Conclusions

While I have personally been quite satisfied in the past with the water-cooled cases that Koolance has managed to put out, this time around, things are honestly different and there is just so many disappointments, especially when comparing performance to one other product that is honestly the best on the market in terms of a price/performance ratio.  For one, I don't like the fact that Koolance chose this particular chassis from Lian-Li and the fact they don't even give credit to them on the product page.  Don't get me wrong, the case is certainly impressive in terms of overall quality you'd come to expect from Lian-Li.  It is a superbly designed chassis.  However, it is honestly not designed to support such a product.  Not only do you lose a PCI slot, but you have very limited room to work with, and you'll find yourself quite frustrated just getting your whole system intact.  Second, I was honestly expecting their next chassis to offer full support for 3/8" tubing and released in conjunction with a new 3/8" GPU and Hard Drive cooler.  Slapping that small 1/4" GPU block on the Asus EAX1600XT silent was quite scary, considering how hot that card does get.  The block was very warm to the touch and I felt it just wasn't providing sufficient cooling.  However, those running older cards like the one on the first test system should not worry at all.  Also, despite the fact that the temp probes are unreliable, I really think they need to provide more than just three.  Also, more than two fan headers on the control unit would have been nice too.

Keep in mind though that I respect Koolance because they have always taken our reviews to heart in order to improve their product and have always managed to address most of what I did not particularly liked about their product with each new release.  I'm hoping they will do just that after reading this review.  In this case though, it all comes down to cooling performance and its high price tag.  Starting at about $539 and ranging as high as $674, its overall performance just doesn't justify its high price tag, considering these prices still do not include any of the blocks or coolers.  What I strongly think Koolance should offer is a system with redesigned blocks that will offer full support for 3/8" tubing.  I was actually expecting this and still boggles my mind why they failed to feature such changes with their latest product.  If you want the highest cooling performance from your CPU and are not concerned with your video card or any other components, then the CoolIT Freezone is still your very best option.  However, if you absolutely must cool down all your components, then this new chassis will suffice.

Final thoughts and wishes

For one, they need to at least provide a system that supports full 3/8" tubing for more efficient cooling.  They need to release blocks or coolers for all components supporting this.  This will eliminate the need for hose adapters, resulting in a much quicker install.  Also, I would like to see them release their own case design rather than resorting to a third-party.  That might not happen, but it would definitely make their product geniune and stand out more.  The PC2 series was honestly a step in the right direction.  The reservoir tank should be located on top for easy filling like their previous PC3 series cases.  Finally, I would really like to see them jump into a design featuring thermoelectric cooling to actually chill the water like the excellent CoolIT Freezone.   That would be one very hot product if they did.  Despite my opinions on this product, I still think it will attract many enthusiasts and they will be pleased with the overall quality of the product.  However, its price tag is not as appealing,  particularly those on a budget.

All of the latest Koolance models are now available at lower prices through PCPowerZone.  For those who are most concerned with their CPU and looking for the ultimate in cooling performance, they also stock the new CoolIT Freezone that was featured at this year's CES for less than buying direct from the company.

Unfortunately, this time around, there were much more cons and pros and I found myself having a hard time coming up with positive comments on its overall design, performance and feature set.  Perhaps they need to go back to the drawing board and come up with a much more impressive product the next time around.  This was a hard article to write, but I'm sure they will listen in order to improve an already excellent product.

Questions?  Comments?  Discuss them here.