Conclusion:
The Thermaltake Rhythm HTPC Liquid Cooling System has taken the formerly extreme art of water cooling and made it feel right at home in an HTPC environment. The extreme cooling and extremely low noise output are welcome features in a home theater personal computer, and will help insure that your system stays up and running without you having to hear that it is doing so.
The style of the unit is reminiscent of a stand alone DVD player, making it look like it belongs in your media cabinet, but the design allows for flexibility for other installation options. You can mount it horizontally or vertically, and the ample hose/cable lengths let you install it either on top of your HTPC case or up to several feet away. The no-spill, quick disconnect fittings make moving or maintaining the system a breeze, and are just one of the many nice touches found on the system.
All of the components are high quality, and it doesn't look like Thermaltake took any shortcuts with their components selection. From the machined aluminum housing, to the beefy copper water block, to the industrial grade hoses, everything is well made.
I did find a few minor issues with the system, but in general you will only have to address them once, and honestly they may not be that big of a deal to anyone but me. One is that I found that refilling the coolant wasn't all that convenient, as it required the removal of a couple connections, opening the snug fitting lid, standing the unit on end, and using the squeeze bottle to inject the liquid. Another is that I don't care for custom mounting brackets that require you to remove your motherboard to install the CPU cooler. Like I said, these are minor design issues that only need to be addressed once during installation, and once you are past these steps you can forget all about them.
The price tag for the Thermaltake Mozart may be another sticking point to some. A search of PriceGrabber shows that is sells for $188 (US) and up, which is quite alot of money for a CPU cooler. But, to be honest, this isn't your usual CPU cooler, or even a typical water cooling kit. The attention to detail inside and out are top notch, and the Rhythm looks as good as it works. They say you get what you pay for, and you are definitely paying for high quality, well designed components, that work as well as, or better than, you would expect. That said, you could obviously achieve similar cooling performance and noise levels with other, cheaper systems, if you were so inclined.
Final Rating (4.5 out of 5 stars):  
Pros:
» Looks incredible, like a true media center component
» Heavy duty construction on all components
» Excellent cooling performance
» Low noise
» Quick disconnect, non-spill hoses
» Powered by system, no extra power connection required
» Long hoses make remote installation simple
» Can be mounted horizontally or vertically
Cons:
» Refilling liquid isn't convenient
» Custom CPU mount requires removal of motherboard
» Long hoses make compact installation difficult
» Price
Special thanks to Thermaltake for providing the Rhythm HTPC Liquid Cooling System to Bigbruin.com for review!
Please drop by the Bigbruin.com Forum and feel free to post any comments or questions.
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