Components and Design (cont’d)
Radiator — Fan — RadBox Assembly
The Corsair COOL kit comes with a radiator, 120mm fan and a RadBox, which permits easily mounting the radiator onto the rear of most any case regardless of what size case fan is used. This configuration also permits cool room air to be sent thru the radiator rather than warm case air for optimum thermal efficiency.
The radiator (Black Ice Pro) comes with 3/8′ tubing barbs and can be mounted on the inside of a case with a 120mm case fan opening or on the rear of the case with the RadBox hardware.
Radiator — Technical Specifications
- 2-pass radiator specifically developed for PC water-cooling
- High-density louvered copper fins for optimum heat dissipation
- Mounting flanges designed for 120mm fan
- Compact size 157 x 133 x 25mm (5.9 x 5 x 0.98′)
The COOL kit includes a 120mm x 38mm Panaflo FBA12G12L low speed flan for increased airflow with minimal noise.
120mm Fan — Technical Specifications
- Voltage: 7~13.8 VDC
- Current: 0.18 A
- Speed: 1,700 RPM
- Airflow: 68.9 CFM
- Noise: 30 dBA
Once assembled, the three components make up an easy to install radiator/fan combo.
Waterblock
The waterblock Corsair selected for the COOL kit is a Swiftech MCW6000 all copper block that incorporates a free-flow, thin-pin design. This configuration maximizes the surface area exposed to the coolant and promotes turbulent flow, which contributes to enhanced convection heat transfer.
Two different versions of the waterblock are available depending on what processor you will be using. One has a flat bottom for use with Intel P4 (socket 478) and AMD Athlon 64 (socket 754/939/940) CPUs. The other style has a stepped bottom for use with Intel P4 (socket 775) and Athlon XP (socket 462) processors. The base of the COOL waterblock has a smooth machined finish and appears to be flat.
Corsair includes all the necessary hardware for mounting the COOL waterblock onto the particular processor of your choice. For this review I will be using the AMD K8 hardware for an Athlon 64 3200+ CPU.
Prior to installing the waterblock I measured the thermal resistance and pressure drop using a thermal die simulator (80 watts input) and my waterblock test stand.
The following graph shows the relationship between thermal resistance (C/W) and pressure drop (DP) for various flow rates.
The MCW6000 is one of the better waterblocks on the market. The 6000 version with 3/8′ tubing barbs has a higher flow resistance than 6002 (which uses ½’ inlet and outlet barbs) but is well suited for the 3/8′ ID based COOL system.
Tubing
The tubing supplied with the COOL water cooling kit is a thin-wall, PVC (vinyl) tubing measuring 3/8′ ID x 1/2″ OD x 6′ long.
In addition, the waterblock comes with two 24′ pieces of tubing pre-attached (with Oetiker clamps). I’m not a big fan of thin-wall vinyl tubing and here’s why…
Thin-wall tubing kinks too easily. Corsair supplies a short piece (20′ long) of Coolsleeves, which can be cut into sections and installed over the tubing to help minimize kinks and keep the tubing from collapsing. Unfortunately there is not enough of it to treat all the tubing in the system. (I personally prefer a slightly heavier wall silicone or vinyl tubing for use in PC water-cooling systems.
Accessories
The PCI slot bracket provides an easy means for routing the tubing and wiring from the RadBox assembly inside the computer case.
A colorful large format, multi-language, printed Quickstart Guide is provided along with a CD-ROM. The detailed, 23-page Installation Guide is in a printable (8.5 x 11) .pdf format.