Cyberpower Gamer Infinity Aquarius

Before Intel’s Core i7 chips crashed the performance party towards the end of 2008, the Core 2 Quad was the CPU of choice for enthusiasts, offering a potent base level of power and copious overclocking ability. Cyberpower’s latest machine blends this chip with some cutting-edge water cooling.

The processor in question is the Core 2 Quad Q8400, with a custom water-cooling kit developed for Cyberpower by Durham-based specialists XSPC. It’s a simple setup that consists of a reservoir, radiator and CPU block, and helps define the look of the system – the reservoir occupies the top 5.25in bay and the various tubes are filled with blue cooling liquid.

It may look snazzy, but the XSPC wasn’t particularly efficient when it came to cooling the CPU. Its idle temperature of around 28 degrees was fine but, when we stress-tested the system using Orthos, the cooling system failed to impress. Within minutes, the four processing cores were running at around 70 degrees.

While these temperatures are certainly safe and won’t see the system overheating, it’s no cooler than the processor would be when partnered with a capable air-cooled HSF, such as a Noctua NH-U12P or Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro.

Unfortunately, this mediocre performance negates the need for a water-cooled system in the first place, increasing the price of the system with little benefit – and potentially risking the rig’s safety should the water-cooling system fail. And if you think the noise reduction outweighs the downsides, think again: there are still numerous fans in the case and attached to the water-cooling system, so it's not a quiet PC.