Installation

Installation is a very straightforward proposition which should reassure even the most jittery of first time water cooling users. When you do have your motherboard removed you, simply thread a long screw (with washers on both sides of the motherboard) through the motherboard and tighten down a metal standoff. The plastic washers which you place on both sides of the motherboard to keep anything from shorting out are very thick and sturdy; in fact they are some of most durable looking washers we have come across on a good long time. CoolIT certainly believe in overkill and even small things like the thickness of the washers used will calm and reassure someone who is not completely sure about the whole “water cooling thing”.


When you have tightened down the first standoff you simply repeat this procedure 3 more times and then reinstall the motherboard back into your case. While it is counter intuitive at this point, reinstalling the motherboard is quite necessary as you will not be able to install it after the water block is in position. The next thing you have to do is remove your computer case’s rear 120mm fan (if you have two of them you should remove the top most one).


When the motherboard is fully reinstalled and you have removed the rear case fan, you simply have to position the water block over the CPU and install the two wire brackets which hold the block in position (since we removed the TIM we of course had to apply a small amount of MX-2 before doing this, as you will too if reinstalling the PURE after initial installation). The installation manual suggests laying a towel over the 5.25 bays at the front of you computer case and laying the PURE assembly there in order to remove any tension on the neoprene tubes while you install the wire brackets. Alternatively, you can have someone hold the PURE system while you do this but it all depends on your comfort level.

When installing the two brackets we found that if you start to thread the two large screws which hold it in place it is then much easier to install the second bracket. When tightening down the four retaining screws it is always a good idea to tighten two screws at a time (namely two that are diagonally opposed to each other). To further reduce stress and to help insure a good and proper seating of the water block, we strongly recommend only tightening them in one turn (or even half turns if you have the patience) before tightening the other two diagonally opposed screws one turn. This will reduce the chances of uneven pressure being applied to the CPU which could damage it. One great thing about this setup is that you can not over tighten the screws; they simply slam into the metal standoffs thus ensuring equal mounting pressure on all four screws.


When the water block is in place on simply has to gently flip the unit over and install the PURE by mounting the fan into the back 120mm fan area. This is done just as you would install any exhaust fan by using four screws which are included with the PURE. When this simple and quick task is accomplished you simply have to insert a four pin molex connector into the PURE to provide it with power. If your motherboard is an older board which does not allow you the ability to ignore “CPU fan error” you may have to plug another fan into the CPU fan header. This really is not a big deal but it could have been avoided if CoolIT had provided a simple 3 pin connector which has only the sensor wire in place. This would have had the added benefit of giving you a warning if the pump fails (as some other similarly price closed loop systems can).

Since this system is a closed loop self contained system that was prefilled at the factory you do not have to worry about bleeding air from any of the lines. This is another little issue with water cooling that can cause some stress in first time buyers which has been thoroughly eliminated by the installation process of the PURE.

Overall this is a very easy installation process which should not take you more than 10 minutes to accomplish. Every set is well laid out in the manual and has been designed to not only ensure a good and proper installation but also reassure people that it is an easy, robust and above all else safe. Bloody good job CoolIT.