1. EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB2. Installation Process (AM4/AM5)3. Test Results4. Closing Thoughts5. View All Pages

EKWB is best known for its extravagant custom water-cooling products, but the company also likes to dip its toes into the mainstream cooling market from time to time. EK has recently added to its closed-loop AIO CPU cooler line with the Nucleus AIO series, and today we have the Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB version for review. So let’s see how this new AIO from EK stacks up against the competition when we put it through its paces on our test bench.

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro
00:41 The basics – what is it?
02:02 Unboxing and packaging
03:55 The hardware itself
04:53 Radiator + pump unit
06:29 RGB lighting
07:03 The fans
07:55 Test setup + installation
10:57 More RGB effects
12:29 Thermal performance
14:14 Closing thoughts

It's not often that I pay much attention to the packaging of CPU coolers, but it is worth a quick mention in this case as EK has gone the extra mile in this area. Instead of the usual cardboard carton and plastic bags in which we often see AIO coolers arrive, EK has very neatly packaged the Nucleus AIO in dense foam. Accessories are perfectly arranged in a separate box, it all looks very nice when you open the boxes.

EK's latest Surface radiators for custom cooling use copper cores of various thicknesses. With the EK-Nucleus AIO the company has chosen an aluminium radiator design which is common with AIO CPU coolers as it keeps cost down. The radiator is a standard 27mm thick unit with an overall length of 400mm and width of 127mm coated in a satin black finish. EK has added some brushed aluminium trim panels to either side of the radiator to enhance aesthetics.

Tubing is manufactured from ultra-low evaporation rubber with Nylon braided sleeving. At the radiator end the tube fittings are contained in a plastic cover and fixed in position, but at the pump side, the tubing is attached to 90-degree rotary fittings to allow for some flexibility while installing and adjustment of the final tubing position.

The pump is mounted in an ABS moulded plastic housing with an RGB-illuminated removable and rotatable top cover which is held in place magnetically. The pump is PWM controlled with a duty cycle range of between 20%-100%, at maximum speed the pump runs at 3100 RPM. Wiring connections to the pump include a 4-pin PWM cable and a 3-pin 5v D-RGB connection.

At the CPU/block base is a copper cold plate which comes with a pre-applied thermal compound coating and screw holes for fixing the upper mounting brackets. The cold plate is designed to cover all current desktop CPUs but not larger high-end desktop CPUs such as AMD Threadripper. It is compatible with all current Intel and AMD desktop platforms including Intel LGA1700 and AMD AM5 sockets.

Previous generation EK AIO coolers came with Vardar fans, however, the Nucleus comes with Vardar’s successor the EK FPT fan. EK FPT fans look similar to Vardar RGB fans with a black frame and opaque fan blade design but they have short cables with proprietary connections so that they can be daisy chained to reduce cable clutter. A cable extension then converts the connection back to standard 4-pin PWM and 5v D-RGB connections.

EK FPT are high static pressure fans with a full frame design for better radiator contact to reduce air escaping around the side of the frame. They are equipped with anti-vibration rubber mountings, fluid dynamic bearings and a seven-blade impeller with nine hub-mounted D-RGB LED’s. They have a PWM speed range of 550 – 2300 RPM, maximum static pressure of 77,000CFM, a static pressure of 2.7mm H2O and a maximum noise level of 36dBA.

EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 D-RGB Specifications:

• CPU Socket Compatibility: Intel Sockets LGA1700, 1200, 115X, 2011, 2011-3, 2066, AMD Socket AM4, AM5
• Radiator Dimensions: 400 x 124 x 27 mm
• Radiator Material: Aluminum
• Fan Compatibility: 120 mm
• Pump Unit Dimensions: 82.3 x 69.2 x 61.6 mm
• Pump Unit Material: ABS housing, ABS top ring
• Pump Speed Range: 3100 RPM ± 10%
• Pump PWM Range: 20 – 100%
• Pump Unit RGB Type: 5V Digital (Addressable)
• Pinout: 5V, D, Empty, Ground Pump RGB Cable Length: 500 mm
• Tubing Material: Ultra-Low Evaporation Rubber with Nylon Braided Sleeve
• Tubing Length: 400 mm
• Fan Dimensions: 120 x 120 x 25mm
• Fan Speed Range: 550 – 2300 ± 10%
• Fan Noise Level: 36 dB (at maximum speed)
• Fan Air Flow: 72 CFM = 122,33 m³/h (at maximum speed)
• Fan RGB Type: 5V Digital (Addressable) Pinout: 5V, D, Empty, Ground

