The radiator uses a double pass design to help keep pressure drops to a minimum, but also uses flat style tubing to increase the heat conductivity. Both the tubes and the finned louvers are manufactured from copper and the whole unit is coated in this reflective black paint.

Adding the six 120mm Adda low speed fans does make the whole radiator assembly a large one but that’s the trade off for the quiet performance that you get. To add in the cooling performance of the fans, there is a plenum area that raises the fans away from the radiator surface, however I would have liked to have seen this be a greater depth.

The WaterChill Extreme 12v Integrated Pump/Reservoir is as the name suggests a 12v pump and reservoir in one unit; however we also have at the rear the connections for the control of the system via USB and software. At the rear, the top row of pins you can see in the pictures are the points for connecting the optional LCD (as found on the VapoChill's and sold separately from the kit), two temperature probes (included) and also a point to connect an LED (optional) which can be put in a pre drilled hole within the reservoir underneath. The bottom connection points are the two 3 pin fan headers (used in conjunction with the supplied fan cables can power up to 24w), the USB header and the 4 pin Molex below.

The top of the pump has two push-fits and a screw top reservoir fill hole. The bottom of the pump reservoir assembly snaps on to a plate which you attach four rubber suction pads; this helps to cut down on vibration as well as facilitate mounting.

Installation is pretty easy, although it is one that (in my case for Socket 775 at least) you will need to remove the motherboard to install the CPU mounts. The metal posts use nylon washers and screws to attach to the motherboard in the four mounting points. You then simply slide the CPU block over the top, drop the four springs on to the posts, and then put the thumbscrews in place. Tighten them all the way down and the block is mounted with the springs providing the downforce.

The Chipset block is easier still, but I'm not too happy at using zip ties; that said, since Intel boards use those hoops for mounting chipset cooling, and in the interests of keeping the chipset block universal, there isn't much else you could do. Still, bottom line, it works. Unfortunately I have no graphics card to use with this block currently so we'll have to settle for results with just two blocks instead.

Since the CPU block has one inlet and two outlets you'll need to set up the tubing using the supplied Y adapter. I'll tell you now; I had a problem with the CPU block and the tubing. It's not a fault of the block per se, rather me not pushing the tubing in far enough. Unlike the other blocks and even the Y adapter, the push-fits in the CPU block are a lot lower in depth, and I while I made triple sure my tube cutting was perfectly straight, and while I made sure I had pushed the tubing in far enough, I still had leaks from all three push-fits in the CPU block. The end 'solution' was the fact I hadn't pushed the tubing in far enough. So when you've pushed the tubing in as far as it will go, you probably have another 3mm or so to go and need to keep pushing. I would like to see this made bold in the instructions as while it seems like a stupid mistake on my part, I wouldn't be surprised to find out I am not alone in my error.

The radiator, as I mentioned earlier, is large, but as you will see the, performance is worth it. I’ve bracketed mine under the stand that my PC sits on, although looking on the asetek site I can see a link to a forum thread on installing this same radiator in a case.

Once all of the tubing is correctly connected, it’s time to use the supplied PSU System Aside Power Initiating Device (the green wire). You unplug the ATX cable (and any AUX cables you may have, use the green wire in the correct holes (green and a black, as described in the instruction leaflet) and start filling the system with deionised/distilled water. About halfway you can use the supplied Water Wetter as well. Once you have the system filled, any trapped air (in my testing anyway) will be gone after the first few minutes, and while I’ve not asked and not read anything to confirm it, my guess is that this pump is self-priming.

The last things to do when you have the system filled are replace the fill cap, put the temp probes where you wish, and plug your ATX/AUX cables back into the motherboard.