Gigabyte 3D Galaxy Water Cooler

     This is where I started to get a little nervous, when I actually opened the package with the clamps. Even fully closed, there was still enough slack on the clamp to actually slide down the house before it was mated to a fitting. But they came with the unit, so somebody must have tested them, right? So to maintain the integrity of the review, I used them. Both clamps in the above picture are the same. The small plastic tabs will come off of the clamp very easily and are only there to help you open the clamp with your thumb and finger. It didn't seem to take a lot of pressure to open the clamp, which wasn't doing a lot to gain my trust.

     I remained skeptical until I actually put the clamps on the fitting. Everything fit like a glove! The clamps fit the barbs on the fittings perfectly and hold the ½ inch hose very well. I didn't tug with any great amount of force because nobody in their right mind SHOULD do that to a water cooler. This is just one of those situations where you have to analyze your environment. People who have pets, children, or friends who can't seem to keep their hands to themselves should consider where their computer is going to sit because this is the one area of vulnerability in the system, and it needs to be well guarded.

     The last step in installation is to snap the MOSFET fan onto the water block and plug it into a 3-pin power source. Gigabyte has realized that by water cooling the CPU, you are taking away one of the elements in a properly cooled enclosure. While it may seem miniscule, the air that is circulated by the fan on the CPU's heatsink also serves to remove stagnant heat from components around the CPU itself. In the case of the Asus motherboard, the Northbridge and voltage rectifier circuits have their heatsink fins situated in such a way that air coming from the CPU cooler would circulate through them. If you use this cooler in an enclosure with less than desirable ventilation, this could be to be an invaluable option.