What the cooling panel does is that it effectively reflects sunlight, and at the same time sends heat back into space. The team says that the reflection aspect is very important because many other reflectors are poorly engineered, so they absorb too much sunlight, defeating the entire point of their existence. With the reflectors on the team’s new cooling panel, the “vast majority of sunlight” is reflected.

The second part of the panel radiates heat, from the structure its on, back into space. The panel emits thermal radiation “within the crucial wavelength needed to escape the Earth’s atmosphere”. The Stanford team went in a different direction compared to other teams attempting to achieve the same goal. They used nanostructured photonic materials to engineer this part of their cooling panel. The material suppresses how much sunlight the panel absorbs, while also radiating it at the key frequency range required to escape the Earth’s atmosphere.

The great thing about this cooling panel is that it can be implemented not only in homes and buildings, but also in other structures such as cars. The panel is made up of both a thermal emitter and solar reflector, “making it both higher performance and much more robust and practically relevant.” The team believes that this panel can also substitute for solar panels. For example, being placed on a single-family home, it can “offset 35% of its air conditioning needs during the hottest hours of summer,” even if it only takes up 10% of the roof.

The cooling panel is mainly passive. You stick it onto your roof, or onto the sides of a building and it starts working. The team believes that this panel will be very useful because many people live in very hot regions of the Earth, causing a rapid rise in electrical demand due to so many air conditioners being used. This panel is both economically and environmentally friendly. It will help people save money on air conditioning bills, and will cool people’s homes without the need of using any resources.

[via Stanford]

By taking advantage of the surplus power capacity at night and cooling all products stored in the machine during that time, the rise in temperature is limited during the day–even after hours without power. The cooling process continues and the machine’s vacuum insulation keeps it from being affected by outdoor temperatures.

A two month-long filed testing period has been scheduled to begin on July 2 and will take place in a couple of Japan’s hottest regions including Gifu Prefecture’s Tajimi City and Saitama Prefecture’s Kumagaya City. Once the initial testing phase has been completed, Coca-Cola has future plans to test the machines and their cooling performance when there is shorter supply of power.

The new cooler is called the Accelero Hybrid, and it features an attached pre-filled radiator that uses a 120mm fan capable of 400 to 1350 RPMs. The smaller 80mm fan blows directly onto the hot video card components while the water block cools GPU directly. The video card cooling fan is an 80 mm unit capable of 900 to 2000 RPMs.

The hoses that connect to the GPU block are designed to allow the fan and radiator to be attached to the back of the case or the front of the case into a standard 120 mm fan location. It appears the device will clear some of the larger vertical CPU heat sinks out there as well. The water block the radiator uses to fit the GPU has a copper base. The Accelero Hybrid will ship on May 29 at an undisclosed price.

Cooler Master is showing off a new breakthrough in air cooling technology that uses a heatsink with new vertical vapor chamber technology. The Vapor Chamber tech has less than half the air resistance of normal finned heatsink thanks to no airflow vortices created as the air is moving through the heatsink. Cooler Master doesn’t show a fan in the images, presumably the heatsink still needs a fan.

They also have three times the fin area to allow for quicker and more efficient dissipation of heat. The new tech gives heatsink that are able to offer cooling performance over 200W at the same or lower levels of noise than heatsink that don’t use vapor chambers. The first retail heatsink to use the tech will launch at CeBIT 2012 and is called the TPC-812.

Origin PC now offers the Frostbyte and the Cryogenic liquid cooling systems to allow for higher overclocking speeds on CPUs and GPUs. The company claims that the liquid cooling system allows up to 5.2GHz clock speeds on a single core processor. The Frostbyte can be used on graphics cards too and is a sealed and maintenance free system. It uses a micro-channel fluid heat exchanger.

The Cryogenic system also allows for high overclocking speeds for the CPU and GPU. It has tech support and a full hardware warranty for up to three years. The system uses a special cooling fluid that claims to reduce temperatures by up to 8-degrees compared to other cooling fluids. This system isn’t sealed and comes with an extra bottle of coolant.

