LarKooler SkyWater 330 DYI Kit Review

Cooling/Water Cooling by leeghoofd @ 2014-05-19

LarKooler was established in 2009 to manufacture cost-effective PC cooling solutions. MadShrimps  reviewed their first entry in to the DYI in the end of 2009; while it was not the most high end or best performing kit out there, the total picture was right on track with LarKooler's main objective: provide good cooling performance at an amazing bang for buck ratio. Since a few years AIO units took over a big part in the cooling business, with the most successful being the Corsair Hydro series. Ease of installation is their main trademark, however as most of these are closed loop, there is no option to integrate extra components in the cooling loop. The latter is the strong point of the DIY kits besides being versatile to add extra components they also provide awesome cooling performance at a low noise ratio. The SkyWater 330 kit today is one of those ready to build kits, however price wise it retails at a similar price as the high end 240/280 AIOs. Million dollar question can it beat those in raw performance figures ?

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Unboxing

The LarKooler SkyWater 330 is packed in a carrying box. Being a complete DIY liquid cooling system, the end user doesn't have to buy any other parts: just assemble and enjoy the cooling.

 

 

 

 

Unboxing reveals the clear 3/8" tubing, which is compared to previous Larkooler kits more flexible, though far from the Tygon tubing in high end kits, costing at least twice as much. The total tubing length is 160cm; the  radiator, pump/reservoir unit, coolant and mountings are neatly packed in their own separate compartment.

 

The pump:

 

 

 

The official name for the pump/reservoir unit is the Larkooler VR Pump with LED light and tank, quote a mouthful, yet the dimensions are compact. The tank/reservoir has several possible fitting positions. Here are the specifications:

  • Pump speed: 3600/5700rpm
  • Flow rate: 480L/hour
  • Max water lift: 400cm
  • Tank capacity: 250ml
  • Dimensions: (L) 136mm x (W) 67mm x (H) 75mm

 

The pump is adjustable via a small potentiometer; power is drawn from a 3 pin Fan connector on the motherboard.

 

 

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