When I heard Corsair would sell a water cooling kit, I was so happy. I knew this memory manufacturer provides the best performance and quality available. After the CeBit convention in Hannover, Germany, was over, I didn't think I could get my hands on this unit up until I saw all the other reviews on the Internet and decided, it must be readily available, which it was at various stores, but hard work paid off, especially seeking this cooler at a cheap price. Thanks to Monarch Computers for getting this unit in my hands for a pleasant 4th of July gift. I'd recommend them in a heart beat, as I'll state it again, that the more exotic equipment they sell are cheaper than many online resellers.

Corsair's Production Description

Corsair Memory, Inc., an industry leader in ultra-performance DDR DRAM modules for gaming and overclocking applications, has announced the development of a new high efficiency external water cooling unit for performance computing enthusiasts. This product is designed to provide up to 200 Watts of cooling while significantly reducing fan noise.

The first in a family of cooling products, the HydroCool200 uses patented cooling technologies from Delphi Thermal Systems, the world's largest manufacturer of liquid-based cooling systems. Corsair, using Delphi's unsurpassed expertise in thermal physics, has engineered a feature-packed product that sets new standards in water cooling integration and performance.

The heart of the system is the copper cooling block which removes heat from the processor. Though very small and light, the block contains enhanced microchannel surface technology using Delphi-patented technology. The microchannels present a huge contact area between the liquid and metal, providing outstanding thermal efficiency.

The microprocessor-controlled unit offers a multitude of monitoring services, many of which are user definable. These monitoring services include alarms when temperature thresholds are reached and different cooling levels depending on temperature. The unit has a carrying handle and self sealing quick connectors for transportability without having to bleed the system when reconnecting.

The Hydrocool comes with retention brackets for both the P4 and K7 CPUs, as well as a visual flow meter to check water movement. The user can read the temperature of the cooling block from a large display on the front on the unit. The unit is also built for quiet operation; in normal circumstances the unit runs in a barely-audible "whisper mode". When the processing load demands more power, the Hydrocool automatically switches to "Turbo mode" for full cooling capabilities.

Box Contents

Monarch shipped it in the original box from Corsair, which I wish they didn't, but at least Corsair didn't tried to make the box an eye catcher.

So you see, the box isn't too bad, it's in a pretty good shape, and fortunately, it is inconspicuous and it is a plain white box. Considering the box is not what I am after, I don't mind Monarch sending this box over being the original.

After I cut open the tape, I see that Monarch slipped in the invoice and everything was packed nicely even though there were no peanuts, I could tell there wasn't any movement as everything fit perfectly. Once opened, everything was there for the kit, minus the water of course.

You receive the following:

• Propylene Glycol - green stuff, prevents Corrosion to the Corsair unit from the water

• A D-sub cable which sends signals from the IC card to the unit itself the power, temperature reading, etc.

• 5 feet of hoses, 1/4" ID and 3/8" OD

• A set of manuals and a quick start guide - one in English and one in German

• A funnel for pouring the water

• 2 sets of metal clamps for the heatsink and 2 sets of clamps for the right angle hose fittings

• 1 pair of right angle clamps to attach to the Corsair unit

• 1 4-pin Molex extension cord

• Universal waterblock to attach to AMD's Socket 462 and Intel's Socket 478

• Waterblock bracket for Socket 478

• 2 heatsink retentions - 1 for Socket 462 and 1 set for Socket 478 -- One great feature for the Socket 462 is the implementation of using all 3 clips on each side of the CPU socket.

• A syringe of thermal grease, dark silver in color?

• 1 IC card that controls when the HydroCool turns on, read out temperatures, and power to the unit

• And of course, 1 Corsair HydroCool200 unit

Installation

Let me begin by telling you to PLAN before you install, I was too anxious to install this kit and made a bunch of mistakes, so I hope you learn something when you read this article. I open up my case and this is what you see

I know the case is messy, feel free to critique my case here.

I took off my stock 1.6 GHz heatsink, took an Alcohol swab and cleaned off the heatsink and a new one for the CPU, plus removed lots of dust around the CPU area. With that out of the way I put on the heatsink bracket for the Socket 478.

Low and behold, I put on the thermal grease supplied with the HydroCool200 and then as I tried to put the heatsink on, guess what? There wasn't full contact with the CPU. So I had the thermal grease all over the heatsink (in a thin layer, mind you), and I had to be careful not to get it all over the hoses. Tthey were wrapped up in a circle and when I took them apart that's what they kept doing, going back in the circle. After about a minute of fiddling with it, you get this:

Now that it was installed, I put the hoses through the IC card, and as I was pulling them through I saw the hoses crossed over each other. I didn't like it, maybe you do?

Annoyed, I had to take the hoses back out and fit them through again so it wouldn't do that. Once that was accomplished, I was happy with nearing completion. With the hoses done, I went to slip on the right angle fittings. After I slipped them on, I was thinking, was I supposed to slip the metal ones in first? Then I tried taking the right angle pieces off; it was not coming off. So I found some assistance and found out that it's OK NOT to use the metal fittings as they were extras for the heatsink, and there was extras for the plastic ones.

I got the plastic locks to make it secure with 3 clicks, very hard to close. After I hooked up the hoses to the Corsair unit I decided to put in the Y connector, the short end goes connects the case's power switch, and the end of the Y goes to the spot where the power switch went, and you put the long end to "J5" of the IC card so that when you push the power button on the computer the HydroCool springs to life. At the same time, I put in the sensor on the heatsink block and wrapped up the excess around the hoses.

After that, everything was hooked up perfectly and I began to pour in the green stuff. It's a pretty thick solution.

I was going to fill it up with some Aquafina, but because that's FILTERED bottled water, and there's this one warning page in the manual that says:

Use only Corsair additive with distilled water to the unit to fill the reservoir, the use of tap water or any other additives may cause an adverse chemical reaction and void your warranty. This additive is essential for a long product life as it prevents the copper block reacting with aluminum parts and stops bacterial growth. If tap water is mistakenly used in the system, flush the system with distilled water and drain it prior to installing the proper coolant/distilled water mix.

Well, I'm not prepared to void my warranty on this water cooler, hence, I didn't open the unit like all the review sites. Sorry, but I didn't pay this with my pretty penny just to void the warranty.

I filled the unit up and everything worked well, actually, as planned, as the unit had this high pitch noise and the display showing FILL. I filled it up and have been using it for over 6 hours to keep bleed it and etc.

Conclusion

Well, as far as performance goes, I was too anxious to take a screen shot of the temperatures I had, but believe me, it was well into the 50C range because I run FaD, so it'd be on full load. Here's a picture from the BIOS and a screen shot of the temps with the water cooler.

Pros:

• Everything is included for a relatively cheap price of $230 shipped

• Manual sheet is confusing about the clamps but very easy to follow

• Well packaged

• Performs good

Cons:

• Pretty loud on the table, but under the table I'm sure it's not as noticeable. It is not loud as Delta or Vantec Tornado fans, but it's audible.

• D-Sub cable can be too short, I was afraid it wasn't going to reach

• Thermometer in the front of the HydroCool in C goes in .5C increments

• Manual and Quick installation guide contradicts update sheet -  Manual says use half of the bottle, the sheet says use all of it. I used the whole bottle.

• The connector from the sensor on the heatsink is stupid, uses something like the digital connector to optical drives. It did not quite make full contact like the one used for the power switch.