We
have seen quite a few differing designs and forms of cooling for
your CPU over the years, becoming more diverse as the need and
heat arose. There is your traditional Heatsink and Fan combination,
Watercooling, Phase Change Cooling, TEC or Peltier and even LN2.
But sometimes a manufacturer will cross the lines between two
or more differing methods and create something else.
As
exciting as that sounds, what we are about to look at is, simply
put a good idea, one that has hopefully been executed well. TEC
cooling has a few drawbacks compared to a regular HSF setup, the
main one being that it's cooling is usually so efficient
that temperatures will drop to below ambient, which means that
you will need to insulate against condensation. This kind of setup
also usually requires a separate power supply and more often than
not, watercooling to cool the hot side of the TEC. But take the
middle ground of a low power TEC coupled with a HSF combo, and
while the temperatures won't drop below ambient, they should
get down lower than a HSF combo alone. Add in a 5 ¼"
bay unit to indicate temperatures, and you have the MACS
Kooler.
Specifications
PC
System Requirements: AMD K8 (Socket 939/754), 5.25" Drive
bay x1
Cooler Dimension: 117x112x200mm
Maximum Thermal Power: 122W
Heat Sink Material: Aluminium
Fan Dimension: 92x92x25mm
Fan Speed: 1600/2200/3400RPM
Thermoelectric chip: 40x40mm 12VDC
CPU sensor: CPU temperature sensor is on cooling assembly
Control Interface System: Cooling module with 5.25" control
box with LCD panel
Weight: 1100g
Just
to clarify exactly what this unit is; the main unit is an aluminium
HSF/TEC combo with a 40mm TEC in the base. The TEC is of the low
power kind and designed to run from a 12V input. Since the MACS
Kooler uses an HSF combo, watercooling and insulation is not necessary/included
and is a pre-indicator to the performance; it will likely perform
a little better than a standard HSF but certainly won't
drop temperatures to below ambient. This kind of cooling assembly
is not a new idea (the Thermaltake SubZero springs to mind) but
hopefully the MACS Kooler will do better than other attempts of
this kind.
The
Box for the MACS Kooler is quite large and contains everything
inside securely packed with Styrofoam. The box has a carrying
handle and as expected, the usual pertinent information and
advertising blurb are printed on it as well. Removing the items
from the box we can get a good look at everything.
As
far as extras go, we have braided cabling to connect the HSF
section to the bay unit, a mounting system for the HSF, Thermal
Paste, and 2 screws for the bay unit. We also have a manual
which covers 2 different models of the MACS Kooler (the difference
being a PCI card or 5 ¼" bay unit).
Starting
with the 5 ¼" bay unit, the MACS Kooler offers
you an aluminium appearance in either black or silver thanks
to an interchangeable front panel. On the left we have a singular
button to change the colour of the LCD display to suit (7 to
choose from) and on the right we can change the temperature
displayed between Celsius and Fahrenheit.
The
bottom and sides are uneventful but the top of the unit has
an air vent towards the front and what appears to be a 40mm
fan, presumably to cool the interior of the bay unit which also
powers the TEC. Power input is from the rear of the unit along
with ports to connect to the HSF/TEC assembly, and another air
vent. Everything feels solidly constructed and manufactured
which is usually a good sign.
The
HSF/TEC assembly has on the top a clear bladed 92mm fan with
a light green surround. Looking more closely at the fan we can
see 4 LEDs positioned just above the blades. A Chrome effect,
4 spoke grill that may remind some of an alloy wheel has a centre
'hologram' MACS logo sticker to help protect cabling and fingers
from the rotating blades. Off to one side we can also see the
ports to connect the HSF/TEC assembly to the Bay unit.
Looking
at the side underneath the ports we can see the connections
travel down the side towards the bottom to power the base TEC.
On the other side we find a 'flip switch' clipping mechanism.
Just to note here, both the top fan and the base were protected
during shipping not only by the Styrofoam packaging but also
by 2 clear plastic sheaths as well.
The
base of the HSF/TEC assembly continues the aluminium construction
and also contains the 40mm TEC. You can see that there are quite
a few machining marks here and barely any reflection although
it does appear to be flat to the naked eye (and a set square).
You can also see coming in from the side, the wiring to power
the TEC and a temperature probe. This is not the greatest place
to put a temperature probe since it is highly likely temperatures
will be recorded from the surrounding TEC rather than the CPU
itself.
Everything
seems to be well put together and we even have the option to change
colours between black and silver to match your existing enclosure.
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