Akasa Revo Thermaldynamic CPU Cooler
Conclusion
Published: 12th October 2007 | Source: Akasa | Price: RRP £39.99 ex VAT |
The Akasa Revo gives me mixed emotions. With excellent industrial looks; I think that most modders and enthusiasts will like the look of the slightly unusual cooler.
However, the thermal performance found it lacking, despite marketing hype about "Bubble Coolers" and the like. It doesn't do very badly and indeed it does do better than the Intel stock cooler when the heat was on at 3.3GHz, 1.45v. Unfortunately it doesn't manage to keep up with other top-line coolers which is a shame.
On the other hand people wanting decent overclocking performance coupled with a very quiet cooler will like the Revo. It does the job quietly and unless your PC is totally silent you won't hear it at all.
Note that Akasa currently have plans for an low profile version and possibly a high-end overclocker-friendly version of the Revo.
Akasa recommend the Revo's RRP at £39.99, with SCAN and OcUK stocking it soon. This is a high price for a cooler that is built for the quiet market and I feel that there are other coolers out there that can maintain the low noise and half decent cooling that the Revo does.
The Good
+ Very quiet
+ Very easy installation
+ Well built
+ Great industrial looks
The Mediocre
* Marketing hype
* Not widely available in the UK
The Bad
- Not up to the performance of top-line coolers
- Well overpriced
Thanks to Akasa for the review sample
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Manufacturer Reply
As with every single review we have ever posted, we give 1 working day for comment on the final review during which time amendments may be made if needed and manufacturers can make their comments. Akasa have replied to us on some points of this review so please see notes from Adrian Young, Akasa's marketing Director:
We know that Revo is not a low price cooler, Akasa already have very cost effective Heatpipe coolers, we wanted to develop something new and developing new technology is expensive especially when coupled with European production.
What is certain is that the combination of bubble pump and 8 port radiator is far more efficient at CPU cooling than a conventional fin heatsink. If we compare Revo with a similar size H/pipe cooler we can run the fan at 50% less RPM and get a comparable result. (It's good up to 90W and then tapers off)
There is a market for lo-noise coolers in the HTPC market and we have a version of the Revo for this format which will be available soon. However there is a much wider/bigger market for silent cooling across the PC spectrum using ATX tower chassisand one of the virtues of Revo is that it will fit easily into nearly all those cases.
We have done a lot of testing and one feature of the Revo is Mo/Bo zone cooling, many conventional coolers do not cool the VRs or other components, this is a real problem and Revo has been designed to alleviate it successfully.
We can produce an enhanced version aimed at the overclocking market by reconfiguring the Thermodynamic model and we will do this but we need to start with the main market using a 65W Core2Duo.
What is certain is that the combination of bubble pump and 8 port radiator is far more efficient at CPU cooling than a conventional fin heatsink. If we compare Revo with a similar size H/pipe cooler we can run the fan at 50% less RPM and get a comparable result. (It's good up to 90W and then tapers off)
There is a market for lo-noise coolers in the HTPC market and we have a version of the Revo for this format which will be available soon. However there is a much wider/bigger market for silent cooling across the PC spectrum using ATX tower chassisand one of the virtues of Revo is that it will fit easily into nearly all those cases.
We have done a lot of testing and one feature of the Revo is Mo/Bo zone cooling, many conventional coolers do not cool the VRs or other components, this is a real problem and Revo has been designed to alleviate it successfully.
We can produce an enhanced version aimed at the overclocking market by reconfiguring the Thermodynamic model and we will do this but we need to start with the main market using a 65W Core2Duo.
Thanks to Adrian for replying, and we hope to be able to review the new revised models when they are out.
Most Recent Comments
Looks sexy 
£30 bit OTT though, since you can get a Freezer pro for about £15 and that does just fine.
£30 bit OTT though, since you can get a Freezer pro for about £15 and that does just fine.For £40 I would NOT buy that cooler, 120 ultra ftw!
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Brooksie'
Looks sexy
£30 bit OTT though, since you can get a Freezer pro for about £15 and that does just fine. |
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='Mr. Smith'
For £40 I would NOT buy that cooler, 120 ultra ftw!
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Ah well.
It has to be said, I started reading the review (excellent again btw) with a pretty optimistic slant - especially with the idea of the tech involved.
To be fair, it looks an equiv cooler of a stock Intel (give or take minimal temps), but quieter. That in mind, the price is OTT imo.
Agree with the conclusion tbh. (however personally disappointed a bit)
It has to be said, I started reading the review (excellent again btw) with a pretty optimistic slant - especially with the idea of the tech involved.
To be fair, it looks an equiv cooler of a stock Intel (give or take minimal temps), but quieter. That in mind, the price is OTT imo.
Agree with the conclusion tbh. (however personally disappointed a bit)
Please note that I have now added a note from Adrian Young, Akasa's marketing director
What would be OC3D A-List of air coolers and other such products?
Do you have an A-List? If Not would be a worthy addition me thinks.
Do you have an A-List? If Not would be a worthy addition me thinks.
Hmm might be an idea actually mate. I might see what I can do about gettign some "top10's" from what we've done
omg why hadnt i thought of that lol
would be helpful to have a table - with a sort function (sort value for money, performance and looks (or whatever the scoring goes by) also sort by overall score)
ace idea!
would be helpful to have a table - with a sort function (sort value for money, performance and looks (or whatever the scoring goes by) also sort by overall score)
ace idea!
Quote:
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Originally Posted by name='maverik-sg1'
What would be OC3D A-List of air coolers and other such products?
Do you have an A-List? If Not would be a worthy addition me thinks. |
Hi. New to the forums. Just purchased one of these and was getting similar performance to the stock cooler. I did a google (next time I'll do it before I buy) and found you guys.
I tried adding a 4000rpm fan to improve things, but I just dropped the temp by a further 1 degree. Very disappointing product for the price.
I am now in the market for a new cooler, this time I'll do some research.
I tried adding a 4000rpm fan to improve things, but I just dropped the temp by a further 1 degree. Very disappointing product for the price.
I am now in the market for a new cooler, this time I'll do some research.
Agreed it's costly for the price, although I did get better performance than the stock cooler
Awesome mounting system though in fairness
Awesome mounting system though in fairness
And exceptionally light. Should be easy enough to remove 
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Check the review here