Closed Loop AIO Liquid Coolers: 14-way Mega Roundup Review
by E. Fylladitakis on February 12, 2014 7:00 AM ESTEnermax
The two AIO coolers from Enermax that we had the chance to look at share a similarly sized, 120mm x 120mm radiator, yet they are absolutely nothing alike. The Liqmax 120S is a product designed with value in mind, to compete with AIO coolers in the league of the Cooler Master Seidon 120V and the Corsair H75. Its thermal performance is unimpressive, slightly worse than that of the Seidon 120V, yet the noise levels of the Liqmax 120S are considerably lower. It is unable to compete with the dual-fan H75 though, at least not while maintaining similar noise levels.
The Liqtech 120X on the other hand is very impressive, especially in terms of quality and aesthetics. A simple inspection reveals that the radiator and block of the Liqtech 120X are much better made than those of most other kits. It delivers good thermal performance while maintaining very low noise levels, considering the size of its radiator and the use of 120mm fans. The downside is that the Liqtech 120X owes much of its good performance on the extra-thick radiator, which could lead to compatibility problems with some cases if there is not enough clearance.
The only great problem that all AIO coolers from Enermax have is the low availability, as they currently are not available in North America at all and few retailers stock them in Europe. They can be imported to the US from Asia or Europe but that is a financially unrealistic option.
NZXT
NZXT currently offers only two high performance AIO coolers, both with 140mm wide radiators, which limits their compatibility significantly. On the other hand, they are the only coolers with extended (≈ 40cm) tubing, allowing the radiator to reach the front panel of a tower case. Still, the number of cases currently capable of supporting a 140mm wide radiator is quite limited.
Both the Kraken X40 and the Kraken X60 performed well in our tests, offering thermal performance similar to other AIO coolers of the same class. Specifically, they offer lower thermal performance than Cooler Master's 140mm wide coolers but maintain reasonable noise levels, while they display about the same thermal performance as Corsair's offerings but are not as quiet. While better fans could have been selected, NZXT has a tremendous advantage over the competition; the Kraken X40 and Kraken X60 retail for about the same price as other 140mm wide AIO coolers but only NZXT's offerings feature a USB interface. The USB interface allows the user to monitor and fine-tune the performance/noise ratio of the cooling system directly from the desktop, as well as to program custom LED lighting colors and effects.
Silverstone
Silverstone currently offers only two AIO liquid coolers, the Tundra TD02 and the Tundra TD03, both of which we have tested in this review. They are both based on the same design, with their only difference being the size of the radiator. Although the design of the Tundra TD03 is similar to that of the Enermax Liqtech 120X, the aesthetic design of Silverstone's offerings is quite different, going with a white/grey/nickel color theme instead of Enermax's black/red. The OEM behind them might be the same, although that is a mere guess on our part, as the fin design and frame of the radiators are significantly different.
The appearance, feel and quality of the Tundra TD02 and Tundra 03 are outstanding, greatly superior to that of most other kits. On the other hand, the overall performance of these kits actually disappointed us. It is by no means bad, as both of Silverstone's AIO coolers deliver thermal performance comparable to that of other similarly sized kits at reasonable noise levels and are especially efficient under low fan speeds. However, we expected a lot more from kits with radiators this thick and with such a classy appearance.
The mediocre performance may be due to the narrow corrugated tubing, a weak pump, a wrong choice of fans, or any combination of the above, but the fact is that a performance upgrade is required in order to overtake the competition. Furthermore, we are unsure about the white/grey color theme, as it will most likely stand out way too much inside all-black cases and that is not always the desired effect. Still, the balance between quality, performance, and value is very good and Silverstone's AIO coolers will become a favorite among those who want to combine low-noise operation and good looks. Just make sure that the 45mm thick radiators will fit inside your system before purchasing one!
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faster - Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - link
I want a closed loop system for my video card!My GTX780 is much louder than my CPU fan.
