MAY 2005 MA XIMUMPC 3
Corsair Cool
Corsair’s Cool kit is essentially a
rebranded Swiftech kit (reviewed
on page 50), but Corsair’s version is
much easier to install and work with
thanks to well-crafted documentation
that provides thorough step-by-step
instructions.
This is a CPU-only cooling kit; as
such, it includes just a single water
block—VGA and other coolers are
not available. The kit also includes a
reservoir that can be mounted in a 5.25-
inch bay, a 12V pump that affi xes to the
bottom of your case via an adhesive
pad, and a fan and 120mm radiator. The
distilled water and UV-reactive coolant
is carried via 3/8-inch tubing.
The Cool kit afforded us the
second-easiest installation of the
roundup, thanks to easy-to-understand
instructions and large, full-color
photos. A few disappointingly vague
instructions are what kept it from
being the easiset kit to install: In one
example, the manual was missing a
crucial detail regarding the orientation
of the water-block retention plate on
our LGA775 formfactor processor.
When we fact-checked this with
Corsair, we were told the manual has
since been updated to refl ect this
important change (fat lot of good that
did us ). We also inadvertently installed
the fan grille upside down, which
caused the fan to stop moving. Here
again, clear instructions could have
helped us avoid this mishap.
Corsair includes Swiftech’s “Radbox”
radiator mounting system, which lets
you affi x the radiator to practically any
size fan mount. Even if your case has
only a wee 80mm exhaust fan, you’ll be
OK—simply ditch the fan and use the
mounting holes to install the radiator.
In our tests, the Cool system
performed quite well, delivering the
second-lowest overall temperature at
idle, and the lowest temperature at
full load. Amazingly, the Corsair kit’s
temperature at full load was lower than
the stock heatsink/fan at idle (when
your PC is doing nothing).
That’s impressive performance, to be
sure, and if not for the few fairly serious
omissions in the documentation,
we’d have recommended this system
for beginners and experts alike. As it
stands, this kit seems ideally suited
for experienced users and semi-newbs
who simply want to replace the noisy
fan hovering over their CPU.
TEST RESULTS:
Cooling performance
The Cool kit is aptly named: It
exhibited the lowest temperature delta
from idle to 100-percent load of
any kit in the test. Its idle temp
of 38º C was four degrees lower
than the stock Intel cooler, and
its full-load temp of 44º C was
the lowest in the roundup.Ease of installation
This kit was the second-easiest
to install thanks to thoughtful,
step-by-step instructions. Still,
there were a few omissions
that caused us some serious
headaches. And because the
documentation is provided only in PDF
format, you’ll need to either print it out
beforehand or follow along on a laptop.Overclocking
We scored just a 400MHz overclock—
that’s only 40MHz higher than we
achieved with the stock cooler. This
makes the Cool kit the least-impressive
of the bunch in this respect, which is
odd given its stellar temps.Noise output
Because this kit requires a 120mm fan
to be mounted outside the case, it was
four decibels louder than stock.MA XIMUMPC VERDICT (^8)
$200, http://www.corsair.com
The Cool kit certainly looks cool,
and it acts cool too, pumping UV-
reactive coolant into an all-black
copper water block.
Two stretches of tubing are routed
to and from the radiator via this PCI-
slot pass-through connector.
The radiator assembly is a
honkin’ sucker that mounts to
the rear of the case. A 120mm
fan mounted right behind it sucks
air out of the case and blows it
through the radiator