The device is called the Antec soundscience a/v cooler. It looks pretty much just like the coolers that Antec and others make for notebooks where you sit the notebook on top of the aluminum plate and the cooler helps dissipate heat. The top of the a/v cooler is made from aluminum. Inside there are a pair of 80mm fans to cool your hardware and shoot that heat out the back.

The blower fans are two speed and pull the heat from under the a/v cooler and then shoot the heat out of the back vents. The fans are designed to be quiet with 28.7dBA of sound. The cooler needs 5W of power on its fastest setting. The soundscience a/v cooler will sell for $139.95.

RotoSub is a Swedish company and it makes an active noise cancellation system for cooling fans with tech that is sort of like what is used in headphones today. The active noise control (ANC) system the company uses doesn’t have speakers outside the fan to cancel the noise produced, in fact is doesn’t use speakers at all. The noise killing tech is inside the fan itself.

The tech is said to work so well that users are left with little more than the sound of the air passing through the fan. The system has no speakers to produce the antisound wave. The RotoSub system bends the blades of the fans in a way that makes the fan the antisound signal generator. The tech is said to make the fans no larger than traditional fans. The tech is being licensed to other companies for integration into gear now.

[via Gizmag]

One of the only ways to improve the cooling of a notebook is to use some sort of notebook cooler. Cooler Master has unveiled a new notebook cooler called the NotePal Infinite Evo. This cooler has a pair of fans inside that shoot air out slots in the top to cool the bottom of the notebook. The fans inside are 80mm units and the Evo is sized to hold notebooks up to 17-inches.

The cooling tray also lifts the screen of the notebook up for more comfortable use. The fans inside are powered by a USB port and it has a three-port USB hub on the side so you don’t lose the few USB ports your computer has to the cooler. Cooler Master is selling the Evo for $49.99 and it should hit stores soon.

I have never really thought about how hot my router gets or why I should worry about my router getting hot. It looks like some sort of shape charge that a Navy Seal would use to blow a door open. It has two padded bars on top that you can set your hardware on for cooling. It will work with anything you can set on the top from portable hard drives to tablets and anything else. I guess you could even set your notebook up there to keep it cool.

When you use it on your router, the side clamps can clip onto your router to keep the Dr. Cool in place and allow you to keep that router nice and frosty. The Dr. Cool is a white device and Evercool claims that it will extend the life of your router by keeping it cooler. The device is powered by a USB port or a DC power transformer. Pricing is unknown and you can see it in action on the video below.

The cooling solution has a low profile pump to take up less space and circulate the liquid within the system. Other features of the system include easy bend tubes to prevent kinks and fans that are controlled by the temperature of the liquids inside the circuit.

The solution also has a large copper cooing plate that sits on the CPU for maximum cooling performance. You might expect a liquid cooling solution to be expensive, but this system is not. The Kuhler H2O 620 will go on sale at the end of this month for $69.99 at major retailers.

The geek took a board cut to window size to wedge under the window. He cut a hole in it and used a dryer vent kit outside hood and hose to connect to his PC. The system uses a fan inside the computer in a pull configuration to suck in cold air.

It appears that he used a mesh Scotch-Brite pad to act as a filter to keep bugs and dirt from getting to his hardware. The big issue I see here is that the cold air could cause some condensation inside the PC at some point, which could lead to a quick death for his rig.

Via Hack A Day

The cooler also has a pair of drawers inside it for storing the USB cable that powers the fans and other small items. The dual fans are quiet with 16dBA of noise output when in use.

The device is made from aluminum, it measures in at 324mm x 270mm x 35 mm, and the fans spin at 1500rpm. Evercool uses an interesting and decorative design on the Battle Hero that will fit right in at your favorite LAN party. Pricing is unannounced.

ThermaPAK offer three different sizes of HeatShift, suited to 13-inch, 15-inch and 17-inch notebooks, and in three different colors: black, pink and “Mac” white. Inside the quilted fabric are the company’s patented PCM crystals, which start off solid but, as heat is passed from the notebook to the pad, gradually change into their liquid form. When the heat source is removed the crystals solidify again. The theory goes that it’s faster than so-called active cooling by fans, better for your battery as it requires no power source, and is easier to transport since you can roll it up or stuff it into a laptop bag.

