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| Cooler Master Aquagate Viva |
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Installation
The installation is pretty much straight forward - follow the instructions,
remove the current cooler, install AQUAGATE Viva. Boy, do I wish that was true.
Not only did I run into a wealth of issues, now I have to explain them :).
The first annoying thing I encountered was the protective label over the water
block. Once peeled off, it left a sticky film and it was a mess. It took me
a good 10 minutes to clean it. I have never encountered this before with any
type of protective label on a heat sink or water block.
Video Card Install
The second annoyance was the lack of clearance with my installed ram heat sinks.
It was a minor nuisance, since turning the water block 90 degrees solved the
issue. However, I had to remove the snazzy looking water block cover as it would
prevent me from installing the video card into the PCI-E slot.
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Water block installed on video card
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Water block cover looking aero dynamic- too
bad it had to be removed.
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The third annoyance was the horrible grinding noise that emitted from the water
block. Once I shutdown the PC and re-started, the noise went away. Perhaps, I
received a bad unit. Could the inverted layout of the Lian-Li case be the issue
or maybe the lack of power upon boot up? That's a mystery for now.
The last issue was installing the radiator in the PCI slot. Due to the inverted
layout of the Lian-Li case, the radiator was upside down, which caused the alarm
to go off. I had to improvise and mount the radiator to the back of the case.
It mounted perfectly with thumbscrews through the mesh material of the Lian-Li
case.
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Radiator pointing down - no go
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Improvisation :)
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I could have mounted the radiator in one of the 5-1/4" or 3-1/2" bays,
but Cooler Master recommends the radiator be at the highest point out of all the
components (water block, alarm module).
With a little patience and elbow grease, I was ready to go.
CPU Install
The installation for the CPU went smoothly. The only hassle was removing the motherboard
from the case. However, this comes with the territory.
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Water block installed on CPU
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Installed and ready to go
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