'Nuff said!

Oh, you want more? I thought a picture was worth a thousand words, so surely that GIF should be worth six figures at least! Very well, let's talk more about the Aqua Computer LEAKSHIELD. I used that GIF above for the second time in this review, mostly because people are likely to read this page more than any other. Doing so would be a great injustice any day of the week, but especially so on this Monday where we see the launch of one of the coolest things I have tested during my time here on TechPowerUp. Aqua Computer had impressed me with the the cuplex kryos NEXT VISION/VARIO CPU block, our previous Aqua Computer review, which was admittedly a while back, and I would say the LEAKSHIELD manages to one-up even that on the "Impress me!" scale.

Scientifically speaking, there is nothing truly novel about the innards of the LEAKSHIELD. Two sets of valves simply control either a purge or vacuum, with the latter leading to a vacuum pump. A sensitive pressure gauge coupled with a waterproof membrane is the key here, and putting everything together with an existing product portfolio including hardware and software alike has Aqua Computer in this enviable position where I don't even talk about the pricing much since you will buy it because of the functionality or not either way. I always wish brands well, but Aqua Computer has never been one of the larger brands, and even the company will agree with that statement. What this means is that the only dealbreaker I can think of is if you don't want to get a compatible Aqua Computer reservoir or do the homework required in setting up the LEAKSHIELD with user-provided data, a process you can look at in more detail on page 5. The rest of the cons listed above have some sort of solution or are compromises that are well worth the overall package and then some.

Yes, the GIF above is an extreme case of what you can do here. But this is not to say that the LEAKSHIELD is not useful for a typical DIY liquid cooling loop. There are extremely handy quality of life improvements throughout, beginning with leak testing without the coolant pump running, keeping track of an operating loop in a steady state, removing air from the loop automatically, the vacuum improving longevity of acrylic components by preventing scenarios leading to micro-fractures, and making it easy to re-fill the loop. The software package is extremely feature-rich in general, so much so that I only covered its LEAKSHIELD-specific aspects, and even that took multiple pages. Everything is even saved on to the device to where you do not need to have the software running either, with a standalone mode quite feasible in conjunction with the hardware button, OLED display, integrated LEDs, and even a buzzer alarm. If only for peace of mind, it is not that much more expensive than an air-based leak-testing kit, which takes longer and only does one of the operating modes and possible actions here. With all that in mind, I am certainly going to encourage you to read through the entire review and buy one if you can see the appeal as much as I do!