Liquid cooling was supposed to be how one obtained high performance quiet computing. Air cooling solutions should not be able to compete with a liquid cooling solution in the same environment, but it seems they do. How is that?
blanarahul - Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - link
"I want a closed loop system for my video card!"This. All the stupid OEMs want to disgruntle consumers. We already have more than enough great CPU coolers, but very few great GPU coolers. All I want is a card that is NOT pre-overclocked (but can be overclocked at my whims ;) ) and comes with a all-in-one liquid cooling solution. Is that too much to ask??
E.Fyll - Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - link
Oh, that is coming, soon. Stay tuned, should be online within a couple of weeks. :)Dribble - Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - link
True, for cpu's you don't need that big a cooler - all these lower power Intel cpu's don't pull 200W even overclocked. A big air cooler is sufficient. It'll work as well as a single 120mm fan radiator water cooler but is cheaper and more reliable.However graphics cards are another matter altogether - they pump out huge amounts of heat.
Hence either I WC my graphics card in which case I might as well get a system that can WC my cpu too, or I just stick to air cooling.
BuddhaBum44 - Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - link
You can always get the Kraken X40 and the bracket they make for 780s: https://www.nzxt.com/product/detail/138-kraken-g10...bj_murphy - Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - link
Solid review with some good information. I've been waiting for a "compendium" of sorts to link to people, explaining which closed loop coolers are the best. Thanks E. Fylladitakis, looking forward to more great articles!doggghouse - Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - link
What is a realistic load for a CPU? My 4770K has a max TDP of 84W... and I see a 3960X has a max of 130W. Are there actual CPUs that have anything above that, like 200W - 340W? If not, does it make sense to include those loads in the average thermal resistance, since these AIO coolers are going to be applied to a CPU, not to a synthetic load...?E.Fyll - Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - link
It depends on the CPU, of course. An overclocked CPU can easily surpass their max TDP rating. High thermal loads are useful for the extraction of proper thermal resistance ratings, plus they are easily reachable by modern GPUs (and GPUs are relevant, especially with AIO coolers; you'll see why soon enough). Of course, if you know the power requirements of your current CPU (if not overclocked, about 75% of its TDP), you can easily check the graph closest to it.dragosmp - Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - link
Hi,Great review, I like the methodology. It is nice to see all coolers tested with a constant load that is subject to much less randomness than a CPU power output.
I have two questions:
*is it possible to test all coolers at a certain noise level like 40dB +/-0.5dB; 7V testing is not that relevant for a cooler that is silent @10V, why would anyone silence it even further, save electricity?
*could you provide an order of magnitude of what clock speed and voltage a CPU would need to be at to achieve 340W/150W...etc. It would be useful to get our bearings vs the real world. A chart would be nice a bit like this:
.....................150W.................250W
Haswell DC....4.6GHz/1.25V......
Haswell QC....4.2GHz/1.27V......
FX83xx OC....4.1GHz/1.35V......
The reason for the last remark is that buying decisions are made also with cost in mind. One may think: I have max 30°C Tcase, 4.5GHz Haswell, what is the thermal conductivity I would need so the CPU never passes 70°C? Answer ==> review (maybe not the best cooler, maybe not the most expensive...). I have bought windows for my house like that.
E.Fyll - Wednesday, February 12, 2014 - link
40 dB(A) is not really "silent". I would rate <35 dB(A) as silent and still I can notice that in a very quiet room. 40 dB(A) is a slight humming noise, fairly quiet and most people just ignore it, yet it is easily noticeable. It is an interesting idea but that is not really possible when not all products can do at least 40 dB(A) and not practical, as the motherboard does not read the sound level, it just adjusts the voltage. 7 Volts are just high enough to ensure that (almost) every fan will start and about the same voltage as most motherboard will apply in their "quiet" mode. About the CPUs, I cannot do that as that would require me buying and testing every single CPU, which is not possible. Besides, every CPU is unique and the energy consumption also depends on several settings when overclocked, so it could easily bring misleading results. A single different setting can cause a massive change on consumption at the same exact frequency. For instance, a i7-3820 at 4.4 GHz consumes nearly 20% more energy with its voltage upped by 0.1V. It truly is a very interesting idea but a great deal of data and testing is required to create a proper database.