Introduction

Phanteks generally impressed with their custom watercooling product lineup, in particular with both the GPU water block and recently tested CPU water block. They have been expanding quickly on top of those with an offering of fittings, including ones for both hard and soft tubing, as well as adapters, extensions, and stop plugs. One of the missing items in their lineup was a reservoir, and a reservoir with an integrated pump top would be all the better. As with everything else in this field, carving out a unique identity is harder than ever before, but Phanteks thinks they have something capable of it and more. Enter then the Glacier R160 (and also the R220), and thanks to Phanteks for providing a review sample for TechPowerUp.


The Glacier R160 is one of two reservoirs currently offered by Phanteks, with the name following a logical path based on their products. "Glacier" is the collective name for their watercooling products, the "R" here stands for reservoir, and "160" is the longest dimension of the unit in millimeters. There is also a 220 mm version, the R220, which offers a larger reservoir, but is otherwise identical when it comes to the pump top. As with other Phanteks products capable of it, the Glacier R160 supports RGB lighting out of the box. It also works with any standard Laing DDC pump, which is an interesting choice as most people running a custom watercooling loop are now opting for the larger D5 pump, which is on the quieter side of things. We will explore this choice and more and begin the review with a look at the specifications below.

Specifications