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Fractal Design Kelvin S36 360mm Liquid Cooler Review

Cooling/CPU Cooling by leeghoofd @ 2015-05-19

Swedish Fractal Design already revealed its upcoming Kelvin CPU water cooling series way back at CeBIT 2014 in Hannover. At last year's Computex we saw the same prototypes again, scheduled for a summer release. Finally in December 2014 the retail versions popped up; Fractal Design added three AIO models to their Kelvin AIO line-up: a 120mm radiator T12 Kelvin, the S24 being the 240 radiator version and the flagship S36 as the triple fan version. Today we have a look at the latter version, the Kelvin S36. The AIO market is already pretty saturated with versions from Antec, Corsair, Cooler Master, Enermax and Swiftech. What makes this Fractal Design S36 stand out from the crowd? Time to explore the Sweed's high end product.

A Closer Look Part II

The oversized copper radiator should improve the cooling performance of this Fractal Kelvin S36 drastically versus any other AIO. In contradiction with the smaller T12 model only the pump unit is equipped with a fill port to facilitate eventual refilling. The cooling fluid to be used can be anything from distilled water to ready to use cooling fluids. Because the Kelvin S26 uses a copper base plate and idem ditto radiator no galvanic corrosion should occur, meaning no extra additives should be required to ensure a hassle free operation.

The difference in radiator thickness is also apparent. On the left the 360radiator of the S36 and on the right the thick 120 radiator of the T12 Kelvin, A decision probably made to enhance enclosure compatibility.

Each Kelvin S36 series AIO includes three 120mm Fans of the HPM Silent series, rated at a max RPM of plus minus 1700 RPM at 26.9dB(a). These will make this cooling unit, even when running the fans at full blast, to be far less audible than any high performance 240 AIO out there.

The fans need to be hooked up straight to a motherboard power connector via the provided 3-Fan splitter cable. Long and short screws are provided to mount the fans to the radiator. Good to see also a syringe of cooling thermal paste instead of pre-applied thermal paste. The 1g syringe contains enough thermal paste for several remounts.

The Kelvin series are compatible with all Intel from LGA775 on and all available AMD sockets. For LGA2011 & LGA2011-V3 there is no back plate installation required. Assembly is pretty straightforward: select the right screws, install the spring and washer and secure it via the provided nut. Slide in both brackets on the pump unit and secure the assembled unit via a Phillips screwdriver; over-tightening is not possible as the spring tension is predetermined, thus a perfect mount can be obtained install after install.

On AMD, the installation is also pretty easy, just remove the top plastic mounting bracket and reuse the backplate. Prepare the screws with the springs, washer and nut and bolt the pump unit down.

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