CoolIT ECO C240 Performance Review @ [H]

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FrgMstr

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CoolIT ECO C240 Performance Review - Other companies made the closed loop self contained CPU water cooler famous. CoolIT Systems intends to make it one of the easiest to install and best optimized and efficient liquid cooling systems around. The ECO C240 doubles up on cooling surface area. Does CoolIT hit its mark?

You can go here and post should you wish to comment on what is NOT in the review.
 
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Nice! Well not bad, pretty spendy but as said, Watercooling generally ends up costing more.

I wonder how this compares to the cheaper Corsair H50?
 
Thanks for the review. Definitely would like to see the Corsair H50 thrown in the mix.

Also this is just nitpicking but I guess it kind of bothers me seeing just i7 920 thrown in there. I know it is referring to the stock cooler, but wish it was just kind of just put in there.

Looking forward to more reviews!
 
Great review. I don't know, but I have a strange feeling that the H70 will be something very similar.
 
I have been considering one of these units as well as other self contained water cooling or TEC units to add to my Skeleton case for overclocking purposes. I have limited headroom, but with the open case, I do have some other options to mount things around the sides.
 
thanks for the review. Hard to justify a product like that at a price of $100.

How much would a custom h2o kit cost? $250? I would love to know how those temps would compare to the temps of this kit and the air coolers mentioned.
 
It cools well, but the pump is obviously only enough to circulate the fluid. That's the price you pay for having an integrated pump. That dual rad should easily outperform an air cooler in a case.
I did see that you tested the air coolers in open air. I also agree that 99$ with no fans would be perfect.;)

I don't know if you noticed. The tubes on the H50 are quite stiff also. I am wondering how long they will last with repeated removal for cleaning. I removed mine for the first time yesterday. For some cleaning and a slight orientation change. No leaks yet.
 
I don't understand why the air coolers weren't tested inside the case.

I'm guessing that, since the water cooler was inside a case while the air coolers weren't, in an apples to apples comparison, the water cooler would look even better on the charts?

I don't really know what the difference would be though and that difference would be a big decision factor. Thanks for the review nevertheless but I'm just really curious about the results on even footing.
 
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I would like to have seen the H50 in this review, although it is easy to see you're getting better hardware with the CoolIT kit.

Now where is their solution for my GTX 480's? I need a couple months notice, before their release. :->
 
I love my H50, and this should only work better with the larger radiator.

I bet we'll see plenty more self contained setups in the future.
 
This is an interesting product. I can see some potential if maybe Corsair or someone takes it and boosts the performance a bit. Unfortunately I can't see myself buying one to replace my H50 as it is now, because the performance doesn't really justify the cost.
 
jebo_4jc said:
thanks for the review. Hard to justify a product like that at a price of $100.

How much would a custom h2o kit cost? $250? I would love to know how those temps would compare to the temps of this kit and the air coolers mentioned.
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theres to many variables in a custom water cooling kit to try and compare them to a all in one kit..

seriously rzrshrp get over it already.. air cooled HSF's will not and never will be tested in a case by [H] there are to many variables.. where in the case of running this kit in a case there are not that many variables.. especially if side of the case was left open you would pretty much get about the same temps with it open air and not open air..
 
I won one of these in a tweaktown contest, Coolit doesn't list cases that it works with and I don't believe it would work with both my CM Scout or my P182. That's something i saw missing on this review...what well known cases does this kit work with.(posted on the bitching thread)
 
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rzrshrp said:
I don't understand why the air coolers weren't tested inside the case.

I'm guessing that, since the water cooler was inside a case while the air coolers weren't, in an apples to apples comparison, the water cooler would look even better on the charts?

I don't really know what the difference would be though and that difference would be a big decision factor. Thanks for the review nevertheless but I'm just really curious about the results on even footing.
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I don't think it necessarily matters that much. The temp gauge is on the CPU. The air coolers were all originally tested previously from what I gather, the only unit actually tested recently was this particular product and they happened to ask it be tested in a case, probably to show how it would fit inside a case and not need a lot of extra tweaking. As far as temps go the water cooling system is probably not going to be much different inside or outside of the case.
 
NoOther said:
I don't think it necessarily matters that much. The temp gauge is on the CPU. The air coolers were all originally tested previously from what I gather, the only unit actually tested recently was this particular product and they happened to ask it be tested in a case, probably to show how it would fit inside a case and not need a lot of extra tweaking. As far as temps go the water cooling system is probably not going to be much different inside or outside of the case.
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Ahh, ok. I know that [H] usually tests heatsinks in open air which is fine since they're still all under the same conditions. I thought that it would skew the results a bit compared to the air ones but I guess that's not the case for water.
 
