![[H]ardOCP](/images/blank.gif){kind=small}
- Date:
- Wednesday, July 21, 2010
- Author:
- Marc Adams
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
CoolIT ECO C240 Performance Review
Other companies made the closed loop self contained CPU water cooler famous. CoolIT Systems intends to make it one of the easiest to install and best optimized and efficient liquid cooling systems around. The ECO C240 doubles up on cooling surface area. Does CoolIT hit its mark?
CoolIT ECO C240
The ECO C240 is a bit of a departure from previous CoolIT designs. Whereas CoolIT used to combine thermoelectric cooling with water cooling what we have in the ECO C240 is a straight forward closed water cooling loop. In my numerous conversations with the CEO of CoolIT it would seem they have truly paid attention to the fine details in their effort to produce a quiet and powerful cooling unit. The details include additives to prevent galvanic corrosion and fungal buildup, the use of materials to significantly reduce water evaporation through the tubing, and configuration of the fans to ensure easy installation.
Package & Specs
Due to our sample being an early production unit there is no packaging to speak of.
Dimensions: (Radiator) (L) 275mm x (W) 122mm x (H) 27mm
Weight:
Material: Aluminum Radiator / Copper Micro-Channel CPU Fluid Heat Exchanger
Compatibility:
- LGA 1366
- LGA 1156
- LGA 775
Intel
- AM2
- AM2+
- AM3
AMD
Fan:
- Size: 120mm x 25mm
- Speed: 1900 RPM
Flatness & Contents
The base of the ECO C240 has no polished finish to it. It does however come with its own application of thermal paste which is nice. For our testing though this will be replaced by the Noctua paste we use for all our testing.
The contents of the ECO C240 are minimal. Though once you begin to install the unit it quickly becomes apparent why. It just isn’t that difficult to install like most other water cooling kits. Do take note though of the fan adapters. The ECO C240 comes with fans that use PWM circuitry and since most motherboards provide only one or two PWM headers CoolIT includes both a two fan adapter and four fan adapter.
As you’ll see in our testing the use of the PWM adapter, while useful, doesn’t allow the fans to perform at the peak and so was plugged into a three pin header for the majority of testing.
Photos
Installation & Contact
Default (Fans Pushing)
The first way we will test the ECO C240 is in its default configuration. The fans are mounted atop the unit and pull air through the fins and out. This is typically the method that provides the least amount of cooling. So why would CoolIT use this as its initial configuration? Compatibility. Most cases have mounting holes sized to the holes of a fan and not a radiator. Using this setup allows the user to simply tighten some screws and get started.
The second picture shows us the difficulty with ensuring compatibility across a wide range of cases. The NZXT Tempest EVO ‘technically’ supports 120mm fans though a small area of the fan is impeded by the chassis.
Fans Pulling
Here we see I have moved the fans to the bottom of the radiator and have them pushing the air through the fins.
Dual Fan Configuration (Push/Pull)
The best of both worlds, the crème de la crème, the pinnacle of water cooling. Using both fans in a push pull fashion will provide maximum cooling across the radiator and, if you so choose, allow you to use quieter fans while maintaining good performance.
Since the unit is now outside the case I wanted to give the closest comparison possible to the previous configurations. To achieve this I cut out a template from paper blocking the space around the fans. This causes the fans to pull the same air from inside the case as the previous two setups.
The contact with the CPU was solid and even. We achieved this footprint on the first try.
