CoolIT Boreas MTEC Chassis Review Comment Thread

[SKYMTL]

Usually I go on and on about a product to start off the comment thread...this time there really isn't much to say other than: WOW.

You can check out the review here: CoolIT Boreas MTEC Chassis Review

ENJOY!!!!

[misterlarry]

Great review Skymtl! The dark side beckons. This makes it easy to give in to temptation.

[SKYMTL]

Not my review. Thank AkG.

[encorp]

Perfect timing AKG. Just when I was shopping for a case for my first W/C review you come out with this. While I can't see myself buying the Boreas I definitely will be able to utilize this review for a deeper scope of this case as it is definitely on my list. Thanks, and good job.

[Alwaysrun]

I second your sentiment SKYMTL...WOW.
An indepth and informative review as always AkG. I can't but help wondering what audience this case is targeting but then I remember seeing recently divorced old men cruising the beach in thier new red Porche convertibles. Outstanding case I would love to own but the price...WOW. I see myself buying a used 10,000BTU air conditioner, beer cooler and some pipe benders before I'd ever buy a $800 case but ya know it wouldn't ever look 1/10th as sweet as this. PS did the courrier take away the pallet that massive thing came on?

[t0m]

unreal (we need a jaw dropping smiley for these moments)

i wonder how the rampage extreme would do in that case with a hand picked, good overclocking cpu/ram combo...

as always, nice review. your thoroughness is refreshing

[barrolde]

Well yet again AkG has meticulously analyzed one of our coolers in signature insightful and humorous way... It makes me wish we had more coolers for him to review.. oh wait we do but more on that later /evil laugh.

The Boreas is and will remain our most powerful cooler.. it kicks ass there is no doubt about it but AkG has brought up some seriously good points of improvement that I'll again take directly to the engineering team. But... no one is perfect (these are our mistakes not his) so there are a couple inaccuracies I'd like to clear up.

Packaging: We ship the Boreas chassis exactly as shown but in the original box from Silverstone, not in the Benson boxes shown. Shipping casualties due to poor packaging: zero. Shipping casualties due to unamed courier driving over a box w/ a forklift: 1 but thats another story ;)

MTEC Power: The MTEC Control Center distributes power to the Boreas but this power is retrieved from the 6 pin PCI-e cable only. The additional 4 pin connector used in the review is actually a pass through intended for people who wanted to use the control center with our legacy coolers like the Eliminator and Freezone. To the best of my knowledge.. a 6 pin PCI-e is not limited to 75W. This is not clear in our documentation and will be addressed most likely by removing the extra 4 pin from the cable completely.

So.. those are my two nits. Overall, another excellent and informative review from HWC.

Brrrrr.

Barrolde

[Cptn Vortex]

$$$$$$$$$$$$

[MpG]

I don't think the PCI-E cable is physically limited to 75W, that's just the PCI-E specifications. Technically, a 4 pin molex can supply 75W (~6A) without much trouble, and it's only got a single 12V line, whereas the PCI-E cable's got two of them. So things are probably okay there.

[enaberif]

Great idea.. but a wee bit more than most people are probably willing to drop for something like this.

[misterlarry]

Sorry AKG. Don't know how I missed that.

[3.0charlie]

Originally Posted by Cptn Vortex

$$$$$$$$$$$$

Well, the system retails for 850$ at NCIX; now, look at it this way:

TJ07: 325$ with no side windows.
MCP-655: 70$
Micro-res: 20$
PA120.2: 120$
Apogee GTZ: 70$
Tygon, 1/2" 10 feet: 40$
SFF21Fs, x4: 60$

Total: 705$. Add barbs, clamps, liquid, etc...

For a system that is better than the wc setup I just proposed, the 145$ diffference may well be justified.

[SKYMTL]

Originally Posted by MpG

I don't think the PCI-E cable is physically limited to 75W, that's just the PCI-E specifications. Technically, a 4 pin molex can supply 75W (~6A) without much trouble, and it's only got a single 12V line, whereas the PCI-E cable's got two of them. So things are probably okay there.

I tend not to agree to a certain extent. The specification is there for a reason and in my opinion it should be followed to a tee be it due to the mechanical specifications of the 18g (or lower gauge) wire used on the PCI-E cable or whatever other reason.

[MpG]

Originally Posted by SKYMTL

I tend not to agree to a certain extent. The specification is there for a reason and in my opinion it should be followed to a tee be it due to the mechanical specifications of the 18g (or lower gauge) wire used on the PCI-E cable or whatever other reason.

Granted, but the AWG rating for 18g wire over shorter distances is about 16A. And if I'm not mistaken, even Molex originally rated their 4-pin connector design for that kind of current (although I'd never go that high myself). I'm not saying it's a perfect setup, but I don't think I'd feel any worry about it.

[SKYMTL]

Originally Posted by MpG

Granted, but the AWG rating for 18g wire over shorter distances is about 16A. And if I'm not mistaken, even Molex originally rated their 4-pin connector design for that kind of current (although I'd never go that high myself). I'm not saying it's a perfect setup, but I don't think I'd feel any worry about it.

I don't really worry about it either but think of it this way:

Say if someone has a 600W PSU with lower-powered card like an 8800GTS 512MB and that 600W PSU has a pair of PCI-E connectors. Now, one of those connectors will go to the GPU (which in this case has a board power of about 120W) and then runs the other PCI-E connector to the Boreas to cool the dickens off their CPU. Now say your 600W PSU is pretty good and has a pair of 20A +12V rails. One of those rails will naturally go towards the CPU connector and another (should) have...well, everything else on it. That means 20A (240W) for the Boreas (140W @ Max), the GPU (120W Max) and all the hard drives and other goodies which use the +12V rail.

See what I am getting at? The single PCI-E connector on the Boreas may be ok in theory but it also makes the unit accessible to people with lower-end power supplies. It is for this reason that GPU manufacturers include the "extra" 6-pin PCI-E connector on their cards. Most don't need it (75W from the PCI-E connector + 75W from a PCI-E 1.1 slot is sufficient) but it is there as a safe guard measure against people trying to eke by more than anything else.

You could say that people won't cheap on the PSU when buying an $800 uber product like this but let me tell you, the PSU will be the first thing that takes a hit when it comes to fitting the Boreas in someone's budget.

THAT is why I think there should be another connector on the unit.