X-bit labs

Water-Cooling Systems Roundup: 16 Systems Reviewed! (page 24)

Category: Coolers

by Kirill "ALT-F13" Balalin

[ 03/30/2006 | 08:48 AM ]

Now let’s take a look at the cooling unit. The case is not very large; there is a fan speed controller and a fill-up opening combined with a water level indicator on the front panel. There are vent holes in the unit’s top.

Two fittings and a standard 4-pin power connector are located at the back panel.

Before we tried to assemble the system, we wanted to see what was inside it. There are a lot of screws at the bottom that hold the panel and the internal components.

We found these things inside the compact cooling unit:

Having a tiny pump and a condenser instead of a water radiator, the system can hardly deliver a high performance. The 80mm fan also seems too weak to cool the radiator.

We checked the performance of the system with all the components included into the water loop. The pump drove 1 liter of water through the system in 135 seconds, which equals a performance of 27 liter per hour. Not much, but you cannot really expect anything more from such a pump.

The pipes that connect the cooling unit with the water-block are joined via a special bracket which is to be inserted into the rear panel of your PC case. The Molex connector on the bracket is meant to power the main unit of this water-cooling kit.