The AquaGate is all installed, leak checked and ready to go. Instead of using the thermal paste that Cooler Master sent, I applied a little OCZ Ultra5+ to the CPU slug and let the CPU / waterblock / thermal paste TRIO cure for a day before we started taking any official readings.

     The test went like this: CPU temperatures were taken at both an idle and maximum 100% CPU utilization rate. The Switchtech MCX-6400V and will be used as an air cooled solution  baseline. The heat sink will be cooled with an Enermax UC-8FAB-B 80mm fan with the fan's speed was maxed which yields the following stats: 40cfm/33dBA. The AquaGate also uses an 80mm fan to cool the radiator, which has three fan speeds selectable through the LCD control unit. Fan settings; #1-2000RPM @ 23dB / #2-3100RPM @ 34dB / #3-4600RPM @ 49dB. At each phase of testing with the water cooler the system was allowed to sit at rest and maximum CPU utilization for 30 minutes before a temperature reading was taken, to allow the temperature of the water block and water coolant to stabilize. Fan speeds #1 and #2 are very quiet and barely noticeable in comparison to the noise generated by the Enermax used with the Swiftech 6400-V. Fan speed #3 generates noise almost comparable to a Vantec Tonrado!

     Conclusion.........

     The AquaGate represents a class of product that will only continue to grow as time goes on. What first started as a fascination with extreme Overclockers may very well turn into a mainstream cooling solution as modern CPU temperatures become harder to control. External products can tend to take away from speed and ease when it comes on-the-go computing, and by giving the AquaGate internal mounting capabilities, the products flexibility is greatly increased. Granted, the enclosure will need either a free power supply spot, or two free 5¼" drive bays. While two free drive bays may be possible, it would be hard to find an enclosure with a free power supply mounting location and still be the right size to be considered easily portable. The CM Stacker is not - easily portable. If you do choose to mount the AquaGate internally, the drive bays must not have any kind of guides that stick out and touch the drives because they will block the AquaGate installation. Of course, a Dremel Tool could make quick and easy work getting rid of those tabs, so anything is possible........

     Assembling the unit required nothing in the line of specialized tools or any degree of higher learning other than how to use a screw driver. Water block installation and the routing of the hoses all happen very easily and when it comes time to add the coolant, just a careful steady hand is all that's needed to avoid making a mess. The liquid supplied by Cooler Master is already treated and comes in a quantity that is just enough to get the unit up and running. If there ever comes a time to refill the unit, there are many 3rd party water solutions available at many of your favorite PC hardware vendors.

     I would call the performance of the AquaGate: very good. Having three separate operating speeds for the cooling fan is a handy option. As you increase your computers work load say from net-surfing to multi-media encoding and on into gaming, you can increase the cooling fans speed. Of course this raises the noise level of the fan too, but until you get to setting #3 the noise is hardly noticeable and very tolerable. The performance of this unit is good enough for mild overclocking projects but is too limited in a couple of major areas to be considered for anything classified as extreme. The 3/8 inch size tubing is a fairly limiting factor as well as the units use of quick disconnects to couple the hoses to the cooling unit. Both of these things limit the flow of water through the block and consequently limit the water blocks cooling potential. In relation to value, complete internal water cooling kits can be had for cheaper, but they are strictly INTERNAL without the external flexibility of the AquaGate.

Club Overclocker Rating
Innovation:	9.0 out of 10
Performance:	9.0 out of 10
Quality:	10 out of 10
Stability:	10 out of 10
Compatibility:	9.5 out of 10
Overclocking:	8.0 out of 10
Software Pack:	N/A
Value:	8.0 out of 10
Overall Rating 9.0
Skill Level
Project Skill Level (10 being hardest)	6 out of 10