Now that the system is hooked up and actually working as a cooling solution, let's run some performance tests. Initial thoughts: very exciting. We set our room temperature towards roughly 21 Degrees C for an objective comparison.

As you will see the Domino ALC is performing pretty well with regards to cooling our PC.

The setup used:

• nForce 790i Ultra SLI
• Core 2 Quad QX9770 (3.2 GHz / 1600 MHz FSB / 1.2 Volts)
• Core 2 Quad QX9770 (3.6 GHz / 1600 MHz FSB / 1.4 Volts)
• Core 2 Quad QX9770 (4.0 GHz / 1600 MHz FSB / 1.6 Volts)
• Corsair Dominator DDR3 memory
• 300 GB WD HDD
• GeForce 9800 GTX
• Power supply: Enermax Galaxy EGA1000EWL 1000W.

Right after system boot up the water obviously is cool at room-temperature, the components will be slightly warmer.

Core 2 Quad QX9770 XE processor @ 3200 MHz

For our first test we are going to look at the cooling performance of the kit. First let's focus at non-overclocked results. Our processor is a beefy one, as it's the 1600 MHz FSB based quad core QX 9770. By itself the processor runs quite hot due to the high FSB frequency.

We have three performance modes on the Unit, low, medium and high. We tested each selection with the processor both in idle (nothing to do) and 100% stressed on all four cores with Prime95 software.

• Processor clocks at 3200 MHZ.
• Processor voltage 1.2v (default)

In an idle status we see the processor roughly hover at 33 Degrees C / 91 F.

• At the low (silent performance) setting when we stress the 4 CPU cores 100% temp rises towards 50 C / 122 F.
• Medium performance mode (slightly audible) manages a maximum of 48 C / 118 F
• Maximum performance mode (very noisy) shows 44 C / 111 F

The cooler is perfect for a high-end processor when not overclocked.

Core 2 Quad QX9770 XE processor @ 3600 MHz

For our second test we are going to look at the cooling performance of the kit with an average overclock. The quad core QX 9770 is now overclocked towards 3600 MHz with the core voltage increased.

• Processor clocks at 3600 MHZ.
• Processor voltage 1.4v

In an idle status we see the processor roughly hover at 40 to 50 Degrees C  (104 to 122 Fahrenheit).

• At the low (silent performance) setting when we stress the 4 CPU cores 100% temp rises towards 78 C / 172 F.
• Medium performance mode (slightly audible) manages a maximum of 71 C / 160 F
• Maximum performance mode (very noisy) shows 62     C / 144 F

The cooler is fine for a decent overclock when set to medium performance mode. The LOW setting is not recommended.

But now let's place things in perspective. The 3600 MHz is a fair one which is reasonable for the most of you. Let's compare the results to some other high-end, though air, coolers

Core 2 Quad QX9770 XE Load / Stress testing the CPU

We recently tested other coolers like the Arctic Cooler Freezer, Gelid Silent Spirit. let's compare them with the Domino and also include the Intel stock cooler.

Now here we are at full 100% CPU load on all cores:

• Processor clocks at 3600 MHZ.
• Processor voltage 1.4v

As you can see the HIGH performance mode of the Domino also shows the best performance; however, it's very loud. Acceptable would be the medium setting. However the Domino is roughly as good as a high-end air cooler, and that's the reality.