CoolIT PURE CPU Cooler Review

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CoolIT PURE CPU Cooler Review

Manufacture Product Page: CoolIT Systems - PURE CPU Cooler
Availability: Now
Price: Click Here To Compare Prices
Warranty: 1 year



It has been a long time coming but finally Water Cooling is ready to step out of the fringes where it has been skulking and take its rightful place as a serious mainstream cooling option. For many years water cooling has been the sole domain of either ultra quiet aficionados or monster world record breaking overclocking aficionados. This is because as any serious overclocker knows, Air may be fine for minor overclocking but once you hit the high voltages you need something which can dump alot more thermal energy a heck of a lot quicker than any air cooling-based system is capable off. As for the quiet part, up until the Scythe S-Flex line of fans (and now the Noctua’s which have surpassed them) low noise and efficient cooling was only possible on low end computers. Compare this with water where you only really need one (two or now even three) fans and a super quiet pump which makes only a peaceful and relaxing swishing sound.

Well that was the past and this is now and just as many other areas of the computer industry have had to change to accommodate the “mainstream” marketplace, so too has water cooling changed over the years. Yes you can still make one kick ass overclocking beast of a system which is quiet as a lamb and yet complex enough to send even 3 dimensional physics grads into spasms; but now even a first time water cooling virgin can buy an all in one “plug and play” system which requires no maintenance and no experience to get better than air results. Of course this is the idea / PR spin which has been placed on the new plug and play water cooling systems that are now being offered by numerous manufactures.

This is where CoolIT enters into the equation with their line of alternative cooling products. For anyone not familiar with the CoolIT name, a bit of background information is in order. CoolIT is probably best known for their innovative TEC cooling solutions which take “water” cooling to a different level by using refrigeration to cool a fluid to well below ambient temperature. This young Canadian-based company has quickly made quite the reputation for themselves in the water cooling community. The very fact that they were not only able to break into but actually stand out in this fast paced and innovative niche market speaks volumes about their engineering prowess and commitment to their customers. After all, in this area word of mouth will quickly make or break you and having a high quality product will only get you so far.

Today we will be looking at the CoolIT PURE CPU Cooling solution which offers first time users the ability to step into the water cooling arena with out getting their feet wet in the process (pardon the pun). The Pure (as we will call it in this review) is advertised as “a universal sealed closed-loop maintenance free system is pre-plumbed and charged for simple bolt-in installation” and is available from many retailer and e-tailers through out the country. That being said, this product caters to the people who don't need extreme cooling solutions and thus makes due without CoolIT's signature TEC element. The biggest advantage which this unit has is not its maintenance-free operation nor its “plug and play” installation (though these are very big positives in and of themselves), it is the simple fact that this universal water cooling system only costs a little over twice that of a high end Air cooling CPU solution. This may sound like a big investment but when compared to more mundane water cooling systems this is not a big investment and can be considered downright cheap…if you look at in the right way.

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Specifications

Specifications

 

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Packaging and Accessories

Packaging and Accessories

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The box which the Pure comes in is a rather large black box which somehow manages to exude an air of otherworldly power and yet still not come across as creepy or strange. Quite honestly, if one was to make a deal with the Devil for their soul in return for the ultimate in CPU cooling potential this is the box that Ba’al would deliver to you by FedEx Air (after all he is the Lord of the Flies, and don’t laugh I know people who would do this in a heartbeat if they believed the Flying Spaghetti Monster wouldn’t smite them for their heresy).

The very fist thing you notice about this box is the super large picture of the Pure is outlined in a ghostly white which comes off as cool (and I mean that in both the temperature and semantic meaning of the word) rather than cheesy which usually is the case when some manufacturer gets fancy and tries to make it all “ghostly” and such.

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Once the box is opened, you are greeted to a Styrofoam top which also has to be removed before you are even allowed a glimpse of what lurks inside. When you remove this topper you only get a peak at the Pure as it is nestled deep inside the loving embrace of a thick Styrofoam protective box and only the long shield and radiator are visible. This level of protection borders on overkill and left me with the impression that what is inside really is worth all the effort which was put into protecting it.

