Test Setup - Pentium 4 3360MHz

ASUS P4C800-E: Pentium 4 2.8B (21x160) @ 1.8v, 2 x 512MB Kingston HyperX PC4000 (2.5-3-3-6), AIW Radeon 9800 Pro, 120GB Western Digital SE 8MB Cache, Windows XP SP1, VIA Hyperion 4in1 drivers 4.51, ATI Catalyst 4.1.

All testing methodology is identical to our Athlon XP tests on the previous page, though we'll be dropping the CPU Idle speed tests.

7v Fan (Swiftech) and Mode 2 (Koolance) - Load

Even though our Engineering Sample 2.8B is running at 3.36GHz, both water cooling kits are keeping the CPU in the 45°C range with the fans running at their low speed settings. We can see that the thermal probe is reading 34°C, therefore the Exos-Al's fans are staying at 45% speed.

Full Speed (Swiftech) and Mode 3 (Koolance) - Load

With the fans at maximum speed, the Exos takes this one by a mere 0.5°C. Again, the Exos-Al is quite loud at this setting, and with only a 2.5°C improvement over the lower Mode 1/2 settings, I'll let you decide if the noise is worth it.

Final Words

There is a lot to like about Koolance's latest Exos-Al. This unit was by far the easiest water cooling setup I've had the opportunity to test, and the performance is very close to some of the top liquid cooling kits we've looked at before. Initial setup took about an hour, and that was mostly because I had to pause to take pictures. For beginners, the included manual is very well put together, and illustrates every step in setting it up. Even veterans will appreciate the ease of use, and personally, I liked how easy and quick it was twhen i had to swap it from one rig to another.

Performance was very good, especially when you consider the size of the pump and hoses. Normally, a pump of this size spells trouble for serious overclockers, and a 1/4" OD hose isn't exactly the best choice when putting together a high-performance water cooling setup. However, Koolance did a remarkable job of optimizing flow-rate in the entire package, and the end result was better-than-expected performance. The CPU-300-H06 was one of the reasons why I believe the kit did well, as the larger size and the number of pins in the "maze" was enough to push it past the Swiftech MCW5000 in some of the tests. We didn't go over the GPU-180-L06 water block much today, but we'll give it a closer look (as well as a 1/2" OD CPU-300-H06) in the near future.

Using the Koolance Exos-Al is as easy as pressing a button. While other cooling kits will need you to either change a fan, volt-mod it, install a rheostat, or reach inside to flip a jumper, the Exos does all this froma simple button on the top of the unit. As we've mentioned earlier, the Exos is not silent, even at 45% fan speed, but it is not disruptive. However, Mode 3 is as loud as the loudest air coolers, but for those looking to get the best performance, that's the price you'll have to pay.

There are a few areas we think that should be addressed, and that's the coolant and temperature monitoring. I believe all Exos-Al kits will come with the coolant mixture pre-mixed, and although it is sealed in a rather durable bag, it is still just a bag. It is sealed in another bag, but it's still just a bag! We didn't have any leaks (whew), and Koolance does do a good job of placing it in the box, but we all know how clumsy delivery people can be.

The temperature LED is a nice touch, and with the ability to switch between Celcius and Fahrenheit, any user can monitor temperatures in whichever format they feel comfortable with. Unfortunently, the teperature probe seems to misreport the actual temperature, and this can be a problem if you're relying on Mode 1/2 to speed up the fans as the CPU heats up. The CPU will end up running hotter, and longer since the Exos is waiting for the trigger points to speed up the fan.

Other than those minor issues, the Exos-Al is certainly worth a look, especially if you're the type to change hardware components often. With my other kits, and given the number of motherboard and CPU tests I need to do, I often dreaded the removal of 75% - 100% of my water cooling setup to test something new. The Exos has cut this down to simply removing a water block. At , it's priced rather competitively with other kits at this performance level, and has the advantage of being one of the easiest setups on the market.

Pros: Good performance, excellent quality, very easy setup.

Cons: Cooling mixture ships in a bag! Temperature probe is not accurate.

Bottom Line: If ease of use is what you're after, then the Exos-Al is for you. Performance-minded enthusiasts shouldn't pass this over either, as it did quite well in our tests today. The ease in which it can move from PC-to-PC is reason enough to save some cash for this.

If you have any comments, be sure to hit us up in our forums.

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