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- Date:
- Tuesday , June 10, 2003
- Author:
- Steve Lynch
- Editor:
- Kyle Bennett
- Google +1
Corsair Hydrocool 200
Our in-depth review of Corsair's new self-contained watercooling system. We tear it apart, cut it open, and show you what is inside that is so secret.
Inside the Hydrocool
We have a basic idea of what the Hydrocool 200 looks like on the outside, now lets take a look at what the unit looks like on the inside. Removing the cover of the Hydrocool 200 is pretty straight forward, or so it would seem.
After removing the four Phillips head screws the black casing should lift up and away from the unit allowing easy access to the internals of the Hydrocool 200. Unfortunately Corsair has decided to use four different fasteners on the Hydrocool 200, Phillips head screws, pop rivets, Allen head screws and plastic push pins. Using one style of would not only be more practical, it would also add to the overall aesthetics of the Hydrocool 200.
As you can see from the pictures above, these plastic push pins protrude far enough into the case that they come into contact with the metal frame of the Hydrocool 200 requiring you to bend the Plexiglas case open at the base and wiggle it side by side up over the frame rails. Bending the case like this requires a good deal of effort almost to the point that you feel the plastic case may snap. So be careful should you need to or want to open your Hydrocool.
Internal construction of the unit is very solid. The sturdy frame of the Hydrocool 200 has been carefully designed and constructed to accommodate all the components without being cramped. You can see that the reservoir sits in the rear of the unit with the 12v Bosch pump and radiator / fan assembly sitting on opposite sides of the case.
Though there are nice touches like the built in pump hanger and the very solid reservoir, the manner in which Corsair has chosen to connect the components to the case ( pop rivets ) leaves a little to be desired. Overall, the entire unit could be laid out in a far more efficient manner to not only optimize efficiency, but to save space as well. Again, the decision to use pop rivets here to attach all the major components to the frame is a poor choice and makes servicing the unit or replacing components a hassle.
Corsair has decided to add a lighted flow meter to the cooling circuit. The idea behind this is to give the user the ability to actually see the fluid moving inside the system and add a little “cool factor” when viewing the lighted flow meter through the translucent case when it is dark. The type of flow meter used introduces a huge restriction to the coolant system, but we will talk more about that later.
Hydrocool 200 In-Depth
You will remember in our introduction we mentioned that there were a number of set backs and delays that kept this review from being published months ago. We feel it is important to cover the issues we encountered through out the testing process because it directly impacts the final review. There were a number of issues with the components being used in the Hydrocool 200 and we felt that they should be addressed because some of these issues have yet to be resolved or explained.
The original Hydrocool 200 unit we received was represented to us as basically a complete product except for “minor cosmetics”. After completely assembling the unit and powering up the test system our computer skyrocketed to 160+ degrees Fahrenheit causing the motherboard sensor to shut down the system within seconds. We retraced every step of the assembly and found everything to be installed correctly. So we powered up the system again only to be met with the same results.
After trouble shooting the system, we realized there was almost no water flowing through the water block and we started looking for answers. Of course we wanted more information on the waterblock we were using. Up until this time, we had requested detailed information on the water block from Corsair but were told that block design was patented by Delphi. Well of course patents are public records, and we asked for the patent number. At that time the technology of the waterblock turned to "proprietary information". Corsair would then only provide simple drawings of the block but nothing else more detailed except this quote about “Microchannel Surface Technology”:
The heart of the system is the copper cooling block which removes heat from the processor. Though very small and light, the block contains enhanced microchannel surface technology using Delphi-patented technology. The microchannels present a huge contact area between the liquid and metal, providing outstanding thermal efficiency.
So as it turns out, “Microchannel Surface Technology” just means “small fins” and the water block isn’t really patented (or not that we have ever found), though it is Delphi proprietary information.
Although we can appreciate Delphi not wishing to release information on their block, it is simply unacceptable for a reviewer to say “the block works….because the company said it does”. So, armed with no information on the water block other than the fact we had problems with no flow and had no idea what it actually looked like on the inside, we decided to take matters into our own hands.
This is a photo of the water block after we took it to a machine shop and had them grind away the weld to open the block. What you can see from this picture is that not only are the water channels extremely small, many are corroded and clogged. After further investigation we found out that our initial system had been run with regular water in it during initial testing at Corsair before shipping. Since the radiator is completely aluminum and the block is copper, regular tap water causes corrosion almost immediately.
Not only was the block starting to corrode, there was a good deal of residue and sediment in the bottom of the reservoir. This type of corrosion in a normal water cooled systen, while it is unsightly and will eventually hinder your systems performance, it normally takes a while build up causing a flow restrictions and problems.
…that is, unless you are using “Microchannel Surface Technology” then problems can be almost immediate. Let me show you why:
I used plain granulated sugar to demonstrate how small these "microchannels" really are. The channels that carry water more narrow than a single grain of sugar is wide. Now, imagine these tiny particles are not sugar but something else that will not dissolve in water, and you can see where they would easily clog your water block in no time at all. Now you can see why preventing corrosion in the Hydrocool 200 is much more important than on any other water cooling block we have ever tested. We needed a new water block because the one we had was ruined.
Take II
The second water block we received was shipped to us directly from Delphi. Again, this was a copper block without the nickel plating so we set out to test the Hydrocool 200 again. This time around, the block worked, but the temperatures were high and fluctuated. A quick inspection revealed that the hose fittings in the rear of the system were leaking and the surface of the water block was slightly concaved. Replacing the hose clamps quickly fixed the leak problem, but there was still the new block and its non-flat surface to deal with.
The good thing about the waterblock not being nickel-plated yet is the fact that it allows us to see the basic construction of the block; something you wouldn’t normally be able to see after the plating process. Corsair again assured us these problems were anomalies and the performance should be much better than what we were seeing. At this point we decided we should wait for the first batch of retail Hydrocool 200 units to be produced and take a stab at reviewing a final shipping product. While we had also been assured multiple times that the units we were looking at were representative of retail product, we were obviously hoping that was not the case and the contradiction of assurances we had been given did not point to good things.
Take III
The final retail version of the Hydrocool 200 showed up, so we set the old system aside and prepared for testing with this completely new system. The Hydrocool 200 system will be tested against the Koolance EXOS since both products are vying for the same target audience. We readied the test bench and began preparing to test.
The first thing you will notice is that the new nickel plated block is slightly smaller than the second ( non-plated ) block. Both blocks compared to the Koolance EXOS G200 block seem very, very small. The nickel plated block has a very nice finish giving this water block a more professional look than the first two Hydrocool blocks.
The next thing we noticed while preparing to test the fact that not only was the second Hydrocool waterblock mating surface concave, unfortunately so is the newest block. The rest of the Hydrocool system checked out fine so we decided to forge ahead with our tests.