CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System Review

Installation
Test Rig:

Intel Core 2 Duo E-8400 45mn CPU
Gigabyte X48T-DQ6 Intel X48 Motherboard
Sapphire Radeon HD 4870 Toxic Video Card
Corsair DDR3-1600 4GB Dual Channel Kit
OCZ EliteXStream 800 Watt PSU
Kingwin 12025 Heatpipe Direct Touch CPU Cooler (for testing purposes)
Thermaltake Xaser VI Full Tower
Windows Vista Home 64-bit

Though installation on an AMD system does not involve even removing the motherboard, installing the Domino A.L.C. on an Intel system requires motherboard removal and installation of the included backplate. There is also a backplate included to install the waterblock on an i7 board.

The Domino is pre-filled at the factory, so no filling, funnels, plastic bottles with tubes, or other messy equipment is required. Just put the system in your case, install the heatblock, and you’re done.

In preparation for installation, remove the motherboard from the case, remove your existing CPU cooler, clean the CPU heat spreader surface with isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free cloth. Remove the rear case fan.

CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System

My particular motherboard has a heatsink behind the CPU socket, so it has to be removed. Place the baseplate behind the CPU socket. There is adhesive on the baseplate. In my case, pretty much nothing is a permanent installation, but it is nice to have something to hold the baseplate in place. So I tore a little piece of the adhesive backing off, just enough to hold the baseplate in place, but not enough to make it a pain to remove later.

CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System

The waterblock retainer screws will be used for all installations. They are held in place with C-rings. The waterblock retainer mounted at the factory is for Intel CPUs, and it is used both for LGA 775 and LGA 1366, with the outside holes for the latter. For LGA 775, remove the C-ring, place the screw in the inside hole, and replace the C- ring. It wasn’t the easiest task in the world, but still a good idea for a multiple application.

CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System

Next, plug the 3-pin power connector into a spare 12v bus on your motherboard. Final installation involves placing the fan into the fan opening on the rear of your case. There are two choices, either with the rubber barbs, which is intended for a stationary rig, or supplied screws, intended for a rig that gets moved around, like a LAN rig. Though the system is relatively light, it does weigh a couple of pounds, and I was a little apprehensive of the rubber barbs being able to hold the system in place, but once all four barbs are in place, it is very secure.

It was kind of a task getting all of the barbs through the holes, but not that bad. The only issue I had is the PSU rail on my full tower slightly held the cooler out of place, but it wasn’t a problem.

CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System CoolIT Domino A.L.C. CPU Liquid Cooling System