AlphaCool Xtreem Pro Set [CustomPC Premium Grade Approved]

[Pug]

Ok, a few of you may have already read the CPC article but there were a few errors & omissions that I should address here, in case it paints a poor picture for you of what you will actually get with the kit.
(Yes, I know we came out on top but still...)

Contents of the review kit sent were as follows:-
1x Black Ice Xtreme II radiator - these are a new version that I've hardly seen about which have G1/4 threaded connections for interchangeable fittings
2x Papst 4412F/2GML 120mm fan - these are (typically :rolleyes: ) now being phased out by Papst, so instead of supplying these and
2x 12v/7v adapter cable - we'll be supplying 2x Papst 4412F/2GL 120mm fan instead
1x AP1500 pump (consisting of an AP900 and the 12-24V variable transformer module) was included just to help edge us further ahead of the competition in the magazine article (but kits will be available with the AP900 instead, although the AP700 is being dropped from the range)
- together with this, there was a velcro pad like the one I sent to Edd for his pump and an ATX jumper block (which is like the mobo socket but with the green bridge wire for 12v pump priming independent of the mobo working)
1 x Cape Coolplex 25 external reservoir - basically a perspex cylinder res with a couple of one-screw mounting rings
4metres 10/8mm clear polyurethane (PUR) tubing - I'm tempted to offer a substitution on this of the 10/7mm PUR PE (polyurethane polyether) stuff I'm using in my ClearPC but am still testing it right now
10mm pushfit fittings throughout
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Interface Material
500ml Tec Ice Protect pre-mixed coolant
and king of the show... the NexXxoS XP (http://www.watercoolplanet.de/index.php?open=4&show=1#NexXxoS%20XP) block [the Silver (Ni-plated) version]

The main things were their references to the following:-
Instructions (lack of) - I explained in advance to their Technical Editor (James Gorbold) that as they were getting an exclusive first look at a pre-production kit, the manual they got wouldn't be the one included with the kit but an old one to give them a rough guide.
Coolant - was supplied, not additive as they seem to think.
12/7V fan cables, ATX jumper & pump mounting velcro - were supplied but not mentioned. As addressed above, this will be changing soon but with the cables or quieter fans (and the pump set to 12Volt), we should have given even the reserator a run for its money on the quiet front.
2m of 6mm ID hose - is a glaring error. 4m of 10/8mm was most assuredly supplied.
Socket clamps for different mounting systems - again, it was explained in advance that due to the rush they gave us on having the kit ready for a date earlier than we wished, the other clamps normally supplied were not ready for the test and they said that they would only require the P4 one, so that was ultimately what was sent.
24Volt at pump made no difference - well, for a start, that's contrary to what a lot of us know (even mbm and onboard sensors can usually notice a small performance increase here) and even if it were the case - why do they describe the pump as noisy when that's only the case at 24V and it's completely silent at 12V?

Minor gripes -
Wrongly named pump, reservoir and even mis-spelling of the kit name - It's Xtreem, not Xtreme. Not that I mind massively but this can only affect Google results adversely for hapless readers looking for further info/reviews.
So, just for the benefit of the googlebot (http://www.wizarddesigns.co.uk/miscPics/googlebot.png) here's a bit of search term manipulation -
AlphaCool Xtreme Pro Set = AlphaCool Xtreem Pro Set CustomPC article, shootout, review, whatever.

I wish they'd contacted me to confirm the other points as this is the exact reason it's better for us to get a preview of the article first, as you do in Germany. We requested this but were denied. (<- Orders from above, being Dennis Publishing policy - can't be helped I s'pose but if any Dennis reps are reading this... :rant: )

A real shame. I'm glad we came out on top (and made the cover) but I hate misinformation. :(

Still, I learnt a bit more about review sites & their methods - I know in future to get a preview agreed before future submissions... :rolleyes:

... I suppose I really should be grateful for the quotes -
"More powerful than an ice breaker and cooler than a polar bear", … "nearly twice as effective as the Corsair kit" and ... "four times better than the Swiftech kit" :p ;) plus the award of CustomPC Premium Grade Approved really is appreciated (even if the kit did merit it anyway) :cool:

So all in all, I'm probably being overly critical and shouldn't even be posting this but as with the products I sell, I'm a demanding blighter and only settle for the best I can get. :p
Sorry CustomPC. :o

[/Pug's review review]

[Wolfwyrd]

Gah, still, at least a good trouncing was give ;) Looking forward to reading it

[Grand Monkey]

Yeah should hopefully get my copy tomorrow. well done pug, now just the pro cooling US vs Europe comp to prove your point too!

[Edd]

I was just reading that article this morning at the breakfast table (loving the subscription thus far :)).

I can't believe Swiftech are selling that crappy kit! I read the dual-Xeon kit review in the previous issue, and it only came with one CPU block to start with :o (not to mention the bleed/fill system spraying their test machine with coolant!)

[fillip]

I think you are well within your right to feel aggreived about the things you mentioned. Ok, so you won the comparison and came out glowing but the fact is that the review should've been even better.

