Test Setup

Intel Test System
CPUs	1.) Pentium 550 Retail (SL7J8 3.4GHz 1MB L2 1.4Vcore) Socket-775 2.) Pentium 630 Retail (SL7Z9 3.0GHz 2MB L2 1.25V ~ 1.388Vcore) Socket-775
Mainboard	1.) Asus Asus P5AD2-E Premium (BIOS 1005) 2.) Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe (BIOS 0802)
Memory	Corsairmicro 5400UL (2x512MB DC CL3-2-2-8)
Graphics	1.) AOpen Aeolus 7800GTX-DVD256 2.) 2x Gigabyte GV-NX68T256DH (SLI)
Power Supply	PCPower&Cooling TurboCool 850 SSI
Cooling	Alphacool 12V Cora 662 XP (passive H20-system)
Operating System	Windows XP

Cora 662 XP Performance

Running the test utility S&M as discussed above. In addition both Panopsys Throttle Watch 2.01 and Asus
AI Booster to monitor CPU activity and temps. Overclocking and passive Water-cooling weren’t very good bed fellows until the advent of “High Performance” systems.

While the surface area may have been there the pump capacity and water block quality were lacking. This has changed and Alphacool's Cora 662 XP passive H20 system proves to be an able overclocking platform. In addition to the performance chart which will be included, I've provided thumbnails exemplifying all tests, featuring vcore, IDLE/LOAD temps, system temps and CPU load as indicated both through Thottle Watch and Asus AI-Booster GUIs.

The thumbnails are listed as follows, Pentium 550 on the Asus P5AD2-E Premium running at default speed (17x200FSB=3438MHz) under IDLE/LOAD. Pentium 550 overclocked (17x240FSB=4087MHz) under IDLE/LOAD.

Pentium 630 on the Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe running default speed (15x201FSB=3044MHz) under IDLE/LOAD and Pentium 630 overclocked (15x270FSB=4049MHZ) under IDLE/LOAD (TM1 and Enhanced Speed Step were Disbaled in the BIOS for all tests).







Conclusion

Living with this system for over a month now I have to say I never thought Passive water cooling would perform at this level. When I first tested the system I simply had it laying on my PC-table and the results weren't very good. Once I stood the radiator sections up as they are meant to be used and then placed them on the stands, the temps dropped and everything fell into place.

My PC room has a sliding glass door leading to an open air balcony, I opened the slider a few times and the cool air wafting over the massive surface area resulted in 18°C processor temps. I can honestly say after using a Passive cooling system of this quality it will remain my reference system. I only pray Alphacool doesn't have me ship this to another reviewer ;-) That should say it all.

Bottom line, would I spend approximately 300-USD or 259 Euro for the Alphacool Set 12V Cora 662 XP? Absolutely. It's an investment which can last a long time, and the capability to add or even subtract radiator sections based on need makes the system even more flexible. Alphacool offers a total of eight Passive Cooling Sets and this is their most expensive. There are models using four radiator sections which can be mounted in a "quadratic" array resembling a single tower, with the added benefit of air-flow throughout. I must give Alphacool's Cora XP 662 a pH = 7 our highest praise.

Pros
+ Fairly easy to install
+ Finest quality construction
+ Massive surface area
+ Multiple mounting options and configurations

Cons
- For the price could include hardware for AMD
- Plastic fasteners could be problematic if over tightened

Questions/Comments: forum thread