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Xice ExternalCool Watercooling Kit |
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ExternalCool
The ExternalCool unit (in our case a 12V version designated as EC900) holds the waterpump, passive radiator and water reservoir. In Xice's words it’s a "heat exchanger for PC-cooling in a designer housing." The ExternalCool unit is fairly large at about 330x300x110mm – it actually reminded me of an Xbox the first time I saw it, even with the large signature X in the middle.
The ExternalCool in use.
The ExternalCool is very well designed and engineered; it appears as if every effort has been made to make the unit as quiet as possible. When in use, the only noise the entire Xice kit makes is a virtually inaudible and very soft hum from the pump. If your ear is any more than 10cm away from the ExternalCool, nothing can be heard - which is a huge improvement over most computer cooling options. This system is essentially silent and does really live up to Xice’s claim that "no noise comes true".
The black side panels of the ExternalCool each have an opaque 'X' cut into the center. These are illuminated by a blue LED when the system is in use and are about the only indication the system provides that it’s actually working. The black surface appears to be powder coated (on both sides, surprisingly) and is quite scratch resistant. The side panels are bolted onto a central aluminium frame, with air-intake slots cut into the top and bottom of the unit. The ExternalCool's 4kg weight is supported on 4 rubber-shod feet.
The only connections required on the ExternalCool are two water pipe connectors and a power cord. The power lead is 2m long and plugs into the PCI backplate via a connector that looks very similar to a stereo head-phone jack. As can been seen in the photograph above, the ExternalCool arrives with plugs on the barbs - the manual indicates that each ExternalCool setup is pre-tested before it leaves the factory and that as a result will often contain small amounts of water. The plugs are also useful when disassembling the kit or moving the PC, but due to the size of the ExternalCool, and the fact that the tubing and xpk will still be full of fluid, moving the PC with the unit attached is not an easy thing to do.
At the top of the ExternalCool, and very easily accessible, is a screw-on metal cap that allows access to the water reservoir or 'water overflow tank'. The reservoir is simply a small plastic cylinder which holds about 150ml of fluid, with a water-outlet at the bottom and a water inlet close to the top. Our ExternalCool had some sort of white chalky-type paste smeared around the connections when it arrived, and since I did not know what it was, I flushed the system several times to remove all traces of it. Luckily that I did, because while flushing the reservoir some of the excess material clogged the pipes, which could have caused major problems if the kit had been assembled.
When the ExternalCool is turned on, the interior of the reservoir is illuminated by a blue LED. Strangely, the LED does nothing other than provide light on the inside of the tank, and once the cap is screwed on, as it would be in normal operation, the LED is not seen at all. While the LED does make it easy to see the water level, the reservoir and cap are easily accessible and it's hard to understand why Xice have gone to the trouble of installing a LED in a position that will pretty much never be seen.
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