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Product:
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North Water Xtreme Xchangers |
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Price:
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4" Xtreme Xchanger: $46 (CAN) / $39 (U.S)
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Price:
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6" Xtreme Xchanger: $52 (CAN) / $44 (U.S)
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Supplied By:
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North Water Xtreme PC Cooling
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Author:
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Hi-TEK
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Date:
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September 13th, 2005
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Rating:
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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As previously mentioned, the construction of the North Water Xtreme Xchangers consists of CNC machined
Billet Aluminum. The term "Billet" by definition is a rectangular bar of metal that can be composed of
magnesium, steel, iron or lead. Due to its light weight and relatively low cost, many manufacturers
have used Billet Aluminum for automotive applications. In the case of the Xtreme Xchangers, North Water
was kind enough to provide an image of the internal design. The inside portion is patterned from top
to bottom and consists of several channels that will create turbulence. The additional turbulence in
the coolant is effective for heat dissipation and aids in lowering water cooling temperatures.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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The North Water Xtreme Xchangers did not ship with a users guide or instruction manual but installation should be
straightforward for most experienced water cooling enthusiasts. The Xtreme Xchangers are not designed to replace
traditional water cooling components such as water blocks and radiators. The product is most effective when deployed
in water cooling configurations that involve CPU, chipset and GPU cooling. Since most default water cooling systems
will already reach their cooling potential, the Xtreme Xchangers work well by lowering temperatures between chips.
As a point of reference North Water included an image in which all three areas are effectively cooled by the Xtreme
Xchangers.
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Click image for larger view
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Click image for larger view
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In order to test the cooling properties of the North Water Xtreme Xchangers, I installed the units into my existing gaming rig
which consist of the following parts:
- DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Motherboard
- AMD Athlon 64 3000+ CPU
- 2 x Gigabyte GV-NX66T128D GeForce 6600GT Video Cards (SLI Mode)
- Maxtor Diamond Max Plus 8 80 GB Hard Drive
- Maxtor Diamond Max Plus 10 200 GB Hard Drive
- 2 x Corsair XMS Xpert TWINXP1024-3200XL DDR Modules
- LG GSA-4165 Black DVD +/-R/RW/RAM Dual DVD Burner
- LG 52x32x52 CD-RW w/ SuperLink
- Enermax EG-565P-VE PSU
- Custom Water Cooling Kit (Swiftech MCW6002 Water Block, Typhoon 120X Reservoir, Delphi DDC 12V Water Pump and Black Ice Extreme Radiator)
In this particular configuration I do not deploy additional water cooling to my chipset or video card GPU's. The circulation
of water inside the system with the Xtreme Xchanges will work as follows:
Pump -> Radiator -> Xchanger -> Swiftech MCW6002 Water Block -> Xchanger -> Typhoon 120x Reservoir
Once assembled, the system was filled and tested with and without the Xtreme Xchangers for approximately 72 hours. To fill the
system, I will be using 500cc of Turbo Power Distilled Water with a mixture of Purple Ice. Purple Ice is a popular product
that assists in preventing corrosion and erosion of metals in the cooling system. To fill the system, the pump was started
automatically by wiring it directly to a spare testing PSU.
Testing
The gaming rig was run through a series of benchmark applications to record system temperatures and performance. The
"Burn-In Wizard" from SiSoft Sandra Pro 2005 is used to put the CPU under concentrated load for a pre-determined
amount of time. The options selected in "Burn-In Wizard" run the CPU and CPU Multimedia benchmarks for approximately
30 minutes. The system is left alone for approximate 30 minutes before the burn-in test is performed. Maximum
temperatures are measured in degree Celsius and recorded for idle, full load, idle overclock and full load
overclock confirmed by an independent thermal probe and Motherboard Monitor 5.3.7.0.
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Click image for larger view
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The system was run in normal mode at 1.8 GHz and overclocked mode at 2 GHz (9x225FSB). Ambient room temperature
was measured at 28 degrees Celsius. I was very interested in how effective the North Water Xtreme Xchangers
would work at reducing overall system temperatures. Without the Xchangers installed the maximum load temperatures
recorded in load and overclocked load modes were 44°C and 48°C Celsius. After emptying the system and installing
the Xtreme Xchangers into my water cooling loop, I noticed a 3°C degree drop with load and overclocked load
temperatures reporting 41°C and 45°C respectively. While this is not a significant temperature drop this does
certify the cooling effectiveness of this product. Consumers should note that performance results will vary
based on the components used and type of water cooling configuration.
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Conclusion:
The North Water Xtreme Xchangers represents a good product that manages to balance "bling bling" aesthetics
with a decent improvement in cooling performance. The ideology behind using a universal design eliminates
the need for worrying which existing water cooling kits work will work with this product. The Xtreme Xchangers
are compatible with all tubing sizes and compression fittings thanks to the use of interchangeable barbs.
Case modders will appreciate the available options for ordering this product in a high polished finish or
anodized in blue, black or red. Overclockers will appreciate the fact that two different sizes are available
in order to deploy this product between CPU, Chipset and GPU cooling solutions. One point that should be made
is that the Xtreme Xchangers are not a requirement for water cooling. This product has been designed as a
supplemental add-on or upgrade for existing retail or custom designed water cooling kits. Since the main
composition of the Xtreme Xchangers is Billet Aluminum, a corrosion additive or inhibitor must be used if
you have existing components such as water blocks or radiators constructed out of copper. Finally, if you
plan on purchasing the Xtreme Xchangers, I strongly recommend planning out your cooling loop to get the best cooling
performance possible with this product. Overall, I'm rating the North Water Xtreme Xchangers a final rating of
8 out of 10. If you have any questions regarding
this review be sure to contact North Water Xtreme PC Cooling
for more information or discuss them in our forums.
NOTE: At the time of this review FrozenCPU is
scheduled to become the official North American distributor of the Xtreme Xchangers. In the mean time consumers
interested in ordering custom fittings or designs can contact North Water Xtreme PC Cooling
directly.
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Pros:
- Perfect upgrade for existing water cooling configurations
- Supports all tubing sizes and compression fittings
- Includes mounting hole to install a temperature probe
- Excellent build quality
- Good performance
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Cons:
- No documentation included in package
- Installation of Xtreme Xchangers requires corrosion agent or inhibitor
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Error processing SSI file
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Error processing SSI file
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