Conclusion

Performance

While both the Koolance EXT-440CU and the Cooler Master Glacer 240L units performed admirably during both sets of tests, the Glacer 240L was better equipped to handle the added heat load of the Poseidon GTX 780. The Glacer's performance increase minimally during the stock and overclocked CPU tests with no throttling evident during either run. The Koolance unit struggled more with the added heat load introduced by the increase CPU speed during the overclocking test with a minimal amount of CPU throttling witnessed during the run.

Conclusion

Before continuing with our parting thoughts for this multi-block performance analysis, we would like to take this opportunity to give our friends at Cooler Master, Koolance, and ASUS a hearty "Thank You" for contributing the test units needed to complete this article. Both of the cooling units are made with high quality copper CPU blocks and radiators with 5/8" x 7/16" tubing used. The major difference between the EXT-440CU and the Glacer 240L is in the radiator sizing – the EXT-440CU comes standard with a 120mm radiator, while the Glacer 240L comes with a 240mm long radiator. Both radiators are constructed of copper with brass liquid collection chambers, ensuring optimal heat exchange between the coolant medium and the radiator fins.

The Koolance unit does boast an FPI (fins per inch) of almost double that of the Cooler Master unit, 21 FPI versus 11 FPI. However, the increase in fin density was not enough to offset the additional heat load of adding the ASUS Poseidon card to the loop – the radiator size really stood out as a deciding performance factor. Even the greater flow rate of the Koolance unit at full speed (7 L/m), per the Koolance site specifications versus the 3 L/m flow rate of the Cooler Master unit, was not enough to offset the cooling potential of the Glacer 240L's larger radiator. From a sound perspective, adding the GPU into either cooling loop added no additional ambient noise to the system. This is in part because of the low-noise operation of the ASUS Poseidon graphics cards.

In practice, you will have a noticeable noise reduction when you replace a graphics card's stock cooler with a water block because of the removal of those graphics fans from the system.

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