CoolIT Boreas MTEC Chassis Review

Software Installation

While it is not completely necessary, it would be foolish not to run the MTEC controller software as it really does take this amazing system to the next level. To begin the software installation all one must do is either insert the CD that came with the unit and follow the on screen wizard. (As per usual, if you have auto run disabled to will have to manually run the .exe found on the CD but as it is the only one you should have no troubles finding it)


The installation is very straight forward and only takes a moment so all you have to do is follow the instructions.


When the wizard is finished, you simply reboot the system one last time and then you upon loading the software it will ask you to complete a hardware wizard which will only take a moment. This all sounds complicated and time consuming but trust us, reading about the software installation process takes longer than actually doing it does.


MTEC Software: What it does and why you want it

The nicest thing about the software is the advanced features where you can override the predicative cooling by telling it to try to maintain a different temperature. Alternatively you can also set an upper and lower setting that will keep the BMC’s coolant in a certain range (default is 40 max 20 min) and thereby reducing the noise the unit makes. Of course this noise reduction is a moot point when we are testing as the high loads are sustained but for most people who will not be routinely maxing their cores out for extended periods of time this may reduce the noise of the BMC near ambient levels and keep it there! All in all the software is nice but it is but it is more of a set it and forget it piece of software rather than a daily use one. To us this is a good thing as once you have dialed in the setting you want, there is no reason or need to use this program again and the best programs are the ones where you don’t even realize that they are working!

One thing worth mentioning before we continue is that this unit’s cooling software is based of the coolant temp and not your core's temperature. This is a good thing as not all CPU temperature sensors are that accurate and more importantly the BMC (just like CoreTemp) erroneously reports 45nm Intel C2D’s about 10 degrees hotter than they really are. By using a sensor in the coolant, the Elite knows how hot the system really is and can more accurately adjust for temperature changes. The downside to this is the unit may stay noisy for a few extra minutes even after the CPU temperature drops as it does take a moment to cool and cycle all the coolant inside the Elite. This is a small trade off and once you understand why it works the way it does, you too will come to realize that the decision to base its performance characteristics of its own coolant sensor is was not only the right one but is actually the only sensible solution possible.


A Closer Look at the MTEC Software


On first glance this sophisticated piece of software appears to be deceptively simple, but upon close examination one realizes just how much customization and control you really gain by using it. This ease of use has been done on purpose to make your experience as pain free as possible. Take it from someone who spent many a month on designing custom interfaces with this level of sophistication and ease of use is hard; it takes lots of time and experience to get it this refined.

The main page is basically and all-in-one informational display page. With a simple glance you can tell what your CPU temperature is (pre Intel 45nm chips only, the newer chips display 8-12 degrees hotter than they are, just like Coretemp does) the coolant temperature, how hard your CPU(s) is working (in bar graph format), the power levels of the TEC’s and fan; and it even includes a simple diagnostics for your pump and fan. The diagnostics is a simple go / no go affair in that if the pump or fan stops running their green block will turn red; however, if your fan loses its PWM / speed control and stays at 100% that little block will still show as green. All in all, this is a very quick and easy way to get a good overview of how your BMC and CPUs are running.


To customize and tweak the BMC’s performance and other attributes one simply selects menu and then "Edit Settings...". Here you have four tabs or pages to chose from (though if you are running a unit with more than one Chiller you may have more tabs). The first page deals with the “Chillers” or TECs performance; the default settings are for predictive cooling of the coolant to 25° Celsius. What this means is that the BMC will try its best to keep the coolant at a constant 25°C. If the coolant goes below this, the MTEC controller will slow the fans and reduce the power (all the way down to 40%) until the temp goes back to 25°, if the BMC is too powerful for your system expect it to hardly ever rise above 25 and expect some super chilly temps (and maybe even some condensation forming on the TECS and/or FHE blocks).

If your system is a lower end dual core, or high end quad for example you can override the predictive cooling setting and set it to anything you like as long as it is 0 or greater. We recommend that if you do change this setting to keep it above ambient to reduce the already slim possibility of condensation from forming, and thus killing your computer.

If this one temperature zone is not to your liking you can override it by choosing the Advanced Features. Here instead of trying to stay at a given temperature, you can set a high and low temperature range that you would like the Elite to stay within. This can drastically reduced the noise output of the system while still keeping your processor at an acceptable temperature. The default settings for this is 20ºC to 40° and as long as the unit's coolant is in this range the TECs and fans are more than likely just going to idle at 40%. However, as soon as the upper threshold is reached the unit springs into action and does all it can to get that temp down ASAP. This makes the BMC a fairly well mannered unit that can be quiet when you want it to be.


The next tab deals with what information you would like included in the graph that the software can produce. Yes this unit not only cools your computer is can give you real time interactive graphs (2d or 3D!) that can show as little or as much information as you like. For example it can show you how the coolant temperature relates to your CPU temperature. This is a very handy tool that is both powerful yet easy to use. To get the MTEC software to start a graph you simply need to be at the opening page (so exit the Edit Settings section and get back to it if necessary) and then press "Show Graph Window". It will start graphing the data instantly and will not stop until to manually stop it, at any time you grab a screen shot that saves the graph into a jpeg format by simply pressing Menu then "Capture Screen Shot".


The notification page (or if you like “3rd tab”) is probably one of the most powerful tools this software gives you. When set up and configured you can have the software email you when something goes wrong. If you are like most people you probably will play with the software for awhile, get it tweaked to your liking and then forget all about it. This is good as that is how it should be; but this bad boy is ever vigilant on your behalf, so even when you have forgotten all about it can email you a warning that something has gone wrong and remind you that it still there protecting your investment. This page really underscores how much CoolIT cares about their customers and want them as a long term clients. After all, nothing is more rabidly loyal than a person who saved their CPU from frying because of a just in time warning from said companies free software!


The last tab is for how often the software will update its information. A setting that is too slow may cause your BMC to respond sluggishly, a setting to high may makes your system sluggish as too many cycles are being hogged by the software. 1FPS seems to be a good balance and in testing it did not noticeable effect performance on either the dual or quad system. While this is a very nice feature the best feature of them all is hidden in plain sight at the bottom. That check box for “shutdown system on pump failure” takes the early warning we were talking about in the previous tab and turns it from a passive system to an active defense system. Bloody brilliant.