Performance

We tested all of the water blocks and heatsinks on an AMD Athlon 1700+. A Radeon 9600 XT was used to test the performance of the Graph-O-Matic GPU block. We let the system sit idle for 15 minutes to gather the idle temperatures and ran Prime95 for 30 minutes to gather the load temperatures. CPU temperatures were recorded with Motherboard Monitor 5.3.5 and GPU temperatures were recorded with the Catalyst 4.1 drivers which monitor the GPU temperature on Radeon XT cards.

Test #1:

The first test was run with the components of the original Innovatek kit; the InnovaCOOL Rev3 CPU block, the Eheim 1046 DC pump w/ AGB-O-Matic Reservoir and the Maxxpert 120mm radiator.

Test #2:

For the second test, we used the original kit from Test #1 but swapped out the InnovaCOOL Rev3 with the XX-Flow block.

Test #3:

For the third test, we used the original kit but swapped out the Maxxpert radiator with the new black radiator.

Test #4:

In the fourth test, we used the original kit but swapped out the old CPU block and old radiator with the new XX-Flow CPU block and the new black radiator.

Test #5:

For the fifth test, we used the same setup used in Test #4 but we also added the Graph-O-Matic GPU block to the loop.

Cooling Performance
(Show All Graphs) (Collapse Graphs)

Idle

Load

Aeroflow

Idrastation High-Speed

Idrastation Low-Speed

Test #1: Original Kit

Test #2: + XX-Flow CPU Block

Test #3: + New Radiator

Test #4: + XX-Flow / New Radiator

Test #5: + XX-Flow / New Rad. / GPU Block

36.8

38.0

40.2

41.5

35.6

38.0

35.0

38.6

0

Temperature (°C)

100

 

 

Idle

Load

Aeroflow

Idrastation High-Speed

Idrastation Low-Speed

Test #1: Original Kit

Test #2: + XX-Flow CPU Block

Test #3: + New Radiator

Test #4: + XX-Flow / New Radiator

Test #5: + XX-Flow / New Rad. / GPU Block

42.0

43.0

44.3

50.2

39.0

43.0

38.3

44.6

0

Temperature (°C)

100

 

 

The first thing I would like to point out is that the original Innovatek kit with the new 120mm radiator performs on the same level as the Idrastation with the fans on high speed while costing about $70 less. The Idrastation does have its' pros with temperature monitoring, fan control and alarms (being a completely external kit may be a good or bad thing depending on your personal preferences) but you can always purchase fan controls and temperature probes separately.

The Innovatek kit with the new XX-Flow CPU block out performs the Aeroflow by 4° while the Original kit with the XX-Flow and new radiator out perform the Aeroflow by 4.7°, but remember that the Aeroflow costs around $22 while the Innovatek kit costs about $300.

Replacing the old InnovaCOOL block with the XX-Flow in the original kit drops the load temperature by 11°. Replacing the Maxxpert radiator with the new one doesn't even drop the temperature by one degree when used in conjunction with the XX-Flow block, but using the new radiator with the InnovaCOOL in the original kit caused a temperature drop of 7°. It is pretty safe to assume that the new Innovatek products kick ass. As a matter of fact, this is the first kit that we have tested that actually impressed us with its quality, performance, and ease of use.

When adding the GPU block to the loop (along with the XX-Flow and new radiator), the CPU load temperature increases by around 6°, while dropping the GPU temperature about 3.5° (compared with 9600 XT with stock cooler).

Each of the four 80mm fans in the Idrastation are rated @ 32dB while the 70mm TMD fan on the Aeroflow is @ 38dB and the 120mm fan supplied with the Innovatek kit is @ 39dB. The Vantec Aeroflow and the fan supplied with the Innovatek kit create roughly the same amount of noise while the Idrastation, even on high speed, is not nearly as loud (but still not quiet). You could probably use a lower speed fan on the Innovatek kit and still have it out perform the Idrastation and possibly even the Aeroflow. You could even set up a push-pull system with two low speed fans (one on each side of the radiator) for a bit less noise without letting performance suffer.