CoolIT shows off the Domino

CANADIAN FIRM COOLIT, are used to people cracking jokes about how ‘cool' their offerings are, but taking a look around the firm's booth at CeBit, we certainly found it hard to avoid using the same cliché.

From amongst its various cooling offerings, CoolIT seemed most keen to show off its Domino Advanced Liquid Cooling system, a new design encapsulating a ceramic bearing pump designed to withstand really high temperatures, a fan and a digital display giving users insight into what's going on in their systems.

For ease of use, the Domino lets users cool their systems using three different, pre-programmed performance modes, changeable at the click of a button, with the whole setup powered by a three-pin plug, easily attached to the CPU fan header on the motherboard. It's apparently pretty efficient too, with the guys telling us the system's maximum draw came to only about four watts.

Now, if, for some reason, something breaks or stops working - a scenario the guys are quick to point out shouldn't happen- a little alarm goes off to warn the user all is not right in his system. Just to test it, we jammed a pen in the works, and sure enough, beep, beep, beep! "cool..." we mumbled before biting our tongue.

CoolIT also reckons it has revamped its thermal interface material, meaning the Domino is some eight degrees C. cooler at 200 watts than previous models and more durable to boot, lasting an average seven years at a high 50C.

Domino's size has likewise been specially thought out for compatibility with most Chassis on the market and has special springs designed to put as little pressure on the CPU as possible.

We asked what was in the coolant, only to be told "Gypsy tears and badger milk", but later discovered there's also about 25 per cent propylene Glycol and a fair bit of anti-corrosive liquid in there to keep things running smoothly.

All in all, for the cash conscious enthusiast who doesn't want to waste too much time worrying about cooling, the Domino is pretty hard to beat. µ