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The accessory list, while on the short end of the spectrum contains nothing but high quality components one would expect to see on all in one water cooling kits costing much more than the Pure does. The full list of accessories is: a very well done instruction pamphlet with lots of easy to understand instructions backed up by photographs and the necessary mounting hardware for both AMD and Intel 775 systems. While the mounting hardware was all of high quality and was very nice to see what was really impressive was the manual which is written with first time water cooling people in mind. It used clear, concise and well worded instructions which would sooth any anxiety a first timer would probably be feeling.

If there is one area which many water cooling manufactures fail at it has to be writing the instruction manual with first timers in mind. It truly is a balancing act between conveying all the necessary information in a non confusing manner while not being so vague as to cause first time WC’ers to give up in frustration. We are glad to report CoolIT handled this tricky task with aplomb and was probably one of the best, easiest to follow instruction manuals we have seen a long while. Heck, they even included tips on how to keep from scratching your case and/or the PURE while installing it by using a towel!

Overall the PURE leaves one with not only a positive first impression but a reassuring sense that this unit has been engineered and crafted by the crème de la crème of the industry. Best of all it didn’t even cost us our souls to get our hands on it.

 

[AkG]

First Impressions

First Impressions

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The very first thing which pops out at you is the fact this unit is ready to go right out of the box; there is no need to add any coolant and for the entire life cycle of the PURE you will never need to do so. This is a very big positive selling point for new users who are afraid that while filling up a reservoir/radiator/etc some fluid may spill out and fry a computer part. Let’s face it, this is an overblown fear especially if you use nonconductive liquid (such as Feser One for example) but it is still reassuring when you don’t have to do anything besides plug in a power connector.

The next thing which is blatantly obvious is that unlike CoolIT's other CPU cooling solutions, the PURE does not use any TECs (thermoelectric coolers) to cool the water. This is a simple water setup and does not have any advance features such as sub ambient temperature cooling. The upside to this is that this makes for a very compact unit. CoolIT has taken a basic 3 piece setup (water block, pump & radiator) and melded it all into a small closed loop system. Of course all this miniaturization is lost by the inclusion of the ridiculously long metal shroud which blocks ones view of the PURE hardware when installed in a case.

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The radiator which comes with the PURE is a tried and true, single size radiator unit which is 157x133x25mm and weighs in at 205grams. While it may “only” be 25mm deep versus 35mm of some other radiators out there we are sure that if you are so inclined you could mod this unit by swapping it out for a higher performance dual pass single bay radiator (or even double or triple bay ones for that matter). Of course this would totally void not only the warranty but the whole reason behind this unit, namely the fact it requires no maintenance, no replacement of fluid, and most of all no hassles. Though honestly, if you intend to mod this unit, you might as well spend your money on the individual parts and build your own kit.

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One very nice touch which really shows that the CoolIT engineers were on their toes was the inclusion of a fan shroud. As most water cooler aficionados know, having a small covered gap between the fan and the radiator can improve the efficiency of the unit as there are less “hot spots” on the radiator (such as where the fan housing would be). To make it even better this fan shroud can be mounted in various positions to help tweak the exact location of where the radiator (and the whole PURE system for that matter) sits in your computer case. In practical terms this means the PURE can fit in a wide variety of computer cases which some other units may have trouble squeezing into.

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The one area where we really had mixed feelings over is the tubing used in the PURE. On the positive side it is Neoprene tubing so it should last a long while and it is fully wrapped in anti-kink wire so as to minimize the chances of getting a kink in the lines (which next to an actual leak is about the biggest potential down side to water cooling which can occur). This was a nice little bonus and was certainly a welcome addition to the PURE. However, on the negative side CoolIT went for only ¼" Inner Diameter tubing. Yes, neoprene is expensive and does add to the PURE’s cost but would 3/8" ID been that much more expensive?

