Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400<base href="http://www.atruereview.com/" /> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.atruereview.com/images/favicon.ico" /> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/template_css.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/style10.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/slimbox/slimbox.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/css/rokmoomenu.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />  <link rel="shortcut icon" href="http://www.atruereview.com/images/favicon.ico" /> <style type="text/css"> td.left div.moduletable, td.right div.moduletable, td.left div.moduletable-hilite1, td.right div.moduletable-hilite1, td.left div.moduletable-hilite2, td.right div.moduletable-hilite2, td.left div.moduletable-hilite3, td.right div.moduletable-hilite3, td.left div.moduletable-hilite4, td.right div.moduletable-hilite4, td.left div.moduletable-hilite5, td.right div.moduletable-hilite5, td.left div.moduletable-hilite6, td.right div.moduletable-hilite6, td.left div.moduletable-hilite7, td.right div.moduletable-hilite7, td.left div.moduletable-hilite8, td.right div.moduletable-hilite8 { width: 175px; } div.wrapper { margin: 0 auto; width: 868px;} </style> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/mootools.r462.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/roktools.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/mootools.bgiframe.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/rokmoomenu.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> window.addEvent('domready', function() { new rokmoomenu($E('ul.nav'), { bgiframe: false, delay: 500, animate: { props: ['opacity', 'width', 'height'], opts: { duration:400, fps: 100, transition: Fx.Transitions.sineOut } } }); }); </script> </head> <body id="page_bg" class="f-default"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.atruereview.com/templates/rt_versatility_iii/js/slimbox.js"></script> <div id="fxContainer"> <div id="fxTarget"> <div id="fxPadding" class="wrapper"> </div> </div>  </div> <div id="template" class="wrapper"> <div id="header"> <a href="http://www.atruereview.com" class="nounder"><img src="http://www.atruereview.com/images/blank.png" style="border:0;" alt="" id="logo" /></a> <div id="banner"> <div class="padding"> <form action="index.php?option=com_search&Itemid=5" method="get"> <div class="searchroflmao"> <input name="searchword" id="mod_search_searchword" maxlength="20" alt="search" class="inputboxroflmao" type="text" size="20" value="search..." onblur="if(this.value=='') this.value='search...';" onfocus="if(this.value=='search...') this.value='';" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="option" value="com_search" /> <input type="hidden" name="Itemid" value="5" /> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div id="horiz-menu" class="moomenu"> <ul class="nav"> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/search.html">Search</a></li> <li><a href="http://atruereview.com/oldrev.php">Old Reviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/atruereview/articles.php">Old Articles</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/contact/contact.html">Contact</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/links/links.html">Links</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/accessories/2.html">Reviews</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="top"> </div> <div class="clr" id="mainbody"> <table class="mainbody" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr valign="top"> <td class="left"> <div class="moduletable"> <h3> Main Menu </h3> <table width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/" class="mainlevel" >Home</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/search.html" class="mainlevel" >Search</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://atruereview.com/oldrev.php" class="mainlevel" >Old Reviews</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/atruereview/articles.php" class="mainlevel" >Old Articles</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/contact/contact.html" class="mainlevel" >Contact</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/links/links.html" class="mainlevel" >Links</a></td></tr> <tr align="left"><td><a href="http://www.atruereview.com/accessories/2.html" class="mainlevel" >Reviews</a></td></tr> </table> </div> <div class="moduletable"> </div> </td> <td class="mainbody"> <table class="sections" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"> <tr valign="top"> <td class="section w99"> <div class="moduletable"> </div> </td> </tr> </table> <div class="padding"> <h1 align="center">Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400 (cont.)</h1> <p><strong>Installation & Usage:</strong></p> <p align="center"><img src="atruereview/aircon/08.jpg" width="250" height="97" border="0" alt="Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400" title="Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400"></p> <p>Installing the bay compartment is very easy. Simply slide the bracket in and screw it down. Then connect the Molex power connection to your PSU. Depending on your case setup, you will want to try and position AirCon where it is most beneficial. The instructions are very generic and are not needed.