CoolIT Omni A.L.C. - "H50" for your GPU

InvisiBill

InvisiBill

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Sort of like the ECO A.L.C., but for your GPU.

http://www.coolitsystems.com/index.php/omni.html

OMNI ALC offers the end user a function set never before present in a retail product. A fully upgradeable, factory sealed, liquid cooled video card solution is an industry first. No longer do we need to purchase an entirely new cooling solution for each generation of video card, only the video card specific interposer plate must be changed. By ensuring that the liquid loop becomes a part of the cooling system that survives beyond one generation of VGA technology, the long term costs of owning liquid cooled graphics are dramatically reduced. This keeps total cost of the ownership as low as possible and enables one of the most environmentally friendly products in the marketplace.

The OMNI ALC revolutionizes the video card cooling industry by providing an upgradable, high performance and cost effective universal liquid cooling solution that does away with the traditional design approach.

Because of the potential for varied tubing lengths this product is considered a custom liquid cooling solution. Please contact CoolIT Sales directly to order your custom solution today by phone 1-866-621-COOL (2665) or through our online form.
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omni_case.jpg


omniplates_2.jpg


omniplatest.jpg


I imagine a full custom watercooling setup will still be better, but this may be a way for average users to take advantage of some of the benefits of watercooling without all the complexity. Even if this doesn't offer amazing improvements in cooling (similar to how the H50 is comparable to a good air cooler), it at least allows you to use a 120mm fan on a radiator exhausting out of your case to cool the GPU (rather than a tiny, loud stock fan). It's hard to tell by the angle in the photos, but this may get the video card down to a single slot. And when you upgrade your video card, you only have to get a new adapter plate and can keep using the Omni ALC. According to some other reviews I've found, it also includes the wireless monitoring/control technology used in Maestro.

They did announce on the 26th that it will support the GTX480 too.

Now we just need to find out how much this semi-custom setup will cost when it's released this summer...
 
I see more of this kind of thing showing up on the market. Hoping they use a brass rad and avoid mixed metals, but costs will still be a challenge.

If aftermarket air gets you 90% of the performance at some fraction of the cost it could be a tough sell. I still like the "all in one" simplicity because life is busy these days.
 
A lot of cards have started putting display connectors on the second slot (as opposed to the card being strictly one slot and the cooler using the second slot), but I'd love to see this take off, leading to manufacturer options to buy a new video card with one of these adapter plates rather than a standard cooler. Your card would be single-slot by design and just plug into your modular cooling system. You wouldn't have to worry about removing the stock cooler and dealing with it (storage in case of RMA, selling it to recoup waterblock costs, etc.).

It would require you to have an Omni system, so the manufacturers might not find it very profitable, especially at first. However, it could work very well if the Omni got to be fairly common. With the Omni providing a universal watercooling interface, the card manufacturers could easily make adapter plates for their cards which mated to the Omni. If a bunch of cards started coming with the Omni interface, it should be easy for enthusiasts to make their own upgrade-friendly watercooling systems too. Just as they do now, they could use their own pumps, rads, and tubing, but go with the Omni waterblocks rather than the current card-specific (FC) or completely generic (MCW60) waterblocks. They'd get their improved performance, while being able to slap it on any Omni-compatible card that comes along.
 
I've been waiting for something like this now for a while. My question is: is a single 120mm rad enough to cool almost 300W of heat? The reason I ask is because an OC'ed i7 920 does between 140-150W of heat and that's barely being contained by the likes of Corsair's H50.
 
crazjayz said:
I've been waiting for something like this now for a while. My question is: is a single 120mm rad enough to cool almost 300W of heat? The reason I ask is because an OC'ed i7 920 does between 140-150W of heat and that's barely being contained by the likes of Corsair's H50.
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You would need to double 120mm rad to support that much heat... if you are going to run a 480GTX... you need a triple 120 rad :p

I want a double 120mm rad for my 2x5850 and that would good enough for me, as long as it is better then the stock cooler I would be fine

and my 920 is @ 4.2 with a H50 and it keeps it chill
 
I sent COOLIT an email regarding the cooler, as I had questions about price/availablility, and whether or not it would have an option for a 1x120mm rad. Here is the response:

"Thank you for your interest in our product. Our Omni ALC will have interposer plates that will allow the unit to be compatible with all newer Nvida and ATI video cards beginning with the Nvidia GTX 295 co-op edition and the ATI 5000 series. The Omni ALC can be used in a cross fire or SLI configuration by having the unit plumbed to a 240mm radiator. The unit should fit in most aftermarket chassis without concern and it will be sold by resellers through our distribution chain. The Omni ALC should be available around May. Once we have received stock of our Omni ALC more information will be available including the price point of the unit. "

It kinda sounds like the system will only ship w/ a 240mm rad? The statement is a little ambiguous depending on how you interpret it. Since it is an all-in-one closed system, I would not think that the cooler will ship w/o a rad allowing one to put the size they wish. I realize a 240mm would be better than a 120, but I will have to likely pick up a different PC case, or mount external/mod my case somehow to make it fit.
 
I for sure will want a 240mm for my 5850s :cool:

Thanks for the feedback on that. I emailed them too but have not got a email back :(
 
Probably the 240mm. All of those pictures are showing the 240mm (first pic has the 120 for cpu, 240 at the top for gpu's) with the cooler.
 
I was watching the CES video on their site and the single gpu block they were holding was attached to a 120mm but then read a few posts and it seems like they're gonna be all shipped with a 240mm rad. I'd prefer the latter or course.
 
hexus reviewed the single 120mm fan version on a 480gtx and it performed surprisingly well. However the price at $200 is a bit much
 
FYI, Hexus CoolIT OMNI A.L.C. review
Hexus said:
If, like this author, you enjoy a quiet computing experience, CoolIT's OMNI A.L.C. is heavenly.

Comparing it directly to a reference-cooled GeForce GTX 480, the difference in both operating temperature and noise is nothing short of astonishing. Whilst the air-cooled card can be heard in adjacent rooms, the OMNI-cooled setup is barely noticeable from just a few feet away.
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Hexus said:
During our session of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, the temperature of our OMNI-cooled GTX 480 rose to 73°C - a massive 20°C less than NVIDIA's reference design.

Furthermore, the cooler remains remarkably quiet. With the radiator fan spinning at a moderate speed, it is barely audible and quieter than most of the comparison air-cooled cards.
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Seems to be about like the ECO/H50 - not an amazing increase in performance, but it does do a good job of keeping it cool in real-world usage without sounding like a 747. In their overclocking test, they were able to push their GTX480 to a 16% overclock, but they got to 14% on the stock cooler (although very loud).


Nickbaldwin86 said:
wtf!!!!!? $200 for the single?

You could build a high pro loop for about that price :mad:
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From the Hexus review, it sounds like a 120 is plenty for even a GTX480, but if I'm buying a universal GPU cooler designed to easily handle any upgrade, I'd be tempted to get something that will undoubtedly handle future GPUs. I'd imagine a 240 option for a single GPU would only be a little more. It should just be one more fan plus the cost difference between a 120 rad and a 240 rad. A multi-GPU setup would also need another universal waterblock plus the interposer to mate up to the video card.

Hexus states that the interposer plates are expected to retail for up to $80. That seems like quite a bit for a simple metal plate that matches your video card's components on one side and is flat on the other to mate up to the Omni's universal waterblock. However, it should be easier for enthusiasts to make their own custom interposer plates than it would be to custom-design a full waterblock. If you have cooler cards, you might even be able to make some fancy dual-card plate that connects to a single Omni waterblock in a non-standard way (perpendicular to the cards near the case's side panel or down the back of the cards parallel with the case front).

If I could pay $200 for a 240 setup and upgrade to any new GPU with a $30 interposer plate, that seems like a decent value. Drop it down to ~$150 or less and it's much more attractive. If I'm paying $200 for a 120 setup and $80 for an upgrade plate, I might as well build my own loop and just spend a little more on a card-specific full-coverage block. The Omni's only real advantage there is that it's a factory-sealed system, but that basically just means that you're trusting CoolIT's assembly skills over your own. It also means that you can't take it apart for maintenance like you can with a custom loop (i.e. disposable vs. maintainable). The $75 ECO has the rad, fan, pump, and CPU waterblock already. For $125, you're dropping the CPU block and getting the power adapter (both fan and pump run off one header), universal waterblock, and whatever interposer plate it comes with.