Does it work? In short – and to our surprise – yes, it really does. We booted up a MacBook Pro and started it playing HD-quality movies until the base of the notebook was uncomfortably hot to the touch. After placing it onto the HeatShift Pad – still playing movies – within two minutes time the MBP was as cool as if the system were idle.

A cooler-running system means better stability, components that last longer and – not least – a more comfortable experience when the notebook is on your lap. ThermaPAK also offer cases with room for the pad and your notebook, though you shouldn’t have trouble fitting the pad alone into your regular case. Prices start at $27.99 for the 13-inch pad, $29.99 for the 15-inch and $34.99 for the 17-inch.

If this is a shorter review than normal then it’s because the product itself so quickly convinces. The ThermaPAK Laptop Cooling HeatShift Pad is unobtrusive, cheaper than many “active” fan-based cooling stands and easier to transport, and most importantly of all it actually works. If you’re a heavy-duty user crunching video while mobile, or simply fed up of your notebook burning through your legs, we’d definitely recommend slotting a ThermaPAK pad underneath.

The Cryo S is made from brushed aluminum and features two 120mm fans. These fans can support a notebook that’s up to 15-inches in size and is effective at providing optimum cooling.

A rubber finish keeps the notebook slightly elevated so heat can’t be trapped and it effectively removes heat from your whole notebook, including the whole case, so you’ll know your latest gaming adventure won’t be interrupted. Power comes by means of the AC adapter or USB. You can purchase the Cryo S now for $49.99.

The added bonus is it uses half the power. And with no moving parts, there’s less likelihood of breakdown and noise. During the demonstration of this new technology, the cooler was put by a vent in a notebook. Then, pipes that are filled with liquid pull the heat away from the chipset and move it to the ionic system.

The system contains two electrodes, one with ionizing air molecules, the other with a receiver for the molecules. As these ions move from one spot to the other, this causes neutral air to move across hot areas, making for cooling. This is still a ways off from being included in your next notebook, but it’s an interesting technology that we might see as soon as next year.

The Cryo S features two 120mm fans that are adjustable and can be be used with any notebook that’s up to 15-inches. The top is coated in rubber, which helps keep the notebook elevated a bit and allows for more ample airflow.

You can connect the Cryo S by means of USB or an AC adapter. It also contains two USB ports for added connectivity. And since many gamers are concerned with the overall style of their computer accessories, you can rest assured this one is sleek and nice to look at. You can get the NZXT Cryo S this month from Newegg.com for $49.99.

The Asetek liquid cooling system provides for a more even cooling of the processor and makes overclocking a much more versatile possibility for users that really want to get the most out of their systems.

This cooling option also reduces the noise, as there’s no loud fan noise to contend with. Since both of these computers include the Intel Core 2 Extreme and are unlocked, making speed boosts much easier, having a stronger cooling option just makes sense. To add the Asetek liquid cooling option, it will cost you nearly $120 extra on top of the $899 and $1,099 priced XPS 625 and XPS 630 gaming towers. The new option will be available by the end of the month.

The Cooling Pad N100 is like most other cooling pads–it’s powered by USB and runs a fan that cools your laptop from the bottom. I’ve had a few of this sort of device in my time and most don’t work too well. However, this one looks rather sturdy and like it’s up for the challenge of cooling even–gasp!–my leg-burning-hot MacBook.

You can get the Logitech Cooling Pad N100 by the end of this month for $29.99. Also on the docket is the N110, which is a notebook riser. It doesn’t have a fan in it, but it does push the laptop off of your legs and places the screen at an optimum viewing angle. The N110 has the same price tag as the N100.

[via Gadget Review]

Installation is apparently simple, and merely requires a case that can accommodate a 120mm fan. It’s also maintenance-free, for over 50,000 hours of use, and has a number of preset modes that cater to different usage types. For instance, intensive gamers can prioritise cooling over noise for overclocking, with the Domino’s controller auto-regulating accordingly.

