Date:
Tuesday , November 07, 2006
Category:
Cooling
Manufacturers:
Koolance
Author:
Justin Diduch
Editor:
Kyle Bennett

Koolance PC4-1020BK Watercooled Case

Koolance is back with a redesign of their integrated cooling system. The last time HardOCP looked at this chassis in the form of the PC3-720BK we had a couple of issues. We take a look to see if Koolance has redeemed themselves with this new cooling system.

Editor's Note

In the interest of full disclosure to our readers we need to share with you that Justin, the author of this article, worked for Koolance for quite some time and actually had input on designing this cooling system. Justin worked as a Thermal Engineer primarily, but also helped with pre-production R&D, Tech Support, and RMA processing. About half of his time was spent testing products just like he is doing here, which is of course why we hired him. So Justin did actually have some input on how this product was built making it a challenge for him to review. After seeing the finished review, I have to say I think he did a great job at remaining objective. Now on to the review.

Introduction

All the way back in April 2001 [H] reviewed a unique new system for PC cooling from Koolance. Starting from those humble beginnings Koolance has expanded their line of products over the years to include external, internally mounted, integrated case cooling solutions for the PC in tower and rackmount chassis, and even liquid cooling solutions for the Xbox360. Since that time we have seen quite a few revisions and some complete changes to their cooling systems come through the [H] labs.

Article Image

Some of you will remember that back in February of 2005, Steve reviewed the PC3-720BK; the case we are reviewing here is identical to that aside from the liquid cooling system. Looking back to that article, we noted a couple of performance issues along with possible solutions to them. We are going to be looking closely to see if these issues have been resolved with this revised cooling setup.