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Perhaps the first thing I noticed when comparing all the scores on test today is that the margins of difference are very small. At stock clocks, there is just 4 degrees between the best and worst coolers on test. That rises to 8 degrees when overclocked – but still, there is not a huge amount of difference between the top and bottom AIO watercoolers.
The Antec Kuhler H1200 Pro falls just short of a recommendation due to its complex mounting procedure and slightly below-par performance. Its blue fans would add some bling to an otherwise plain case, but sadly that is not enough to carry it to an award.
Arctic's Liquid Freezer 120 is an impressive 120mm unit, though. It packs in a thick, 49mm radiator and two fans to keep up with the bigger 240mm AIOs. Priced at just £60, too, it is a good deal for the performance it brings.
Corsair sent us two products – the H80i V2 and H100i V2. Both perform well, but it is the H100i V2 which tops both our tests – winning it our ‘must have' award for ultimate performance. Both units looks good, too, so it is a big thumbs-up to Corsair for these coolers.
The Deepcool Captain 240 EX is an updated version of the original Captain 240 we saw last year. It performs well, but most importantly, it is very quiet – and for that reason, it wins our ‘worth buying' award.
Finally, we come to the Thermaltake Water 3.0 240 Riing RGB Edition. Quite the mouthful to say, but this AIO performs very well and has impressive RGB capabilities. A slightly more sophisticated fan controller would make it hard to beat.
KitGuru says: After assessing the six AIO watercoolers on test today, it is fair to say there is not a huge amount of difference in cooling performance. However, the H100i V2 takes the ultimate crown after topping both our tests. The Captain 240 EX and Thermaltake Water 3.0 RGB both walk away with honourable mentions, too.
Sadly missing the NZXT ones (and EKWB, but these barely ever get tested) and the main thing I’m missing is a table with the actual noise data. The Deepcool is very quiet and performs less good than the Corsair when the CPU is overclocked, but how much more noise does the H100i make in comparison to keep the temp lower?
Would also be nice to have it tested based on dB, so we can see if we set the other cooler to a quieter mode/noisier mode and see if it then performs equally to the others.
I have an H105 which I had to replace thanks to space issues. It was pretty damned quiet. And yes, I can attest to them being ridiculously cool, even at low fan speeds.
This is the older model, mind you.
You do that now go away from here and take your web money with you!
I am trying to decide between the Corsair h100i v2 and Alphacool Eisbaer 240. I wish that the Eisbaer 240, Kraken x52, and Fractal Design S24 were tested against them too