Core Cooling Performance – 4.5/5
If we ignore the Alphacool block then Koolance was within spitting distance of the leading block. A very good performance then from Koolance. Contact and TIM spread was good.
VRM Cooling Performance – 4.5/5
Again Koolance was really close to the top here. Another great performance to be proud of and a good improvement from the R9-290X block performance.
Restriction – 4/5
Another area of improvement Koolance have dropped their restriction and are now on a par with the best performing blocks.
Supplied TIM – 4/5
I was always suspicious of Koolance’s unlabelled white gunk, but it’s not bad!
Mounting Hardware – 5/5
Screws on the block were color matched. Screws on the back of the PCB to attach the board were of one type and came with cardboard washers where needed. No problems and no complaints.
Backplate – 3/5
Koolance again did not make a backplate – therefore we give them a 3 for using the default NVidia one and for having screws that were compatible even when a backplate wasn’t used. If there wasn’t an NVidia backplate I would have hit them harder here.
Aesthetics – 4/5
This is subjective, but Koolance’s style is unique and they’ve made far uglier.
Quality – 5/5
Honestly the best quality block I’ve ever seen from Koolance – outstanding quality this time around.
Overall – Silver Award
Koolance have worked hard to improve this block over the 290 block that still performed well and it shows. Great performance at a good price, sadly it’s not quite enough to take the top spot. Really close to being the best at everything!
Where to buy: PPCS – $130 Koolance – $130
