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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.

Overview Part 1

I am not going to go into a whole lot of detail on the chassis itself as it has not changed from the previous version Steve reviewed here. The enclosure is a fairly standard (if a bit dated) Chenming mid-tower aluminum case featuring a removable motherboard tray, rails for both the 5 ¼” and 3 ½” drive bays and front USB, Audio, and IEEE1394a ports. There are also brackets for dual 80mm fans in the rear of the case and dual 80mm or a single 120mm fan in the front. These fans are not included however.

For the most part we are going to be concentrating on the cooling system.

This cooling system (known as the INX3) is available in a selection of chassis called the PC4 series including this Chenming, just about the entire Lian-Li V series, and even a kit with an externally mounted radiator for addition to your existing case. While differences in chassis design will change the performance of the system somewhat, this review should give you a fairly good idea of how it will perform regardless of the mounting location or case type as (unlike the PC3-720BK) the radiator is directly fed with ambient air in all installation methods.

At first glance it looks as though Koolance just added a third 120mm fan to the top of the case, on closer inspection though it becomes apparent that they have changed a lot more than just that. Where the electronics and reservoir/pump were previously housed in the shroud at the top of the case, the radiator has been extended by about one third to accommodate that third fan, bringing the total size to approx. 5” wide X 15.5” long X 1” deep.

Below the radiator, in the second 5 ¼” bay, (the first being blocked partially by the new larger radiator) is where the major changes have taken place. The pump, reservoir, and control electronics have all been housed in a compact box the size of a CD-Rom drive Koolance calls the RP-1000.

Up front we have a familiar Koolance control panel with a small reservoir window on the right side. The set button will cycle through the 3 sensor channels, and the C/F button changes the display between Celsius and Fahrenheit. The C/F button will also reset the temperature alarms to their default of 55C if held down for a few seconds until “dEF” is displayed. The up and down buttons change the fan speeds through ten different settings as well as an automatic mode. In automatic mode the fan speeds are changed according to the temperatures reported on the first sensor channel. The chart below (shamelessly ripped from the Koolance .PDF manual) helps explain all of this better.

On top there is a larger window exposing most of the top of the reservoir with a small metal plug with an O ring screwed into the fill opening.

At the rear, all the connections are clearly labeled. Starting from the left you can see the knob for adjusting the pump speed with the 4 pin Molex connection for power underneath. To the right of the Molex is a pair of fan connections. One of these connections is used for the three fans on the radiator while the second is left open for any additional fans you would like to have controlled by the RP-1000. Next are the three temperature probes which are displayed on the front of the RP-1000 and the ATX power switch pass thru. This pass thru allows the RP-1000 to automatically shut off your PC if the first temperature probe reaches 3C above the pre-set alarm temperature. The last electrical connection is the pump. The reason the pump connection is exposed is that Koolance has an electronic control and monitoring board called the TMS-100K that works with this system. We will be looking at that product in a later review along with a flow meter called the INS-FM15.

Moving to the inside of the RP-1000 reveals a big change from all previous Koolance systems. Gone are the small dual submersible 120v AC pumps that Koolance has used for years. In their place is the new 18W Laing DDC+ and a separate reservoir. While I am glad to see such a huge improvement in pump choice the number of right angles needed to route the hose in this tight space has me worried that the pumps performance might be impacted somewhat.