Installation

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PC2-C

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Small transparent water tank with two pumps inside
Fans on top of the case two in and one out
Room for lots of drives

The first of the two cases that I tried was the PC2-C, it is based on a standard ATX form factor mid tower, a bit small for my liking but perfectly OK for most people; the case measures approximately 18.1″(46cm) x 7″(17.8cm) x 17.9″ (45.5 cm) (length x width x height) and can accommodate a motherboard with a maximum size of up to 12.5″ x 10.25″ (31.75cm x 26cm) or 10.25″ x 10.75″ (26cm x 27.3cm); this may sound like plenty of room but it isn’t as you will find out later in the review.

My first impressions were that the case was good quality with no sharp edges and the design of the cooling components were well thought out and a definite improvement on their previous attempt. The first thing you notice about this case is how well it is put together and the build quality of the case is excellent.

The case has Removable side panels and comes with thumbscrews so no need for a screwdriver, well not until you come to fit the power supply; because you need to remove the top of the case and fit it from above; you will also you will need to fit the power supply upside down.

PC2-601

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Three cooling fans, two out and one in
Quality looking case
Two large removable drive bays

The PC2-601 is Koolance’s new case and is a standard ATX full tower based on a case manufactured by Chenming; the case is in a different league than the PC2-C and has quality just dripping off it. The case comes with a locking side panel handle and front door for security and has two large removable drive bays that can easily fit three hard drives in each.

The only real difference on the cooling side of things between the two cases are:

  • The internal diameter of the tubing is larger on the PC2-601.
  • Koolance’s control board is in a different place and comes with a cooling fan.
  • The plastic airflow divider that is on the PC2-C has not been included.
  • The cooling fans on the top of the case are configured so you have two out and one in.

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So what do you get when you open the box, apart from the obvious you get a 200 CC bottle of Koolance’s Coolant, a length of spare tubing for adding optional components like chipset, GPU or hard drive coolers and the CPU retention clip. You also get some motherboard mounting risers, screws, cable ties and the ATX power supply connector jumper to start the power supply up without the need to connect the motherboard up.

Koolance supply the jumper because they suggest you fill the reservoir up without your components in the case, as a friend of mine recently pointed out to me “Water and electricity don’t mix”

Filling the reservoir up is common for both cases and is quite easy if you have a funnel but a pain if you don’t; the first thing you do is turn the case upside down and remove the plug from the underside of the case. After that you will need to add 100 CC of the supplied coolant and then top up the reservoir with distilled water and securely fit the plug.

After you fill the reservoir you will need to test for leaks and bleed the air from the system, you do this by powering the PSU up with the jumper between pin 4 and 6 of the ATX connector; this will start the pumps and start pumping liquid around, and while you are doing this you can lean the case forward and back to remove any air pockets that are in the heat exchanger.

Once you are happy that you are not leaking and you have bled the system you can fit your hardware…

On the PC2-C things start getting a bit tight; the power supply I used was a Sparkle 400 W and it only just fit and I also had problems with routing the cables past the plastic divider.

The next problem I came up against was fitting the motherboard; my motherboard is an Epox 8KHA+ (Not the largest of mainboards) and to fit it I needed to unscrew the coolant reservoir and move it towards the front of the case about an inch.

The above problems were more of an inconvenience than a problem and apparently are going to be resolved with the next revision of the case. During the Installation of the CD Rom I found that the top corner of the motherboard was very close to the back end of the drive and could cause a problem so if you are choosing the PC2-C you may need to research your hardware first or you could be disappointed.

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With the PC2-601 the installation went very well and the only problems I found are not that much of a problem but could cause a problem to some people. The first problem I found was how close the PSU came to the outlet from the heat exchange, the second problem is on the same lines as the first, in that the inlet to the heat comes very close to the top 5.25″ drive bay.

Fitting the CPU waterblock is very easy and is far easier than I thought, it is similar to fitting a heatsink but after fitting the retention clip you just turn the knob on the clip to tighten down on the CPU; you know when it is tight enough because it will click and will not tighten any more. Also notice that in the below picture of the waterblock there is an air bubble; you will need to get rid of all the air from the system or it could compromise the cooling performance.

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