Asetek WaterChill KT03-L20

Conclusion and rating

What is it that most people look for out of a watercooling kit ?. I'd say high MHz speeds gained by comparatively low temperatures. Low noise, ease of use, and the ability to cool other parts of the system are often quoted benefits. The Asetek WaterChill generally fulfills these needs with excellent design and performance.

Being a complete novice when it came to watercooling, I felt a certain amount of trepidation about subjecting a cutting-edge PC to watercooling. Hearing horror stories of how watercooling had gone wrong did nothing to alleviate my preconceived fears. If you consider that I, a self-confessed watercooling amateur, had the WaterChill system up and running within one hour, albeit in an open-air environment, you'll see just how easy it is to install and use. The pushfit fittings made installation that bit easier. The block features mounting holes for both present AMD and Intel platforms as standard. Even the 754-pin AMD Hammer CPU is catered for. The slight problem one could run into is a lack of installation space, especially on the more congested AMD motherboards.

Performance-wise, the Asetek WaterChill didn't disappoint. Even when the radiator's fan was set to 7v via the control system, the performance exhibited toppled that of a premier air-cooling solution. Asetek have promised availability of graphics card and chipset blocks in the near future, thereby giving the user even greater appeal.

There's a lot of good in the WaterChill bundle, that's in no doubt. However, I'd have liked a rheobus-style of controlling the speed of the fan for ultimate flexibility. Further, an all-copper block would have been that little bit nicer. It would also be nice if Asetek could pre-fit one of these bundles into an attractive case. As it is, this is an excellent introduction to the world of watercooling. Priced at around £150, it represents more than reasonable value, too. Recommended.

Highs