Included with the cooler is a detailed installation manual printed in several languages and a fitting kit for all current Intel and AMD desktop platforms. The fitting kit includes several types of standoffs, backplates, upper mounting brackets and fan screws, as well as a standoff tightening tool, spring-loaded thumbscrews, a fan extension cable and a small tube of thermal compound for re-installation. It's all neatly arranged inside a box with foam cutouts.

Installing the EK-Nucleus AIO is a straightforward process, Novice users should find it easy enough to follow the manual and install the cooler without hitting any problems. Overall installation time is between 15-20 minutes depending on the user's installation skill level/experience.

Using the screws provided, fasten the fans to the radiator and connect the cables in a daisy chain. The end of the daisy chain cable can then be connected to the extension cable which allows the connection of the fan PWM cable and D-RGB cable to the motherboard headers or to a standalone fan/RGB hub. Find a suitable place in your case to install the radiator.

To install the cooler on AMD AM4/AM5 platforms first you need to remove the stock AMD plastic CPU retention brackets. Select the correct type of standoff and screw them in by hand to the original AMD backplate, use the standoff tightening tool included with the cooler for final tightening.

Attach the AMD upper mounting bracket to the base of the pump using the provided screws. The CPU block cold plate comes with a thermal compound coating pre-applied so there’s no need to put extra thermal compound on the CPU. Lower the CPU block down over the standoffs and tighten the block in place using the four spring-loaded thumbscrews.

To complete the installation, connect the wiring up to the motherboard. The 4-pin PMW cable from the fans can be connected to the motherboard CPU_FAN header and connect the pump PWM cable to the motherboard CPU_OPT header. The 3-pin D-RGB cables from the fans and pump can be daisy-chained and then the female end connector plugged into a 3-pin 5V D-RGB header either on the motherboard or a standalone RGB hub.

There are two zones of RGB lighting on the EK-Nucleus AIO, on the fans and on top of the CPU block. The effects are controlled by motherboard software or a standalone RGB hub, so whatever effects are supported by the software or hub will be applied to the cooler.

Test System:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
• Overclocked Settings: 4.45GHz all-core @ 1.30V LLC Level 5
• Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 Aorus Elite
• Memory: 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB RPO SL 3600MHz
• Graphics Card: MSI Radeon RX 6600XT Gaming X (zero dBA mode)
• Chassis: Open Test Bench
• Power Supply: Seasonic Prime TX-850
• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

Testing Methodology:

• For testing, we use a 30-minute looped run of Cinebench R23 and record the steady-state CPU temperature at the end of the test. This ensures that the CPU has had ample time to warm up and reach steady-state under all of the coolers.
• The ambient is maintained at around 19-21 degrees Celsius. Where there is variation beyond this temperature range, we add in extra repeated tests to ensure consistency.
• We also test each cooler with at least two fresh installs (typically three) to mitigate the likelihood of a dodgy mount spoiling results.

Test Results:

Noise Output

Let’s begin with noise output as this will give us a good indication of what to expect from thermal performance based on noise.

With the fans running at maximum RPM the EK-Nucleus sits in the middle of our results with a maximum noise output of 54dBA. It is a little on the loud side but not out of the ordinary for a 360mm AIO. However, The Arctic Liquid Freezer II and the Thermaltake Toughliquid ARGB Sync are the exceptions to that rule.

Thermal Performance

The EK Nucleus fans are tuned to produce maximum cooling performance at the expense of noise. Due to this, the EK-Nucleus CR360 Lux D-RGB performs exceptionally well in our manual OC test, with fans at maximum RPM it beats off all the competition in this test by recording an average CPU temperature of 53°C.