Domino requires at most 8W of power and, according to CoolIT, places up to 70-percent less weight on the motherboard than an equivalent fan and heatsink setup.  The system recently won a CES Innovations award; we’re waiting to hear back regarding availability.

The Gibabyte Radeon HD 4870 boasts 1GB of 256bit GDDR5 VRAM, Zalman heatsink and a 90mm fan with massive connectivity from DVI, HDMI and DisplayPort. It’s PCI Express 16x bus supports 2.0 protocol, features ATI CrossFireX for high scalable multiGPU apps, and provides cutting edge HD videos playback thanks to its UVD 2 (Unified Video Decoder 2) with ATI Avivo HD Video for dual stream Blu-ray and PIP supports.

The GigGabyte Radeon HD 4870, GV-R487D5-1GG will be available in Japan next week for 35,600 yen ($395).

The owner of this limited edition sets will entitle to a membership of the Black Label Lounge, enjoys exclusive privileges like VIP event invitations, supports, news and interactions with club members. The Black Label Limited Edition set has a recommended price tag of $599 or 499 Euro.

Taipei, Taiwan – December 11th, 2008 – Cooler Master introduces the Black Label Limited Edition with worldwide availability of 500 individually numbered sets. This luxiourious collection brings together the company’s award-winning computing chassis, cooler and power supply, with an added touch of sophistcated black appearance plus feature enchancements: Cosmos Black Label, Hyper Z600 Black Label and a powerful PSU unit. MSRP 599USD or 499EUR. Official site: blacklabel.coolermaster.com

The 500 Club
Black Label Limited Edition customers will receive private membership, giving them access to our Black Label Lounge. Members will enjoy exclusive benefits such as: priority purchase privileges, VIP event invitations, interaction with fellow club members and more.

Pure Black Design
Designers at Cooler Master have ensured that pure black means every detail is taken into account, with a full black exterior and interior. This stunning pure black is a first for Cooler Master which shows the excellence in craftsmanship the company has built its reputation on.

Striving for Perfection
Subtle improvements have made this an elite collection. Cosmos Black Label has a unique tinted side panel and its upgraded cooling capability further improves on reliability and performance. Hyper Z600 Black Label with the all new black appearance is equipped with improved PWM fan and airflow cover for unsurpassed cooling.

This new case is, of course, all black and the HyperZ600 CPU cooler is meant to keep the latest high performance processors running cool without drowning you in noise. The cooler itself features a 120mm fan capable of 800 to 2200 rpm. It also has a spacer that goes between the fan and the top of the cooling fins to better channel the air. This also has the benefit of reducing noise greatly.

We don’t know what CPUs this cooler would be compatible with, but it does seem to be rather universal. If the HyperZ600 cooler sounds interesting to you, then you should take note that it is only available as a part of the Cosmos Black bundle.

[via SlipperyBrick]

This new patent shows that Apple might be wishing to utilize liquid cooling in the future. This may very well be a wise move, especially considering Apple notebooks are notorious for overheating. Current models rely on air cooling alone, which works well enough, but as processors get faster, Apple might need to resort to a more efficient alternative.

This patent also shows that heat could be alleviated by dissipating it through the aluminum plate behind the display. This would remove the often scorching heat sent straight to the user’s lap. Some users reported burns from the hot notebooks, so this would definitely be a smart move.

This process is very similar to that used in cooling a jet engine. The laminar jet airflow system pushes away any hot air from the bottom of the case, which is what typically leads to the hot exterior. This way, the laptop could actually stay cool enough to sit in your lap. And you won’t need one of those USB fan things, either.

This system is official and can be licensed by other notebook makers. Intel hasn’t announced any customers of the product yet, but this is definitely something that should be included in current notebooks that might run a bit hot. Interesting, indeed. We’ll just have to wait and see who picks this up first.

[via Electronista]

The Reactor is a a new computer model designed by Hardcore Computer that keeps the motherboard, CPU, memory, video card and power supplies immersed in Core Coolant, a dielectric fluid that’s meant to keep the hot parts cooled off. Not to mention, the Reactor looks like a blue fish tank of sorts, which if you’ll pardon the pun, is cool.

