3RSystem iCEAGE: A New Cooling Company Tackles the Heatpipe Tower
by Wesley Fink on June 21, 2007 12:02 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Conclusion
As our database of tested coolers grows, we see patterns start to emerge. To this point the heatpipe towers with side-facing fans are the top-performing coolers we have tested, in both overclocking ability and cooling efficiency. The 3RSystem iCEAGE performs in that category, with performance matching many other well-recognized brands of heatpipe towers.
The iCEAGE does not, however, reach the top of the heatpipe tower list. That is still the domain of the Thermalrights, Tuniq Tower 120, and a few push-pull configured towers. Performance for the iCEAGE falls in the tier 2 of heatpipe towers, with many other excellent heatpipe towers that overclock to just a hair below the top tier with cooling efficiencies not quite the top level. Like almost every other heatpipe tower, however, the iCEAGE generally outperforms the down-facing fan designs.
This makes the iCEAGE a very pleasant cooler with performance that is very competent. If 3RSystem makes a slight modification to allow mounting of 2 fans the iCEAGE might even join the Scythe Infinity, Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B, and OCZ Vindicator at the top 3.90 overclock. This would be a simple change in manufacturing and it would make the iCEAGE even more competitive.
iCEAGE does excel in the area of installation. It is one of the most secure installations we have seen, which is particularly impressive considering how easy the iCEAGE is to install. If 3RSystem can just raise the mating pins on the back of the CPU block a bit for a more positive lock it will be all but perfect. When you see so many horrible install procedures from major names in cooling, you wonder what it takes to get an installation right. 3RSysytem obviously figured it out and got most things right as a new name in cooling. They are to be congratulated for their efforts, because the installation is truly simple and very stable.
Perhaps the suggestion we can make to many established names in cooling is to throw out your current install procedures and take a fresh look. There are better ways to do it, and the iCEAGE is one example of a much better installation method.
The iCEAGE is an excellent first cooler from a new name in air cooling. 3RSystem pride themselves in their Research and Development capabilities, and that talent shows in the design of iCEAGE. The cooler can be improved in a few areas with some simple changes, and we do hope 3RSystems will consider our suggestions.
You can get slightly better performance from our top tier heatpipe towers, but if you do decide to buy an iCEAGE you will likely not be disappointed. Performance is near the top, the design is the best heatpipe tower configuration, the variable speed high-output fan is effective, and installation is about as good as it gets. The biggest problem you may have is finding an iCEAGE for sale with such limited distribution in some parts of the world. When you do find iCEAGE for sale 3RSystems also tells us you will be pleased with the price. We are told the iCEAGE retail pricing will generally be at or below comparable offerings from other manufacturers.
As our database of tested coolers grows, we see patterns start to emerge. To this point the heatpipe towers with side-facing fans are the top-performing coolers we have tested, in both overclocking ability and cooling efficiency. The 3RSystem iCEAGE performs in that category, with performance matching many other well-recognized brands of heatpipe towers.
The iCEAGE does not, however, reach the top of the heatpipe tower list. That is still the domain of the Thermalrights, Tuniq Tower 120, and a few push-pull configured towers. Performance for the iCEAGE falls in the tier 2 of heatpipe towers, with many other excellent heatpipe towers that overclock to just a hair below the top tier with cooling efficiencies not quite the top level. Like almost every other heatpipe tower, however, the iCEAGE generally outperforms the down-facing fan designs.
This makes the iCEAGE a very pleasant cooler with performance that is very competent. If 3RSystem makes a slight modification to allow mounting of 2 fans the iCEAGE might even join the Scythe Infinity, Scythe Ninja Plus Rev. B, and OCZ Vindicator at the top 3.90 overclock. This would be a simple change in manufacturing and it would make the iCEAGE even more competitive.
iCEAGE does excel in the area of installation. It is one of the most secure installations we have seen, which is particularly impressive considering how easy the iCEAGE is to install. If 3RSystem can just raise the mating pins on the back of the CPU block a bit for a more positive lock it will be all but perfect. When you see so many horrible install procedures from major names in cooling, you wonder what it takes to get an installation right. 3RSysytem obviously figured it out and got most things right as a new name in cooling. They are to be congratulated for their efforts, because the installation is truly simple and very stable.
Perhaps the suggestion we can make to many established names in cooling is to throw out your current install procedures and take a fresh look. There are better ways to do it, and the iCEAGE is one example of a much better installation method.
The iCEAGE is an excellent first cooler from a new name in air cooling. 3RSystem pride themselves in their Research and Development capabilities, and that talent shows in the design of iCEAGE. The cooler can be improved in a few areas with some simple changes, and we do hope 3RSystems will consider our suggestions.
You can get slightly better performance from our top tier heatpipe towers, but if you do decide to buy an iCEAGE you will likely not be disappointed. Performance is near the top, the design is the best heatpipe tower configuration, the variable speed high-output fan is effective, and installation is about as good as it gets. The biggest problem you may have is finding an iCEAGE for sale with such limited distribution in some parts of the world. When you do find iCEAGE for sale 3RSystems also tells us you will be pleased with the price. We are told the iCEAGE retail pricing will generally be at or below comparable offerings from other manufacturers.
