Writing this conclusion proved very tricky, as it was hard to work out which setup is the best all rounder. They each performed well for how much they cost, and none of them had any major design niggles. Both Antec kits have the obvious attraction of being pre-built, but then again you don't get the same level of performance.

However, looking at the results obtained with the Enermax Magma fans, the Kuhler 620 is the first cooler to stutter, with a result only 1.6 degrees better than the Z600 when using the same fan setup. The Kuhler 620 comes in around the £45 price bracket - for that I'd really be expecting it to perform a little stronger here, especially considering the sort of competition the price puts it up against.

In terms of out-right performance I don't think you can argue with the power of a fully custom water cooling loop - the parts we had for review today proved that, beating all the other kits by quite a margin. There's also the flexibility and ease in which you can customise the loop, with literally hundreds if not thousands of waterblocks available from Aqatuning to cool even the most minute of heat sources. So, if you're going for all out performance a custom waterloop is still the best option, but what if you're a noobie to the world of watercooling and you're looking for something a little more simple?



Well, I'll be honest - I was pleasantly surprised by the Larkooler kit. Having never heard of them before, I was a little sceptical when I heard they would be sending over a kit, but my scepticism was ill conceived. The kit's easy to install and very quiet, but there are a few niggles. With a little bit of polish though, it could be a real contender, and for noobies to the world of watercooling (who can't be dealing with the hassle of a Custom Loop) it's certainly worth a look.

So where does that leave the Kuhler 920? I'm not really too sure myself. Build quality is solid, and the ability to shoe-horn it into 99% of cases has its appeals - as does the simple mounting mechanism. In stock trim it performed well, but that's half expected considering the racket it made in doing so. Switching it to the Magma fans dropped the performance considerably, showing how much of an influence the extra airflow was having. For £85 though, it comprehensively outperformed the stock air-cooling, even with the magma fans fitted, and is a great middle of the road option if you don't have the extra cash to splash out on a separates system.

Antec Kuhler 620


Antec Kuhler 920





Larkooler KU3-241



Custom Watercooling