Koolance CPU blocks good?

[migueld]

Should we link images of those who purchased the block to see how easily/shockingly the gold plating gets chipped off? I'm sure that's "clever". Feel free to call up Sharka's and ask them how that block stacks up against other blocks. They'll tell you themselves its a PoS compared to the Fuzion or the AC Cuplex DI. They also plan on not carrying the 330 any longer. Funny how one of the larger retailers of Koolance parts on the US west coast doesn't figure it to be capable nor clever. Hell if you're going to gamble with an alu based product, it might as well be from more reputable companies.

+1chitlin seems right, I don’t see any Koolance products at Sharkas so I don’t know how you can make such statements. Regarding the plating getting chipped off, I’ve only seen one isolated instance and it wasn’t gold chipping it was aluminum, and it seemed due to user error. If you have more let me know. I understand your concerns for quality but I don’t think there is much evidence to support your claims.

To be frank, there are 2 things that I dislike about the 330 block: one is that the block feels heavy; the reason being that it’s got a backplate and a top plate, and they are somewhat heavy, I sent feedback to Koolance suggesting having a top plate similar in weight to that of the Fuzion’s. The other thing is that the block is sealed, it can’t be opened, and so this is a drawback for many enthusiasts who want to inspect, clean, mod etc their block. They are taking that into account. Other than that, I have no complaints about quality or performance, and I don’t see evidence to make such bold claims.

Funny how recent tests by a phD student over on XS showed the Swiftech and DD chipset blocks to be the best, trumping even the EK's that I'm fond of. http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...d.php?t=152686

The MCW30 is a great block in the sense that it’s the most compatible block and has a lower pressure drop. But according to those tests it’s the worst performer in terms of temperatures. EK’s and DD’s consistently outperform the MCW30. Yes, I was referring to temperatures, not flow. I guess it depends on what you value most: temps or flow. But at any rate the CHC-120 should do better in temperatures than the MCW30, and about the same in pressure drop as DD’s, maybe a tad less. That’s hardly poor performance. All I was trying to do is to give examples where Koolance blocks can be as capable as the competition.

1-3C? You must be part of Koolance's advertising department. Just like how they have to falsify data and create a misleading test environment to create a scenario in which they beat other competitors products. To bad the scenario isn't remotely close to the PC environment. Most competitors would be happy to stay within 1-3C of the market leader. You know a company is getting desperate when it needs to run falsified tests. Feel free to read through the later end of the following thread to watch Cathar, HWLabs, and other physicists shoot their 'testing" full of holes: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...light=Koolance

Sure, I didn’t like the way Koolance handled the marketing thing, and their testing doesn’t apply to real life, so their temp claims aren’t applicable even if true. We don’t need “physicists” to know that. So I don’t see a point in that thread. All I said is that as far as I’m concerned, alu rads should perform well compared to brass rads. I'd love some real testing to confirm, but none of the "physicists" seemed up to the task.

There is a myth bloat surrounding Koolance which I don’t understand, their blocks perform well, they have fine components. I don’t like the mixing metals, and other things like sealed blocks, but that’s hardly a basis to call them bad performers.

 

[Arcygenical]

but that’s hardly a basis to call them bad performers.

Well, their G80 blocks consistantly perform up to 7-10c worse than comparable DD or EK blocks, so that has to say a little bit about them.

But I agree with the rest of what you said.

 

[joecop120]

I recently received these things from Koolance:

1x EXOS-2
1x CPU-330 (will be cooling Q6700)
2x VID-282 (one for each of my MSI 8800 Ultra OC)
1x CHC-120 (Northbridge of EVGA 680i A1)
1x CHC-120-V06 (Southbridge, SLI compatible)
2x RAM-30-V06 (cooling 4x1GB Crucial Ballistix 1066...?)

I won't have the CPU until tomorrow, so I won't be able to post any results until tomorrow night/Tuesday.

One problem so far, the RAM coolers SUCK. Getting them mounted on is impossible with heat spreaders (and what quality ram comes without heat spreaders?) The water packs feel fragile/rippable, so trying to squeeze the ram in is kind of scary, but on top of that, the ram doesn't sit evenly in the kit, one side allows the ram to go in slightly deeper, which means you cannot put the ram into the kit, then onto the mobo, since one of the modules would be out of reach of a bank. So it seems like the only way to get these on correctly is to put the ram into the bank first, then mount the kits over the ram. Problem with that is the middle water pack just squishes up as you attempt to mount it, because the heat spreaders leave virtually no room for it. Anticipating this problem I also purchased the Corsair Air ram coolers. They fit easily and more importantly, they don't interrupt the loop with 1/4" tubing.

Another thing, from my initial glances, it doesn't seem like the southbridge cooler can possibly fit in with a stock cooled SLI setup. The VID-282s are HALF the size of the air coolers that come on 8800s, which gives just enough room for the southbridge cooler to fit in comfortably.