I love the idea - I was actually halfway through posting a thread wondering about the feasibility of a system like the H50 for video cards when I found this. I don't expect miracles in the performance department, just "good" performance without pounds of metal stuck on the card, four slots taken up, and 747-like fans. However, for $200 base and $80 upgrades, you're talking several times more expensive than aftermarket air coolers and in the same range as custom watercooling. Too expensive for the casual user, not enough value for the watercooling folks.
 
If it is going to sell for $200, then it is definitely a no buy for me :( I priced a build my own water cooling loop for my 5850, and it would cost that much. However, it would also be able to cool my mobo, too.

It needs to sell for $100 with your first video plate to be worth it, IMO. Since you can't do any maintenence, and I would bet the warranty is a year or two, then it wouldn't have the longevity of a custom build.

So sad as I really wanted this. For the price, I could almost buy an entire new 5850.
 
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Standpoint said:
If it is going to sell for $200, then it is definitely a no buy for me :( I priced a build my own water cooling loop for my 5850, and it would cost that much. However, it would also be able to cool my mobo, too.

It needs to sell for $100 with your first video plate to be worth it, IMO. Since you can't do any maintenence, and I would bet the warranty is a year or two, then it wouldn't have the longevity of a custom build.

So sad as I really wanted this. For the price, I could almost buy an entire new 5850.
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Wow, for 200 it's pointless for people with existing water cooling setups. I can buy a video card block for $99.95. I already have two 360mm rad's, tubing, and a pump.

Would be nice if it was around the same price as the H50. :( Still in all honesty, a block for 20 more is better, just having to replace the blocks suck, which I guess is the only real reason I would want it. Don't suppose I could just buy the block? :D
 
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Anyone that is dumb enough to waste their $ on this and a h50... should really just build a custom watercooling setup...
 
The H50 is a good deal, easy to install, and priced right. This = priced way too high. It is comparable to a good air cooler for your GPU, but priced at double the cost of air.

I hope that they rethink their pricing on this.
 
Standpoint said:
But at $80 a plate, when a new block is about $100? Not really worth it.
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That's an $80 investment that you can use for future cards. A block you get for a 5850 can only be used for a 5850, not the next gen of cards. I'm willing to bet a specific block would be better still. however.

If I can find one, I might jump on it, and give a review. ;)
 
The one main point I see this being better is the maintenance-free factor. I got away from watercooling altogether because of the maintenance, leak risk, room for the equipment, etc, etc.

Though I think it still is overpriced a bit, and with the heat needing to be transfer over two metals/mediums over one, it might be less effective than regular watercooling, no?

If I was to watercool GPU's, and there wasn't an option to have a preinstalled waterblock (GTX480 FTW, 5870 LCS), then I could see myself using this system.
 
King Icewind said:
That's an $80 investment that you can use for future cards. A block you get for a 5850 can only be used for a 5850, not the next gen of cards.
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No, the $80 interposer plate adapts the Omni's universal waterblock to your specific card. You need to buy a new interposer plate each time you change your video card. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzQZ7SLnHoo&hd=1#t=01m17s Just like a regular waterblock, that $80 is an investment in your current card (and maybe another model or two if you're lucky).

Note that they do say "up to $80" for the interposer plates. Perhaps it's only the top of the line dual-GPU plates that cost that much, and most of them are only $20. We won't know until they're actually announced/released.

If these plates were in the $30 range, I'd personally consider it a much better value. If it was $150 for the starter kit and $30 for each upgrade, that would put you at $180 for two generations of cooling or $210 for three. $70-$90 per generation for watercooling isn't too bad, though it's still more than aftermarket air coolers and it does have that big initial investment. I'd expect that the [H] folks would adapt the Omni's universal block setup into a custom loop if some other part happened to die out of warranty, but for the common user, a dead pump or a leaky hose would mean that $200 went down the drain. The only way to fix it would be to buy another $200 unit.
 
