Click to Enlarge

At this point I'd fired up the pump but not the fan, and this is where my enthusiasm was dampened somewhat. I'd set the system up (after some basic pipe work measurement in the system) outside of the case, as I wanted to make sure there was no leaks before I put it anywhere near my computer. I grabbed an old 200watt PSU and connected the fan up. The fan kicked in and ….. Oh no. The fan is loud, louder than my Air coolers. Were not talking Delta screamers or anything but according to the YS-Tech specs, it's at 40.5dB. That is by no stretch of the imagination quiet, which when it comes to watercooling, I was always lead to believe was one of the big plusses. That said, the specs also stated the fan was rated to run at 7-16 Volts. Whipping out my trusty needle nose pliers I swapped the ground lead over to the +5 volts, and dropped the fans running voltage from 12 volts to 7 volts (for more information on this see here). This made the fan run at just over half speed which is completely silent but would it be enough to keep the system cool?

Testing

The test system is as follows :-

Athlon Thunderbird 1.4
Abit AT7 Max
Windows XP (Sp 1)
GeForce 4 Ti4600

The Air coolers I'm comparing with are :-

AKASA Silver Mountain 2Q
Swiftech MCX462 with Coolermaster 3000 RPM 80mm FAN

I've tested the watercooling kit under both 12 volt and 7 volt operation, as although this isn't the way it is supplied, it is something that some users will want results on considering the noise generated at 12 volts. For idle settings, Windows was booted up and left for 15 minutes and a reading taken. For load settings Quake III Arena was left running a looped Timedemo for an hour and readings taken. This was done 3 times and the average temperature taken for each. Room temperature was maintained at 26C. In the case of the aircooling, the side of the case was left of because as I have stated before, my case really is a poor performer when it comes to heat. To keep things equal the side of the case was left off during testing of the watercooling kit, although the entire kit was placed inside the tower.

Temperatures in Degrees Celcius

... and for our friends south of the border...

Temperatures in Degrees Fahrenheit

You can see in the graph here that even with aircooling this 1.4 is a hot runner. In defence of the air coolers they are pretty quiet but they are still the loudest items in my system. The Watercooling kit however really does perform well, with temperatures at load rarely reaching the idle of the aircoolers. Running the fan at 12 volts is quite loud and as you can see even running the fan at 7 volts the temperatures are very good for such a hot running chip. So what about overclocking? Overclocking with the aircoolers raises the temperatures above by 2C across the board on both with an increase in the voltage from 1.75v to 1.85v. With the watercooling kit the temperature remains the same as at stock speeds and voltages. For the first time I was able to reach 1540Mhz. I had always suspected that this CPU's ceiling was 1533, and whilst were only talking a 7Mhz increase here, the fact that it allowed me to run higher than ever before should not be dismissed. And in total silence. There wasn't a difference in running the fan at 12 volts or 7 volts to the overclocking results, but considering the noise factor I know which one I will be running from now on :) All in all a great performance from the watercooling kit.

Final Words

This is a great kit at a great price (£143). The kit includes everything you need to get running except the water, and with push fittings throughout it couldn't be easier to setup. It literally takes just a few minutes to have the kit up and running and the results are fantastic, with drops in temperature of 6C compared to aircooling. The kit does have a few little flaws, such as the instructions; it would have just been nice to have more of a visual aid to go with the simple text. The lack of clips for the pipe work is not a flaw however as they are not needed at all. The push fittings ensure that everything is water tight and leak free.

There was really only one real let down and that was the included fan. Watercooling has always appealed to me as much for its noise levels as its performance, and the included 120mm fan is not quiet at all. The fan is rated to run at 7 volts (which is how I'm running it) but this isn't how the kit was shipped or intended for use. Running it at 7 volts doesn't increase the temperatures by a big amount, no more than 2C, and reduces the fans noise output to complete silence. Perhaps some sort of fan speed device could be included with the kit? Visually, the kit is stunning with a simple and clean aesthetic throughout and it's nice to see thought has gone into this area of design as well as the performance of the kit. Ease of use is a theme throughout, from the push fitting connectors for the pipe work to the wind up screw on the waterblock clip. The fact that this is a watercooling kit only and not enclosed in a case of some kind makes it very versatile, with nothing stopping you moving it from system to system as and when you upgrade.

I'm really torn at this point as to whether or not to give the kit an Editor's Choice award. Considering the price, ease of use and performance, it is certainly deserved of one, but that noisy fan is bugging the hell out of me. There's nothing to stop you changing the fan or reducing its speed but this is not how the kit arrives. If you are looking to get into watercooling for the first time this is the kit to get, for the price you will be hard pushed to find similiar at the same quality. If you're a watercooling junkie, you might do better to look at the components on an individual basis. All of the components in this kit are available separately, and there is also a waterblock designed for the P4 (basically the same with just a different clip, though still as good looking). With the exception of the fan, I'm personally very pleased and impressed with the entire kit. Big thanks to the guys over at Wet and Chilly Chips for supplying the review kit.

Pro's
The performance is great
It really does look drop dead gorgeous
Easy to set it up
Versatility, you're not tied down to one case
The coolness factor when showing off to your friends

Con's
Fan is quite loud
Instructions, whilst easy to follow, could do with some visual aids

Bottom Line
This is a really good looking and well performing complete kit at a great price. The fan is quite noisy, so if silence is something your looking for, be prepared for some extra wiring work or cash spent on a new fan/fan speed control device.