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Installation
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The PC2-650 is considered a mid-tower chassis,
however, there is
plenty of room to work with.
Water Blocks
Let's start by looking at the two water blocks
we will be using for this review.
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We will be using the Koolance GPU-180L for
motherboard chipset cooling and the all new CPU-300-H06 for the CPU.
I've found that the CPU-300-H06 is quite hard to come by these days but
pcpowerzone.com does have them available. Both blocks do not
require any crimping and are quite easy to install.
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These have got to be by far the smoothest blocks
I've come across. The mirror-like base is perfectly machined and
polished and free from defects and or scratches. It consists of pure
copper and plated in 21K Gold for that ultra sleek look.
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The CPU-300-H06 features two grooves located on
either side of the block next to the raised polished CPU cold plate. The
temp sensor on the Koolance PC2-650 fits perfectly in this groove and can be
secured with the included piece of metal tape. This will provide the
best possible reading from your front LED display.
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Once all your hoses are properly installed, it's
time to fill the system. The fill cap is actually located on the bottom
of the case. You need to turn the case over and remove the cap using a
large flathead screwdriver. For trouble-free filling, you can use the
included small blue funnel.
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With the case still upside down, the next step
is to jump the power supply and test for leaks or additional fluid. This
is done using the included jumper wire. It is basically the same
procedure we have showed you in our
tech tips
a while back. Once powered, you may need to add additional coolant once
the water has cycled through all hoses and the radiator.
Mods
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This case looks quite nice and to stick to the
overall theme of the case, we decided to do some cool mods to it by installing
blue LED's and a 3 digit blue LED block.
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Let's start with the most difficult one, the
front LED display. Keep in mind that in order to gain access to the PCB,
you'll need to disassemble the entire system. There's no way around it.
Instead of the boring green power LED and the red three digit LED block, we
decided to solder on some blue ones. This can be rather difficult so it
is meant for those experienced case modders. A second set of helping
hands is most useful for this project. (thanks HM)
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Above is a shot of the final project with the
compatible blue LED block and blue power led installed.
Now there is one thing I forgot to take into
account when putting everything back together. There is a small square
red filter that actually made the LED block look purple! I had to
disassemble everything, which I will add is quite time consuming, and remove
the red plastic screen filter. Now I didn't want to leave it without some type
of cover so I started looking around for a suitable replacement. Then it
hit me...a CD jewel case! I cut out a small square piece of the exact
dimensions and popped it into place.
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Finally, a pic of the end result. The
clear plastic piece worked like a charm and would prevent any dust buildup
inside.
The other mod we did is quite simple. As I
had mentioned earlier, I wasn't too thrilled with the dull green LED Koolance used
for the case power LED.
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To my surprise, the power and HD LED's are
socketed! They are glued on, but with a pair of needle nose pliers, you
can easily work them out. I quickly replaced them with 3mm LED's, a blue
for power and a red for HD activity.
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Ahh, now that looks much better doesn't it?
The lighted circuit board design on the front door panel looks quite stunning
and Koolance should be commended on a job well done in the redesigning of
their chassis.
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