Maybe I am being thick, but I don't see how it is being mounted. Maybe the better question is whether it will mount in my Antec 300.
 
Modred189 said:
Maybe I am being thick, but I don't see how it is being mounted. Maybe the better question is whether it will mount in my Antec 300.
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Don't think so, need side by side 120mm fan slots. Either top or rear.
 
Modred189 said:
So it mounts into the fan mounting points?
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Yes, the way these are designed is you can mount the radiator onto the fan mounting points, or mount it onto the case itself where the fans usually mount, depending on how you want to control the air flow. You would probably have to mod the case a bit to get it to mount successfully.
 
NoOther said:
Yes, the way these are designed is you can mount the radiator onto the fan mounting points, or mount it onto the case itself where the fans usually mount, depending on how you want to control the air flow. You would probably have to mod the case a bit to get it to mount successfully.
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and there lies the problem. Coolit needs to make a list of cases that work with their product. their forums are pretty dead.
 
Sorry, remind me again why I'm going to pay 70$ MORE for this kit than I could for a True Rev C? 1600 RPM fan on the Rev C will let me get within 1 degree of this unit, while a 2000RPM fan (or a pair of them) will let me best this unit completely.

I understand the desire for a self contained water cooling solution, really I do. But until it wasn't here yet with the H50 and it's still not here.

Now in the rare case you don't have room for a True, I can understand some argument, but the H50 seems a better deal.
 
NoOther said:
I don't think it necessarily matters that much. The temp gauge is on the CPU. The air coolers were all originally tested previously from what I gather, the only unit actually tested recently was this particular product and they happened to ask it be tested in a case, probably to show how it would fit inside a case and not need a lot of extra tweaking. As far as temps go the water cooling system is probably not going to be much different inside or outside of the case.
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I think it makes a huge difference, because the heat exchanger is in a completely different temperature of ambient air.

In previous tests on the web of watercoolers and aircoolers, you usually see Aircooling beat out watercoolers like this when tested on an open bench, but inside a case, the aircooler performs worse and the watercooler performs better. (well, if used as an intake like Corsair says to do with the H50).

Only so much you can do to get around the laws of physics. The ambient air in the case has to absorb the hot air from the heat exchanger, whether it be a bunch of fins and heatpipes or an Al or Cu radiator with water flowing through the fins. If the air is warmer, it's not going to absorb as much heat, and the units will perform worse.

In my email server I have a TRUE 120 but I turned the rear fan into an intake and have TRUE exhausting out the top of the case with a top case fan in my Antec 900. CPU temps dropped 4C by doing that (which is enough for me to keep the fans under 800RPM at all times so it's nice and quiet. Well, it would be, if the Antec 900 had any decent hard drive dampening...ugh.)
 
Kyle>>

What's the odds of adding in,"Can this watercooling kit run the setup at stock using no fans?" into the reviews? Where higher temps are fine, so long as it can run and have little to no noise. This one looks very promising for my C2D E4500.
 
Could anyone see a way for this to fit on the bottom of a Silverstone Raven RV-02?

Reason being, the way the RV02 is designed, would be the absolute best case scenario (no pun intended i swear) for this setup, as you're pulling in the cold air from the bottom of the case and pushing out through the top of the case, as opposed to using a standard ATX tower where you're pushing hot air through the Rad at the top
 
Nice ill wait for the Corsair branded ver of it hehe love my H50
 
Kind of wish H50 was included

I'm currently using the H50, if the larger radiator could offer significant improvement, I'll definitely get this in a heartbeat
 
fausto412 said:
and there lies the problem. Coolit needs to make a list of cases that work with their product. their forums are pretty dead.
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Wait...what?!?! How is it Coolit's responsibility to tell you what cases it will work in? Shouldn't it be the PC builders responsibility to garner that information themselves? Do ATI and Nvidia give you a list of cases their full length cards fit in? Do motherboard suppliers list all the cases their motherboards fit? Do heatsink companies give you a list of cases their full riser heatsinks will fit inside?

Geez...what is the fun of PC building if you don't have to do a little research and some modding.
 
therapy said:
I think it makes a huge difference, because the heat exchanger is in a completely different temperature of ambient air.

In previous tests on the web of watercoolers and aircoolers, you usually see Aircooling beat out watercoolers like this when tested on an open bench, but inside a case, the aircooler performs worse and the watercooler performs better. (well, if used as an intake like Corsair says to do with the H50).

