Asetek Vapochill LS

Mike D. 24 Jan, 2006 at 1:00am ET Article published in Tech

Vapochill Control Panel

Although not 100% essential in order to use the Vapochill, I’d strongly recommend the installation of the chill control software. The chill control suite allows monitoring of the evaporator temperature and fan RPMs, as well as the configuration of many variables, including heater strength, fan speed control, and even the customization of the LCD display.

I downloaded the latest version of the chill control panel from Asetek, and it appears to be a newer revision than what I’ve seen around online. It is nice and simple and does not include a ton of useless features. It appears solidly programmed and only occupies about 3MB of memory. I’d recommend keeping it running at all times, so that it can safely initiate a shutdown of the Vapochill LS unit when you shutdown your PC from Windows. Simply close the application if you are going to do any benchmarking.

In the ‘Readings’ section of the application, you can view the evaporator temperature as well as fan RPM. The chill control board actually has space for an additional four temperature probes to allow the monitoring of just about anything in your system. I wish I had ordered a few as they can come in handy. You can also connect two additional case fans to the chill control board if you’d like to control their RPM via the chill control panel.

There is quite a bit to play with in the ‘Settings’ section. The default start-up temperature is -10’C. I decreased it further to -15’C, which only lengthened the start-up sequence by about two seconds. I also increased the default 75% fan speed to 100%. Increasing the fan speed does increase the noise a bit, but it also drops a few degrees on the evaporator temp. The higher fan RPM helped to hide the less pleasant compressor whine. The heaters run at 25% by default, but I increased them to 100%. After looking around at the Vapochill support forum, it seems that 100% heater strength is perfectly safe and recommended by Asetek for maximum protection against condensation. The clamshell and back plate are now noticeably ‘warm’ to the touch and I have yet to see any condensation at all after several weeks of non-stop use. The ‘shutdown temperature’ will force the computer to shutdown if it is unable to maintain this value.

The LCD back light strength is adjustable (very bright by default) as well as what is displayed on the LCD. By default it displays the evaporator temperature at all times. A two line custom message can be displayed, as well as any number of sensor readings. My only gripe with the LCD customization is that it scrolls between the different items too quickly (probably once per second), and it is annoying to watch. It would be nice to be able to customize this delay.

Despite the annoying quick switching between views, it is pretty neat to have a custom message on your vapo.

TIP: There have been quite a few reports of USB connectivity problems between the chill control board and many motherboards. It uses an internal USB cable, so be sure to check the color-coding to ensure that you have the right pin-outs being used on your motherboard. It is easy to install it backwards. Sometimes simply switching to a different header can fix the issue.

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Comments

19 Jan 2006 ~ 2:10am Sledgehammer70 This is awesome info! I don't think I have seen a better write -up for this product. Great images, nice detail I give you 150% on this one!

Also I have been looking into the LS for a few days now. I was thinking fo Watercooling for about $400 but I was liek why not go all the way for an extra $400 I mean if youare getting 3.3Ghz on a Opt. what do you think the FX-57 would score? It is all in the aire, but something I am looking into.
19 Jan 2006 ~ 9:56am Medlock Excellent review, Lemonlime!
19 Jan 2006 ~ 12:23pm paroxym Lemonlime: You are

As leet as you are though you might want to spell Asetek correctly

:bigggrin:
19 Jan 2006 ~ 12:38pm primesuspect wow paroxym, thanks for catching that. I'm editing it right now
19 Jan 2006 ~ 12:40pm Shorty

primesuspect wrote:

wow paroxym, thanks for catching that. I'm editing it right now

He sent me an email asking me to do that, Im just about to edit but if you are.. Il wait!
19 Jan 2006 ~ 12:51pm primesuspect Done
19 Jan 2006 ~ 1:23pm lemonlime

paroxym wrote:

As leet as you are though you might want to spell Asetek correctly

Pfft, the truly hardcore do not waste their time spelling things correctly. I've got benchmarks to run my friend..

primesuspect wrote:

Done

Thanks for fixing that prime
19 Jan 2006 ~ 1:37pm Winga Lemonlime - I, like many others followed your trials and tribulations in the forums when you were putting together your now infamous build. All I can say is "Hats off" buddy

Not only did you do a superb job of it, but you left a documented legacy for us all to share. And of course make us all green with envy. :bigggrin:
19 Jan 2006 ~ 1:38pm lemonlime

Sledgehammer70 wrote:

This is awesome info! I don't think I have seen a better write -up for this product. Great images, nice detail I give you 150% on this one! ... I mean if youare getting 3.3Ghz on a Opt. what do you think the FX-57 would score?

