YOYOTech Water Dragon 940

Conclusion

There’s no denying that that YOYOTech Water Dragon 940 is one well built system. From the quality list of components, to the tidy build it’s clear to see that YOYOTech are passionate about what they do. As we’ve seen over the previous few pages, the Water Dragon cuts through games with relative ease, only falling behind a little in single-core applications, where the overclocked FSB and Memory of the YOYOTech Spartan 300 allow it to pull ahead in Sisoft Sandra, SuperPI and some of the POV-Ray / Cinebench tests.

The CoolIT Domino ALC water cooling system keeps the overclocked AMD X4 CPU below 45c at all times while also remaining extremely quiet. Additionally the unit places hardly any weight on the CPU socket unlike a traditional heatsink, and is therefore much less likely to work its way loose during shipping. Having seen the effects of a CPU cooler turned wrecking ball at the hands of a particularly rough courier, this can only be a good thing.

However, it is hard to loose the nagging feeling that the same overclock and level of silence could have been achieved with an air cooler costing a fair bit less. That’s not to say we believe an air cooler could hold the CPU at the same temperature as the Domino, we don’t, but more that the benefits of lower CPU temperatures are often not a concern to someone seeking a pre-built PC system. Regardless, we will be testing the Domino ALC ‘standalone’ in the near future and it will certainly be interesting to see the results.

Aside from this the rest of the system is extremely well balanced and with hardware such as the OCZ StealthXStream and Sapphire 4870 (with heatpipe cooler) inside, it is also extremely silent. The blue cathodes and LED fans are also a very nice touch, giving the feeling that you’ve purchased something a little more special than your average pre-built system. It’s just a shame they can’t be turned off!

The Good
– Good performance in games and multi-core benches.
– CPU and GPU overclock for ‘free’ performance boost.
– Silent operation and cool running.
– High quality components used throughout.
– Tidy internal build.
– Simple external appearance with cathodes for added effect.
– Passed 12hrs of stability testing without any issues.

The Mediocre
– Performance not amazing in single-core applications.
– Can’t turn cathodes off if your eyes need a rest.
– Money could have been saved by using a high-end air cooler.

The Bad
– Nowt

Overclock3D Recommended Award

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