[lizard]

Its a fact, your testing is suspect. What i suggest is that you tell us exactly how you go about testing and then we may be able to help you in the right direction.

Okay, lets see if this clarrifies things:

When we test any hardware in Custom PC we're always trying to simulate a "typical" end user environment as closely as possible.

So HSFs, watercooling kits, phase change systems are installed in a complete PC (3.2GHz P4c ?(overclocked to 3.36GHz) on an Abit AI7 mobo (865PE) in a Cooler Master ATCS201 chassis. This is still a popular case in the UK, which is why we use it.

The test rig is in a temperature controlled room (our test lab) so that the results between different kits are directly comparable. Obviously we know that if the ambient temperature was different then the results would be useless.

First we record the CPU temp with the CPU idle (just sitting in Windows), then load up the CPU with the raytracing prog RealStorm 2004. We then leave the CPU loaded until the temp peaks (maxes out) and record this temp.

How many times did you mount and remove (and retest your temps) the CPU block? If you tested more than once, did you report the exact average? Drop the high and low?

Each block was tested once, except for the Swiftech which was tested three times precisely because the performance was underpar. The result you see in the mag is the average of these three results.

What voltage did you run the fans at?

The default for each kit - remember this was meant to be an introductory article for watercooling newbies.

Why on earth did it take you so long to get the fill/bleed system to work? Have you previously used one and just found this harder?

As it says in the review we think this is an overly complicated system compared to other designs.

How well did you clean the cpu surface each time you removed a kit (or just the cpu block) before remounting? What did you clean it with?What thermal paste were you using? How much was applied (thickness wise) ?

The top of the CPU heatspreader and the surface of each waterblock was cleaned with Akasa Timclean before installation. AS 5 was used on all the blocks so there was a level playing field.

How were the radiators installed? Where was the air path? What was the ambient air temp at the time of testing (for each test.)

See above, the rads were installed in a ATCS201 case. 120mm rads obviously don't fit this case as standard so we cut a hole in the top of the case. We're going to change to a full tower case from next issue onwards so we can also test triple fan rads in the same environment. Josh is busy cutting up cases as we speak.

How well did it actually work - I don't see a single mention to OCing.

See above, the test was intended to find out the very best waterkit, but the CPU was o/c to 3.36GHz (quite a mild overclock admitedly) but this also means the results can be directly compared with HSFs we have previously tested.

Radiator/Fan wise - did you have the fans in a push or pull configuration? Can we see shots of them installed to see that particulars?

The fans were set up as recommended in the manual for each kit. We don't have any shots to hand of the kits installed, but when we've got the new thermal test rigs setup this week we could post these.

Thats one important aspect, but there are many more. I personally value overclockability and low now. While that is related to the temps you measured, there is alot more to it. I'd love to see an addition to your article showing the max overclocked stress testing each kit was able to sustain.

Thanks for your comments. In each review comments were made on how noisy each kit is, although its hard to make a scientfically accurate judgement on noise without testing each kit in a sound proofed room.

Re overclocking I think this has already been covered, I'll just add that we're planning a more high-end watercooling kit group test in the next few months which will focus more on overclocking, so hopefully this should be more to your liking.