Antec KÜHLER H₂O 620 all included liquid cpu cooler.

Keep cool without making a mess

Keeping the most important part of your computer system cool has been something gamers and enthusiasts have struggled with for years. The battle between discreet liquid cooling systems and air cooled alternatives has raged with the primary debates being efficiency and safety, this is a delicate balance that needs to be maintained because liquids and electrical components do not mix very well. Air coolers are not overly known for their efficiency and are generally regarded less effective when compared to a liquid cooling system. Antec has paired up with Asetek to produce the Kuhler H2O 620 which relatively low priced cooler aimed at primarily enthusiasts who are looking to either overclock their system or just lower the noise output.

One of the first all in one coolers with flexible tubing.

The Antec KÜHLER H₂O 620 delivers high-performance liquid cooling for your CPU in a quick, easy-to-install package. Unlike traditional liquid cooling systems, this self-contained unit comes prefilled and requires no maintenance. The voltage-controlled 120 mm fan and 3rd generation copper cold plate ensure efficient cooling, while the estimated 50,000 hour pump lifetime means this cooler is even likely to outlast the system it cools. Lastly, easy-bend flexible tubing allows the KÜHLER H₂O 620 to be installed in nearly any orientation. Take your PC’s Quiet Computing™ to the next level with liquid cooling performance at a price that rivals aftermarket air coolers.

I will be testing the Antec Kuhler 620 by installing it as per the included instructions. I will monitor temperatures using core temp version .99.8 which has proven to be reliable in temperature readings on this processor which will be the AMD Phenom x4 970 black edition which runs fairly hot on its stock 3.5GHz. I will also test how it stacks up against the ECO ALC cooler from CoolIT, a product we have reviewed in the past and which shares a lot of similarities with the Kuhler 620. CoolIT’s ECO cooler is very similar to the Antec Kuhler in that they are both self contained liquid cooling systems.

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A closer look

Front of retail packaging

Back of packaging

Very similar to other coolers in terms of retail packaging. Nothing to flashy and just enough information that someone who saw this in a big box retail outlet would be able to make decision about buying it.

right side of packaging

left side of packaging

The sides of the packaging continues the same design as the front with some statistics regarding how the Antec Kuhler compares to 1st gen liquid cooling and the stock Intel cooler. On the right image we have a shot of the specs of the Antec Kuhler, I will be going into further detail later on that.

Specs

Socket compatibility	Intel LGA 775, 1155, /1156, 1366, AMD AM2, AM3 AM2+, AM3+
Fan	1450- 2000 rpms – (4.7″ x 1.0″ /120mm (w) x 27 mm (D)
Radiator dimension	151 mm x 120 mm x 27 mm
Cooling liquid	Safe, environmentally-friendly, anti-corrosive
Cold plate + pump height	1.1″ /27MM
Weight	1.5 lbs / 0.7kg
Air flow	81.3 CFM
Tube length	13.0″ / 330 mm

The entire unit comes pre-packaged within a nice protective layering of cardboard.

Once the unit is removed from its protective housing  you can see that the tubing connecting the water block to the radiator is actually really flexible. This is is unusual for a self contained liquid cooling unit which usually comes with rigid tubing that can make it a pain to install in most cases. The water block has a plastic covering over it to protect the pre-applied thermal grease.

The radiator is large enough to fit a standard 120mm fan slot. The installation is a little interesting because if you follow the instructions you will find it hanging there while you get the rest of the block ready to be installed. The screws to secure the radiator pass through it and actually screw into the fan that is suppose to push air over the radiator. This design proves to firmly secure the entire setup to most cases but could potentially cause issues with thicker  or oddly designed cases.

The entire package contents. The Antec Kuhler 620 comes with fittings for both Intel and AMD, a single 120mm fan which per the instructions is designed to push air over the radiator. In some of the new and or more expensive self contained sets the biggest inclusion is a second fan.

While flexible tubing is a huge plus when it comes to installing this cooler, there is the concern that the flexible tubing lends itself to weakness that may end up destroying valuable components. I can tell you from careful inspection of all the seals that the tubing is very firmly connected. To further ease concerns Antec has graciously given a 3 year warranty covering  full parts and labor on the Kuhler 620. This warranty covers 3 years which is about the average lifespan for a CPU cooler.

Performance:

It looks really good but how does it perform?

To find the answer to that question I set the system up with the  CoolIT Eco cooler, AMD stock cooler ( similar design to Intel’s ) and the Antec Kuhler 620.

CPU	AMD Phenom II 970 X4 @ 3.5GHz and 4.2 GHz
Motherboard	Jetway Hummer HA12-LF
Case	IN WIN Dragon rider
Ram	8GB Corsair Ballistix 1600 DDR 3
Video card	Zotec Nvidia  GTX 560TI OC
Power supply	Thortec 800W Thunderbolt plus
HD 1	WD Velociraptor 150 GB 10k RPM
HD 2	WD Velociraptor 150 GB 10k RPM
Hd 3	Segate barracuda XT 2 TB SATA III

Setup and installation

For all 3 coolers I followed the included instructions to insure closest performance to what the manufacturer designed. For the Antec Kuhler, while the instructions were not super detailed they provided enough information and pictures to insure a simple installation of the Antec Kuhler.  Antec/Asetek went with a twist on screw down design, this design ensures proper spreading of the thermal grease when installing the cooler as well as ensuring proper installation.

As you can see by the above image the Antec Kuhler 620 does a great job of keeping the CPU cool at stock temperature. It beats the competition by about 3-4 degrees at idle and under load it maintains a healthy temperature keeping the CPU cool and under 50c or about 125F. The room that the tests were run in was rather hot at about 90F, I am quite happy with the overall temperature of the system when you factor in all the variables.

I am happy to say that the Antec Kuhler held out even under an overclock of 4.2GHz still holding a decent temperature well under the thermal limits of the CPU and a bit better than the competition. The stock cooler was dangerously high and when it hit that temperature I shut the system down, due to the stock cooler not finishing the prime 95 jobs the temperature is likely higher on the stock cooler.

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Summary and Conclusion:

Overall the Antec and Asetek have put together a nice solid cooler for those who don’t want to set up their own cooling loop, and while the performance is up to part with a full liquid cooling set its getting there. The Kuhler 620 represents the third generation of all in one liquid cooling units each generation is getting better and becoming more effective, I am excited to see what comes next. I was pretty surprised at how well the Kuhler performed even with a decent starting temperature it kept the CPU cool without a lot of noise. The fan that comes with the unit might be a tad loud at 38db in a case such as the Lanbox we reviewed earlier this year but in a decent sized mid tower or full tower the case absorbs the noise rendering it quite and effective. The price as of this writing is around $70 from Antec’s store, this is a decent price range for an item of this quality as a proper water cooling loop would cost you well over $100 and come with greater risk to your components. I give the Antec Kuhler 620 the approved hardware award for its performance per dollar, It does a great job for the money coupled with its ease of installation makes it a winner.