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Water Cooling From Koolance» —>
Finally Perfect — CPU Water Cooling From Koolance
There’s a first time for everything — since our last review of a barebones system from Koolance, the company has moved mountains. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves — in our article «Barebones PC Cooling Tower: A Showy Case From Koolance», we pointed out a slew of weak points in the barebones system. One of the main problems was the insufficient cooling performance of the system, which was caused by grave design errors and the use of inappropriate components. In response, the manufacturer removed the «old» system from the market and replaced it with a new one. The result? All of our gripes were heeded and problems were solved. Even our critical lab engineers were delighted by the new Koolance system, but we’ll give you the lowdown on that in our test report. The target customers for Koolance’s new barebones tower are overclockers and power users: the new design is ideal for AMD processors (Athlon and Duron) and for Intel Pentium III CPUs. However, the test system isn’t compatible with Intel’s latest baby, the Pentium 4, since the CPU element integrated into the system only works well with Socket 462 and Socket 370 platforms. The price tag on this barebones PC cooling tower is about $250, which, considering the system’s performance and quality, is definitely acceptable.
New barebones water-cooling system from Koolance.
The USB and audio ports are hidden behind a flap on the front.
Temperature indicator and operating unit.
Room Enough For Components
Unlike the old system, the fans have been placed on the top of the case.
View of the inside of the case without any components.
The Koolance case allows you to install quite a few components. It provides three 5.25 inch bays and two 3.5 inch bays. The ultra-modern power supply is produced by Enermax and comes furnished with a temperature regulator. The water cooling system itself basically consists of a water supply container, two pumps, a heat exchanger and a CPU element. Unlike the previous barebones system from Koolance, only the CPU is water-cooled, and not the power supply or the graphics card. This is a leap forward for the system — in reality, graphics cards and power supplies are only rarely cooled, so by cooling only the processor, the system is more effective and efficient.
Fully equipped system with the water cooling.
By and large, the barebones system has been well-manufactured and has no sharp edges. Installing the motherboard and the necessary peripheral equipment is a matter of a few minutes. And last but not least, the CPU element is installed in the place of a conventional cooler.
Overview: All The Components Of The Water-Cooling System
Plastic covers for the front and top.
Plastic covers — rear view.
115/230 Volt Power Supply — Usable Everywhere
Powerful Enermax power supply.
The power supply has modern voltage connectors (ATX12).
When we tested the previous Koolance system, we took offence at the power supply, which was as weak as it was cheap. This case comes equipped with a powerful and modern Enermax power supply, which is in turn cooled by a fan governed by a speed controlling device. Furthermore, the line voltage can be set between 115 and 230 Volts, making the Koolance case ready for action in any corner of the world without having to change its configuration. In addition, the power supply also comes supplied with the new ATX12 and AUX connectors. With its secondary output hitting 350 watts, this power supply is set to run very stably.
Temperature — fan speed characteristics diagram for the Enermax power supply.
View of the temperature sensor on the power supply.
Effective Fan Controller: 3-Level Temperature Regulation
Circuit electronics regulate fan speed. The piezo speaker reports critical temperatures above 60 degrees Celsius.
View of the three fans and LED modules, disassembled.
The three fans are located directly above the heat exchanger.
The three fans installed on the top of the case ensure that sufficient air circulates through the heat exchanger. At Level 1, the speed of all the fans depends on the temperature. Once 45 degrees Celsius has been reached — as measured on the underside of the CPU element — the fans shift into high gear. If Level 2 is activated, the fan speed also changes with the temperature, but it shifts into maximum speed somewhat sooner than at Level 1. At Level 3, the fans always run at their maximum speed, ensuring that the volume flow throughput is at its peak for the heat exchanger.
Level 3 of the fan control has been activated.
Extreme situation: without any external intervention, the system will never hit 99 degrees Fahrenheit.
Heat Exchanger: Very Fine Fins
All components of the water-cooling system at a glance.
The heat exchanger is made from hundreds of tiny fins.
The heat exchanger is placed on the top of the PC case.
The heat exchanger removed.
CPU Element For AMD Athlon And Pentium III
The actual heat transfer between the processor core and the cooling medium is carried out in the CPU element. The water flows through the CPU element and absorbs the heat from the processor core. The element has been designed to fit on any AMD Athlon and Intel Pentium III CPU.
CPU cooling element with an integrated temperature sensor.
CPU element once filled with water.
Water Supply Container: Two Integrated Pumps
Built into the water tank, these circulate the water.
Fill level marks on the side of the water supply container.
The base of the Koolance case contains a supply container holding two electrical pumps. The container material itself, a type of Plexiglas, is not exactly an ideal solution: careless treatment or too much force applied to the screws can crack the plastic. Both pumps work very effectively — one pump provides suction, the other, pressure.