On the positive side, all the tubing of the PURE as been crimped into place using heavy duty steel pinch clamps. This ensures a good long-term leak proof fit but you can forget about modding this unit as those suckers are impossible to remove; you have to cut the tubing free and then pry them off one by one, all the while hoping that you don’t bend or break any of the fittings. This clearly shows this unit is aimed at first time water coolers who certainly don’t have the time, experience or even the inclination to “improve” upon the PURE with aftermarket modifications. Oh well, c’est la vie!

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Also on the positive side, the base of the water block (AKA Fluid Heat Exchanger) is perfectly flat but shows some major tooling marks, some minor polishing marks and some big time scratches! For its price range this level of quality is well below average and was very disappointing to see. One has to wonder how much this will effect the PURE’s cooling abilities. On a side note this water block came with TIM already pre-applied in a nice thin and even layer. For shipping it comes with a plastic protection shield held over the water block via a rubber band. While it may not be a high tech way of keeping the protector in place you can’t argue with results. To keep things as even as possible for the testing phase of this review we removed this TIM and used Arctic Silver MX-2 on all CPU cooling solutions.

The heart of the PURE CPU Cooling solution is a low noise moderate flow pump which is rated to move 3.5L of fluid per minute. While this is just short of the 1 Gallon Per Minute mark which most people agree should be the absolute minimum fluid movement, this pump makes up for its lack of speed with ultra low noise. Only time and testing will see if this sub 1gpm loop has enough cooling potential to handle the high thermal loads of modern overclocked CPU’s.

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The fan of this unit is the NoiseBlocker BlackSilent Fan XL2. This sleeved bearing fan rotates at a nominal 1400rpm at which speed it moves approximately 57CFM of air and more importantly has an impressive 2.0mmH20 of static pressure. The best thing about this fan is that it is extremely quiet and is (technically) much quieter than even a Noctua NF-P12-1300. Great performance and low noise, what more could you ask?

All in all the PURE is leaves one with a cautiously optimistic first impression. The only issues we have with the PURE’s level of quality is with the sub 1GPM pump (which is not that big of a deal) but mainly with in CoolIT’s quality control department. All pictures used in this review were taken before we used this unit and to see a water block in that bad condition was not only disheartening but really did mar an otherwise great first impression. Whoever applied the TIM to the base of this unit’s water block could have been the one who badly scratched it and instead of yanking it from the production line they decided to pass it instead. Was this PURE a “Friday build”? Please do not get the wrong impression, we are sure this water block was an anomaly but we would truly be remiss in not mentioning it.

 

[AkG]

Installation

Installation

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Installation is a very straightforward proposition which should reassure even the most jittery of first time water cooling users. When you do have your motherboard removed you, simply thread a long screw (with washers on both sides of the motherboard) through the motherboard and tighten down a metal standoff. The plastic washers which you place on both sides of the motherboard to keep anything from shorting out are very thick and sturdy; in fact they are some of most durable looking washers we have come across on a good long time. CoolIT certainly believe in overkill and even small things like the thickness of the washers used will calm and reassure someone who is not completely sure about the whole “water cooling thing”.

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When you have tightened down the first standoff you simply repeat this procedure 3 more times and then reinstall the motherboard back into your case. While it is counter intuitive at this point, reinstalling the motherboard is quite necessary as you will not be able to install it after the water block is in position. The next thing you have to do is remove your computer case’s rear 120mm fan (if you have two of them you should remove the top most one).

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When the motherboard is fully reinstalled and you have removed the rear case fan, you simply have to position the water block over the CPU and install the two wire brackets which hold the block in position (since we removed the TIM we of course had to apply a small amount of MX-2 before doing this, as you will too if reinstalling the PURE after initial installation). The installation manual suggests laying a towel over the 5.25 bays at the front of you computer case and laying the PURE assembly there in order to remove any tension on the neoprene tubes while you install the wire brackets. Alternatively, you can have someone hold the PURE system while you do this but it all depends on your comfort level.

