Koolance 400A-S Threadripper Water Block V2 Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

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Koolance 400A-S Threadripper Water Block V2 Review

Koolance finally has its redesigned version of the CPU-400A-S AMD Threadripper water block out for sale, and we have gotten it through our review testing. Koolance engineers have gone back and fully redesigned this block specifically for Threadripper and it shows both in terms of performance and design.
 
Finally, a block that is both sexxy AND functional...

Though the heat killer all-copper is up there...

One of my mates works for koolance in WA. I've always liked their stuff.
 
Finger(tm) approved.

That shine was really something, best surface i've seen; seriously impressed. Shame they made it concave, it's probably what kept it slightly back.
Though to be honest, given the price i'd still pick a Heatkiller over it, even if it was its equal.

Random, but last two TR-related reviews had me smiling. Kyle must have done like feckloads of mounts and unmounts and countings by now; he'll either develop a TR aversion, or escalate it to a proper fixation ^^
 
I'm liking the metal threads for the inlet and outlet. Don't think I could bring myself to buy a block with threads cut in plastic.

I'm also liking the minimalistic look with no disco lights or transparent tops. I don't need to see my coolant.

I'm guessing the 0.5 degree difference between this and the XSPC and heatkilker is probably within the margin of error of a test like this, so that doesn't worry me too much, but the price does seem a bit excessive...

In really curious to see how EKWB's updated TR block might perform. Before the fiasco with their first release, I held their recent blocks (after the nickel coating issue years ago) I'm very high regard. An all-copper version of their Supremacy EVO is what's cooling my 3930k.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
that doesn't worry me too much
Click to expand...

You're being hasty :)
The equivalence between XSPC and Watercool's blocks should have told you something; Kyle's rad has reached its limits with this CPU, at these voltages (nothing surprising, it's not exactly the most performance-oriented rad in the planet).
The .5C gap you saw, margin of error notwithstanding, would have very probably been larger given different/more adequate testing conditions.

Meaning no disrespect, with no intention of appearing 'elitist' or whatever one may think, but a 480 Nemesis GTR on push-pull, or a 560 push only, or even an EK XE480 push-pull would have been much better suited for these tests. Just no other way to entirely remove a rad from the heat exchange equation.
Think i mentioned it somewhere.. but maybe it wasn't here? My apologies if i'm confusing things.
 
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Very nice V2 from Koolance. Nice clean block with no bling and great performance.
Price may be higher then the other top performers but when your water cooling with a custom loop the cost is high anyway.

The flow rate fluctuating is an odd thing, I wonder what was causing that?
Have you tried the flow meter on a different block since you tested this block? Maybe the flow meter is failing in someway.

Anyway great review as always.
 
Aenra said:
You're being hasty :)
The equivalence between XSPC and Watercool's blocks should have told you something; Kyle's rad has reached its limits with this CPU, at these voltages (nothing surprising, it's not exactly the most performance-oriented rad in the planet).
The .5C gap you saw, margin of error notwithstanding, would have very probably been larger given different/more adequate testing conditions.

Meaning no disrespect, with no intention of appearing 'elitist' or whatever one may think, but a 480 Nemesis GTR on push-pull, or a 560 push only, or even an EK XE480 push-pull would have been much better suited for these tests. Just no other way to entirely remove a rad from the heat exchange equation.
Think i mentioned it somewhere.. but maybe it wasn't here? My apologies if i'm confusing things.
Click to expand...


I'm not sure I agree that the rad is relevant here.

In a water loop you have two Delta's.

The delta between the water temp and the air, which is important in the rads rad the delta between the water and the CPU (or GPU) which is important for block performance.

If the radiator isn't able to keep the loop temp very low, this does not invalidate the CPU block comparison. As long as thr pump isnproviding enough flow you'll still be able to make a comparison between the blocks based on how large the delta is to the water temp, and since the radiator and fans are fixed here, we can also make a comparison based on core temps.

A higher loop temp would raise the temp on ALL if the blocks, but you'd still be.ablentondofferentiate between which is better based on the differences between them.
 
Now THIS is sounding more like the Koolance I know. Still undecided on the price, but I can't deny the quality. Props to Koolance for taking feedback into account and revising the block. Other companies would whine and bitch and moan, and hate on sites like [H], Koolance decided to look at why their product wasn't performing, and the issues end users had with it, and figured out what they needed to do to get it where it should've been. Thanks again for the testing, vids and writeup Kyle. Never really had anything against LEDs and I'm a sucker for see-through shit, but I'm just as good going without such things, and gawd-damn if this block doesn't look awesome. Screws that thread into metal, yes please, thank you. Like the hexagonal shape too.
 
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Once again a very nice review that clearly shows a great range of choices and results for probably one of the most critical aspects for these many core CPUs dealing with performance - cooling. Sadly no where else is this type of info available on the Internet, which speaks highly for HardOCP and not so much for other so called review sites.

Frankly there is not much to ask, the accumulated reviews are so complete but now the question to Kyle is - Which one would you pick? and Why? :D
 
noko said:
Once again a very nice review that clearly shows a great range of choices and results for probably one of the most critical aspects for these many core CPUs dealing with performance - cooling. Sadly no where else is this type of info available on the Internet, which speaks highly for HardOCP and not so much for other so called review sites.

Frankly there is not much to ask, the accumulated reviews are so complete but now the question to Kyle is - Which one would you pick? and Why? :D
Click to expand...
Sorry I did not catch this on my alerts.

I have been very satisfied with the XSPC systems we are running here. That said, hard to go wrong with the Koolance, the Heatkiller, or the XSPC TR blocks. They all just kick ass. The Phanteks is no joke either. I think for buying here in the States, the XSPC is the most affordable. The exact one I use here on the test bench is $96 now at Amazon.
 
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