COOL IT ECO ALC REVIEW AND DISCUSION

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brianthesnail

brianthesnail

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Dec 14, 2007
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Hi guys
ive been reading some positive (and negative ) reviews on the "cool-it eco alc" and with that ive decided to write a review on my experiences with the cool it eco
i have been following cool it for a few years now since the freezone water cooling unit however this looked home made and actually looked pretty flimsy.... however it was replaced with the cool it domino which again wasnt the best of designs.... with the main problem being compatibility with cases... this was due to the 90degree control panel which protruded from the 120mm fan and radiator.... this caused no end of problems ... and you needed to remove your case side panel to adjust pump speed...
however credit to cool-it they took all these issues and have released the "cool it eco alc" which is in my opinion the best closed loop water cooler on the market.. well at least for the price
closed loop coolers are cpu water coolers that come pre-filled and require zero maintenence.... and are easily fitted in most midi cases with just a crosshead screwdriver ...
CoolIT_ECO_full_shot2_sm.jpg

upon receipt of the cool it eco i opened the package to find a extremely well packed unit.... with the eco unable to move so well done to cool it for this... theres 3 x intel brackets and a amd cooler assembely on the top part of the box... then inside you find the main cooling unit and the 120mm fan and radiator.... and the eco is set by default to a intel based installation so if you have a amd motherboard you will need to replace the intel assembely
before installing the eco you need to affix the appropriate bracket.... and this will require you to remove your motherboard unless like me you have a cutout on the back of the motherboard tray which allows you to fit brackets without removing the motherboard.... the brackets have double sided tape which should be used to affix the bracket in place... ensure the 4 threads are clearly showing through to your motherboard
after removing any rear 120mm fan you should fit the radiator (with the 120mm fan attached to it ) to the 120mm mounts at the rear of your case... you should use the 4 screws that came with the eco... however these take some effort to screw in but be patient and they will work....
as soon as the fan and rad are fitted you can now attach the eco cooler and pump assembely.... slowly lower the eco into the case and line up against the protruding bracket threads... then slowly turn the thumbscrews until you feel the thread... then rotate them all until they are all hand tight .. no more
now connect the 120mm (4pin) cable to your cpu header...... however make sure you disable any fan regulation in the bios as you want the 120mm fan to work at 100% ..... failure to do this will make the eco work incorrectly... and could overheat the cpu
connect the cooler/pump cable(3pin) to any spare fan header on your motherboard ......and thats the job done...
CoolIT1.png

performance was ok... however dont expect massive drops in idle tempertures... from what i found this isnt what the eco is about.... what the eco does best is produce stable tempertures....for example were before my cpu would load at around 48c with the eco it does not go above 42c... and then once ive finished a game or program the idle temp will return in less than 2 minutes were as before it would take twice as long
noise is minimal however you need to remember you have to run the 120mm at full speed however even at 100% its no louder than other 120mm fans in my case... and as for the cooler and pump well they are near enough silent...
SUMMARY :
i like the cool it eco alc... for £51 you can water cool your processor and have stable tempertures ... and the installation should be well within the capabilitys of even novice pc users .. and allthough it should take around 30 minutes give yourself a few hours
so if you want water cooling for next to nothing then the cool it eco is worth considering....
hope this helps you decide !
 
hmm wondering how it compares to the corsair h50 or even the h70...looks cheaper than both of the corsairs though...and it's not even cheaper in price than the h50...
 
It's nice. I had a tricycle before, it was FAST! Then I saw my buddy fred fly by on a bicycle.

If your happy, your stuff is good, be happy. I'm way past a bicycle, you will be before you know it, unless your happy at those incredible performances.

You'll want more soon. And your noise is minimal vs my rig? Don't think so. And you made NO mention what CPU you have, your overclocks etc. So it's just.. ummmm... Nice pics, good effort. Decent writing! Seen more than a few writeups on this. Try googling it.

http://www.overclockers.com/annual-water-cooling-cleaning-rebuild-journal/
 
^Agreed.

Good writing, but you need to include technical configurations of CPU and PC build so users can grasp the 'environment' in which it was tested. We need a rundown of the test environment, ambient air temps, case, etc...

It's like buying a really expensive racing spoiler for your Honda Civic...it costs a lot and really does very little for the intended application. Same with the H50...even the H70 far exceeds its cost/performance curve vs. good air coolers.

Great idea...I like the concept, but hopefully people out there will do a little research on their own before dropping the cash on a cooler like this.
 
I think that no one should get these lame integrated liquid cooling systems, why get them when there are air coolers like the NH-D14.
You should get the Noctua NH-D14
, confirmed to be the best CPU air cooler in the market, same performance as liquid cooling by the h50 and eco alc, without negative reviews nor risks of leakage of coolant and frying your motherboard.

Check it out on YouTube and Newegg.
 
same performance as liquid cooling by the h50 and eco alc, without negative reviews nor risks of leakage of coolant and frying your motherboard.
Click to expand...

These aren't considered 'real liquid cooling'.

Leaks happen (in any implementation) due to 2 things: poor product design, or user/installer error.

Real watercooling performs far better, but at substantial increase in cost...so it becomes more of a hobbyist solution.

 
yeah it's just an option and the cooling is not exactly bad...it's just that the noctua is a real strong competative...there are a lot of air coolers out there that would be worse than these liquid coolers...
 
at 25$ i had the choice betwen a Coolit Eco A.L.C and a CM 212...i think i made a good deal taking the Coolit for my 2500k.
 
Yeah, I always tend to link a few of the same links...why not just make them my sig? It's a lot easier to say 'read up on the info in the links posted in my signature' instead of reposting the same URLs over and over...

:/
 
I really find water cooling pointless if you can get 4+GHz on air without needing to put a water bottle inside your case or a reserator on the outside dangling from two tubes.

I can't find any good water cooling system that can cool better than this garbage here, I can't find any integrated liquid cooling system that beats the NH-D14 by over 10 degrees Celsius.

Water cooling is a fail nowadays.
 
I can't find any good water cooling system that can cool better than this garbage here, I can't find any integrated liquid cooling system that beats the NH-D14 by over 10 degrees Celsius.
Click to expand...

A full-fledged watercooling loop will demolish the temps of any closed-loop LCS or high end air.

Water cooling is a fail nowadays.
Click to expand...

It would seem someone who isn't very knowledgeable in watercooling would state this.

Watercooling is more performance, hobbyist and DIY driven than almost every other form of cooling, minus LN2 or a compressor. So no, for every average Joe, a good air cooler is fine for them.

Please stop posting uninformed information; this forum already has a substantial amount of wrong information...if you aren't sure about subject matter, refer them to someone else.

Thanks.
 
I really find water cooling pointless if you can get 4+GHz on air without needing to put a water bottle inside your case or a reserator on the outside dangling from two tubes.

I can't find any good water cooling system that can cool better than this garbage here, I can't find any integrated liquid cooling system that beats the NH-D14 by over 10 degrees Celsius.

Water cooling is a fail nowadays.
Click to expand...


Sure. Dunno what watercooling you been looking at. This is real watercooling.

IMG_0458-1.jpg
 
Hey, Conumdrum, what test bench is that? I've been looking for one, not too many look like they support dual 3x120 rads...but apparently yours does.

I was looking at either modding one, or building my own...whatcha got there...a Banchetto 101?
 
I'm talking about integrated water cooling like the corsair H50.

AND what other reason would you need water cooling for overclocking to over 4GHz

If you can get it stable on air, why water cooling?

4GHz at 60 Degrees or 4GHz at 20 Degrees, SAME. Am I right?
 
Wow, looks like you guy aren't getting me.
I know that liquid cooling does out perform all air cooling; particularly a 'real' liquid cooling system like the one in the picture, a full loop water cooling system with a separate radiator, pump, reservoir etc.

What I mean to say is that low temps are pointless if you have a stable system at higher temps.

For example a Phenom II X6 at 4+Ghz with a Cooler Master V6 GT, is 60 degrees Celsius at full load. Well below the recommended maximum with a $60 air cooler that looks good too.

Now put that with a full loop Thermaltake set, you will get 40 degrees Celsius. Still stable and the same performance. What difference does it make?

The lower temp increases the life of your processor, but a processor won't even live for over 4 years before it's like a Pentium 4 now.

AND hey! I know a lot about liquid cooling, probably as much as you. I didn't state facts, this is my opinion which I supported through facts like the one that Integrated WC systems like the ECO ALC or H50 and H70 can't beat the NH-D14 by 10 degrees.

I know the how well liquid cooling performs, every thing about water blocks, tubing sizes, pumps and every thing you need to set one up.
I my self am a fan of WC systems, though I hate the H50 and ECO ALC.


So, that's what I meant to say is that these currently available integrated WC systems aren't worth the buy at this time until better ones are made.

So lets end the argument, and peace :)
 
So, that's what I meant to say is that these currently available integrated WC systems aren't worth the buy at this time until better ones are made.

So lets end the argument, and peace
Click to expand...

I was trying to. My point is, just because 'it's good enough' for Joe User doesn't always mean it's good enough for Bob User. It's preference.

A Honda Civic and an Enzo Ferrari perform the same function: get you from point A to point B on a highway. How they do it are completely different in many aspects.

I completely agree with you...if it works for you and gets you the results you want, super. For me, I love watercooling...its more than just a cooling solution; it's a hobby and passion. I love to build and tweak; update and modify. The only cooling solutions I try to get people to avoid are the H50, TT Bigwater, Zalman Reserator, etc. There are better solutions for the money that are far less prone to failure. Damaged hardware is what we like to avoid; these forum threads are some of the steps needed to help educate/accomplish that.
 
^now that's exactly how it is...and how it should be...lol...
Although of course there are situations where liquid cooling beats air cooling...
though rare, these cases do exist....and overclocking higher than 4ghz is where good water cooling comes in if you're not willing to risk dice or ln2...or have no way to get/make a phase change....and in some cases it is considered as "higher class" cooling as it takes more money and work put into it....so different people have different reasons for having it and they should all be educated and know the risks ahead of time....

So you can't really say it's bad or worse...it's an alternative...and if done well and correctly a very good alternative at that....lol 😉
 
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