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[O/C]CoolIT ECO A.L.C. Review

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CoolIT ECO A.L.C. Review
by sno.lcn

There’s a bit of a story behind me being so eager to review this unit, so bear with me for a minute. I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a water cooling setup for a few years now. But every time I’ve come close to buying an expensive, high end water setup, I’ve realized how completely useless one would be for my purposes.

During the time I’ve spent on the OC benching team, I’ve realized I’m an air guy. If I want to push any clocks past the cooling capability of a high end air cooler, I grab some dry ice or liquid nitrogen. Of course when I’m out of the cold stuff, and wanting to do some benching at 2:00am, I start wishing I had some better non-extreme cooling options laying around. But those few times don’t justify the expense of spending however much a high end water setup costs.

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Excellent review sno!!

This is being put in the water section b/c its components = a water loop. Hardcore people, behave thyself.
 
i would still get the h50, i just don't like the look of those 90's on the pump/block.

hopefully this will give some competition to the H50 and make they change things around. although that might make them go to larger units and then kill some of the market for custom loops. then less new products for custom loops!

great review though sno
 
I suppose we could come to a basic conclusion. If the pump is adequate for the flow rates, these blocks internals are probably somewhat the same, it comes down to the size of the rad. Since they are equal, I'd say both validate what rad size is all about. I'm hoping someone hacks a 120x2 rad on one of these someday.

If it's valid and rather easy, putting a 120x2 out the back could really change entry level watercooling. $70 for the H50 or ECO, and $40 for a Swiftech MCR 220? And a bit of hose/clamps? Hmm thats $120.
 
Nice Review, sno.lcn,

CoolIT are in the Planing stage of also bringing these out with Option of having 120x2 Rad soon, and maybe 240 Rad

I will be getting sent to me a Couple (free samples) of there CoolIT VANTAGE ALC Systems, should be some time early June so will also look forward to Testing them out,
Will be the first person in Australia to receive them even ahead of Retailers!
 
The ECO A.L.C. would be better as a single unit (that can't be disassembled) than a lot of what is listed on that page, if not in temps, at least in installation and longevity over them. We also have this lovely conclusion at the bottom of the page:
Brands to Trust

The computer water cooling pc review can help you weed through the list of subpar pc water cooling kits that are available out there today. The last thing you need a non-quality product that has poor performance. The maintenance on a decent model is bad enough. A real computer performance user will appreciate and care for these systems properly. I have developed a list of good companies that you can lay your trust into.

Masscool
Thermaltake
CoolIT
Cooler Master
Zalman
Let's not forget this gem from further up the page:
My computer water cooling review shows that the Cooler Master Aquagate Max will be best pc water cooling you can install in your computer.
Cooler Master is a good brand, but not for water cooling. The "best" pc water cooling is a custom system. The best kits come from Swiftech, which are just quality systems people would normally buy separately thrown in a box.

Thermaltake is perhaps the worst, most poorly regarded water cooling solution there could be yet they seem to be highly recommended there.

I'm sure you were trying to help, and I thank you for that. I just felt I needed to bring this stuff to your (and others') attention, lest someone start their water cooling journey based on that information.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I suppose we could come to a basic conclusion. If the pump is adequate for the flow rates, these blocks internals are probably somewhat the same, it comes down to the size of the rad. Since they are equal, I'd say both validate what rad size is all about. I'm hoping someone hacks a 120x2 rad on one of these someday.

If it's valid and rather easy, putting a 120x2 out the back could really change entry level watercooling. $70 for the H50 or ECO, and $40 for a Swiftech MCR 220? And a bit of hose/clamps? Hmm thats $120.


Nice Review, sno.lcn,

CoolIT are in the Planing stage of also bringing these out with Option of having 120x2 Rad soon, and maybe 240 Rad

I will be getting sent to me a Couple (free samples) of there CoolIT VANTAGE ALC Systems, should be some time early June so will also look forward to Testing them out,
Will be the first person in Australia to receive them even ahead of Retailers!

I'll throw a 120x2 on it in a few weeks then and see how she does :cool:
 
30 GPH? So .5 GPM? Hmm. Guess so low end sytem, maybe all it needs.

Aluminum rad and tubing
0.1 Amp draw. Notice it say nominal? Meaning low draw, not at max. It HAS to be higher in reality, love to put an amp meter on this.

70C max temp. Is that the CPU temp or water temp? Many run above 70C on the CPU.

110 cm head pressure or 3.7 feet. Not great, okay for this system.

Overall, it's great for the masses. Many can keep an i7 cool now with this setup. And once they get the bug they will move to real watercooling and spend lots more, adding more for research and development and competition.

It's all good for us custom watercoolers, and we shouldn't shun it too hard. Take it for what it is and educate the noobs "It's not that bad, but on the other hand, when you want to expand, we have a trash can right over there so you can start over".

Jolly, thanks, it really is a great move, I hope it opens the WC eyes for many new folks. The h50 and the basic coolit fell just a bit short, no real temp benefit.

Hopefully sno will get one asap to test. I'm excited!
 
I don't get the point of these really. You have to put a blower on these things that makes a ton of noise to get any real performance out of them IMHO. At that point, you could get a MegaH etc. that would perform better...
 
OWNED A COOL-IT 5 YEARS

IV OWNED A COOL IT SYSTEM FOR 5 YEARS
W/ A DUO E7300 @ 2.66 GHz
OC TO 3.2MHz
THERE THE KIND, CUZ THEY FIT IN THE CASE :)
 
I don't get the point of these really. You have to put a blower on these things that makes a ton of noise to get any real performance out of them IMHO. At that point, you could get a MegaH etc. that would perform better...

