Water Cooling by stefan @ 2011-03-18
The Kühler H2O 620 from Antec is another all-in-one water cooler which does not need any maintenance during its lifetime, and it is recommended for people who want a very easy installation, without the hassle of building a complete water cooling loop from scratch.
At first I would like to thank Antec for offering me a sample of their Kühler H2O 620 CPU Cooler for review.
"Antec, Inc., is the leading global brand of high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) markets. Founded in 1986, Antec is recognized as a pioneer in these industries and has maintained its position as a worldwide market leader and international provider of efficient, quiet, and reliable products. Antec has also achieved great success in the distribution channel, meeting the demands of quality-conscious system builders, VARs and integrators.
Antec’s offering of enclosures includes a large range of cases, such as its technically advanced Performance One Series, cost-effective New Solution Series and server grade cases designed for the needs of all workstation and server markets. Antec’s products also include front line power supplies such as its TruePower Trio series, Quattro series, and EarthWatts, the most environmentally friendly power supplies available. PC gamers are an increasingly significant consumer of performance components, and many Antec products are geared toward the gaming demographic, like the Nine Hundred, the premier gamer enclosure. Antec also offers a computing accessories line comprised of many original products, including its patented LED Fans and Notebook Cooling solutions.
Antec is headquartered in Fremont, California, with additional offices in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as well as in Germany, China and Taiwan. The company’s products are sold in more than 40 countries throughout the world. Please visit www.antec.com for more information."
Low profile pump ensures exceptional liquid circulation while preserving internal airflow
Non-corrugated easy-bend tubes for maximum flexibility in radiator positioning
Intelligent noise / speed-control fan for quiet, efficient cooling
Latest generation copper cold plate for optimal conduction
Cooling Liquid - Safe, environmentally-friendly, anti-corrosive
CPU Socket Compatibility:
Intel LGA 775, 1155, 1156, 1366, AMD AM2, AM3, AM2+, AM3+
Fan Speed:
1450 - 2000 RPM
Tubing Length:
13.0" / 330 mm
Radiator Dimensions:
5.6" (H) x 4.7" (W) x 1.1" (D) / 151 mm (H) x 120 mm (W) x 27 mm (D)
Fan Dimensions:
4.7" x 1.0" / 120 mm x 25 mm
Cold Plate + Pump Height:
1.1" / 27 mm
Net weight:
1.5 lbs / 0.7 kg
AQ3 - Antec Quality 3 year limited warranty on parts and labor
The Kühler H2O 620 from Antec is shipped inside a medium sized cardboard box (like the one from a power supply) and it is fully sealed on the outside:
On the front of the package, we can see a photo of the product, along with the supported Intel and AMD sockets:
One of the sides shows us a graph, comparing the temperatures of the Kühler with the ones of 1st generation liquid coolers and also the Intel stock cooler:
The full list of specifications can be found on the opposite side:
On the box we can also find listed some of the product highlights, with the respective photos:
The cooler and its accessories can be found carefully placed inside a cardboard tray, with a foam material on top:
The fan does not come pre-mounted and the mounting mechanisms can be found inside a small plastic bag:
The user guide shows us how to perform the installation, depending on the socket:
Two plastic back plates are offered, one for AMD systems and one for Intel, along with two fixing mechanisms; in the bags we can find some long screws to mount the fan/radiator onto the case, plastic blue/green colored adapters that must be installed on the top mounting metallic rings, necessary screws and the nuts that must be inserted into the plastic back plates; to aid the installation procedure, we can also find two adhesives that can be used to secure the plate on the back of the motherboard:
When looking at the radiator, we can see that it comes with mounting holes for both sides, for a push-pull configuration, even if only one fan is supplied inside the box; the appearance of the radiator is a lot like the other no-maintenance cooling systems present on the market from Corsair or CoolIT:
On the top of the radiator we can find the product serial number, along with the name of the product:
The pump/plate combo has a nice Antec and product logo drawn on it; we can observe a small cap which is supposedly used to fill up the installation with coolant:
On the bottom we can see a plastic cap, that is used to protect the pre-applied thermal compound; this one can be removed by rotating it a little and then by pulling it:
After the removal of the included paste, we can see the copper base with a very smooth finish, along with the 10 screws that keep it fixed:
The tubing is much less rigid compared to the one we could find on the CoolIT or Corsair units:
The 120mm fan has no fancy logos on it and comes with only two wires; it is regulated directly by the cooler itself, by plugging it into the appropriate fan connector:
The tests have taken place on a LGA1156 system, so we will use the appropriate mounting system for it; the first step would be to insert the blue plastic adapters into the mounting ring:
Each tiny blue adapter is also provided with a clip, for easy mounting/removal:
Next, we have to insert the provided nuts into the instructed holes (there is a separate hole for each socket):
To aid the installation procedure, we can use the adhesives Antec has provided on the other side of the plastic backplate:
Here is how the backplate does look, when mounted on the motherboard:
With the included special screws, we can then loosely place the mounting ring onto the motherboard; if the ring is tightly fixed, we won't be able to fix on it the pump/plate assembly:
The radiator can be mounted easily with the provided long screws; the 120mm fan will be sandwiched between the back of the case and the radiator and must be placed to pull air from the radiator and evacuate it out of the case:
After placing the pump/plate onto the CPU, we must rotate it a little so the plastic feet will align with the metallic feet on the ring:
Here is another photo of the cooling system, fully installed:
The testbench was composed from the following hardware:
CPU: Intel I5 Retail @ 3.2GHz & 4.0GHz
Motherboard: ASUS P7P55D-EVO Preliminary
RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws F3-12800CL8D-4GBRM
Video: Sparkle Calibre X460 1GB GDDR5
Power Supply: Cooler Master Real Power Pro 850W non-modular
HDD: Hitachi 5K250 2.5'' HDD
Case: Cooler Master ATCS 840
The testing procedure was the following:
- the system was left in IDLE for 30 minutes after the system booted up
- OCCT 3.1.0 was started with the following settings:
CPU:OCCT
Test Type: Custom -> 30 minutes
Test Mode: Small Data Set
Priority: Normal
after the test was complete, the system was left again alone for 30 minutes, for the temperatures to stabilize.
All the tests were performed inside a closed case, the Cooler Master ATCS 840 with all stock fans installed.
To be able to measure exactly the noise the pump/plate combo produces, all fans in the case were turned off (including the one from the radiator), along with the HDD, and the video card was removed.
With the system off, the noise in the room was measured to be 30.1dBA, and when the sound meter was placed 4 centimeters above the pump, we have measured 37.5 dBA.
When connecting the pump to the fan controller, we could find out its rotation speed, which is 1440RPM; the speed of the pump can be also monitored with the help of the motherboard.
Finding the fan speed was a problem, because it comes only with two wires, so RPM monitoring is impossible in its current state. When connecting the fan to a Kaze Master Server, the fan will start up on full speed, and after a couple of seconds, it will stop completely; if we will connect the fan to the motherboard, it will only run at full speed and the noise measured was 53,3dBA. In normal operation, the Kühler 620 modifies the fan voltage depending on the temperatures and it is kept at much lower speeds, so the noise is reduced dramatically.
As we have observed from the appearance of the cooler and some of the emblems found on the radiator and back plates, this is a re-branded Asetek unit. The product is a good solution for people that want to experiment with water cooling, with no efforts at all, because it comes assembled and requires zero maintenance during its lifetime. However, to avoid damages to the pump, it is recommended to connect the cooler to a non-regulated 3-pin fan connector on the motherboard.
In terms of performance, the new water cooler from Antec offers decent performance, and gets close to the high end air coolers. When the CPU was overclocked to 4GHz, the temperature difference between the Noctua NH-U12P SE2 and the Antec water cooler shrunk some more.
The Antec Kühler H2O 620 CPU cooler can be found in shops for about 55 EUR, less than the solutions from CoolIT (like the ECO or the much more expensive Vantage), but it is close to the Corsair H50, which is also a good all-in-one water cooler.
I would like to thank again to Antec for offering me this sample for review!