X-bit labs

Water World from Koolance: Exos-2 LX Liquid Cooling System and Koolance Water-Blocks Review (page 13)

Category: Coolers

by Sergey Lepilov

[ 11/30/2007 | 11:02 AM ]

Conclusion

First of all I’d like to point at the main, and perhaps the single, serious drawback of the Koolance products I have tested. The CPU water-block is too weak. At a recommended price of $50, the Koolance CPU-330 is inferior to the cheaper Zalman ZM-WB5 ($35) in the comfortable operation mode. On the other hand, you can just buy a different water-block because the CPU-330 is not included into the standard Koolance Exos-2 LX kit and you won’t pay for it if you don’t want it.

As for the Koolance Exos-2 LX system and the other components, they deserve a lot of praise from me. Featuring high performance, simple assembly and installation procedure, monitoring by three sensors, regulated fan speed and pump performance and stylish appearance, the liquid cooling kit from Koolance is sure to attract people who are into such cooling solutions. I was especially impressed at the VID-282 water-block for graphics cards as I had never seen such an effective and quiet cooling solution for cards like GeForce 8800 GTX/Ultra or Radeon HD 2900 XT. The price of the Exos-2 LX, even though high, is quite competitive on the market of serially made liquid cooling kits. Of course, you can try to assemble something like that by yourself, but I doubt that a hand-made solution will be cheaper or smaller or prettier.

Highs:

• Very high cooling performance for overclocked CPUs (with a high-efficiency water-block)
• Low noise level at the minimum fan speed
• Universal (supports all modern and some obsolete platforms)
• Allows to add more water-blocks into the circuit
• Simple to assemble and install
• Simple to connect/disconnect and carry over to another PC
• Three thermal sensors to monitor key temperatures
• Stylish exterior

Lows:

• Very high price
• Does not cool the mainboard’s near-socket space