Other specs include a Core 2 Extreme processor, up to three GeForce GTX 280 GPUs, 8GB of DDR3 memory, WiFi antennas, a CMOS battery, Creative Labs X-Fi, 7.1 Dolby digital surround sound, HD/3D realism and a BIOS reset switch. The Reactor carries with it high price tag, however, at $4,500. Plus, even higher-end models are expected to cost about $10,000. This is definitely meant for the “hardcore” gamer.

[via Coolest Gadgets]

The lamp-free projector uses PhlatLight LEDs instead of a conventional UHP lamp, as well as the latest Texas Instrument 1080p (1920×1080) DMD technology to pump out 600 ANSI lumen and over 100,000:1 Contrast Ratio. That’s not it; Chilin also claims its 128% NTSC color gamut, which is 80% greater than that achieved through conventional UHP projectors. No word on aggressive contrast rating if that’s dynamic or native value.

Also, the company’s engineers expecting the LED system to last for up to 50,000 hours (The lamp uses on most LCD lasts around 2000-5000hours). The manufacturer has not disclosed the availability or pricing information at this point.

Check out the CoolIT demo video after the cut

CoolIT took the stock HD 4870 X2 from its 750MHz GPU and 900MHz memory, and overclocked it to 880MHz on the GPU and 1000MHz on the memory.  That was enough to see the Xtreme Vantage score jump from X7090 to X8162.

Even more impressive (and important, you could argue), the GPU temperature of the test rig never exceeded 39 degrees during benchmarking.  CoolIT are yet to release pricing details for the Dual Drive Bay VGA cooling system, but it’s expected in September

This MTEC docking station can allow you to overclock while keeping your laptop nice and cool. According to its press release, this latest CoolIT offering has the following features:

• CoolIT’s MTEC Technology – An efficient, Thermoelectric design manages airflow by
pumping chilled air directly into the laptop’s existing CPU and GPU intakes while guiding all
heat exhaust through the rear of the dock.
• Full Software Control –CoolIT’s MTEC Control Center software allows users to customize
performance based on cooling power vs. desired acoustic levels. Control GPU cooling
independent from CPU cooling. The software also provides detailed, real-time readouts for
chilled air supplies.
• Noise Reduction – Low noise airflow design to accelerate heat dissipation without the
acoustic penalty.

This is good news for gamers that want that extra push in performance.

[Thanks Matt!]

“We recently benchmarked this card using 3D Mark Vantage and increased the Graphics score from X7125 at stock settings to X8148 which represents a performance increase of well over 10%” Geoff Lyon, CEO of CoolIT Systems

In testing, the liquid cooled cards were stably clocked up to 880MHz (13.5% Increase) core clock speed and the GDDR5 memory pushed to 1GHz (11% increase). The setup requires two drive bays.

The CoolIT liquid cooling system is set to launch in September. The company is yet to release pricing information.

The $150 chassis has a 120mm fan to constantly cool your system and promises “silent, vibration-free” gaming as well as keeping your system cool. Putting your Xbox 360 in the chassis will undoubtedly take a little effort, so it’s not a great solution for people who aren’t tech savvy.

Have any of you had overheating issues with your Xbox 360’s? Is a $150 option really worth it, or would you rather be without your system for a while to send it back to Microsoft?

The Lian Li chassis is currently shipping worldwide.

Press Release

Lian Li launches PC-XB01: the Xbox 360® Chassis replacement
Lian Li shows Microsoft how it’s done!

14 August 2008, Keelung, Taiwan – Lian-Li Industrial Co. Ltd will launch the PC-XB01 chassis for the Xbox 360 today. The XB01 is a chassis replacement for the XBox 360 chassis, which alleviates heating issues from hot components and reduces noise from vibrating optical drives in the original case design. The PC-XB01 requires DIY knowledge for the transfer of components, but once completed, heat will no longer be a factor in dampening your XBox 360 gaming experience.

Lian Li is an executive upper-class aluminum PC chassis manufacturer, well renowned as the ultimate brand for modding and stylish designs. Those same attributes are incorporated in the PC-XB01. Including an all-aluminum black hair-line brushed anodized chassis . The case has the traditional filed edges to reduce sharp corners, as well as folded and handcrafted aspects synonymous with Lian Li’s superior quality and high safety standards.

The PC-XB01 is 160 x 250 x 415mm (W, D, H), giving lots of space for copious cool airflow. The 120mm (1500RPM) rear fan draws off the heat from inside the case effectively and silently, while the ODD region is encased in stylized foam to reduce noise experienced from spinning disks in standard units.

All the Xbox 360 ports are hidden behind stylish dust covers and the ODD bay also has a spring loaded dust cover for aesthetic appeal and convenience. The unit can be placed horizontally, or vertically, depending on your needs, and the water cooling pipe holes are an option to use should you be inclined to do so. The case is designed to fit the entire Xbox 360 internals similar to the original, with the power transformer attaching from the outside.

The Lian Li PC-XB01 is t he perfect complement to the Xbox 360 to alleviate heating issues. The stylish exterior gives your product a sense of class and will fit in with almost any living room environment. Microsoft Inc is very strict on warranties, so it should be noted that you will not be able to return your product if you use the Lian Li PC-XB01 alternative. With that being said, you are less likely to have overheating.

Not only do you have heat reduction, but sound reduction as well.  The heat exchanger fan runs at a mere 30dB, which Asetek helpfully describe as the equivalent of a loud whisper.  Finally, since you don’t want a case full of cooling fluid sloshing around your brand new dual 4780 XS CrossFireX setup, the company guarantees a 50,000hr operational lifetime, safe from shock, vibration and thermal stress.

Unfortunately the Asetek setup is currently OEM only, and there’s no word on either which partners (if any) have signed up to use the liquid cooling or whether a consumer kit version is on the cards.  However it is available now, so expect to see systems boasting liquid-cooled 4870 X2′s any time now.

[via The Tech Report]

The all-copper design of the heatsink is said to provide some of the most efficient heat conductivity and dissipation. It varies from most coolers in that it has two sets of copper fins that come up on either side of a 110mm fan, which allows for maximum airflow. You can even manually adjust the speed of the fan to make sure that it’s staying cool without getting too loud.

I definitely think that this is one of the more interesting coolers I’ve seen in a little while. If you’re in the market for something to keep your CPU, then this one looks like a good bet. It works with most current CPUs as well as some older ones and will set you back around $60.

[via Gearlog]

This new model from Belkin is wide enough to even hold the larger 17” laptops.  It also features an adjustable height, to get your laptop at a comfortable angle for you.

This isn’t out just yet and they don’t say when it will be, but it is listed as coming soon.  Once it is released it will be sold for $39.99.

[via everythingusb]

Their cooler for the latest Nvidia cards features a single slot, high performance liquid cooling systems which will cool your GPU, RAM, nVio chip and VR. You will be able to utilize this for either single or dual-card setups.

The new cooling system from CoolIT is available starting today. You can head over to the CoolIT site to check it out.

“Each and every manufacturer, along with AMD, agreed that cooling the MOSFETS [voltage regulator] properly was critical to the successful operation of the board at stock or overclocked speeds with the 9850BE–and to some degree, the 6400+ X2.  This is based on the board manufacturer utilizing a properly developed power delivery system that is designed to handle the 125W TDP processors and in the future, the upcoming 140W TDP Phenoms” AnandTech report

The issue concerns the higher Thermal Design Power (TDP) of the high-end Phenom X4 chips, which equates to greater quantities of heat being created and, if not dealt with, causing system instability.  While the bulk of the Phenom range only produces 95W TDP, further up the range chips output 125W.  AMD is also releasing a 140W chipset later in the year, the Phenom X4 9950.

AMD themselves are also looking at producing lower TDP versions of the chips, with a 95 watt TDP Phenom X4 9750 2.4Ghz first, followed by a new version of the Phenom X4 9850 2.5GHz in Q4 2008.  Their advice continues to be to specify a motherboard using their 790 chipset, rather than the cheaper 780.  DIY system builders and those comfortable with modifying off-the-shelf hardware may be comfortable performing some AnandTech-style tweaks, but mainstream consumers wanting a high-speed Phenom X4 system might do well to hold off buying until the newer, lower TDP versions are more common.