Reducing the fan RPM to bring noise levels down to 40dBA pushes up the average CPU temperature by 5°C but the EK-Nucleus Holds its top position in our database. Beating other high-performance coolers from Asus, Deepcool and Thermaltake but it's very close in this one with only a 1°C difference between the top six coolers.

In the PBO test the important metrics are clock speed and cooling power as the difference in CPU temperature between coolers is marginal.

The Nucleus CR360 tops the charts again with an impressive 43.5 X average clock multiplier and handling 245W of package power. Overall it's an excellent result for the EK-Nucleus.

Clearly, when it comes to raw thermal performance with fans at maximum speed the EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB is top-class. Only the best CPU coolers are able to hold on to performance when the fan speed is reduced to an even 40dBA noise output. EK-Nucleus was able to hold on to the top spot in our results when noise was normalised which is all the more impressive when you look at the quality of the competition.

It excels at low noise levels and holds the highest clock frequency in our PBO test while handling the highest recorded package power at 245W. So in terms of thermal performance, the EK-Nucleus is an all-around great 360mm closed-loop cooler. Noise levels may be on the high side at 54dBA output but this is not out of the ordinary for a 360mm AIO with fans running at maximum RPM.

Typically with EK products the build quality of the cooler is excellent. The cooler looks subtle with its all-black design when the RGB lighting is off, but when illuminated the RGB adds lots of colour. The RGB zone on the fan blades is very bright, vibrant and well-diffused but the lighting zone on top of the pump housing is a little more subdued, it may be a little dim for some users with certain effects but still looks smart when illuminated.

Short cables with proprietary cables mean that connecting and managing wiring to the fans is easy. The 8-pin micro-fit connector on the EK FPT fans houses both the PWM fan control and RGB wires so there is less clutter. Connecting the extension cable then converts the cables back to individual standard 4-pin PWM and 3-pin 5V RGB connections which means that they can be connected to standard motherboard headers and don’t require specific software to control RGB.

The installation process is speedy and simple, even novice users shouldn’t find it difficult and the most novice user should have this cooler installed in around 20 minutes. If you do run into any difficulty during installation it should be easy to find an answer to the problem in the detailed installation manual that EK provides.

Other than the slightly dim RGB lighting on the pump top and the slightly loud noise output at max fan speed, it is genuinely difficult to find fault with the EK-Nucleus CR360 Lux D-RGB. All I can say is that there isn’t anything unique in terms of features like the rotating top cover, daisy-chained fans and aluminium accents we have seen before, so EK has played it safe with this one.

In terms of the price, EK has got it pretty much spot on too. If you buy the cooler directly from the company's web store it seems like the best value. At around £150 when converted from Euros to GBP it’s priced slap bang in the middle of the 360mm AIO market which is a sensible decision from EK.

However, if you want the all-singing all-dancing AIO with an LCD screen, EK has you covered with the EK-Nucleus CR360 Vision D-RGB which is equipped with a 5.3-inch 24-bit LCD IPS panel. There is a significant increase in price with the LCD version which is listed on the EK store at around €195 but compared with other LCD coolers from rival manufacturers this looks a fair price.

Taken as a whole the EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB is an all-around very impressive cooler with outstanding thermal performance, great build quality and decent looks, it’s simple to install and control RGB lighting. If I was in the market for a 360mm AIO right now, it would be on my final shortlist.

You can purchase the EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 D-RGB now from the EK Store price at €167.98 HERE. It is also available to purchase from Overclockers UK priced at £189.95 HERE.

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Pros

• Easy installation.
• Good quality build.
• No RGB software is needed.
• Outstanding thermal performance.

Cons

• CPU block lighting is quite dim.
• Quite loud with fan speed maxed out.

KitGuru says:  EKWB Kicks off 2023 with a high-performance AIO cooler which topped our performance charts and looks hard to beat. Do you think there will be any better AIO coolers coming this year?

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