I've noticed more and more, especially with the 'extreme' magazine market, that they can never be completely satisfied, or indeed accurate with a product. This is far from being the first time that a product has been reviewed and the name has been mispelt (as you rightly say, this can influence future search results - as i've found out b4 when looking for reviewed products)
The bottom line of it is, they've published negative comments about the kit, even though you previously informed them of the short comings of the kit in it's current state.

Personally, i'm not all that enamoured with CPC. The articles are no different to those in PC xtreme which i've been buying for over a year, and quite often you'll find that articles published in one will be copied by the other the next month.

I know it's free publicity and all, but it's still rather frustrating...

and it's not even my kit! :p

[furious trout]

I've gotta second fillip on this one (not got my copy yet, lazy assed postal workers!! and i should know, i used to be oneB))

But from what i've read above it seems a pretty slapdash approach to reviewing kit - it's certainly changed my perception of how much weight i'll give the reviews in future <_<

[Da_Rude_Baboon]

Yeah i stopped buying Custom PC as a lot of the articles seemed to be either misinformed or very biased to the writers point of view, which i suppose is inevitable. <_<

[Darv]

Bah! I never bother with magazines and the articles in them. I'd much rather get a more up-to-date review on the internet from people i know will have done it properly.

The only reason I look in CPC is to see who has won readers drives. I've only ever bought the one where Hexadragon won!

[Grand Monkey]

there is someone in the custompc forums complaining at the fact that the alphacool Xtreem was reviewed but isn't available to buy yet, i've told him to come here for any help/answers he needs. Just a heads up.

[SlaterSpeed]

I havent had a chance to pick up the latest copy yet but the review of the swifty and koolance kits in the last issue wass appualing! First off they guy quite obviously had no idea what he was doing with the swiftech kit. Im definatly not defending swiftech because i would agree with him the kit is poor but some of the things he says just makes me think its his falt that its leaking. I men he tells you to put PTFE tape on swiftech push fittings!!!!!!:eek: Of course it leaks if you put bloody PTFE tape on them! thats a dumb thing to do eaven worse than a newbe mistake. Swiftech fittings only leak because the guy putting thm together did it wrong not because of the fittings. I though that was a unfair review of the kit and the guy writing it clearly knows very little about building a w/c system.

So then i go on to read the koolance review and its eaven worse! Hes doing things like claiming that the waterblock can shift 300w BUT whats temp differential is that at?????? you cant give a wattage with saying what the temp differntal is! any waterblock could shift 300w if the differance in temp between the cpu and water is great enough! Granted thats a koolance figure but a good reviewer would spot that its just a marketing claim straight away and omit it.

So i read on and under 10 lines later hes saying Gold has a higher thermal conductivity than copper. Again toataly WRONG!!!!:mad: Gold has a much worse conductivity than copper. Electrical conductivity is better but termal is worst! Again Its just a stupid thing to say that anyone with a fair idea of what they were talking about would not say.

If CPC are going to review w/c kits they need to do it properly or they just look like idiots. the guy who reivewed these looks to me like he is just bias towards koolance. Why does he point out all the things that supposadly make the koolance kit better and point out all things that make the swifty kit bad??? Its all personal oppinion and i know 100s of people who think the oppisite.

From the sounds of it Pugs review is just as bad (feeling a little sorry for you there man! wether you won or not its totaly unfair)

The moral of the story is dont take a bind bit of noitce what CPc review as its most probably bias (sounds familar dosent it?)

Hope you enjoyed my rant:D

slater..

[Edd]

I thought Gold has the best thermal conductivity, that's why they lined the engine bay of the McLaren F1 with it (well, when the car came out the story was they lined the engine bay with gold because it was simply the best conductor of heat and they didn't have to skimp on price with the materials they used)

[SlaterSpeed]

Yeh thats what i used to think but the knowlagable people tell me otherwise. Silver is the best. Il see if i can find some threads on the subject.

Edit: Good example: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=297452&highlight=gold+waterblock

[fillip]

The moral of the story is dont take a bind bit of noitce what CPc review as its most probably bias (sounds familar dosent it?)


You wont be entering Reader's Drives then?? :p

@ Edd, yeah, they did line the hood of the F1 with gold, thinking about it now it may simply hve been little more than a gimmick considering the thermal properties. I mean, you have to admit, a car with a gold bonnet and engine bay sounds better than copper or silver...
(Not my personnal pref. cos i hate gold, anyway, i digress)

[SlaterSpeed]

Hehe yeh i of cource i am i want my pc world stuff;) Il make a complaint about their reviews dept. after i win;) :lol: I think the gold was to reflect heat maybe??

[fillip]

Hehe yeh i of cource i am i want my pc world stuff;) Il make a complaint about their reviews dept. after i win;) :lol: I think the gold was to reflect heat maybe??Might be a bit late if someone from the CPC team visits this forum!! lol.

I thought the gold was to reflect heat too, i was gonna say it in my last reply but didn't incase it was really friggin' wrong and i looked like a total dick - but now there's 2 of us i'm happy to go along with it.

[Greeny]

Gold transfers heat better than copper or aluminium as for how well it reflects heat I have no idea.