I've been thinking a lot about this cooler, and also pricing out a customer WC setup for my card. I'm hoping that this $200 is MSRP, and that once it is out at stores, it will actually be less. I would consider any price under $150, and maybe even begrudgingly pay $200, as I can't stand my stock cooler. I really like the idea of pairing this w/ my H50, too.
 
I know this may be a totally weird question but I'm gonna ask it anyways. Let's forget about money at this point. I've never done watercooling on anything but this Coolit Omni seems interesting to me for a couple of reasons. I don't know that I really want to deal with a DIY watercooling setup that I need to maintain.

So from what I can tell the OMNI:

1) Gets rid of the noisy 480 fan.

2) It probably cools the card better than the noisy 480 fan.


One of the negatives about the Omni that I can see is that the 480 still uses 2 expansion slots. This is a negative for me because I want to be able to use my soundcard and dual 480 SLI, but that may not be possible with the 480's taking up so many expansion slots.

But what if.... (and I know this could get expensive and most may find it completely useless)

What if I bought one of the EVGA GTX 480 Hydro Copper FTW... those only take up one expansion slot from the picture:

http://www.evga.com/PRODUCTS/enlarge.asp?PN=015-P3-1489-AR&I=4


Now my question is.... is it possible to remove EVGA's waterblock and then place the Omni on the 480 card? Or do you think the EVGA waterblock is permenantly attached or impossible to take off without damaging the card?

I know this is weird, but I really want to watercool the card without having to buy a watercooling setup. I just don't feel that secure about the whole process (mainly in my ability to setup a watercooling system and maintaining it.) The Omni just seems a lot easier to work with. I've watched a few videos on how to take apart the 480 and how to install the OMNI. I know it would be way more expensive to do an Omni matched with an EVGA Hydro Copper FTW.... but as I said money is no object.

So, am I out of my mind, or do you think this is possible? And please no anti-GTX 480, or get a 5970 blah, blah, blah....because i'm not interested in hearing about that.

Thanks for any responses!
 
So you'll need a case that has two 120mm fans side by side? I don't see this working out for most cases compared to the 120mm solution.

Also, didn't the old CoolIT CPU coolers have a reputation for rusting and corrosion inside that was really bad?
 
HORNO said:
One of the negatives about the Omni that I can see is that the 480 still uses 2 expansion slots. This is a negative for me because I want to be able to use my soundcard and dual 480 SLI, but that may not be possible with the 480's taking up so many expansion slots.

But what if.... (and I know this could get expensive and most may find it completely useless)

What if I bought one of the EVGA GTX 480 Hydro Copper FTW... those only take up one expansion slot from the picture:

http://www.evga.com/PRODUCTS/enlarge.asp?PN=015-P3-1489-AR&I=4


Now my question is.... is it possible to remove EVGA's waterblock and then place the Omni on the 480 card? Or do you think the EVGA waterblock is permenantly attached or impossible to take off without damaging the card?
Click to expand...

Just looking at Newegg pics, all the GTX480 cards seem to be completely on the first slot, with the cooler taking up the second (unlike my 5870 which has a connector in the second slot). You should be able to get any of those cards and modify or replace the slot bracket so that the whole thing only takes up one slot.

However, I haven't seen a good pic of the Omni to show how much slot space it takes up. It looks like it should stay within the card's slot, but it's close. You definitely don't want it rubbing on the back of your sound card. http://img.hexus.net/v2/graphics_cards/nvidia/coolit/gtx480-omni-alc/omni-09-big.jpg


Spare-Flair said:
So you'll need a case that has two 120mm fans side by side? I don't see this working out for most cases compared to the 120mm solution.
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The Hexus review showed that the 120 version cooled the GTX480 better than stock, while being a lot quieter. I think a lot of people wouldn't need a 240, though many enthusiasts would prefer a 240 for extra cooling and/or future capabilities.
 
This is a negative for me because I want to be able to use my soundcard and dual 480 SLI, but that may not be possible with the 480's taking up so many expansion slots.
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Your motherboard doesn't have at least 5 slots? 4 for the GTX 480s and one for the soundcard.