When installing the two brackets we found that if you start to thread the two large screws which hold it in place it is then much easier to install the second bracket. When tightening down the four retaining screws it is always a good idea to tighten two screws at a time (namely two that are diagonally opposed to each other). To further reduce stress and to help insure a good and proper seating of the water block, we strongly recommend only tightening them in one turn (or even half turns if you have the patience) before tightening the other two diagonally opposed screws one turn. This will reduce the chances of uneven pressure being applied to the CPU which could damage it. One great thing about this setup is that you can not over tighten the screws; they simply slam into the metal standoffs thus ensuring equal mounting pressure on all four screws.

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When the water block is in place on simply has to gently flip the unit over and install the PURE by mounting the fan into the back 120mm fan area. This is done just as you would install any exhaust fan by using four screws which are included with the PURE. When this simple and quick task is accomplished you simply have to insert a four pin molex connector into the PURE to provide it with power. If your motherboard is an older board which does not allow you the ability to ignore “CPU fan error” you may have to plug another fan into the CPU fan header. This really is not a big deal but it could have been avoided if CoolIT had provided a simple 3 pin connector which has only the sensor wire in place. This would have had the added benefit of giving you a warning if the pump fails (as some other similarly price closed loop systems can).

Since this system is a closed loop self contained system that was prefilled at the factory you do not have to worry about bleeding air from any of the lines. This is another little issue with water cooling that can cause some stress in first time buyers which has been thoroughly eliminated by the installation process of the PURE.

Overall this is a very easy installation process which should not take you more than 10 minutes to accomplish. Every set is well laid out in the manual and has been designed to not only ensure a good and proper installation but also reassure people that it is an easy, robust and above all else safe. Bloody good job CoolIT.

 

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Testing Methodology

Testing Methodology

Except where noted all comparison testing was done on an open bench with an ambient temperature of 20c. Recorded temps were as reported via CoreTemp's "Temp Log". Average load temps were taken after 15 minutes of running Prime95 v25.4 “small fft” and are taken directly from CoreTemps temperature text file. Excel was used to average the results of all cores. Idle temps were taken 15 minutes after Load testing ceased. Motherboard temperatures were recorded using SpeedFan. For any and all water cooling units no fan speed control was used; rather, they ran at full speed for all testing stages.

Arctic Cooling MX-2 thermal paste was used for all coolers during these tests unless otherwise noted. Application of all thermal paste was according to the manufacturer’s instructions and while not necessary it was allowed to cure for 48 hours under moderate to high loads (with periods of low loads) prior to testing.

All tests were run a minimum of 4 times and only best results are represented.

Please Note: When viewing the results of the Q6600 and the e4600 please understand that in this instance the quad @ 1.45 volts actually is a cooler running chip than the relatively bad overclocker chip e4600 used. This is usually not the way it works but due to the variable nature of overclocking we happened to get a "good" quad and a bad "dual"; in that the quad is a good cool running chip when extra voltage is applied where as the dual heats up very quickly as extra voltage is applied. It would not surprise us if 1.4 volts is significantly shortening the life of the dual e4600 and that it will die a lot earlier than the quad q6600.

Please note: Because the Ultima 90 does not come with its own it was paired with a single Scythe F 120mm fan for the results listed in this review.

Please note: Because the Asetek LCLC did not come with a fan, the fan which came with Swiftech H20-120 was used.

Please Note: Because the Swifteh H20-120 is not a sealed maintenance free unit, pure desalinized water with Swiftech Hydrx was used.

Please note: To keep the motherboard chipsets from overheating two 120mm Scythe E models were used, but they were orientated in such a way as to not interfere with nor help the CPU cooler (i.e they were basically pointed down and angled away from the CPU socket).


Notes about Overclocking:

For q6600’s I consider 1.45 volts to be the most that I would seriously consider for a moderate-to-long term overclock.

For e4600’s I consider 1.4 volts to be the most that I would seriously consider for a moderate-to-long term overclock.

