Thermal Performance

And here are the results of the test:

There can be no questions about the performance of the WaterСhill Antarctica KT03A-12VX 1/2 inch, but the WaterChill KT03-L20 Entry is somewhat disappointing. If you refer to our roundup of entry-level water-cooling systems, you will find that its performance corresponds to that of the Gigabyte 3D Galaxy GH-WIU01. Moreover, the room temperature was 2°C lower during the tests of the WaterChill KT03-L20 Entry and there is also a difference in the maximum fan speeds: the WaterChill’s 3300rpm against the 3D Galaxy’s 2500rpm. Not quite good for Asetek. Two components are guilty here: the water-block and the radiator. To prove my point, I replaced the water-block from the KT03-L20 Entry kit with the water-block from the KT03A-12VX 1/2 inch. It was simple as the pipes just fitted one into another quite tightly:

The components from the senior model can thus be attached to the junior model without replacing the fittings. The change of the water-block improved the situation considerably:

And what if we replace the radiator, too? It took 10 minutes to reconfigure the system and add more water… and here’s the outcome:

I guess this diagram illustrates my point well. The two most important components that have the strongest bearing on the performance and differentiate the top-end and entry-level water-cooling systems are the water-block and the radiator. So, there is no miracle in the results. The level of noise is a variable value: the pumps are vibrating rather than making any noise, and the fans are usually bought separately for systems of that kind. In this particular case, the WaterСhill Antarctica KT03A-12VX 1/2 inch was rather quiet at the minimum fan speed and no louder than an ordinary office PC at the max fan speed.