Only so much you can do to get around the laws of physics. The ambient air in the case has to absorb the hot air from the heat exchanger, whether it be a bunch of fins and heatpipes or an Al or Cu radiator with water flowing through the fins. If the air is warmer, it's not going to absorb as much heat, and the units will perform worse.

In my email server I have a TRUE 120 but I turned the rear fan into an intake and have TRUE exhausting out the top of the case with a top case fan in my Antec 900. CPU temps dropped 4C by doing that (which is enough for me to keep the fans under 800RPM at all times so it's nice and quiet. Well, it would be, if the Antec 900 had any decent hard drive dampening...ugh.)
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That actually makes less sense. Most of my air cooling solutions work much better in a case, because you have proper air flow and pressure. Outside of the case you don't have as much control over the airflow and air pressure.

Also a water cooling setup really doesn't need to depend on air pressure in the case and can be equally effective in or out of the case. So I really don't understand your arguments here.
 
therapy said:
I think it makes a huge difference, because the heat exchanger is in a completely different temperature of ambient air.

In previous tests on the web of watercoolers and aircoolers, you usually see Aircooling beat out watercoolers like this when tested on an open bench, but inside a case, the aircooler performs worse and the watercooler performs better. (well, if used as an intake like Corsair says to do with the H50).

Only so much you can do to get around the laws of physics. The ambient air in the case has to absorb the hot air from the heat exchanger, whether it be a bunch of fins and heatpipes or an Al or Cu radiator with water flowing through the fins. If the air is warmer, it's not going to absorb as much heat, and the units will perform worse.

In my email server I have a TRUE 120 but I turned the rear fan into an intake and have TRUE exhausting out the top of the case with a top case fan in my Antec 900. CPU temps dropped 4C by doing that (which is enough for me to keep the fans under 800RPM at all times so it's nice and quiet. Well, it would be, if the Antec 900 had any decent hard drive dampening...ugh.)
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Sorry to break it to you, but 4C is nothing. Most CPUs can be run upto ~100C before thermal protections, most overclocers are comfortable running them at 90C. That leaves a 65C delta to room temperature. 4C is less than 10% of that number.

Furthermore, if you read the article, they said quite specifically that the temperatures inside the case never went above 29C.

The ambient temperature was kept at the same level as in previous tests but the temperature inside the case was measured to be between 27C and 29C during our testing.
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So, 2-4 degree rise over ambient. Whoppie friggen do. it all comes back to having decent airflow in your cases. It's not rocket science.
 
They have to test the air coolers in open air. That is the only way they can get baseline results. It is up to you to take those results and extrapolate performance in your case.
 
Good review but I still don't see the value of these AIO small water coolers over a good air cooler. A possible exception would be the H50 which has proven to fit good cooling in some real tight situations.

But due to the form of this certain cooler I don't see it being a good alternative to one of the good air coolers for any reason, more noise, more space taken up, fewer case options. But that's only what i see on the surface. I'd rather have air from its ease of upkeep.

Shane
 
Hallis said:
Good review but I still don't see the value of these AIO small water coolers over a good air cooler. A possible exception would be the H50 which has proven to fit good cooling in some real tight situations.

But due to the form of this certain cooler I don't see it being a good alternative to one of the good air coolers for any reason, more noise, more space taken up, fewer case options. But that's only what i see on the surface. I'd rather have air from its ease of upkeep.

Shane
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Some of this is a misnomer between the effects of water cooling and air cooling. So the real benefit of water cooling is keeping the system at a stable even temperature. Air cooling takes longer to respond and can see instant spikes in temperature that can cause problems. So when you are doing more extreme overclocking, you want stability. Watercooling offers more stability because spikes in heating don't occur nearly as dramatically as they can on air.
 
NoOther said:
Some of this is a misnomer between the effects of water cooling and air cooling. So the real benefit of water cooling is keeping the system at a stable even temperature. Air cooling takes longer to respond and can see instant spikes in temperature that can cause problems. So when you are doing more extreme overclocking, you want stability. Watercooling offers more stability because spikes in heating don't occur nearly as dramatically as they can on air.
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Extreme overclocking has nothing to do with anything tested in this review. Furthremore, the real benefits of watercooling are when you're using a bigger pump and a better (and more restrictive) block to give you lower temperatures. If you're trying to use thermal capacitance to push 30 second benchmarks, you're doing it wrong.
 
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