This is my first attempt at a water cooling system. I was using Noctura dual fan system on 6th gen i5 and never had any cooling issues. Since my case (Corsair Carbide 500r https://www.corsair.com/ca/en/Categories/Products/Cases/Carbide-Series%E2%84%A2-500R-Mid-Tower-Case/p/CC-9011012-WW) was equipped to handle a liquid cooler, I decided to give one a shot.



Since both products are from the same company, compatibility was expected and didn't disapoint. I mounted the rad to the top of the case and placed the two fans on top of the rad pushing air down thru the rad into the case as per the instructions. This seems to be a little counter intuitive since pulling hot air into the case doesn't make a lot of sense, but the R500 case does have a free flowing air design. All installation hardware provided made the install quick and easy. the hoses connecting the rad to the cooling block are a little stiff, but didn't cause any issues. With my installation location, the hoses could have been a little shorter, but they don't bulge out of the case. One of the hoses does make contact with my video card ever so slightly, but the hoses do have an anti-rash guard material on them.



Running an 8th gen i5 8600k overclocked at 4.4GHz the CPU hovers between 36C - 45C. Ambient temp is around 21C with internal temps on the mobo around 35C - 48C. Infact the mobo temps seem to be higher than CPU temps most of the time during gaming.



The two 140mm fans are so quiet I had to keep checking they were running. The pump does have a tiny hum to it, but that is overcome by the video card fans. All in all, the system is essentially dead quiet and I have the tower on my desk with the CPU being right at ear level.



I have only had the system running for roughly a month, but if it continues working like it is now I would consider it an excellent value.