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Radiator
Like the pump, the radiator of the COOL by Corsair kit comes from a third-party manufacturer. It is the popular Black Ice Pro model from Hardware Labs. The Black Ice Pro is a two-pass radiator with copper ribbing specially developed for PC water-cooling systems. Having 157x133x25mm dimensions, it is intended for one 120mm fan. With the fan included (the TD1238-L-12 model from TEI) this radiator can dissipate up to 440 watts. Noise? Not more than 26dB thanks to the low speed of the fan (2000rpm). This ball-bearings fan has a MTBF of 65 thousand hours.
Unfortunately, you won’t be able to replace the fan with something more efficient easily because it has a unique power connector. This connector is attached to the plug which is located on a bracket for the back panel of the system case (this bracket is included into the kit).
As you may have guessed, the radiator is to be placed outside the system case. The pipes that lead to the radiator go through the same bracket with the fan connector. The manufacturer suggests that you hang the radiator on the rear panel of the system case. It is an acceptable place if your system case doesn’t stand right against the wall. A special system called RadBox was devised to fasten the radiator. It is a kind of steel chassis that is attached to the radiator on one side and with holes for hanging on the rear panel of the system case on the other side.
The radiator is supposed to be right against the system fan. RadBox “stands” on 1cm feet, so there is no conflict between the airflows from the system case and from the Black Ice Pro radiator.
Another advantage of RadBox is its universality. This chassis can be fastened on a system case that has places for system fans of any size (60, 80, 92 or 120mm). Thus, the owner of a COOL kit won’t have troubles finding a place for the radiator.
The external placement of the radiator of a liquid-cooling system has numerous advantages, but when the radiator is outside, everyone can see it. Corsair took care to paint the radiator black and shiny for a better visual effect:
