Akasa AK 172-BL

Advantages: Quick way of expanding hard drive space or retrieving data from a damaged laptop.
Disadvantages: Can over heat if left on for serveral hours at a time.

...The Akasa Integral external storage enclosure, is a great device for individuals who wish to perhaps expand there laptop with more hard disc drive space, or perhaps for those who wish to retrieve the data from a damaged laptop, that still has a working hard drive. I found the device incredibly handy when my laptop crashed, and I had no way of accessing the data. All I did was remove the hard drive from the laptop and insert it into the storage enclosure device, and away I went, full access again to all my data, just by plugging it into another desktop or laptop. There’s no complicated software to install on the computer, just plug it In and you can access the data as if it was on a flash drive. There are no mains plugs involved, it use's a USB port from the desktop or laptop to power its self, and it also comes with a protective... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Very cool, easy to install
Disadvantages: copper on the cpu side far from mirror ( needs a polish )

...Test system: processor - AMD Athlon FX62 (2 x 2800 MHz / 125W TDP) motherboard - ASUS M2N32 DeLuxe Wireles Edition (passive cooling system with HeatPipe) Cooler is very easy to install just one lever. More experienced users will probably remove thermal compound and polish the surface of the cooler ( it is far from being a mirror ) and then apply high quality thermal compound. This will give You another 1-2 C less and faster cooling down after stress. all tests were done using Zalman STG 1 ( high quality thermal compound ) Temperature readings after 60 minutes in idle: Akasa AK-876 37 Arctic Cooling 64PRO 38 Scythe Katana II 39 Temperature readings after 60 minutes in 100% load: Akasa AK-876 56 Arctic Cooling 64PRO 58 Scythe Katana II 61... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: Non-conducting, easily applicable, very good cooling
Disadvantages: tube is rather small, for approx 10 applications

...When buying a CPU or Graphics card, most manufacturers have already installed or included a heatsink + thermal conducting paste or pad with the product. This thermal conducting paste is usually made of silicone, either grey or white and has the effect of filling the gaps between the heatsink and the chip, to improve heat transfer from one surface to the other. So you are wondering why companies like Akasa produce heatsink paste when something is already included. The answer is that the Akasa product (TC 5022 Pro) performs significantly better than the standard one and holds its ground against other pastes (like Arctic Silver). The paste comes in a small tube and is pretty expensive. The compound is made of silicone, but has the benefit that it is easily applied on surfaces, as well as performing very good, even when not applying... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful