Installation

     The printed Installation Guide that is supplied with the AquaGate is written in seven different languages with each having its own dedicated section. The instructions cover everything from physically installing the unit to setting the alarm and fan speed levels and on the LCD panel. In the English section there are 39 pages of data we will need. It goes without saying that installation will vary from system to system. The Intel 4-bolt or AMD = 2-bolt adapter plate is is secured to the waterblock, then mated to the motherboard in a bolt-through board fashion. Some Athlon64 boards already have a permanently attached mounting bracket attached to the back of the motherboard, such as the Asus K8N-E that I used. Just in case your Athlon64 board does not have this bracket, there is bracket supplied with the AquaGate that also has an adhesive tape to help it stick in place. The Pentium-4 bracket which will be required with ANY motherboard you use it with, also has the adhesive tape attached.

     I feel that doing a good leak check is very important before you attach all the parts to your computer and push the power switch. The instructions that are provided with the AquaGate don't really have a section set aside to do that. Their instructions call for you to put the hoses on the waterblock, then attach the waterblock to the board and CPU after putting a layer of Thermal paste on the CPU. Obviously Cooler Master puts a LOT of faith in their quality check department and if you follow the instructions perfectly and double check your work AFTER you perform it then there should be no problems.

     Next comes instillation of this PCI card. The card doesn't do any real "talking" to the PCI bus, but it does act as a hub for all of the AquaGate's electrical connections. The expansion cover is beveled in two spots to facilitate either an internal or external installation. If you mount the unit externally, then the large DB-9 connector you see on the right side would get connected on the left and the two bevels would be used to pass the coolant tubes inside the enclosure. Since I have chosen to mount the unit inside the CM Stacker, one bevel will be used to pass the 120 volt AC power cord to the back of the AquaGate cooling unit. The 4-pin Molex connector provides power to run the AquaGate LCD panel, and the kits includes a "Y" cord so you won't be cutting yourself short on any connectors from your power supply. The black 2-wire conductor on the left of the card is a temperature sensor probe which is supposed to be attached to the CPU core. This gives the AquaGate its thermal reading from CPU. The red and black wire on the right is the jumper that goes to your motherboards power switch header, so the AquaGate can switch off the system in the event any of your alarm levels are triggered longer than your SHUTDOWN timer countdown is set. There is one last set of headers are not used unless you mount the AquaGate in the rear portion of your case in a power supply spot. This will require you to set the control panel up in a remote-control fashion using a set of extension wires to reach the 5¼ inch drive bay you mount the control panel into.

     Whether you mount the cooling inside your enclosure or out, this is the what the finished product will look like. The water hoses connects to the cooling unit by way of quick disconnects,  which tend to drip a little water when you break the connection. Likewise, the above picture shows a pretty good air pocket on the top hose thanks to fore-mentioned release of water. When the unit is powered up, the air pocket gets taken care of but this does means that you have lost a small amount of coolant from the system. This just means that frequently disconnecting the hoses should be avoided.