Koolance Exos-Al Review - Installation
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One of the main selling points of the Koolance Exos-Al is its simple installation. The first step is to slice the external tubing into two and install the quick release nozzles.
Attaching these nozzles to the Exos's rear connections is truly effortless. I pushed them in, and they clicked into place. At the same time, I connected the power cable.
The next step was installing the slot interface. It is secured to a PCI slot by a screw like any other card.
I noticed however, that because the slot interface is held down only by two screws connecting it to the PCI bracket, it slightly budges when you apply pressure, making it difficult to attach the other end of the power cable. It would have been better if the slot interface were extended to fit into the PCI slot with a dummy PCB as that would have made it much more stable.
After pushing the 1/4" external tubing through the springs and holes in the PCI bracket and connecting the other end of the power cable, the next step was to install the water block. The CPU-300-H06 is also very easy to install. First I attached the tubing by sliding it onto the block's nozzles and tightening the metal compressions.
After spreading a layer of Arctic Silver on the processor...
I simply placed the block down centered in respect to the P4 retention bracket, placed the clip mechanism center onto the block, pushed the ends of the mechanism through the holes on the retention bracket, then tightened the center screw until it would not budge.
The last two steps required inside the computer case is two hook up a 4 pin molex connector to power the Exos, and wire the case power switch through the slot interface before going to the motherboard.
The final steps are to jump start the system without the computer turning on by connecting pins 4 and 6 in the power supply's motherboard connector with the included piece of wire (detailed in the Exos manual), fill the reservoir with the given coolant using the given funnel, allow air to escape out the reservoir, and leak test the Exos. It sounds like quite a mouthful, but these steps are really very simple.
The final installed Exos-Al matches my CoolerMaster Wave Master case quite well! Overall, the Exos-Al is by far the easiest water cooling kit I've ever installed. Connecting two pieces of tubing to the Exos through the slot interface to the water block, powering the slot interface and Exos unit, and filling the reservoir could not be any easier.
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