Thanks for the comments Sledge!

My Opteron isn't even a terribly strong stepping stepping either . AMD really puts some love into their flagship FX series chips. 3.3-3.4GHz should be no problem if you are willing to crank up the vcore a bit. I think the best CABNE stepping FX chips can do about 3.5. It's rare to see anything higher than that though without a more extreme cooling solution (definitely not anything 24/7 like the LS). Some of them have the cold bug, so I would look up your chip's production week just to be sure.

Winga wrote:

Lemonlime - I, like many others followed your trials and tribulations in the forums when you were putting together your now infamous build. All I can say is "Hats off" buddy

Not only did you do a superb job of it, but you left a documented legacy for us all to share. And of course make us all green with envy.

Thanks very much for the kind comments Winga

TheGr81 wrote:

Excellent review, Lemonlime!

Thanks dude
19 Jan 2006 ~ 7:00pm TheSmJ Pretty cool!

Now how about some pics/specs on that planted tank in the backround...?
19 Jan 2006 ~ 7:32pm Linc An excellent read

I sure flubbed catching that Asetek spelling though, huh?
19 Jan 2006 ~ 9:54pm profdlp Quite a lot of information and a very nice read. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable article. Well done!
19 Jan 2006 ~ 10:05pm lemonlime

TheSmJ wrote:

Pretty cool!

Now how about some pics/specs on that planted tank in the backround...?

It's a watercooled 55g long I thought you might notice the tank The anubias in the front there were pretty yellow in that picture. Cleaned them up since then. The DIY co2 I'm using now has made a huge difference.

General Keebler wrote:

I sure flubbed catching that Asetek spelling though, huh?

This is the Chuck Norris of CPU coolers.. I think the vapo was so powerful that it automatically removed every third vowel from the article the last time I saved it. At least thats my excuse and I'm sticking to it

profdlp wrote:

Quite a lot of information and a very nice read. All in all a thoroughly enjoyable article. Well done!

Thanks for the comments prof
20 Jan 2006 ~ 4:00am paroxym

This is the Chuck Norris of CPU coolers..

Asetek Vapochills aren't hung like horses, horses are hung like Asetek Vapochills.
2 Sep 2006 ~ 10:42am lemonlime Time for an 8 month update!

The 'LS' is still going very strong. Evaporator temp has not swayed at all, and is now cooling my slightly hotter (and cold bug free) 4200+ X2 chip at 3.1GHz without breaking a sweat.

I have had one encounter with Asetek technical support that I would like to share.

A couple of months ago, I had an issue where the unit would not fire up every try. I'd hold the power button in as perscribed, and the LCD on the front of the unit would simply go black without starting the compressor. I'd have to unplug the unit and keep trying to get it to successfully start up. Once it did start, it ran like a champ though. I went to support.asetek.com and opened a new ticket. Someone replied very quickly, and offered to replace the chill control board. I explained that the unit was working, and that I'd be without a computer if I had to send the defective one back before receiving a replacement. They had no isses sending the replacement prior to receiving the defective one. This is a rare thing this day and age Not only did they send the new one first, it arrived within 3 days from Europe. I swapped the card for the new one, and now everything is 'good as new'.

Other than that card replacement, I pull out some dust bunnies from the heat exchanger every month, but that is about it
2 Sep 2006 ~ 11:06am profdlp Quite impressive service.
2 Sep 2006 ~ 11:44am Nightwolf Nice article LL.
7 Dec 2013 ~ 1:48am Jim Jarmon Have you ever tried this with a dual socket 940 system? I've got a monster that likes to run hot!!