CONCLUSION

   This custom watercooling kit features the largest radiator and highest-RPM pump we’ve ever used by any of the manufacturers we cooperate with so obviously we didn’t really expect any of the previous kits to surpass it. At the same time however I didn’t expect the Raystorm RX360 V3 kit to come so close in terms of performance not only because of the “smaller” radiator and 3 fans instead of 4 but also because of its less “impressive” pump. Still the 4 fans by Phobya are not high-RPM ones and although the UT60 line of radiators is famous for its performance with low/mid-RPM fans I’m pretty certain it would benefit from high-RPM ones (we will test it with the industrial line by Noctua pretty soon to see how much that changes things). The only slight issue we encountered with this custom kit was with the VPP655 PWM pump since pushing up to 1500 liters of water per hour may sound impressive compared to the specs other pumps have but at the same time this translates as increased noise. To be more precise although the fans alone never exceeded the 46dBA mark at full speed it’s the noise coming from the liquid pushed by the pump which boosts that number to 48.8dBA. Also it may not be very important but should you choose this reservoir by Alphacool you shouldn’t forget to purchase a filling straw since otherwise you will probably have a hard time filling it.

   Thanks to Aquatuning.de we were able to get the parts by Alphacool pretty quick and as I type these lines the entire custom kit seen in this review (from parts to tubing, fittings and coolant) can be purchased by them for no less than 475Euros. The one question that went through all our minds at the end of this review was why should people prefer such a kit when they can opt for a Waterchiller/Freon unit which will probably offer better temperatures? For once waterchiller/Freon units are not the prettiest things around and they need to be placed outside from your case but their three huge drawbacks are their size, high noise levels and extreme power consumption (anywhere from 180W for the entry level models and up to well over 400W for the high-end models). Of course these products are aimed at a much more niche market than watercooling kits and so I can’t compare their cooling efficiency but they are far from perfect. In the end it always comes down to personal preference (and demands) but we really can’t think of a reason as to why this kit would be unable to cover the needs of pretty much everyone out there (at least everyone with a large enough tower to fit this in) it gets our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Near-Excellent Build Quality
- Top Of The Charts Performance
- Noise Levels
- 480mm Radiator With 7 Ports
- Dual 5.25” Acrylic Reservoir With Dual D5 Slots
- High Performance VPP655 PWM Pump (1500l/h)
- 6x120mm Fans
- Socket Compatibility
- Easy Installation

CONS

- Pump Noise (Compared To the Competition)
- Radiator Size With Fans (Thickness)
- Price (For Some)