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/aircon/01.jpg"></a><a href="atruereview/aircon/06.jpg"><img src="atruereview/aircon/06th.jpg" width="250" height="212" border="0" alt="Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400" title="Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>Above is how the 5.25" bay looks when in a computer. It has a little locking mechanism in it, that when engaged with the PC AIR-CON, makes it unable to slip out. However, an actual key that can be taken out is not present. Instead it is always locked or unlocked without insertion or removing of the key. </p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/aircon/01.jpg"><img src="atruereview/aircon/01th.jpg" width="250" height="188" border="0" alt="Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400" title="Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font></p> <p> The system has stages that you select from when you're ready to use it. The switch all the way to the top implies that the unit is not on. You can still see what the LCD read-out says for the temperature inside the case in this stage. The second position turns the suction fan on and brings air from the outside. The peltier still hasn't been activated to cool it. Obviously, the third position turns on the peltier and the top fan. This top fan cools the hot side of the peltier as the bottom fan blows air over the cold side and into the case.</p> <p><strong>Testing:</strong></p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/aircon/10.jpg"><img src="atruereview/aircon/10th.jpg" width="250" height="203" border="0" alt="Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400" title="Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font></p> <p>The temperature of the air pumped in went down around a constant 15-18 degrees C after about 5 or 6 minutes. As for the temperatures of the case, they decreased around 10 degrees Celsius after allowing for it to run for about 30 minutes. Temperatures inside the case were measured with a CoolerMaster Aerogate 2.</p> <p>However, the best thing for me is that my <a href="atruereview/aircon/../wc201/index.php">Evercool water cooling radiator and reservoir</a> are in the 5.25" bay right under the unit. This is where positioning can mean everything. All of a sudden my GPU and CPU were getting massively cooler air than before. This increased my clocks a bit and added some more stability. I was able to increase my bus speed from 260 MHz to 275 MHz. The Intel P4 2.6, overclocked to 3380 GHz jumped to 3575. My Radeon 9700 Pro went from 400 to 410 MHz.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/aircon/03.jpg"><img src="atruereview/aircon/03th.jpg" width="250" height="188" border="0" alt="Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400" title="Waffer PC AirCon PAC 400"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font></p> <p>Both fans scream when they are running. Even with one fan going, the AirCon 400 is loud. There is no easy to mod the the unit to switch the fans out.</p> <p>The unit is rated at 55 watts, which is a lot for most power supplies, but I've always bought 500 watt and above power supplies. Therefore, I never gave the draw a second thought until after using this unit. I tried it on an Antec True Control 550 at first. Every time I turned the AirCon on, the machine would instantly reboot. I thought the power supply might be failing but doubted it. So, I tested the rails and every one of them was stable. The AirCon ran fine if I booted the computer with the unit on so that no fluctuations were present on the rails or anything. However, if I turned the AirCon off and back on, the unit started in the 3rd mode with everything else rebooting. </p> <p> I took the Antec out and tried with a TTGI FS-550TS. It did the exact same thing. I also tried with a bare minimum of equipment. I unhooked all but one hard drive, one optical drive and so on to see if they were drawing to much current in conjunction with the AirCon PAC 400. The reboot never stopped, no matter what the combination. </p> <p>This was odd to me for these power supplies ran fine with my full system hooked up including a couple of water cooling kits that were being leaked tested. Only thing I could come up with, is that the hit on the power supply all at once forces a reboot because the power is switched from all other lines for a decent period of time.</p> <p><strong>Suggestions:</strong></p> <p>I would suggest that future revisions of the unit be equipped with a warm up where it works up to the total amperage instead of hitting the power supply all at once. Addressing the awkwardness of it sticking out of the case, I would suggest a 2 bay permanent mounting kit that puts more parts inside the bays. Those are a couple of suggestions that might need to be taken into thought before this product can really become a big mainstream product. </p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> </p> <p>While the benefits of the review paint this product in a very good light, there are some big down sides. One obviously is how far it sticks out of the case. Get one person not paying attention and they'll get caught on it, crashing the whole computer with them. Having two external fans going full blast does not allow for perfect silence. Although, the biggest problem is the current draw. I recommend having a separate power supply for the AirCon PAC 400 even though it is only 55 Watts. Despite these few problems, I was quite surprised by the thought of being able to air condition my computer case. </p> <p><strong>Pros:</strong></p> <ul> <li> Easy modular design to remove and insert into case</li> <li> Keeps case cool no matter what</li> <li> LCD readout to see what temperature the air is</li> </ul> <p><strong>Cons: </strong></p> <ul> <li> Sticks out a little to far</li> <li> Wattage when power activated took a hit on the power supply</li> <li> Little loud</li> </ul> <p><strong> Rating:</strong></p> <p> Good</p> <p>(Ratings Possible: Terrible, Very Bad, Bad, Fair, Good, Very Good, Excellent)</p> <p> <a href="atruereview/aircon/index.php"></a> <a href="aircon/index.php">Previous (Introduction, Features & Description)</a></p> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div id="footer" class="clr"> <div class="rk-1"> <div class="rk-2"> <div id="the-footer">  </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </body> </html>