Vantage A.L.C. Detailed Features

Unlike most all-in-one water coolers on the market, the Coolit Systems Vantage A.L.C. controls its fan directly, varying its speed based on the coolant temperature. The controller in the pump can vary the fan speed between 1,100 and 2,500 RPM, but the fan's airflow isn't specified. The backlit display on the pump unit shows the coolant temperature, fan speed, and pump speed, as well as how aggressively the system will spin the fan ("Extreme" in this case). It's important to note that the coolant temperature is not the same as the CPU temperature, and will generally be much lower.

Two buttons on the pump unit (to the left of the display in these images) allow you to control several aspects of the Vantage's operation. You can control the orientation of the display, so that text will appear upright regardless of the orientation of the pump unit, and you can set the display to "pulse", with the backlight fading in and out like a slowly beating heart.

You can match the color of the display backlight color to your case color or just your whim. The image below shows some (not all) of the choices.

You can also set how the coolant temperature is displayed (in Fahrenheit or Celsius), as well as set the fan's "speed mode". There are three choices: "Silent", "Performance", and "Extreme". The "Silent" setting is aptly named, but you'll want the "Extreme" setting if you're doing any overclocking. Even at full speed the fan is not obtrusively loud.

The width of the radiator/fan/spacer assembly is just under 2 3/4". The fan is oriented to blow air through the radiator, out of the back of your case. Coolit Systems does not say anything about the spacer or how it affects performance; I'd guess that turbulence is reduced (and airflow thus improved) by not having the radiator flush against the back of the case.

Installing the Vantage is easier than installing most all-in-one water coolers. While it has the same stiff, springy water hoses on most other coolers, you can attach the fan/radiator assembly with standard self-tapping fan screws (you don't have to try to thread long screws through a fan into the radiator), and, like the ECO A.L.C., the pump is secured to the backplate with convenient thumb screws.

Now that the Vantage is installed, it's time to test...

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