Thermaltake T-Type H20-temp Indicator Review

Cooling/Water Cooling by KeithSuppe @ 2005-10-11

Thermaltake provides an easy to use T-Type digital water-temp meter. Reading your H20-cooling system anywhere in the loop you like, the unit features a water-temp alarm, if for example your pump were to fail. Is the unit accurate? Read on to find out.

  • prev
  • Go to mainpage

Testing/Conclusion

Intel Test System
CPU Pentium 630 Retail (3.0GHz 2MB L2 1.31Vcore) Socket-775
Mainboard Asus P5ND@-SLI Deluxe (BIOS 0802)
Memory Corsairmicro 5400UL (2x512MB DC CL3-2-2-6)
Graphics AOpen 7800GTX
Power Supply PCPower&Cooling TurboCool 850 SSI
Cooling Alphacool 12V Cora 662 XP (passive H20-system)
Operating System Windows XP


As a simple empirical test I placed the T-Type meter in front of the CRT screen while running Asus ,AIBooster (indicating CPU Vcore, temp, speed, FSB, CPU utilization, memory voltage, PCIe voltage, system temp, etc.). Panopsys utility Throttle Watch 2.01 and S&M CPU stress tester. Our first photo below indicates the system running IDLE at default speeds/Vcore (3.0GHz/1.31V) the second running under LOAD settings remaining the same.

Madshrimps (c)


Madshrimps (c)


As indicated above by comparing the temp (lower) on the T-Type meter and the AIBooster GUI the discrepancy between water temps entering the CPU-block at IDLE and LOAD widens as the CPU produces more heat. In each test it was essential enough time elapsed so the coolant achieved a thermal equilibrium. The coolant used was Danger Den endorsed MCT-5. MCT is just slightly less effective at cooling compared to unadulterated distilled H20, but contains corrosion inhibitors which protect against Galvanic Corrosion (aka Dissimilar Metal Corrosion). In the photo below I've devised a low-cost solution for a rough Delta-T extrapolation by placing a Mercury based thermometer in the Alphacool supplied Cape Cooplex 25 compensating reservoir which is located just opposite the T-Type meter.

Madshrimps (c)


Although the accuracy of the unit is not comparable to that of a high end digital multimeter, it’s good to see that for less then 1/100th of the cost you and I can have 99% of the accuracy determining K-value (Delta-T). Thermaltake seeks to make water-cooling and the ability to measure the performance of your water-cooling system accessible and affordable.


Conclusion:

Thermaltake has expanded their water cooling lineup and now offers both passive and active cooling solutions approaching the upper mid-line.

Pros
  • Accurate +/- 1c
  • Easy to Install
  • Alarm
  • Place anywhere in/near case
  • F/C readout
  • Price
  • Extra adapters

    Cons
  • Dual inline would be better
  • Minimum Alarm setting 37C

    The T-Type water temperature indicator is a low cost solution offering accuracy, programmability and an alarm feature tunable from 37C. The unit can be found in the UK at CaseTech £12.95, or at TekHeads £14.75 incl. VAT. In the USA the CL-W0033 T-Type can be found at CaseCooler $28.95. I would to thank Annie at Thermaltake.

    "Seacrest Out..."

    Question/Comments: forum thread
    • prev
    • Go to mainpage