*Quote:* Over the past few years we have reviewed many processor cooling units. Most of them were heatsink fans (HSF) and some plain passive aluminium blocks, but some were all in one water cooling systems that are designed to do everything you want in a neat package. Lately JoeB reviewed the CoolIT Domino ALC Watercooling Kit which scored a tremendous nine out of ten on our awards scale. CoolIT has to date produced many interesting all-in-one OEM, business and consumer products, ranging from single and dual CPU cooling up to custom and all-in-one GPU chiller setups. Today we have another CoolIT product though, the Coolit ECO A.L.C. all-in-one watercooler, ready for all modern sockets.

SNIP: Lately there has been a fad of releasing no maintenance liquid systems. This cooling solution provides better cooling than your standard air cooler, but ditches the hassle of maintaining a liquid loop. While large air coolers can put a lot of stress on your motherboard, the way the A.L.C. is designed it takes this weight away from the motherboard and instead puts it on the rear of the case. This ensures that your motherboard will not break or warp, which is definitely a good thing.

Today on our test bench we have CoolITs latest product, the ECO A.L.C. which shares the same design ethic as the Domino but revises many aspects in the hope of a product which will be preferable to the H50. We will be running each through a selection of tests on our Intel Core i7-980X CPU to fi nd out which is the best choice for those wanting a simple, easy to use liquid cooler.

Quote: The one downside I saw with this cooler is much the same thing you find with every other water cooled system on the market, be it a multiple loop custom setup or a pre-built kit. The chipset is cooled by airflow from the heat sink when using an air cooled solution. With a liquid cooled setup you dont have the luxury of airflow over the chipset, so it in turn heats up. With a custom loop you can install a water block on the chipset to solve this problem.