Evercool WC202 Water Cooler Review :: Installation

The total amount of difficulty to install this kit is all dependant upon the state of your system, as well as the layout of your case. For me, removal of the motherboard was a necessity, as this one was already in a full system, one which did not have a hole behind the CPU socket on the motherboard tray, or a removable tray, for that matter. After this point, any existing CPU coolers will have to be removed (a given, but still), and the mounting plate will have to be put into place. Thankfully, Evercool has had the good sense to use the same bracket they did with their Socket 775 heatsinks. In essence, it is a steel back plate, to which four brass rods are affixed, and threaded to a given length at the end. All that has to be done after this is to drop the motherboard into a case, place the water block onto a CPU that has a fresh application of thermal grease, lower down the mounting bracket, and use the included knurled nuts and springs to hold it in place. Unlike traditional systems where mounting is done solely via machine screws and bolts, Evercool's method will result in perfect pressure distribution (both on the motherboard's rear and water block's top), as well as the removal of the frustrations caused by continually having the bolts work loose, and being forced to use pliers to hold the screws in place while the nuts come out.

After this, I elected to bolt the rear radiator in place, using simple 6-32 threaded Case/Hard Disk screws to hold it to the honeycomb mesh grille at the back of the case. At this point, I connected the threaded tube from the CPU block to this rear radiator. Next, I had to remove one of the 5 1/4" bay covers, and punch out the aluminum blanking plate behind it. Next, I just had to slide the main body of the unit into place, and secure it to the case's tool-less rails. At this point, I connected the tube which featured visual flow confirmation between the out port of the unit and the CPU block, then ran a final length of tube from the auxiliary radiator to the main unit. Next, it was a matter of plugging the unit into one of the PC's Molex connectors, then filling her up. Simple, no? Of course, this does neglect the fact that before installation, I chose to follow the tried and true mantra, incase the supposedly immaculate tubing system proved fallible. With no leaks and no problems to write home about, it was time to get the performance part of this show on the road.

Installed LGA775

All Tubed Up

Installed in Case

Front Overall

Discuss This Article