Friday, March 7th 2008

OCZ Cryo-Z Phase Change Cooler Tested

Usually that's not the right place for posting reviews, but this one deserves special attention. The crew at TweakTown has obtained a final sample of OCZ's Cryo-Z value phase change cooler. First introduced back in January at the 2006 Consumer Electronics Show, Cryo-Z is still unavailable for the mass. Let's hope that's about to change now, since this story shows the sub-500$ cooler in all its glory. Read the full test here.
Source: TweakTown
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28 Comments on OCZ Cryo-Z Phase Change Cooler Tested

#1
Wile E
Power User
Am I reading that wrong, or is it only rated to cool up to 125W?
Posted on Reply
#3
DrunkenMafia
God I am very disappointed in the build quality of it... OCZ are usually really good, this is a huge shame. I just read page 7 of the review..... damn...

And 68db!!!!!!!! Man that is loud.
Posted on Reply
#4
DanishDevil
I think they're trying to do too much. They've done well making RAM so far, and it's fine that they bought PC P&C, but if they want to make all these other things, it's better for them to buy a company that does it well, like they did with PC P&C, not outsource so they can put the brand name on it. It's a shame they're going to have to basically hand-pick parts from these to be able to keep up to their standards. Maybe some of the "broken" units will go cheap though, and you might be able to fix them!

Overall, I think this is an utter failure. I hope OCZ reads that review and makes sure that everything's taken care of before they put that on the market.
Posted on Reply
#5
kakazza
Wile EAm I reading that wrong, or is it only rated to cool up to 125W?
What do you intend to cool if 125W is not enough for you...
Posted on Reply
#6
will
kakazzaWhat do you intend to cool if 125W is not enough for you...
Any core 2 overclocked a significant amount, most air coolers can handle more than that... I very much doubt this is only 125W tho...
Posted on Reply
#7
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
I can't see any phase change not being able to handle more than 120w. I'm sure it is just something OCZ put in there to cover their asses.

And 68db is not loud for a phase change, those compressors are loud.
Posted on Reply
#8
mandelore
nah, this aint v good imo. 125W... -50ish at zeroW load. its a joke.

Even a mild oc will break 125W, and the build quality was disgusting. I had high hopes for this.

Its loud, wont cope with a high oc on a cpu, deffo will not cope with an oc on a quad, and its pretty huge for its lackluster performance.

Thing is, it would work well on a non-heavilt oc'd chip, but then why would u want phase when ur not doing serious benching/overclocking?

Hell.. my TEC setup keeps my Quad running over 4.4ghz at 9c load

even a 226W peltier unit can tout -50 to -60C under 0W load ^^
Posted on Reply
#9
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
Wile EAm I reading that wrong, or is it only rated to cool up to 125W?
it shouldnt be that low...


• AC Input: 110V
• Compressor: ZEL GQY70AD
• Refrigerant: R507
• Max Stable Load: 120W
• Idle, 0W: -45 to -55 C
• Dimensions (DxWxH): 18.0in x 8.2in x 10.1 in
• Weight: 26 kg/ 50.6 lbs


120W doesnt sound good...
Posted on Reply
#10
mandelore
Mussels120W doesnt sound good...
no it doesnt, does it?

for phase, you cant really do much with that. theres just no point in it!

phase is for serious overclocks, and you just cant manage that with this!! you would seriously overload the compressor. What about native 130W quads! lols!!! (granted less than 130W, but soon as you start overclocking)

this is a good idea, done terribly.

A tec unit would offer much much more than this. but for the overclocks you could use... maybe if you had a 65W cpu, but that still wouldnt give alot of head room when you start ramping up volts etc
Posted on Reply
#11
Tatty_Two
Gone Fishing
Apart from anything else, with phase you need headroom, therefore you realistically are looking for a minimum of 250W, a 130W QX overclocked from 2.66gig to say 4.4Gig is going to draw not too far off 250W, certainly over 200W, little point in getting one of these if all you can manage is 4gig because you could probabaly get that of water for less than half the price.
Posted on Reply
#12
mandelore
Tatty_OneApart from anything else, with phase you need headroom, therefore you realistically are looking for a minimum of 250W, a 130W QX overclocked from 2.66gig to say 4.4Gig is going to draw not too far off 250W, certainly over 200W, little point in getting one of these if all you can manage is 4gig because you could probabaly get that of water for less than half the price.
exactly what im saying. Its like using ln2 for only a oc of 4.5ghz on a 45nm chip! :laugh:

its just really, and quite sadly a complete and utter waste of effort and money. What you could realistically acheive with this you could easily get with much cheaper watercooling, or still cheapish TEC cooling.

