Control Panel, Indicators and Work Modes

All “intelligent” parts of the system belong to the control panel. Everything is connected to it: fans, a thermal diode, pumps, indicators panel and even the system power circuit. The panel receives power from the PSU via an ordinary four-pin connector.

You can connect up to four fans to the control panel PCB and their voltages will be adjusted depending on the temperature. However, the system uses only three fan connectors, so you can plug in an additional fan there. For example, you may wish to install a fan at the back panel of the system case. This may become necessary, as there are no fans inside the system left, while there are still some components that might require additional cooling.

Unlike many other water cooling solutions, the creation from Koolance is not just a heap of pipes, pumps, water units and heatsinks. It is a live creature! And even shows some signs of intelligence :).

Firstly, the system starts up and shuts down together with the computer, as the control panel receives power from the computer PSU. So, you don’t have to turn on the water cooling pump manually, and hence there is no risk that you may forget about it :).

Secondly, in case of emergency (that is, during overheating), the control panel turns off the PSU of the system. It is possible due to the fact that the power-on button is connected not to the mainboard directly, but via the control panel of the water cooling system. Temperature is taken from the thermal diode on the CPU water unit. When the water temperature rises above 50^oC, a warning sound signal is emitted. If during the next 30 seconds the temperature doesn’t decrease below the dangerous value, the system shuts down.

Thirdly, the system can work in three modes: “silent”, “adaptive” and “maximum” that differ in rotation speeds of the cooling fans. The following diagram shows the dependence of rotation speeds on the temperatures taken from the thermal diode:

In the “silent” mode, the fans receive lower voltage. In this mode the water cooling system produces less noise, but works less efficiently. This can lead to temperature growth in games or other applications, where the CPU and the graphics chip are highly loaded. In order for the water temperature not to notch the critical 50^oC point, the fans are turned to their maximum when the temperature comes close to 45^oC. When the temperature is again below 45^oC, the system once again reduces fan voltages. This mode is supposed to suit for work in office applications, Web-surfing and similar “light” tasks. But in fact, we couldn’t make the system speed up the fans even running Unreal Tournament 2003 for half a day: the “silent” mode coped with this workload without any problems.

In the “adaptive” mode the voltages are smoothly increased according to the temperature. Below the 40^oC point, the system works in the “silent” mode. After the temperature grows above 40^oC, the fan voltages are raised which certainly improves the cooling efficiency. This mode suits for those users who regularly load the CPU with intensive calculations. Ideally, the system in this mode keeps the water temperature at a certain in-between value; fan rotation speeds are higher than in “silent” mode, but lower than in the “maximum” mode.

The last, but not least, “maximum” mode is for people who don’t care about silence and for extreme overclockers. When you turn this mode on, the fans receive full load of voltage, the system is roaring as a pregnant crocodile and the CPU feels freezingly cold :).

But back to our intellectual friend: the control panel PCB. What else did we find there? A warning sound emitter, a pair of transistors, and a pretty large transformer. Why are they here? The pumps installed in the water tank are powered from an AC source. And the transformer with a few transistors is none other but a classical converter of 12V DC into 220V (110V) AC. Thus, Koolance engineers solved the problem of the system autonomy: the pumps don’t require additional power from any external sources. They work only when the rest of the computer system works. As a result, the control panel consumes considerable amount of 12V power. In fact, this is one more drawback: the system comes without a PSU and if you install a low-quality one, it won’t cope with such high workload.

At the front side of the “fan & grid” part of the case, there is a temperature indicator, two LEDs and two control buttons:

Water temperature indicator is made of LEDs, and not of the weakly shining liquid crystals. So it is very bright in the night and daytime, and can show the temperature in either degrees Centigrade or Fahrenheit. Temperature indication mode is set with a button. Another button sets the work mode of the system: one press – “silent”, once more press – “adaptive”, one more – “maximum” and so on in a cycle… One of the LEDs shows that system is alive and working, the second one indicates if the fan rotation speed is forced. Overall, the control and indication are quite simple and understandable. Now let’s pass over to water exercises.