Yes you can go much higher but the longevity of the CPU is then called into question. Just as importantly the CPU should average out at LESS than 65c as this is also what I consider the safest, maximum long term overclocking temp. For the purposes of these tests I was willing to overlook temperatures as long as they averaged below 70c and did not peak over 75c. If 75c was displayed for more than 10seconds in CoreTemp all testing was stopped and that test run was considered a fail.

With these two general guidelines I overclocked both systems until either one (or both) of these "rules" was needed to be broken to continue.

Overclocking was accomplished by increasing FSB speed and then Vcore (only if necessary).

Before testing for idle and max temperatures Orthos was run for 1 hour to make sure that it was stable at a given overclock and voltage. If both finished with no errors SuperPi set to 32m was run twice. After the stability testing was accomplished the given system was allowed to sit idle for 30minutes before starting the official tests. IF both of the above stated guidelines were not broken then testing continued with an increased overclock. These steps were then repeated until 1 or both of the general guidelines were broken.

As they have no bearing on these tests the RAM’s voltage and timings are not recorded, the RAM was set to run at or as close to as possible PC-6400 speeds by running various cpu : memory dividers. Please do not consider this a full “how to” review on overclocking or “safe guidelines” for overclocking nor even an indicator on how well a given CPU will overclock. IF you are interested in OC’ing your system, and use these guidelines we at HWC take no responsibility for the results. Bad Things can happen if you are not careful.


Complete Test System:

Processor: Q6600 & E4600
Motherboard: Gigabyte p35 DS4
Memory: 4GB G.Skill PC2-6400
Graphics card: XFX 7200gt 128mb
Hard Drives: 1x Western Digital Se16 320GB (single platter)
Power Supply: Seasonic S12 600W

 

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E4600 Temperature Testing

E4600 Temperature Testing

Idle Temperatures

When it comes to idle temperatures, water cooling has a significant advantage over conventional air cooling solutions. The PURE easily beats the Ultima 90 and even ties the Copper Ninja for ultra low temperature. Unfortunately, the Swiftech H20-120 is more efficient. This is mainly due to the fact that pure water was used, which while more thermally efficient than the fluids used in the PURE do require “top ups” from time to time.


Average Load Temperatures

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Unfortunately, this is where the sub 1GPM pump and lower speed fan of the PURE starts to handicap its abilities to cool down the hot dual processor. However, one thing should be pointed out before you draw any conclusions: the fan which was used on the Asetek and Swiftech was extremely loud. It is so loud at 12v the icon Swiftech uses to describe it is an iconographic head wearing ear protection! The PURE may not be the most efficient but for the low noise it produces it certainly isn’t that bad.

 

[AkG]

Q6600 Temperature Testing

Q6600 Temperature Testing

Idle Temperatures

As we saw with the dual processor results the PURE has trouble handling higher thermal loads. Even at idle the PURE’s numbers are only good when compared to the stock Intel cooler. Unfortunately, it seems that the ultra quiet fan and slow (but very quiet) pump are the limiting factors.


Average Load Temperatures

At stock speeds the CoolIT PURE performs fairly well and in fact is one of the quietest CPU cooling solutions we have had the pleasure of testing. But (and it’s a big but) the PURE is only an adequate solution when overclocking a dual core is involved.

 

[AkG]

Value

Value

The term “Value” is such an amorphous term that it truly has different meanings for different people. For some a CPU cooler is only as good as it overclocking potential, for others it is how quiet it does its job; for others still it’s how effective it is for its cost. We here at HWC try to provide as many answers as possible for the term “Value”. Hopefully by this point in the review people looking at OC potential or loudness levels will have a fairly good idea of what its Value is. For the “best bang for the buck” crowd we have included a chart below showing how much each 1*c less costs when compared to Intel’s FREE stock cooler. No consideration has been made for noise levels, “looks” or any other extraneous factors; this is just raw performance vs. monetary cost. For any cooler which performs worse than the Intel stock cooler a rating of “FAIL” will be given. For any cooler which has a “Value” of more than $10 per 1*C a rating of “FAIL” will be used in the graph but the chart will list its actual “value”.

All prices are based on either their MSRP (if no e-tailer prices were available at review time) or the online price they sold for at the time of their review. IF a CPU cooler does not include a fan the price of a Scythe F has been included ($12).

To make it as easy as possible for you to modify this ratio we have also included the various coolers temperature difference so if you do come across one of them on sale you can easily modify its “Value” rating. We here at HWC are in no way saying this is the definitive answer to “Value”, rather it should be considered another tool to help you make your final decision. After all something is only as “valuable” as what you consider it to be.


E4600 Cooling Value

Please note: This chart has be calculated based upon the differences between Intel stock cooler’s average load at its highest OC on a e4600 @3.2GHz versus various after market coolers average load temperatures (in their stock configuration with MX-2 TIM) also on a e4600 @ 3.2GHz.

If your are looking for a cheap CPU cooling solution, then water cooling is probably not in your near future. At a just a hair over a seven and a quarter dollars the PURE is not a cheap solution. All in one solutions will always be more expensive than semi-finished solutions (where you have to finish the installation and add water yourself) but if your time is valuable to you then maybe, just maybe a plug and play kit is worth the added expense.


Q6600 Cooling Value

Please note: This chart has be calculated based upon the differences between Intel stock cooler’s average load at its highest OC on a Q6600 @3.0GHz versus various after market coolers average load temperatures (in their stock configuration with stock TIM) also on a Q6600 @ 3.0GHz.

Ouch, the PURE just manages to squeak by and not be considered a FAIL. Honestly, the old saying: "you can have cheap, efficient or quiet....pick any two" perfectly sums up the Value of the CoolIT PURE.

 

[AkG]

Conclusion

Conclusion

There are many factors which have to be weighed by the manufacture when designing any water cooling kit, especially when that kit is meant to be a maintenance free unit. On the one hand the fluid has to be stable for long term use and yet still be thermally efficient enough to get the job done. Even when this is worked out, you they have to balance noise vs. efficiency and even ease of installation vs. robustness.

The CoolIT PURE has one of the easiest installations of any all-in-one water cooling kit we have come across and we can truthfully say that it truly is a plug and play unit. Even better still is that this easy installation was backed up by a one in a million instruction manual which was a pleasure to work with; so if you run into a sticky situation the manual is there to get you out of it. It certainly was written by a true professional who not only knew their product inside and out but also knew who their main customer would be: i.e. first time water cooling customers who are not ready to take the full plunge into custom setups.

The CoolIT PURE is also one of the quietest CPU cooling solutions that has been our pleasure to review. It may have been beaten in terms of raw performance by other systems and even some higher-end Air Cooling solutions but this was only accomplished by putting the equivalent of a jumbo jet fan on them. The amount of noise the PURE creates makes a Scythe F sound like a wailing banshee, and not only was it quieter but the very tone of the noise it made was more soothing to our ears than the other all-in-one water cooling systems we tested.

In the end the CoolIT PURE is not for everyone. Anyone who thinks just because a CPU cooling solution is water based means that “monster overclocks” are around the corner will be disappointed with it. However, anyone who wants to a very quiet, well mannered cooling system will be more than pleased with the PURE’s cooling capabilities, even if you intend on using a hot running quad core CPU. While this market niche will happy with the PURE, the area that the PURE was designed for, and where it truly excels at, is the first time water cooling market. Maintenance free, low noise and decent cooling results all add up to a wonderful, moral building water cooling experience for first time users. We all have to start somewhere and if you are hesitant about taking the plunge into water cooling then this might be the system for you. Just remember, once you get your feet wet you’ll never want to be dry again.


PROS:
- Low Noise
- Easy installation
- Great manual
- No maintenance
- Decent Cooling for both Dual and Quads at stock speed


Cons:
- Not a great overclocking solution
- Price
- Perfect Gateway Drug (once you get hooked on WC you’ll soon be using the hardcore stuff)

Special Thanks To CoolIT for providing us with this sample.


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