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A
Closer Look- Inside:::...
Though
fairly busy looking inside, you're left with the distinct
feeling that the 200EX was a genuine clean-sheet design.
Many other companies produce excellent water cooling
products but when you inspect them you can almost
sense the thought processes involved as they scrambled
for ways to tie all the components together. The 200EX
however looks like it was designed and built without
compromise. It all just looks right.
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Radiator
Side View, No Cover
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The
aluminium radiator with its cylindrical tanks underlines
the importance of adding the supplied 150ml bottle
of Propylene Glycol to the water when filling. Without
this, the copper block and aluminium radiator would
react and begin to corrode. Corsair suggests a 66/33
mix of water and additive. You could possibly use
regular Ethylene Glycol (auto antifreeze/coolant)
at a pinch as this is just the more toxic equivalent
of Propylene Glycol. I really wouldn't advise running
just water though.
It's
also important to use only distilled water in the
Hydrocool, or in any water cooling system if it comes
to it. The lack of dissolved minerals in distilled
water makes it a very poor electrical conductor and
stops the minerals depositing themselves in the radiator
or water block channels and reducing performance.
I'm
assuming the mixing of materials is a cunning decision
by Corsair rather than just bad planning. Copper is
used in the block to soak up the heat as it's what
copper does best, while aluminium is used to dissipate
the heat into the surroundings because that's what
aluminium does best. It seems there may be a method
to the apparent madness after all.
Although
the air flow is from top to bottom (below), the arrows
show how the airflow also serves to keep the pump
motor cool too. The blue, three bladed fan-type thing
at the top is the flow confirmation meter. It's not
electronically connected to anything, it's purely
a visual aid. It's also the narrowest point in the
entire circuit which may have been a cause for concern
were the 200EX not specifically designed for a low-flow
situation. Plus, as I've said in the past, low flow
may mean more time soaking up heat in the water block
but it also means more time giving up that heat in
the radiator, so provided the two are well matched
it really makes no difference how fast the water is
flowing, well, within reason.
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Top
View Reversed, No Cover
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The
pump is located quite low down which should stop any
air accumulating and increasing noise levels. We'll
take a closer look at the pump on the next page.
The
barbs from the pump and the reservoir were actually
touching in our sample which means any noise from
the pump was likely to be transmitted into the frame
of the unit via the reservoir
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Pump
- Reservoir Coupling
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Not
a problem in itself possibly but the reservoir wasn't
particularly well fastened to the framework with just
a single rivet top and bottom. I was actually able
to move the reservoir slightly with my hand so it's
not incoceivable it could begin to resonate in time.
Either two rivets are required or, better yet, screws/bolts
with rubber washers used to isolate the reservoir
from the frame!
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