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In The Box:::...
If looks could kill this box wouldn't
even give you a slight twinge in your bad knee, it's
your purely functional brown cardboard affair designed
to do its job and nothing more. I don't know if the
kits Asetek sent to retailers feature a better box
but if not they might want to think about at least
a sticker on their to help sell what's inside.
Forget about the box though, nestled
inside between two sheets of dimpled foam are the
components of the kit sat waiting to go. Despite the
box arriving here moderately beaten up after an obviously
harrowing journey, the contents were completely unharmed
which suggests the packing did its job. The shiny
copper blocks and black fan, radiator and pump gave
an instant good impression, this kit immediately looked
like it meant business!
I need to congratulate Asetek on their
manual here too. The diagrams are clear and concise
and it walks you through the entire process from start
to finish. I think it would benefit from a trouble-shooting
section at the back for instances where things don't
quite go to plan, and for the newer user it could
parhaps try to be a little more reassuring, but that
aside it's a very nicely worked manual. It even has
a clear plastic potective cover sheet that serves
no real purpose other than to make it look more professional.
Either that or to protect it from water splashes,
though if you're splashing water around to that extent
I strongly suggest you slow down and think about what
you're doing ;)
The Radiator:::...
Asetek have changed the radiator they
use in these kits in favor of the much respected Black
Ice Pro radiator modified with 10mm push fittings.
These are the simplest and probably most reliable
way to connect your water pipe for both the new and
the more advanced user. The pipe simply pushes into
the coupling where it passes through a sealing O-Ring
and is stopped from coming out again by a ring of
inward facing teeth or serrations. If the pipe should
need removing then it's as simple as pushing in the
blue collar which let's go the grip and the pipe can
be pulled free. No more overtightining your Jubilee
clips and having them slice through the pipe and no
more stress-splitting where the ends of the pipe are
stretched over the spurs! Not quite idiot-proof but
close, you do have to make sure they're pushed in
far enough!
Radiator Features:
- 4-pass Radiator specifically developed for PC
watercooling
- Rated for 360KCal per hour (1428 BTU per hour)
or 418W
- 120 mm (4.72 inch) Copper core consisting of flat
tubes for maximum heat conductivity
- High-density copper fin configuration for enhanced
heat dissipation
- Built-in plenum chamber for increased performance
and noise reduction
- Compact 150.4 x 128.6 x 25 mm (5.9 x 5 x 0.98
inch) dimensions allows it to fit inside most mid-tower
cases
Accompanying the radiator is a 120mm,
2300RPM SUNON fan pushing 83CFM when run on a 12V
feed. As we'll see later, the fan can also be operated
at 7 volts for reduced noise.
This is a great fan spoilt by only two
things, the use of sleeve rather than roller bearings
and the lack of a finger guard. Because of its relatively
low RPM rating the sleeve bearing is less of an issue
than it might be otherwise but I consider the lack
of a finger guard to be a pretty major oversight,
as you'll probably agree if you ever let one of your
pinkies wander into the blades.
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