, it won't beat out larger water systems, but that is the tradeoff for the price and ease of use. It matches the two top air coolers at a fraction of the noise and is just edged out by the much larger and more expensive Koolance.

There are some shortcomings we should tell you about though. For one thing, this is a CPU cooler and nothing more. Thus, the obvious edge most water cooling kits will have over the Aquagate Mini R120 is they are either customizable or expandable. The other minor quirk we have is installing the motherboard once the block has been installed is a bit awkward since you need to rest the radiator somewhere during this process. During the reinstallation of our board, the radiator slid off the mobo as I was putting the board back in, thus almost yanking the board out of my hands since I was handling it so gingerly.

None of these are deal killers though and if you're on the lookout of a new CPU cooler and can live without the possibility of expanding the cooling should definitely give the Cooler Master Aquagate Mini R120 a very close look. We cannot say enough how easy it was to setup, let alone how impressive the performance was.

If you have any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.

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