Really?? You obviously dont know the capabilities of these coolers. Ive used high end air, extreme water (had a loop on my i7 with 3.120 and 2.120 dedicated, i7 920 at 4.2ghz never went above 56c).

I currently use a H50 for the rig in my sig. I have 2 deltas on it running at 5v. It keeps my i5 @ 63c full load in LINX, under 60c for daily computing.. I had a TRUE with the same fans that was 20c higher with the same clocks, same CPU.
 
Sorry for bringing an old post back from the dead...:D

But I ran across a deal I couldn't pass up this weekend while looking for some water blocks for a friend...long story short, I ran across one of these units pretty cheap and my curiosity got the best of me. (Impulse buying.)

So far I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with it. Installation was a breeze for me, much easier to install then my old giant air cooler. With my old air cooler complete motherboard removal was needed to re-seat it...even with my case having motherboard tray access, the fastening screws were impossible to get to. I have it in a push pull with the air exiting the case. I don't like the idea of introducing more hot air into the case as the Corsair cooler recommends. I did swap out the provided fan with one I had laying around that is capable of much higher CFMs, though I haven't needed to run it past the 1800 RPM specs of the Coolit fan. The "push" is provided by my existing low RPM (~1200) Coolermaster case fan...I merely relocated it to the front of the radiator. I'm not sure the push pull is really needed (or helpful), but my case fan was wired into the case (Coolermaster Storm Scout) pretty well so I didn't remove it. I was out of thermal paste so I just used the stuff that comes applied to the Coolit block.

So far it's keeping me idle around 27c and hasn't broken 51c after an hour of prime...thats without me cranking my high CFM fan past 1800 RPMs. It's still reasonably quite at this level, quieter than my air cooler was for sure. Granted that is at stock volts 1.39v and 3800ghz...but it's still a vast improvement over my old air cooler, which wasn't great to begin with. (My NB/CPU voltage is at 1.25v for the record.)

As stated, it's definitely not a replacement for a large diameter custom H20 system...no way, but it seems to be holding it's own with most of the top air coolers. I like that it's smaller and lighter on the motherboard than a lot of air coolers. I move my PC around a lot, I always worry about that heavy air cooler flexing and stressing the motherboard. It's also nice to have a little room around the RAM slots, and as stated, is way easier to install And, yes, there is something to the "bling factor"...it does look kinda cool. Not as cool as a multi loop custom system, but it's a nice trade off for someone on the go. My only concern is it's lifespan. I guess come talk to me in a year about that, lol.

pros: works pretty well, installs easily, more room inside the case, no worries on mobo stressing, small bling factor.

cons: little expensive, only "on par" with top air coolers, not as quiet as true watercooling should be, longevity concerns?


hpim2074.jpg


hpim2073.jpg


hpim2072.jpg



All in all, I'm really pleased with it. If they make a 220 version I might have to check it out...though, with a 220 version the ease of installation will probably go out the window.
 
Yep. At first we all said junk.

It's not junk.

It's a good better looking CPU HS that happens to have a bit of water in it.

Another validation that it's not all bad.

Still have to mod the case airflow in many situations with old cases and replace/add fans. Just like any PC modder setup.
 
Yep. At first we all said junk.

It's not junk.

It's a good better looking CPU HS that happens to have a bit of water in it.

Another validation that it's not all bad.

Still have to mod the case airflow in many situations with old cases and replace/add fans. Just like any PC modder setup.

Agreed. Without my door on the PC (my door contains 2 120mm fans pushing in towards the mobo) the NB and mosfet (?) heatsink on my motherboard did really start to heat up, as did my video cards. Definitely need to think about overall airflow for the things not water cooled when installing.

Just did a few quick overclocking runs...the ECO hung in there pretty well up to about 1.51v...not sure what that relates to in actual wattage, but it started to fall behind around there...creeping up to 60c. Below 1.5v it would usually level out around 50-55c. The air coming off the rad wasn't overly warm...so I'd have to pin that heat jump on flow rate. Small tubes, small pump, and 90 degree turns.

It's definitely not "good" water cooling, but in a portable Frag Box, an HTPC, or for someone who doesn't clock real hard just wanting some silence it's a decent buy. Probably cool a dual core like none other.
 
You should see what happens if you take the lower rpm fan off, I've seen temps get better when people take off the lower end of non-matching fans because the other fan was having to pull the lower rpm fan along.
 
You should see what happens if you take the lower rpm fan off, I've seen temps get better when people take off the lower end of non-matching fans because the other fan was having to pull the lower rpm fan along.

Darn...now you have me thinking, lol. The way I have it now is kinda fun though, my case fan that I have pushing is a set RPM case fan...constantly running around 1200 RPMs, I've played around with my smart fan configuration on the BIOS and have my high RPM Delta managed by PWM so that it turns off when I'm below 30c...once it hits around there it spools up as needed topping out at an obnoxious 2600 RPMs at 55c. I'm trying for a good balance of maximum cooling and maximum quiet.

I think there might be some real validity to your hypothesis though...unfortunately I have a very picky 965BE...darn thing will run 3.8ghz all day on stock voltage...but my next leap to 4ghz requires more than 1.51v...and I'm still not stable.

All that said, I've had a few water setups in my day...the way thing is acting I could have a 10,000 RPM fan on there...at a certain point it's not the airflow over the rad, but rather the loop just wasn't designed for that kind of voltage. :thup:
 
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