View of the water supply container.
Drain plug for the cooling liquid.
Overclocking With Koolance: AMD Athlon/Athlon XP
Since the Koolance water-cooling system is very effective at keeping temperatures down, AMD Athlon processors are ideal overclocking partners for such a system. We tested an Athlon XP 1800+, which comes factory-set at 1533 MHz. Once we had raised the FSB clock speed, thereby substantially overclocking the processor, we had no problems getting the system to run stably.
Sound Level: Very Quiet With Athlon XP 1800+
As far as the noise level is concerned, the new Koolance system is not quite as inconspicuous as the old one. At medium heat levels in the processor core, the three fans can produce quite a racket. Since ergonomic guidelines are likely to be have to met at the workplace, this kind of noise level makes the PC system unfit for use in office environments.
Small Weaknesses In Detail
There are no two ways about it — the new Koolance system offers high cooling performance and a low noise level while serving up high quality at the same time. That being said, however, we have discovered a few kinks in the Koolance armor that ought to be patched up.
Although the fans alter their speed in response to temperature changes, there’s no fail-safe mechanism for the entire system.
Test board with a port 80 card.
Summary: Comparing The Old And The New
| Position | Koolance Barebones System «old version» |
New Koolance Barebones System |
| 1 | Heat exchanger positioned beneath the case, which increases the temperature of the components and the periphery | Heat exchanger positioned on top of the case, causing no temperature increase for components and the periphery |
| 2 | CPU, graphics card and power supply are cooled simultaneously — insufficient cooling performance | CPU and power supply are cooled by their individual fans, resulting in high cooling performance |
| 3 | Heat exchanger is equipped with fans that are much too small to be effective (mini fans) | Heat exchanger equipped with 3 large fans, which disperse the heat upwards and outwards |
| 4 | Aluminum heat sink of the heat exchanger not well-designed, resulting in ineffective heat dissipation | Heat exchanger designed with fine fins and high efficiency — excellent heat dissipation |
| 5 | Integrated pump with low capacity, volume transfer rate and circulation | Two integrated pumps — one for pressure and one for suction — good circulation |
| 6 | Low quality power supply is too weak — insufficient voltage provided | High quality power supply from Enermax with ATX 12 feature — high voltage supplied |
| 7 | Poorly designed CPU element | Transparent CPU element with copper contact |
| 8 | Temperature sensor randomly positioned in the case, almost completely ineffective during temperature changes | Temperature sensor placed directly on the CPU element, resulting in very quick reaction time |
| 9 | No fan regulator | Has a controller for fan regulation |
Comparison of the previous Koolance system, which suffered from serious defects, with the new system, which is almost perfect.
Conclusion: Excellent Water-cooling System for Overclockers
It doesn’t get any clearer than this — after the insufficient cooling performance in our last test, Koolance has taken all of our complaints into account and launched an entirely new barebones system. Its excellent cooling capacity makes it an ideal purchase for overclockers, particularly for those looking for a completely pre-assembled PC case, in which they only need to install their own components. The tube system comes filled with the coolant from the factory — the only thing you have to do is to attach the CPU element to the CPU socket. However, the Koolance system can only be used for AMD CPUs on Socket 462 platforms and all Intel Pentium IIIs compatible with Socket 370 platforms. Pentium 4 processors for Socket 423 or 478 platforms can’t be used. When we tested the system with an overclocked AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (with a 1533 MHz CPU clock), we failed to uncover a single problem. The temperature on the die surface stayed at a constant 34 degrees Celsius. This performance puts the water-cooling system head and shoulders above top conventional coolers (e.g. Noise Control Silverado or Swiftech MC462). To read up on the performance of conventional coolers, look up «Can’t Touch This: A Comparison of 46 CPU Coolers».
However, there is one small qualification to be made when using the Koolance case: only motherboards with a maximum width of 253 mm can be used. Larger motherboards can’t make it around the water tank placed at the foot of the system. For example, the MSI MS-6341 with the AMD 760 chipset couldn’t be installed in the case. Nonetheless, most motherboards supporting AMD Athlon and Intel Pentium III (Socket 462 and Socket 370) can be installed.
The fans arranged on the top of the case are controlled by a separate electronic regulator. This ensures that the heat exchanger is supplied with enough cooling air. When all’s said and done, this barebones water-cooling system, which might be a touch pricey at $250, is a very effective cooler and an ideal buy for overclockers. In particular, those who prefer to have a ready-to-use package instead of having to install everything themselves would be well-advised to invest in a Koolance barebones system. Users with more time to invest and who are interested in a reasonably-priced homemade solution ought to take a look at our article «A Home-Grown Water Cooler for 115 Dollars».
This cooling system can be ordered directly from Koolance in the USA. In Europe, you might like to try Innovatek in Germany.
