Coolit ECO A.L.C. Review

A few years ago Coolit released the Domino cooler which at the time redefined liquid cooling for the 'masses' - bringing it out of the basement of hardcore enthusiast users and firmly into the mainstream market. Everyone wanted a Domino, they were affordable, well built (although not without some issues it has to be said) and could handle overclocked systems with relative ease. The release of the Domino paved the way to show other companies how lucrative this market could be and when Corsair released their H50 the performance mantle changed hands. Coolit, not surprisingly didn't rest on their laurels and went back to the drawing board to regain their crown. Aspects such as the mounting of both the heat exchanger and radiator were factors that came into play. Coolit have been extremely focused on getting this product as close to perfect as possible and when the press complained about some mounting issues they recalled them all and fixed the problem areas. You have to give them some credit for this move. This leads me nicely into the product we have for review today - the Coolit ECO A.L.C which shares the same basic principles but adjusts the design and key performance areas for a superior cooling experience. Coolit also offer a confidence boosting 2 year warranty which is a good sign. The Coolit ECO A.L.C. arrives in a somewhat understated box which appeals to me - there is also plenty of product information and specifications if you are browsing in a shop. Inside the packaging is well thought out with polystyrene and warranty information which ticks all the right boxes. There are also sets of brackets to mount onto both Intel and AMD platforms. There are some physical design changes when compared with the Domino however the basic components stay the same - a 120mm fan, radiator and CPU block with pump. The fan is 2.5 cm thick and is a 1,800rpm 12v version - there is no need for end user mounting as it is supplied already fitted. Unlike the default position of the H50 the fan pulls air out through the radiator and expels it from the chassis. There is a standard 4 pin header mounted to the unit for attachment to your motherboard. The CPU block is supplied with the Intel 775/1156/1366 brackets already fitted which is a wise choice to cater for 'user percentages' - the pump has CFF1 markings and it is powered by a standard 3 pin connector - it only demands a 1W power intake. The build quality is high with ceramic bearings being used and Coolit claim a life span of 50,000 hours. Coolit are also keen to point out that the coolant is a proprietary mix and contains antifungal additives. The Fluid heat Exchanger (FEH) is comprised of a copper base plate with micro channels to aid in the transference of heat. Covering all the tubing is an outer plastic sheathing which reminds me of automotive wire loom just without the slit to get access. This really does protect the hose from possible damage and aids a certain stability which exudes quality. Fitting the ECO is exactly how Coolit want it, designed for inexperienced system builders ... as mentioned earlier the system comes with the Intel configuration already fitted so if you have an AMD system you just remove the Intel brackets from the main body by simply removing four small screws. You then slide the AMD setup/backplate into place and retighten - it literally takes a minute and I think I could train my dog to do it. Coolit have supplied the same safety cups on the screwheads as we saw before on the Domino, this is a good thing as I am sure most system builders have at one time or another slipped their screwdriver into an important component. It takes about 5 minutes in total to complete, if even that. Test System When testing coolers it is important to keep ambient temperatures exactly the same throughout. KitGuru use a controlled air-conditioned room and temperatures of 23c were maintained which is close to what most people would consider a comfortable environment for work or gaming. We didn't run the components on a clinic open 'desk' either. We used an enthusiast based Lian Li Armorcase which would be a good general representation of a quality chassis people would use. The chassis was closed and all system fans were set to high via the Lian Li control knob. Coolit ECO A.L.C. Intel i7 980X Corsair H50 Coolit Domino Prolimatech Megahalems Xigmatek Thors Hammer Asus Rampage III Extreme Corsair 12GB Dominator (8-8-8-24) with DHX+ LaCie 730 30 inch Display Nvidia GTX480 Enermax Revolution 1250W PSU Lian Li Armorcase 160GB Intel SSD Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit KitGuru Photoshop Benchmark V1(4) Maya 2011 Thermal Diodes Digital Sound Level Noise Decibel Meter Style 2 Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp. Idle temperatures were measured by turning on the system and letting it idle in Windows for 60 minutes. Load temperatures were achieved and recorded by running a scripted autoresponsive version of the KitGuru Photoshop Benchmark V1(4) while rendering a detailed composition in Maya 2011 to ensure all the cores were loaded under real world conditions. The results show us that the Cooit ECO puts in a good showing and performs almost identically to the Corsair H50. That said, a good portion of our audience would be contemplating a liquid cooler for overclocking and to give a better indication of performance we increased the CPU by almost a gigahertz to 4.2ghz - to achieve this we had to increase core voltage to 1.4. Again the results show the Coolit ECO putting in an almost class leading performance, just losing out slightly to the Corsair H50, however it is worth saying that the results are so minor that in real world terms they would not be noticeable. There are significant improvements when compared to the aging Domino. To record the noise of the cooler we disabled all chassis fans and set each cooler to its maximum respective settings - this is the most accurate way to attain the noise levels of each liquid cooler without getting misleading background influenced information. While the airflow from each cooler will not be identical this is irrelevant to the result as many users who overclock will be using the highest setting on the cooler they purchase. We measured from a distance of around 20 inches which we felt was a good indication of a realistic distance from the case. The results confirm that the Corsair H50 is the quietest of the coolers however being subjective, the differences were not noticeable to my ears. This is also strictly a worst case scenario as most people would be using the automated settings anyway. The Coolit ECO A.L.C. has been well researched as a concept design and subsequently developed since the release of the Domino - they have taken onboard user generated feedback and have improved the product in several key areas. People still intimidated by putting liquid in their computer could very well find this is the cooler to give them the final push because it is basically foolproof, unless you decide to drive your car over the unit before fitting. There was a time when the more extreme enthusiast audience felt that these 'all in one' units were not worth the liquid they contained, however for the target audience the ECO ALC is a particularly solid buy. The noise levels are respectable as our testing has shown and the cooling performance is also well in line with what we had hoped to expect. On a performance level the ECO A.L.C. compares well with the class leading Corsair H50 and there is very little difference (if any) to report from our testing . The fitting of the ECO is easier however which may very well be the deciding factor especially when considering the very modest asking price of £55 in the UK and around $75 in the US. I can recommend this cooler to anyone in the market for a pain free, easy fitting all in one unit. Discuss this in our community or just leave a comment.

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Coolit ECO A.L.C. Review

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