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The following is a highlight of key installation points.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H23.jpg"><img src="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H23th.jpg" width="204" height="250" border="0" alt="Water-cooling for Everyone 3: Thermaltake Bigwater"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>Swiftech designed the H20-120 kit with the intention to make it very easy to install. This includes, for most processor types, being able to install waterblocks without having to remove the motherboard from the case. For Socket A, 478, 754/940/939, and certain Xeon users, the waterblock's mounting plates are designed to work with the socket's default brackets. For Socket LGA775 and Xeon motherboard's without default mounting brackets, removing the motherboard is necessary. </p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H07.jpg"><img src="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H07th.jpg" width="250" height="160" border="0" alt="Water-cooling for Everyone 3: Thermaltake Bigwater"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>When mounting the waterblock, it is important to remember to apply some thermal compound (either the included or otherwise) to the CPU first. Furthermore, Swiftech stresses the importance of orienting the waterblock so its outlet is above the inlet. This allows bubbles to escape the waterblock easier. For the stepped base model, this may not be possible with certain motherboard/ case combinations. For the flat base model, there should be no problem at all.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H11.jpg"><img src="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H11th.jpg" width="250" height="174" border="0" alt="Water-cooling for Everyone 3: Thermaltake Bigwater"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>The beauty of having a pump as compact as the MCP350 is that there are many location options for installing it in a computer case. One great location is mounting it on the side of the 3.5" drives bays. One very important characteristic of the pump, is it operates near silently, but vibrates finely. It is very important to make sure the pump does not directly contact any part of the case or else the vibrations will become acoustically amplified and will create a very annoying noise. A black foam gasket is included to go between the pump and whatever surface it is mounted to. Swiftech also provides 2 screws and rubber grommets for a permanent/insulated bolt-on installation.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H19.jpg"><img src="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H19th.jpg" width="250" height="174" border="0" alt="Water-cooling for Everyone 3: Thermaltake Bigwater"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>Installation of the MCRES-525 reservoir is as simple as inserting it into an available 5.25" drive bay. Swiftech suggests installing at the highest drive bay to insure that the reservoir is at the highest point of the water-cooling circuit. Doing this greatly speeds up the filling process. It is important to not secure the reservoir into drive bay until the entire water-cooling system is completed.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H16.jpg"><img src="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H16th.jpg" width="250" height="253" border="0" alt="Water-cooling for Everyone 3: Thermaltake Bigwater"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font> </p> <p>If your case has accommodations for 120mm fans, then the radiator can be installed internally in place of the 120mm fan. Alternatively, the radiator can also be installed externally in the back of the case. There is an important issue that Swiftech mentions when installing the radiator, fan orientation. Most water-cooling setups have the radiator fan installed to exhaust air out of the case. However, doing this means the radiator is being "cooled" with the case's hot exhausted air. Alternatively, the radiator fan can be installed to intake air into the case. Doing this however, increases the case's ambient temperature. Swiftech's answer to this radiator fan dilemma is their add-on accessory, the Radbox. The Radbox is a metal frame the size of a 120mm fan and it is designed to go between the case and the radiator/fan assembly. </p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H18.jpg"><img src="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H18th.jpg" width="250" height="152" border="0" alt="Water-cooling for Everyone 3: Thermaltake Bigwater"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font></p> <p>With the Radbox installed, the radiator's cooling becomes independent from the computer case; it gets cooled with fresh air and does not raise the case's ambient temperature. In addition, the Radbox also functions as an adapter making it possible to mount the radiator to a case that does not have 120mm fan mounting holes. The only down side to using the Radbox is that it makes the radiator stick out of the case even further.</p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H21.jpg"><img src="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H21th.jpg" width="250" height="236" border="0" alt="Water-cooling for Everyone 3: Thermaltake Bigwater"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font></p> <p>With the main components mounted, the pre-attached tubing can be trimmed down to necessary lengths and connected to the other components. The installation guide provides a tube routing table of the possible connection possibilities. The most common setup is to connect the pump to the CPU, to the radiator, to the reservoir, and back to the pump. </p> <p align="center"><a href="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H20.jpg"><img src="atruereview/watercooling3/H20-120/H20th.jpg" width="95" height="250" border="0" alt="Water-cooling for Everyone 3: Thermaltake Bigwater"></a><br> <font size="-1">Click on image for larger picture</font></p> <p>With all the components connected to each other, the H20-120 kit can now be filled. The first step is to prepare the coolant by mixing the HydrX coolant concentrate with 1 liter of distilled water. </a> <a href="watercooling3/werq">Next, pull the reservoir out of the drive bay enough, so that the fill hole shows. Pour the coolant (preferably with a funnel) into the reservoir slowly until it looks like it might spill out. It is important to make sure that the coolant is flowing into the tubing that is connected to the pump.</p> <p>At this point, the pump will need to be powered to complete the fill process. The installation guide recommends the use of a power-supply tester to power up the PSU without powering up the motherboard. If you do not have a <a href="http://www.atruereview.com/powersupply_tester/index.php">PSU tester</a> available, the installation guide also refers to (though does not recommend) the pin 14 and 15 short technique to power up the motherboard. This is easy to do and we at A True Review have done it countless times. For a detailed diagram, check out <a href="http://xtronics.com/reference/atx_pinout.htm">Transtronics</a>. For safety, make sure to disconnect all the power cables connected to the motherboard and hard drives. After the filling process is completed, cap the reservoir tightly with the included cap and rubber O ring.</p> <table width="100%" border="0"> <tr> <td><a href="atruereview/watercooling3/thermaltake_bigwater2.php"></a> <a href="watercooling3/">Previous (Bigwater Installation)</a></td> <td><div align="right"><a href="atruereview/watercooling3/performance.php"></a> <a href="watercooling3/werq">Next (Performance)</a></div></td> </tr> </p> </div> </td> </tr> </table> </div> <div id="footer" class="clr"> <div class="rk-1"> <div class="rk-2"> <div id="the-footer"> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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