Packaging and Accessories

As with the radiators, the packaging for my samples hadn't been completed when they shipped. Expect to see a banderole for aesthetics and some more specifications added, but the lack thereof won't keep us from this review! We see that it is indeed made in Germany, where the company is based out of, and has a seal on this version in the form of a thick, long piece of tape. The box itself is thick cardboard, and opening it, we see a color-printed booklet of assembly instructions in German and English (online copy here), which is a nice change from some of the competition that has completely gone the online route. Underneath, a very thick foam sheet protects the rest of the contents inside.


We see the block and included accessories right away. Watercool includes a tube of the excellent Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste, which is a nice surprise, one that works really well for water cooling under heat. It isn't the easiest to apply and spread, but the larger mass and uniform pressure with a GPU block will alleviate that concern. The other accessories come inside a sealed plastic bag with two compartments—one each for the thermal pads and the screws and washers. It's not the easiest to use, or rather re-use, which customers will not have to worry about.


I am glad some things have not changed from the Heatkiller IV, with Watercool still including CNC pre-cut thermal pads for the PCB down to the length and breadth, let alone the thickness. The thermal pads come with a plastic cover on either side you need to peel off prior to installation. Installation hardware consists of M2.5x8 TORX head screws and plastic washers, which unfortunately means you will need the respective screwdriver to install the block since Watercool does not include one. Rounding off the packaging section is a plastic seal over the GPU block to keep it clean out of the box.