Installation Continued

Immediately the block was removed and the compound was inspected. The compound had spread as intended by Arctic Silver and was in an even layer. Some of the compound made it out past the edge of the heatspreader and formed a slight ridge. These ridges show how much larger the base of the waterblock is than the Intel integrated heatspreader.


Thermaltake recommends installing the main unit in the second or third bay from the top in a mid-tower case, or the third or fourth bay from the top in a full tower. This is intended to put the reservoir on a higher level than the waterblock. However, since this unit will be installed in a Lian Li PC-A10B, an adjustment had to be made. The Lian Li is a mid-tower case, but since the power supply is mounted at the bottom of the case, there is no room above the top edge of the motherboard for additional bays. The solution was to put the main unit in the top two bays of the case, which meant rearranging the devices in the other bays. Once that was completed, the main unit was slid into the bays, being careful to route the hoses and wires. The unit was secured with the screws provided and the protective film was removed from the front. This is where one issue came up. The front panel attached to the main unit was slightly crooked. If you look closely, the left corner is down about 1mm lower than the right. While this may not seem like much, it surely stands out when the silver frame of the main unit is exposed in a black case.


The next step would be to attach the hoses from the waterblock to the hoses on the main unit. To help the system naturally remove any air bubbles from the lines, the tube marked "Out" should be attached to the lower hose on the waterblock. The flow of coolant upward through the block pushes the bubbles with it, instead of the bubbles fighting against the flow. In order to disconnect the tubing, the user should power down the system and press the gray button on the female coupling. These fittings are self-sealing and will keep the coolant from draining out, but there will be a small amount of coolant left in the couplings on both sides. Care should be taken to not allow the coolant to drip on installed components, or in other places that may be accessible by small children or pets. I used a few paper towels to soak up the coolant from the couplings immediately after disconnecting the hoses.


With everything now connected the reservoir should be filled with the included coolant. The reservoir can be partially filled prior to installation, but it will need to have more coolant added as the system gets powered on and the air starts to bleed out. Another concern came up when filling the reservoir. On the side of the tank there are two lines marking "Low" and "High." Since I wanted to make sure the unit was working properly before installing it in the system, I assembled it and tested it on my workbench. As I filled the coolant I found that the coolant could not reach the "High" level as the opening of the tank actually extended well below the top of the tank. When the coolant reached the opening it started to overflow, but fortunately it was not installed in the system. The level of coolant inside the tank will never reach the "High" level with the opening as it is. Care should be taken not to fill up the tank too quickly.


With the unit installed, the main unit was about 2 inches longer than a standard optical drive. If this system will be installed in a PC where the optical drive is too close to the motherboard or other components, installation would not be possible. As far as the tubing is concerned, the black tubing coming from the main unit is not as stiff as the vinyl tubing attached to the waterblock, and I thought the black tubing was longer than needed. There is plenty of extra tubing in the kit, and the user could replace the black tubing with more of the vinyl UV tubing if desired.


With the unit installed and powered on there is a blue glow from the fan that shows through the mesh on the front panel. While this blue lighting matches the test system perfectly, users with red, green or other colors may wish to buy a new fan to replace this one so the colors match. Fortunately, replacing the fan is very easy with the main unit removed from the system. Speaking of the included blue LED fan, the speed control knob included with the fan worked fine, but I found it was placed in a poor location inside the case. There is extra room behind the front panel to the right of the mesh where the knob could have been installed, allowing the user to adjust the fan speed more easily, and tailor the cooling and noise level to the current activity. This would be a worthy mod to anyone who buys the unit, as long as the knob does not interfere with a door.
After running the system overnight, the air bubbles were gone from the tubes. As a side note, the pump included with the unit is quieter than the fan and should not be noticed above the fan noise once the system has been purged of air bubbles.