X-bit labs

Four Liquid-Cooling Systems for the Masses (page 11)

Category: Coolers

by Vasily Melnik

[ 10/14/2005 | 03:30 PM ]

Since this water-cooling system is equipped with a fan, it can’t do without the exclusive speed controller:

This is in fact a typical speed controller from Thermaltake which is to be fastened on the rear panel. A bracket for a 3.5” bay is not included so you can’t put the controller on the front panel of your system case. Of course, the user can manually drill a hole in a 3.5” faceplate, but it would be much better to have a Thermaltake bracket with a logotype, if only as a sign that there’s a water-cooling system installed in this computer!

The user’s manual isn’t as comprehensive as the Rocket one.

I couldn’t find anything particular interesting here. It is easy to assemble the system, so you may only want to read the manual out of pure curiosity rather than real necessary.

The radiator is one of the most important components of any liquid-cooling system as it largely determines the efficiency of the entire kit. I should confess Thermaltake managed to create a very good radiator:

It looks pretty on the outside: a typical Thermaltake fan, a black metal casing and a grill. The radiator seems to be supposed to reside inside the system case.

The fittings are designed in such a way that if you put the radiator on the outside of the rear panel, the attached pipes will protrude backwards too far. I don’t know why the engineers couldn’t shape the fittings in the form of the letter L and direct them downwards.