 "Antec Kuhler H2O 620 review")
Antec is a brand that has been around for a while, manufacturing of all kinds of PC accessories. They are best known for their cabinets, but like many other chassis manufacturers, they’re slowly moving into some other PC component categories. One of the offshoots of the Antec brand is the CPU cooler business. While they have many air cooling solutions, there are a few water cooling solutions available. The Kuhler H2O 620 is one of their budget offerings and should be enticing for those building budget gaming rigs.
Features and design
The design of the Antec Kuhler H2O 620 is similar to other closed liquid cooling solutions. Unlike many older water cooling solutions, which had cumbersome large components, the new line of liquid cooling systems are simpler. The device has two key components, a cooling radiator and the actual cooling block that makes contact with the processor. The two components are connected together using two pipes. The base of the cooling block has a copper plate that has a thin layer of thermal paste already on it.
Copper plate for better heat conduction
The radiator isn’t too large and there’s a provision to allow users to attach the radiator to the back of the cabinet, where the rear fan would normally go. The tubes that connect the cooling block to the radiator are made of rubber - they are strong, but also flexible. Placing it in a cramped cabinet shouldn’t be a problem.
The block itself is pretty compact and the radiator occupies a little more space in comparison. The cooling block has a provision for power inputs to be used to power the pump inside the cooler. The power cables are of extremely good quality, as well.
A pretty smaller cooling block
A bundled instruction manual contains all the information required to setup the CPU cooler. There’s also a 120mm fan that’s bundled with the cooler that attaches itself to the radiator.
Ease of installation
The installation of the cooler is simple. The cooler fits on a number of processors - those on the LGA 1156, LGA 1155, LGA 1366 and AMDs sockets AM2/AM3 sockets. There are brackets and locking clips designed for Intel and AMD sockets. The backplaces are designed such that they work on all the different sockets by simply rotating them till the mounting bracket holes match.
Bundled 120mm fan bundled with the cooler
There is some confusion over the direction of the some of the attachments, but a few minutes later, we were able to set it up. Clearer instructions with some more visuals could’ve simplified the process further. Without it, those new to assembling PCs might find this assembly intimidating.
Performance
We pitched the Antec Kuhler H2O 620 against the stock Intel heatsink. The processor used for the review was the Intel Core i7 2600K on a Gigabyte P67A-UD3R board. We recorded temperatures on idle and then at load. The ambient temperature in the room was left constant to prevent any inconsistent readings.
At idle on the stock heatsink, we recorded temperatures of 34C. On the Antec Kuhler, temperatures on idle hovered around 29C. Under constant 100 percent load on the CPU for a few minutes, we noticed that temperatures on the stock cooler rose to 64C. While this isn’t close to critical temperatures for the processor, it’s still pretty high and offers very little space for overclocking. In comparison, with stock speeds the Kuhler 620 manages to level out at 40C. This is a massive drop of 24C in temperature as compared to the stock heatsink.
Temperatures in celcius
We then tried overclocking the Intel Core i7 2600K. The first stop was at 4.28 GHz. Idle temperatures only rose slightly to 32C, while temperatures at load went up to 47C, they were still lower than the temperature of the processor at standard speeds with stock cooling. Pushing it very close to 4.5 GHz, we were able to stress the CPU out without any stability issues. Temperatures at 4.5GHz were just 49C. All in all, a very impressive performance. With this kind of headroom, there’s space for overclocking.
Verdict
The price for the Kuhler H2O 620 in India is Rs. 5,300. In the market, one can expect to find it for around Rs. 4,950. It’s still a pretty expensive cooling solution.
A no-hassles CPU cooler
Regular computer users won’t find the need for such a device. Gamers and PC overclocking enthusiasts looking for a easy-to-install solution will find this very useful.
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