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STL - Friday, June 22, 2007 - link
A couple of suggestions:1. One of the most important things about any heatsink is its mounting system, but this article (like other AnandTech reviews) has no detailed photos of how the heatsink mounts to the motherboard.
"That's like the only thing that matters!", I scream in agony.
Such photos are somewhat difficult to take, but a few good macro shots can vastly improve a review.
2. Will AnandTech ever review the Enzotech Ultra-X? It's a down-blowing 120mm heatsink with four 8mm heatpipes (larger than the usual 6mm). It also has a bolt-through-board-to-backplate mounting system with spring thumbscrews, making four points of contact with the base - i.e. ABSOLUTE HEAVEN, at least on Socket 775. (These three criteria don't seem to be satisfied by *any* other modern heatsink. The old Swiftech MCX-4000 was bolt-through-board, spring screws, four points of contact with the base - although it had no backplate, thus exerting bending force on the board.)
I decided on the Ultra-X after reading horror stories about the Ultra 120 Extreme's tendency to not stay flush with the heatspreader, since it's held down by only one point of contact to the base.
It would be nice to see an AnandTech review that acknowledged the importance of the mounting system, and that the Ultra 120 Extreme isn't perfect.
strikeback03 - Friday, June 22, 2007 - link
Technically, a plane is defined by three points, so adding a 4th is next to impossible without one point being out-of-plane. So a 3 point mounting system would be the most flat.IIRC the Tuniq uses 4 thumbscrews with springs to bolt through the board to a backplate.
STL - Saturday, June 23, 2007 - link
No argument there - however, a spring-loaded mounting system ensures that minor variations in height between the mounting points don't make a difference.When the base is held down by only two (or worse, one) points of contact, the heatsink can *tip* off of the core, because we use towers and not desktops.
If you look at the Tuniq Tower 120, it indeed uses a bolt-through-board-to-backplate system with four spring thumbscrews, but what is bolted through the board is an H-shaped mounting plate that pins the heatsink down along a single line. The bar of the H looks too narrow to prevent the heavy heatsink from potentially tipping off of the CPU, although it might be wide enough.
StraightPipe - Thursday, June 21, 2007 - link
I've been looking for a quiet HSF to run in my living room, but these graphs can be hard to sort through.If you differentiated the low and high speeds by making them 2 different colors it would be much easier to read.
It's pretty darn easy to find a fan that will idle silently next to a +500W PSU, but It's a whole nother story to find one that runs on high quietly.
xsilver - Thursday, June 21, 2007 - link
silentpcreview rates the scythe ninja as the best "quiet" cooler available right now - AT's graphs dont show that because they have a lower ceiling on their graphs.Wesley Fink - Thursday, June 21, 2007 - link
Actually the Scythe Ninja is not the quietest cooler, as coolers are basically noise-free. The Scythe Ninja FAN is among the quietest we have tested, but it is just average in cooling ability. The Ninja performs better with more air flow than the stock fan can provide. The Noctua fan is one of the quietest we have tested, and any of the towers will be quiet indeed with a Noctua fan. Higher output but still quiet is the Scythe SFlex SFF21F. We are working on a 120mm fan roundup to select a stock fan to use in all cooler tests - in addition to stock fan tests.erikpurne - Thursday, June 21, 2007 - link
What? That's absurd. Maybe the serrated edges of the fins help with cooling in some obscure way having to do with turbulence or something, but they most definitely do not affect the surface area in any significant way.
Serrating the edges of the fins increases the amount of edge for a given surface area of fin. So yeah, technically, the surface area of the edges is increased. But the surface area of the edges of the fins is, at most, what... 0.01% of the total surface area of the cooling fins?
Retarded, but I guess when you have to come up with 8 pages of filler, some of it is going to be stupid.
Also, does anyone know how Anandtech compensates for ambient temperature? I'm starting to worry that they don't, since I haven't heard it mentioned, which would make their temperature readings worthless.
customcoms - Thursday, June 21, 2007 - link
"Room temperature is measured before beginning the cooler tests and is maintained in the 20 to 22C (68 to 72F) range for all testing."That is how the compensate for ambient...by keeping it the same for all tests. yeah, That is a four degree F range, 2 degree Celsius, but do you have a better system in your computer room?
Wesley Fink - Thursday, June 21, 2007 - link
We doubt those using the coolers we are testing have a heating/cooling system that maintains better than 2C in ambient temperature. This is very much in line with our philosophy of "real-world" component testing. We do agree comparisons of summer tests in Phoenix without air-conditioning to winter tests in Buffalo, NY in 4 feet of snow would not be a fair comparison, but we do monitor and maintain temperatures within reasonable limits as stated.Spanki - Friday, June 22, 2007 - link
D'oh! I always hav trouble with this "comment" software... please see http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid...">this thread for my comments. Thanks.