DONT USE THE RAM COOLERS WITH HEAT SPREADERS. They have leaked on me while using DDR without heatspreaders and are really restrictive.

Anyone know anything about lapping the gold plating off of the older koolance CPU heatsinks?

 

[C'DaleRider]

There is a myth bloat surrounding Koolance which I don’t understand, their blocks perform well, they have fine components. I don’t like the mixing metals, and other things like sealed blocks, but that’s hardly a basis to call them bad performers.

Then I guess a statement like the following made after testing the Koolance CPU-330 block vs. a D-Tek Fuzion, Apogee GTX, Magicool CPU block is horsehockey then:

" The Koolance CPU-330 is outperformed by every other block we've tested, and by as much as 10 degrees in the case of the D-TEK FuZion. Even the $37 ($42 with some nice D-TEK barbs) budget Magicool CPU block outperforms the Koolance CPU-330 under load."

But I guess a hardware site like HardwareCanucks just isn't trustworty enough to be reliable....

Then again, outside of here and JonnyGuru, they've become one of the best power supply testing sites.....and I wholly believe the results of this cpu waterblock test, too.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/hard...ed-against-fuzion-apogee-gtx-tuniq-tower.html

 

[echn111]

Then I guess a statement like the following made after testing the Koolance CPU-330 block vs. a D-Tek Fuzion, Apogee GTX, Magicool CPU block is horsehockey then:

" The Koolance CPU-330 is outperformed by every other block we've tested, and by as much as 10 degrees in the case of the D-TEK FuZion. Even the $37 ($42 with some nice D-TEK barbs) budget Magicool CPU block outperforms the Koolance CPU-330 under load."

But I guess a hardware site like HardwareCanucks just isn't trustworty enough to be reliable....

Then again, outside of here and JonnyGuru, they've become one of the best power supply testing sites.....and I wholly believe the results of this cpu waterblock test, too.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/hard...ed-against-fuzion-apogee-gtx-tuniq-tower.html

Koolance isn't for people who care about performance that's why no one usually bothers including them in performance tests. But their kit does look nice and there is a market for this stuff. Even if it's lower quality than performance oriented kit, to some people, the looks more than make up for that. Different type of customer and that's fine. Choice is good in the watercooling market.

 

[Ranker]

Boom. This was the review I was waiting for. That's two sites now that show Koolance's products to be grossly inferior.

 

[Ranker]

+1chitlin seems right, I don’t see any Koolance products at Sharkas so I don’t know how you can make such statements. Regarding the plating getting chipped off, I’ve only seen one isolated instance and it wasn’t gold chipping it was aluminum, and it seemed due to user error. If you have more let me know. I understand your concerns for quality but I don’t think there is much evidence to support your claims.

To be frank, there are 2 things that I dislike about the 330 block: one is that the block feels heavy; the reason being that it’s got a backplate and a top plate, and they are somewhat heavy, I sent feedback to Koolance suggesting having a top plate similar in weight to that of the Fuzion’s. The other thing is that the block is sealed, it can’t be opened, and so this is a drawback for many enthusiasts who want to inspect, clean, mod etc their block. They are taking that into account. Other than that, I have no complaints about quality or performance, and I don’t see evidence to make such bold claims.

The MCW30 is a great block in the sense that it’s the most compatible block and has a lower pressure drop. But according to those tests it’s the worst performer in terms of temperatures. EK’s and DD’s consistently outperform the MCW30. Yes, I was referring to temperatures, not flow. I guess it depends on what you value most: temps or flow. But at any rate the CHC-120 should do better in temperatures than the MCW30, and about the same in pressure drop as DD’s, maybe a tad less. That’s hardly poor performance. All I was trying to do is to give examples where Koolance blocks can be as capable as the competition.

Sure, I didn’t like the way Koolance handled the marketing thing, and their testing doesn’t apply to real life, so their temp claims aren’t applicable even if true. We don’t need “physicists” to know that. So I don’t see a point in that thread. All I said is that as far as I’m concerned, alu rads should perform well compared to brass rads. I'd love some real testing to confirm, but none of the "physicists" seemed up to the task.

There is a myth bloat surrounding Koolance which I don’t understand, their blocks perform well, they have fine components. I don’t like the mixing metals, and other things like sealed blocks, but that’s hardly a basis to call them bad performers.

Migueld, please see: http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/hard...ed-against-fuzion-apogee-gtx-tuniq-tower.html

No myth. Just facts. Koolance performs piss poor. The 10C difference have been reported across the board from various different products, from GPU to CPU coolers

 

[Shlomo]

Hmmm... Totally thought about posting that review but decided against it.

Though this "concrete proof" won't change TN's mind..

I won't lie, the block is hawt, unfortunatly, so is the processor.

 

[Ranker]

I won't lie, the block is hawt, unfortunatly, so is the processor.

LOL