I mean on my QX9650, at 4.7ghz/1.59V its churning out 330W. that would utterly cripply this phase cooler
Posted on Reply
#13
cdawall
where the hell are my stars
my first issue
tweaktown]The biggest problem I have with the Cryo-Z is the build quality. If the rumors are true then it is this reason why we are just now starting to see these coolers being made available to the public. If all of the units OCZ has in stock are like our sample then there will be a few people who are not going to be satisfied with the product based on appearance alone. OCZ is going to have to be creative with selling these units. Maybe a disclaimer to the case’s build quality will need to be put on PC Power’s website or another run of cases can be made. Many enthusiasts have taken their Mach II products and placed them inside Lian Li V2000 casesno it doesnt, does it?

for phase, you cant really do much with that. theres just no point in it!

phase is for serious overclocks, and you just cant manage that with this!! you would seriously overload the compressor. What about native 130W quads! lols!!! (granted less than 130W, but soon as you start overclocking)

this is a good idea, done terribly.

A tec unit would offer much much more than this. but for the overclocks you could use... maybe if you had a 65W cpu, but that still wouldnt give alot of head room when you start ramping up volts etc
and my second goes with this

veice 3000+ is a 67w chip with a good oc (3ghz 1.65v) that is up to 155w now i konw thats possible on a air cooler but phase should be able to push 3.6ghz+ which would be 222w (3.6ghz 1.8v) which is well past what this says it can do...

cold H2O could pull that off...and for a lot cheaper
Posted on Reply
#14
DaMulta
My stars went supernova
This is better than water, and is closer to a mild water chiller.

I don't know if you would really have to worry about freezing if you kept it ramped up.
I wonder what kind of mods can be done to it, to make it better.
Posted on Reply
#15
WarEagleAU
Bird of Prey
Wow, a little different then I was expecting. I dont like the 120w max stable and I assumed you ran a phase change 24/7. Definitely not something I want to get a hold of.
Posted on Reply
#16
cdawall
where the hell are my stars
DaMultaThis is better than water, and is closer to a mild water chiller.

I don't know if you would really have to worry about freezing if you kept it ramped up.
I wonder what kind of mods can be done to it, to make it better.
i think it and a good TEC would be close and considering 400watts of TEC+H2O psrts is cheapr than that i might have to side with that.
Posted on Reply
#17
Fhgwghads
For ~500 bucks I'd take it in a heartbeat
Posted on Reply
#18
mandelore
cdawalli think it and a good TEC would be close and considering 400watts of TEC+H2O psrts is cheapr than that i might have to side with that.
again.. I have a 437W TEC, it keeps my cpu chucking out around 330W at 9c. dont think I could say the same for this phase ^^
Posted on Reply
#19
Jarman
lol a 45nm quad wont chew 300+ watts
Posted on Reply
#20
Jarman
if that chewed 300watts (220 amps at 1.5 volts) and u ran that monstrosity of a 2900xt at the same time. ur poor 650w enermax would melt
Posted on Reply
#21
Mussels
Freshwater Moderator
Jarmanlol a 45nm quad wont chew 300+ watts
at 1.7v 4.4GHz, i read that it uses 440W. (E8500)

Remember this is PHASE, if you get negatemps you'll want to crank the juice.
Posted on Reply
#22
yogurt_21
mandelorenah, this aint v good imo. 125W... -50ish at zeroW load. its a joke.

Even a mild oc will break 125W, and the build quality was disgusting. I had high hopes for this.

Its loud, wont cope with a high oc on a cpu, deffo will not cope with an oc on a quad, and its pretty huge for its lackluster performance.

Thing is, it would work well on a non-heavilt oc'd chip, but then why would u want phase when ur not doing serious benching/overclocking?

Hell.. my TEC setup keeps my Quad running over 4.4ghz at 9c load

even a 226W peltier unit can tout -50 to -60C under 0W load ^^
you've got to remember that the negative temps without load don't tell you much, the promeiteia mach IIgt hits lower temps then the vapochill LS, but the LS can handle 200 watts at -35c, the prometeia at the same load wattage is at -20c. my vapochill classic only goes down to -15c at a 0 watt load, but it can handle a 150w load at -7c. it's the integrity of the compressor and coolant that you need to focus on. and that compressor in the ocz model is a joke.
Posted on Reply
#23
Wile E
Power User
kakazzaWhat do you intend to cool if 125W is not enough for you...
My current setup puts out more than that on it's 24/7 settings.
Posted on Reply
#24
sneekypeet
Retired Super Moderator
I just spoke with Chris Ram not too long ago...he says to expect a retraction in the review, as he claims it isnt exactly universal and seems to have some instalation issues
Posted on Reply
#25
mandelore
Jarmanlol a 45nm quad wont chew 300+ watts
huh, im talking about thermal load. at that voltage, and frequency, my chip will be giving off 330ishW, as opposed to its stick 115-130W
Posted on Reply
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