Reservoir/Pump

The reservoir and pump are a combined single unit, which helps save space and cuts down on two additional fittings and some more tubing. This is also a more user-friendly approach as it allows coolant from the reservoir to be directly fed to the pump, which minimizes risks of dry running the pump under operation. The reservoir itself is fairly small at 100 mm high in total, and it can hold ~125 ml by itself, so expect to have to fill the reservoir, run the pump, turn the pump off, and fill the reservoir again, a process you will have to repeat multiple times to fill the loop. I would have preferred a 150 mm reservoir instead as I personally think the larger reservoir will still fit into the vast majority of cases this kit would be used in. This combo unit also has two fittings in the ports out of the box, and removing them, we can see there are two designated ports for inlet and outlet in the acetal (POM) reservoir base/pump top. All the ports are threaded and BSP G1/4" for those curious, although I do wonder if G3/8" might have been worth considering as well since the kit is basically exclusive within itself as it is.

There is a tiny pump header coming out the back, which terminates in a 4-pin PWM header. This is where the included 4-pin PWM extension cable comes into play, so you can install this unit without worrying about that short cable. The included pump is the EK SPC-60, which I have tested elsewhere before; it makes for a good SFF pump with real-world performance similar to a Laing D5 Vario on Setting 3, for some context. It should do nicely for a loop with a CPU block, GPU block, and 240 mm radiator.


There are four vibration-dampening, rubber-padded feet with a female thread in the middle on the bottom, and this is where the mounting hardware is used. You can drill holes into your case and install it directly, although I found it a lot easier to use the provided fan-mounting bracket to install it perpendicular to the radiator instead. This is especially handy if you have a bottom radiator mount as you might have had to turn your entire computer by 90° to fill the reservoir otherwise. Speaking of which, the top is easy to remove, just rotate it counterclockwise, which makes it easy to fill the reservoir. However, this is where a filling bottle would have come in handy if you were to install it horizontally and are not able to rotate your computer.

Since both ports are at the bottom, the need for a baffle to separate air bubbles from the coolant is all the more important, and EKWB uses an EK-shaped (literally) plastic baffle to minimize how many air bubbles from the return line re-enter the loop. This works to an extent, but be aware that a vertical reservoir installation will help here too. Seen in the final picture above is the pump's ceramic shaft bearing, which means it will last for a while.

Coolant and Tubing

The tubing has a light blue hue to it, a really good bending angle, and walls that are thick enough to where kinking is not going to occur easily. The 10/13 mm size is probably my favorite overall now for the aforementioned reasons, and I am glad to see EK went with this size as well. It is also the perfect size, in my opinion anyway, for regular full tower cases or smaller.

The included coolant is 100 mL of their new CryoFuel concentrate, which has a light yellow color in concentrated form and is diluted into 900 mL of distilled water for 1 L of transparent coolant. EKWB is using a sodium 2-ethylhexanoate based coolant, as seen from the MSDS, which is chemically sound, but unfortunately not the most environmentally safe. That said, in its diluted state, the concentration of the active ingredient is less than 1%, which is mostly harmless, but I still recommend disposing of it in an organic wastes container after it has run its course. If you do not have access to one, consult your local chemical waste disposal facility for more information.

Fans

EKWB has provided two of their Vardar F3-120 fans to help dissipate heat off the radiator. These come packaged in a plastic clamshell for protection on the sides, with each fan having four self-tapping metal screws included as accessories should you wish to install them directly to your case and nothing else. For the purpose of this kit, you would instead use screws that come with the radiator, so feel free to put these back into the fan packaging.


The Vardar F3-120 is a square frame, 120 mm fan with a black and gray color scheme for an OEM/industrial look. I would have much rather they included their completely black F4-120ER fans instead, although these are no cheap stock fans with each costing $18 and having been designed as high-performance, radiator-optimized fans to begin with. The impeller has seven extremely curved blades with a raised lip on the leading edge, and the frame has no vibration isolation built-in at its corners, though you can put some foam pieces into the cutouts if you so prefer. These are rated for 1850 RPM, have a 50%-100% PWM duty cycle (~900-1850 RPM range of control), but can go lower depending on your PWM controller, have dual ball bearings, and consume a maximum of 1.44 W each. The fan cables are sleeved and are 30 cm long. For those curious, I have tested these very fans elsewhere and found them to be very impressive in terms of performance/noise when used as radiator fans.