[SlaterSpeed]

Gold transfers heat better than copper or aluminium as for how well it reflects heat I have no idea.
er did you read the thread?:confused: Gold has worse conductivity than copper and iirc aluminium aswell.

[fillip]

Oh no, i see a Pro Cooling esque thread emerging here. I'm sure i've read somewhere before that copper is a better heat conductor than gold....



oooohhh, gonna have to go looking now, and the england match is on in a few mins :rant:

...

Ah Hah!!

*Pure Copper Thermal Conductivity W/m-C = 386.0
Pure Gold Thermal Conductivity W/m-C = 318.0

Pure Aluminium Thermal Conductivity W/m-C = 220.0

*Source: The Thermal Wizard (http://www.mayahtt.com/tmwiz/default.htm)

The only two metals with a higher thermal conductiity than pure copper, are some kind of copper alloy @ 388.0 (worth it?!?!) and Pure Silver @ 418.0

The prob here is that "transfers" is very vague. If we are talking in terms of pulling heat away from the cpu i.e. how well the block/heatsink conducts then copper wins in price v performance, but in terms of radiating heat and dispersing it - the way in which a water cooling rad does so, then aluminium is the best bet.


[EDIT] @ slater I was posting my huge scientific reply at the same time!! lol.

[SlaterSpeed]

Cant argue footies on!!

1-0 england :D :D :D :D !!! wooooowoooow

BTW. Sounds about right on the conductivity. so many differant people quote differant figures its hard to keep track.

[Darv]

but in terms of radiating heat and dispersing it - the way in which a water cooling rad does so, then aluminium is the best bet.
I've heard conflicting things about aluminium being better than copper at dispersing heat, and that infact copper is better. Personally with the weight of the copper inside a rad I wouldn't want heavy copper fins on the outside aswell. Plus it would cost more :(

[fillip]

yeah, i heard that a combo of copper pipes and alu. fins on a rad make the best system for dispersing heat, but most of the time, the differences are so small it all comes down to subjective opinion.

[SlaterSpeed]

Its just one of those wide spread myths that alu radiates better than copper.

Its wrong im afrade. ;)

[fillip]

Its just one of those wide spread myths that alu radiates better than copper.

Its wrong im afrade. ;)
ok, at least that clears that one up for us.
my the footie is dire!!

[toby]

i read the review today and i thought it was very poor, im not impressed by it at all, although i am impressed by the kit, but i would probablyget a larger rad and use no fans

[Pug]

Ok - need to make this real quick as I have to dash to an appointment again (as yesterday) but I'd like to make a couple of points in CustomPC's favour as I didn't mean this to turn into a CPC bashing thread (or a footie one for that matter).

Firstly - the fact that they wouldn't allow me to proofread the article first... this is an order from on high and not CPC's decision. It's a Dennis Publishing thing and so they obviously have to keep to it.
Secondly, getting the kit to them was a rushed affair, due to some difficulties making sure that the necessary patents were applied first. James was due to scoot off to Computex after finishing that particular article and with the delay getting the kit to them, it must have been a pressure situation. I can only assume that this may have affected things to the point where there was no time.
Thirdly, we didn't suffer from it and in all honesty, James probably thought he was doing me a favour by keeping the kit contents basic, in case I had difficulty with supply on the extra small items included (I know he expressed surprise that we could include all the parts we did for the price).

Phew - now that I've got that off my chest... don't stop buying the mag (and subscribe if you don't already). It's a cracking rag at £3.50 and the only magazine subscription of any type that I currently have).
I don't know of another magazine that is so closely in touch with who we are and what we do... and as for being able to read things on the web first... ok, somebody show me an online review of the Alphacool Xtreem Pro Set... come on, I'm waiting! :rant:
You can't, can you? - it was a true exclusive first look at it, that's why.

Ok. Hopefully I've now made amends for my initial inflammatory stance.
I posted what I did in a hurry because I panicked and had to put something down - I did it without properly thinking through the results of my actions and I hope I haven't coloured anyone's opinion of an otherwise fine magazine.



Gotta dash now, but before I do, I'll quickly address the Gold issue... - check the photos guys... the baseplate is still copper!
(Remember I said you can by the middle & top plates seperately to convert your existing HP Pro? ;)).

[furious trout]

while we're on the subject i got my copy yesterday, and they have added it to the CPC elite section(it's on the second page) :wacko:

[Pug]

while we're on the subject i got my copy yesterday, and they have added it to the CPC elite section(it's on the second page) :wacko:
Doh! I'm a pigging oaf for not spotting that - thx m8. :o

[Grand Monkey]

My only major gripe with CPC is some of the reviews are plain silly, the mp3 player one this issue actually made me laugh. perhaps this is because this is a particular area i know quite well.

[Greeny]

Damn I might have been thinking about silver... Lol.
:p

[toby]

salright pug i dont think that anyone is going to stop reading custom pc it is a great read and noone gets everything right, and we arent exactly spoilt for choice when it comes to specialist computer magazines!

[Pug]

Cheers Toby.
Even so, I think I'm going to move this to GD now and start a more product-oriented thread in its place.

Ding ding! Mind de doors.