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It’s over a year ago now since we reviewed the last watercooler from Corsair, the HydroCool 200EX, which is a self contained external unit. Not to long ago Corsair announced its latest watercooler, named simply the COOL. It comes in two different versions, one for Socket-478/754/939 and one for Socket-A/775. The review unit Corsair sent was for Socket-478/754/939, but there are only minor differences between the two models, most of which has to do with the mounting mechanism.

Because the COOL is an internal kit, it won’t be quite as easy to install as the HydroCool models, but Corsair has tried to make it as easy as possible. What you get in the box is a radiator, a 120mm fan, a CPU block, a water tank and a pump along with a set of mounting brackets, a length of tubing, some screws and a bottle of coolant.

If this sounds like it will be tricky to install, let me put you at ease, it’s much easier than I thought it was going to be. But if I have one major complaint, it’s that the manual only comes on CD. There is a quick installation guide, but it’s not really worth the paper it’s printed on, as it’s too broad to make much sense. So make sure you read the PDF manual through properly before you start and if you don’t have a second PC at hand, print out the pages you need.

But it’s not all bad as for starters Corsair has pre-fitted the pipes that connect to the CPU block, clamped them on and pressure tested them to make sure there are no leaks. The tubing has an inner diameter of just over 9.5mm which is the thicker type of tubing normally used for watercooling kits. The tubing fits easily onto the various components that it connects to and is held in place with the help of self-locking plastic clamps.

The water tank fits inside a 5.25in drive bay, so make sure that you have a spare one before you splash your cash, unless you’re happy to live without one of your optical drives. Filling the water tank is simple, through a top mounted filling hole. All you have to do is pull it out of the drive bay, unscrew a small lid and pour in the liquid.

The tank connects to the tiny 12V pump via a piece of hose that must be cut to the right length. It is worth noting here that the pump isn’t self priming – which means that you have to have liquid in the system at all times or it could be damaged. I was very impressed by the noise level of the pump, as I couldn’t hear it over the other components in the PC. The pump can be attached to the base of your case with a double adhesive pad, but it also has two screw mounts if you want something a bit more secure.

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