One of the negatives about the Omni that I can see is that the 480 still uses 2 expansion slots. This is a negative for me because I want to be able to use my soundcard and dual 480 SLI, but that may not be possible with the 480's taking up so many expansion slots.
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What InvisiBill said:
You should be able to get any of those cards and modify or replace the slot bracket so that the whole thing only takes up one slot.
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Grab your dremel and just cut off the second half of the PCI bracket. That's what I'd do.
 
InvisiBill:

You should be able to get any of those cards and modify or replace the slot bracket so that the whole thing only takes up one slot.
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I read on Hexus that the metal slot on the 480 is stuck to the PCB. I'm guessing like FaRKLe0079 suggested cutting the cooler part with a dremel. Since I've never used a dremel, I may have reservations about messing up a $500 card.

FaRKLe0079:

Your motherboard doesn't have at least 5 slots? 4 for the GTX 480s and one for the soundcard.
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Yeah, it does. What I didn't mention was I would want to setup the dual 480's in slot 1 and 3 to give the cards some space. Not sure if I would need to worry about that with an Omni cooling both though. If I put a reference 480 in slot 3, I believe it would cover my PCI soundcard slot. Not sure but it looks like it would from pics I've seen of other people with the Rampage III.

Also, since I'm buidling my new system right now, I'm trying to visualize how everything is going to fit together. This is my first build and my current rig is almost 8 years old so it's ancient relic.

I am receiving my motherboard tomorrow (Asus Rampage III Extreme) and I have a Cooler Master ATCS 840 case which apparently only has enough expansion slots for triple SLI. If I were in the next few months to get triple 480's I think I would need single slot cards.

It's confusing as all hell to me right now (and I'm sure for anyone else LOL) because I just need to see how everything fits together. The main purpose for me to get an OMNI would be for the fact that it will lower the noise significantly while cooling the 480 better than stock fan.

But thank you both for answering my questions. I appreciate it!
 
HORNO said:
I read on Hexus that the metal slot on the 480 is stuck to the PCB. I'm guessing like FaRKLe0079 suggested cutting the cooler part with a dremel. Since I've never used a dremel, I may have reservations about messing up a $500 card.
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I haven't worked with one personally, but every video card I've ever seen has had a removable slot bracket. It looks like some of the heatsink screws may pass through it, and the hex screw/nut thingies on the DVI ports will hold it on too.

DD has a good video showing how to remove the heatsink, but they don't take the bracket off. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQPD4k_kB50&hd=1 I'd imagine that once you get it that far, taking the hex screws out would allow the bracket to come off. You might even be able to order the single-slot bracket right from EVGA. It also looks like DD is working on getting a single-slot bracket too, so I'd imagine that it must be fairly easy to swap them.
 
Oh cool! Glad to see Danger Den is working on a slingle slot bracket. That may be possible solution. Thanks for the info!
 
well, i decided to go buy the artic cooling twin turbo pro for $34 instead. a lot cheaper, no water, but my pocketbook will thank me later :)
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
 
Standpoint said:
well, i decided to go buy the artic cooling twin turbo pro for $34 instead. a lot cheaper, no water, but my pocketbook will thank me later :)
Posted via [H] Mobile Device
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That's what I use. The thing is ACCTT is like 3 slots compared to this being 1 slot ;)
 
Hmm... any update on this? Seems like they said it'd be out in July.

To echo some of the earlier posters, at $150 for the OMNI and ~$30 per plate, I can see this thing becoming popular. But the $200 MSRP and $80 per plate is just too expensive.
 
Looks like some more reviews have gone up. And Coolit has it on their site for pre-order. Price for the OMNI-R120: $164.99 and you have to buy the interposer plate (price varies depending on your videocard.) The GTX 480 interposer plate is $50.

I know this is an expensive solution to cooling your graphics card, but for someone like me who doesn't want to hassle with building/maintaining a watercooling loop, it may be a great option. Yes, expensive, but according to every review I've seen... the cooling is phenomenal and it reduces the noise of the GTX 480 immensely.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1001/pg1/coolit-omni-alc-review-introduction.html

http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/cooling/water-cooling/5025-coolit-omni-alc-gpu-cooler-review

Anyways, thought I'd share in case anyone was interested.
 
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