When I find out that I am going to review a product, usually I will surf around the internet, and try to get a feel as to how a product is performing. Researching the Freezone, however, I found that there were a lot of conflicting opinions. Some were happy with the product, others argued that the premise was unworkable. Today, we are going to cut through the mystery and see what is fact, and what is fiction.

     The CoolIT Freezone CPU Cooler is essentially a hybrid cooling unit, part water and part Peltier. The CPU gets cooled by water first, then the water is cooled by multiple Peltiers, also known as Thermoelectric Coolers (TECs). These Peltiers use what is known as the "Peltier effect", which essentially converts electrical power into a temperature delta between two plates. One plate is a hot plate, and the other a cold plate, and the temperature delta is a known value based on the amount of power applied to the Peltier. The water from the CPU block gets cooled by the cold plate, and the hot plate is cooled by the 90mm fan. Because the temperature delta is a fixed value, keeping the hot side cool becomes extremely important. How cool you keep the hot plate will essentially decide how effective your cooler is. More information about the Peltier effect can be found at Wikipedia.

     TECs aren't exactly news when it comes to cooling, they have been around for quite some time. The problem with Peltier cooling in the past has been their poor efficiency, and condensation problems at sub-ambient temps. However, the Freezone is able to bypass some of these issues with their design. For one, their Thermal Control Module is setup to ensure that temps never drop below ambient, so no condensation problems exist. The Freezone is also able to work around the poor efficiency of the Peltier by pairing it up with a water cooling loop, a good fan, and a small radiator.

So what does CoolIT systems claim their unit is capable of? Here is what their website says:

     Their website also claims that the unit has five major advantages:

1. Quiet

2. Compact

3. Super-cool

4. Reliable

5. Easy to install

Specifications

     The packaging is an attractive white, showing off the unit in its full glory. It also shows how the unit looks installed in a case.

     The bottom of the packaging shows more pictures of the unit, as well as charts comparing the Freezone to other water cooling units.

     The back of the box shows off a nice detailed picture of the unit, as well as technical information and more comparison information.