Final Thoughts
After spending some time with the Pacific RL360 D5 RGB, I can’t help but be impressed by the quality of the kit. Having spent a great amount of time with all manors of water cooling parts you come to recognize some big differences between parts from different manufacturers. What you are getting from Thermaltake are well designed components matched with quality materials and machining. Not only that but with this kit you are getting these parts picked out for you specifically, there’s no chance of anything being left of the order. You aren’t going to receive your package in the mail only to find out that you forgot to order something crucial. For a first time water cooler I see this kit as a very smart investment and a great base to build up a full system loop around. Now, some noise has been made about the price of this kit, at $409.99 from online retailers it’s not cheap. But that is simply the reality of custom water cooling. I find the price to be acceptable considering the level of quality components that you are getting. And of course the performance of the kit is great, so long as you set it up right. It seems that although the Tt branded coolant looks fantastic, you are going to be paying for it in the cooling department. We would suggest running distilled water and if you must have colored coolant, and we won’t blame you if you insist, go with a dye that can be simply mixed in once the loop has been filled.
There are unfortunately a couple of small downsides to this kit. The first is the overall size of the parts. While we won’t be judging Tt for this, it’s certainly the buyer’s responsibility, but both the extremely thick radiator and the extremely tall height of the res/pump combo made for troublesome fitment in what has been up to this point an extremely roomy chassis for our review rig. Just be aware that double checking dimensions would be recommended in this situation. Second and again we won’t be judging them too harshly for this is the level of performance. It’s very strange that the included coolant would so negatively effect performance. However we did notice some milky substance in the bottom of that bottle that had separated while it was sitting which doesn’t bode well for the fluid. For the time being we recommend you steer clear of this coolant.
Overall ThinkComputers.org would like to award the Thermaltake Pacific RL360 D5 RGB a 10 out of 10 score!
Pros:
– Quality everywhere you look
– Excellent component choice
– Simple and perfect for a novice
– Potentially great performance
– Price
Cons:
– Large parts are going to be a tough fit in many cases
10 out of 10 for an aluminium radiator and the liquid having sediment in the bottom of it? These 2 issues would at least have been worth taking points off.
Aluminium and copper in the same loop can cause the copper to corrode and gunk to build up in the water block. A good quality liquid will have anti corrosion in it.
The liquid having sediment in it is also a concern. If it has already built up in the bottle it will do the same in the system if it sits idle long enough once assembled and in your pc. This could lead to a, worst case scenario, clogged water block.
I have been water cooling my own pc and building for friends since 2006 and have had bad experiences with mixing aluminium radiators and copper water block going back to the Gigabyte 3D Galaxy water cooling kit. The kit was horrible but became the start of a water cooling hobby.
Tt claims to use a special aluminium alloy which lowers the corrosion potential to a similiar level like the one of brass and copper…
Yea but that coolant is a definitely a no-go.
I have t agree with Paul Martynuk on this one; I had heard that Tt was using an aluminum core for their rads, and this confirms it. However, it doesn’t explain why this kit is so expensive.
But; let’s take a few more points off – for the money that you’re paying (upwards of 512 CAD + tax):
– I would expect the fan and pump screws to anodized black, not stainless steel.
– I would expect the cables on the pump to be sleeved – and not sleeved with something that looks like un-shrunk heatshrink.
– I would definitely expect the radiator to have an all copper core
There are so many other choices out there where folks will get better value for their hard-earned money (e.g. to name a few: http://www.performance-pcs.com/ek-kit-p360-premium-watercooler-kit.html#Details $466 CAD, http://www.performance-pcs.com/hot-xspc-raystorm-d5-photon-rx360-v3-watercooling-kit.html#Specifications $390 CAD, http://www.performance-pcs.com/phobya-pure-performance-complete-watercooling-kit-360lt.html#Specifications $270 CAD) all of these choices would give better results than this so-called water cooling kit, while costing less than the Thermaltake kit.
Which reminds me; why compare this “custom” water cooling kit to AIO coolers, we all know that custom kits cool better than AIO’s, rate this kit vs any other “custom” water cooling kit, then tell us how it stacks up.
Just my .005 cents CAD
I was thinking that too, the Corsair h110i GT is only 1 degree hotter with a 280 mm rad and for 1/5 of the price, if the RL360 is a 10 out of 10 the H110i GT is a 50 out of 10