Conclusion by A-star:

Corsair did a great job, their Hydrocool unit is a proof that they make good quality products and a good start-off into the water cooling market.
I really liked this unit, is easy to install, easy to transport (I took it with me to a LAN party) and is cooler then a high end (low noise) air cooling solution (SLK-800). This is really a unit for people who want to get into water cooling but don't have to knowledge or courage to build it up from separate parts.

Another good thing is that you can program 2 alarms on the unit. When it reaches the first alarm it will put the fan in turbo mode, reaching the second alarm it will power off the computer. This prevents your CPU from overheating.
It's a good thing Corsair incorporated this in the unit. There is also an alarm if there is not enough water in the unit. (More on that at the end of this page)

I have some remarks about the unit though. It makes some kind of low humming noise, the included fan is not exactly silent and it makes a lot of noise when running in TURBO mode

In the end I can recommend this unit to everyone that is looking for some readymade water cooling solution, you won't regret buying it. It offers good performance for an acceptable price.

Compact
easy to install
easy to transport
good temperatures.

Humming noise at normal fan speeds
Loud when fan is at TURBO speed.




Conclusion by BiCker:

Performance wise this is a big yes for everyone who doesn't have the time or knowledge to assemble a custom water cooling solution, the only thing that bothered me a bit is the humming noise the unit makes. At first I suspected the pump, but after opening the unit and stopping the fan it vanished. The fan is doing 1700rpm under normal conditions but I couldn't find the cfm for it. It might be a good solution to replace the fan by a more silent one but I don't know how this will affect the performance of the unit....


Warning:One very important warning to all Hydrocool owners: do a thorough check on the clamps holding the tubes on the water block!! This afternoon when I started my system nothing happened, after opening my case I noticed coolant on the bottom and the graphic card. When I touched one of the clamps it loosened and more water came pouring out!! The leak must have been tiny since the unit has been running for a few days without the low water level alarm sounding. As usual when testing a water cooling system I had it running some time to check for leaks before hooking the unit up and no leak was found during that time. This little problem caused my main board & graphic card to die! Corsair has been contacted on this matter, whenever I get a reply this article will be updated with more info how they deal with such factory errors.

Update (23-09-2003): Since this unfortunate incident I replaced the clamps and the unit has been running since then without any leaks. I think it save to say this was a very unfortunate, one of a kind incident, maybe due to a unique "misfire" of the machine responsible for placing the clamps or a bad clamp...

I talked with Paul Watkins from Corsair about this matter and he explained the quality control:

These systems are tested with high pressure air, to detect any such leakages. It would be the first time that such an escape had happened in the thousands that we have shipped. Also the clamps on the blocks are fitted at the factory, to reduce the risk of a user connecting a block clamp incorrectly.

Corsair asked me to send the block and tubes back in order to examine this issue and make sure they can continue delivering products of the outstanding quality the name "Corsair" stands for...




We would like to thank to Corsair for providing us with these two test units.



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