Testing Methodology:

     Baseline testing is done with one of the most well known air coolers on the market: the XP-90 from Thermalright, paired with a Panaflo 92mm fan. On all tests, the CPU is running at 2.75GHz with 1.51V unless otherwise noted. Idle is defined as sitting at the Windows desktop with no other tasks. Load is achieved with two instances of prime95 running large FFTs to generate the most heat from the CPU. Temperature information was logged by SpeedFan. Ambient temperature stayed in between 22C and 25C throughout testing.

     First off, our baseline test. The following graph shows the system initially at idle, then both instances of prime95 are started up simultaneously.

     As seen in the Freezone review and here in the above graph, we can see exactly when load is applied, and maximum temperature is achieved within a matter of a couple minutes. The CPU peaks at about 49C. Idle runs at about 31C.

     First we fired up the Eliminator and let it reach idle, temperatures stabilize at about 24 degrees.  With two instances of prime95 running the CPU temperature quickly hits 50C and gradually moves up to near 60C. Once it hits 65C, one of the instances of prime95 fails, and stops the CPU load, hence the low temp spikes nearly identical to the Freezone performance. The PWM temp climbs up to about 80C, still well within its thermal limits.  Clearly the low setting is not designed for this type of performance with the Opteron 170.  The Eliminator is almost completely silent at this setting though.

     Next we switched the Eliminator directly to the Medium setting.  The fan is now audible but not noticeably louder than a typical case fan. In the Medium setting we reach an idle of about 22C.  As we expected from the Freezone testing, once temps started increasing to about 50C, the unit started working harder, and settle in at about 52C. This makes the Eliminator about 6 degrees warmer than the Freezone.

     To test the HI setting the CPU was overclocked to 2.83 GHz and the core voltage upped to 1.55V.  Idle temp is now at about 22C, the load curve now plateaus at about 46C before settling in at about 52 degrees.  The temperatures are remarkably similar to the Freezone Max temperatures.  It would seem we have reached the maximum cooling needed for our Opteron 170 processor as well.  The fan is definitely audible at the Hi setting though not much louder than the Panaflo.  Once again we have beaten the XP-90 at the high end cooling game.

Conclusion:

     CoolIT has positioned the Eliminator as the hybrid cooling solution for your mainstream builds.  Only the low setting was challenged by our testing and it is unlikely that a normal HTPC style build will ever match the load provided by our prime95 tests.  With the medium and high settings we were able to torture our Opteron 170 processor under full load with the Eliminator easily stabilizing the heat.  The Eliminator was able to handle everything we were able to throw at it in the overclocking tests as well.  After comparing the Freezone performance to the Eliminator, I can confidently recommend the Eliminator for all but the most cutting edge installations.  The Eliminator may be a couple of degrees higher than the Freezone in some tests but the unit just feels more polished and civil to use.  The smaller size and price tag make hybrid cooling a very appealing alternative to any high end cooling solution and a no-brainer for your water-cooling kit installations.

Innovation:	9.0 out of 10
Performance:	8.5 out of 10
Quality:	8.5 out of 10
Stability:	9.0 out of 10
Overclocking:	N/A
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Value:	8.5 out of 10
Overall Rating 8.5
Project Skill Level (10 being most difficult)	4 out of 10