[via Crave]

Of course if you’ve never actually set up a liquid cooling system, it probably looks a bit overwhelming. There are several different components you’ll need to carefully assemble, not to mention the cost of actually acquiring said parts. To the novice, it can seem like much more work than it’s worth. That’s why this PURE from CoolIT can be quite appealing. It’s a self-contained liquid cooling system that is supposed to be simple install. I’ve had a chance to test one out, and I’ve shot a video of the installation process. Hit the jump to see the results.

You can see from the video that there isn’t a ton of work required. Sure, you’ll need to remove your motherboard, but if you’re even thinking about overclocking, or have assembled your own computer, it won’t be anything you can’t handle.

The total time for installation was just under 20 minutes. That’s not too bad considering that I now have a liquid cooling setup. If I chose, I could easily disable the rest of my fans (save for the GPU) and have an almost completely silent system. However, for the sake of testing purposes, I left everything in tact, which included a single 120mm fan in the front, and the twin fans over my Corsair Dominator memory.

It should be noted that while the PURE can easily be used for good overclocking, its primary function is to provide a mostly silent PC. With that in mind, I’ve decided to not do any overclocking to my system this time around. However, I will be putting together a special OC piece sometime in the near future where I’ll push this to the limit.

For those wondering, here is my configuration for the test system:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz
OS: Windows Vista Ultimate
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L
RAM: Corsair Dominator 2GB TWIN2X2408-8500C5DF
GPU: VisionTek Radeon HD 3870 512MB
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB SATA
Case: Ultra Products m998 Mid-Tower

You can see that with the computer sitting at idle it knocks a full four degrees off of both the system and CPU temperatures.

This is where a CPU cooler is really going to show its true colors, the load test. The PURE managed to keep the CPU temperature at a nice 36 degrees under load, which is a full 6 degrees under the stock cooler. It didn’t do much for the overall case temperature, but since it’s only cooling a single component, that’s to be expected.

Overall, this is a great product for someone that wants either a silent PC, or just needs it to run a bit cooler. The installation is a bit more complicated than just removing the heatsink and slapping on a new one, but far easier than any liquid cooling setup I’ve ever used. The price is another great factor here. The CoolIT PURE is going to run just under $100 at most places I looked. Honestly, I’ve seen regular fan/heatsink combos that go for only a little less than that.

There are a couple of minor downsides. One is that due to the size of the unit and length of the hoses, you may have some difficulty getting it situated while attaching the cooling block to the CPU. The other is really minor, which is that the nice metal cover that hides the radiator is a pain to clean once you’ve handled it. It took me a few minutes of trying different things to get rid of my fingerprints and such. It’s not a huge deal because once the installation is complete, you won’t have to mess with it again.

In the end, I give the CoolIT PURE 4 out of 5 Gears.

[rating: 4]

While many people will simply install components in their PC and forget about them, others just love to tweak the settings and push them to the max. Of course, the more you overclock a component, the hotter it gets. This VGA MTEC Coldplate is meant to be added to an existing liquid cooling setup. Just replace the heatsink with this bad boy and hook it up with the rest of your cooling system and you’re ready to rock.

Liquid cooling still isn’t the cheapest way to cool your PC by any means, but the performance gains you can achieve from overclocking almost always make up for it. The VGA MTEC Coldplate is available now for $109.99.

It won an iF award and apparently I am not the first to think of sushi at its sight since it has already earned the nickname of “sushi roller”. Due to the flexibility of this thing you can do more than lay it flat and set your notebook on it.

For instance you could partially fold one end and set the back of your notebook on it to get better air flow to the fans and ducts on the bottom of your notebook and to angle it for easier typing, or you could fold it up a bunch and use it as a platform to raise your notebook a couple of inches, its pretty versatile. There are two models, one for 12 and 13 inch notebooks and one for 14 and 15 inch notebooks, no word on price or availability though.