O-Sense
INTRODUCTION
No matter how many times i check online communities online i always seem to find at least 1 thread that talks about air vs liquid CPU cooling and i always tell people the same exact thing I’ve been saying in my AIO reviews for the past 12 years. So, if you have a good amount of airflow in your PC case an CPU air-cooler should perform quite well whereas if you don't have good airflow inside your case you can always configure the fans of an AIO to suck air from outside the case to cool the radiator. Size of course matters in both air and liquid coolers so the larger you can fit inside your case, the better the cooling efficiency will be. Current tri-fan 360mm AIO liquid CPU coolers offer the best performance prior to entering the world of custom water cooling kits and today I’ll be testing one of the best in the market, the EK AIO 360 D-RGB by EK Water Blocks.
EK® Water Blocks, the premium liquid cooling manufacturer, bears the name of its founder Edvard König. It all started with the enthusiasm of one man and his ventures with liquid cooling back in 1999. From its humble beginnings more than ten years ago, the company steadily grew to become the most renowned supplier of high-end premium quality liquid cooling products. Over the years, the company expanded its product portfolio to become a full liquid cooling solution provider know as EK. Today, EK products are available in more than 30 countries worldwide, and the company holds several partnerships with some of the most recognized brands.
Having already reviewed the dual-fan EK AIO 240 D-RGB a couple of weeks back (review here) the 360 is pretty much identical and so again we find an 27mm thick aluminum radiator (this time however 395mm in length), three EK-VARDAR S 120ER D-RGB 120mm PWM high static pressure fans (2200RPM/66.04CFM/2.89mmH2O/36.4dBA), two flexible sleeved tubings (this time however 400mm in length) and a high-performance ceramic-bearing pump (2600RPM) with a coldplate made out of pure copper. Of course, just like with the 240 model the 360 also features the same unique looking pump/waterblock combo (frosted finish acrylic cover) and of course the same addressable RGB illumination (compatible with all the major RGB sync technologies like ASUS Aura Sync, GB RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light and ASRock RGB LED) located both in its fans (9 addressable RGB LEDs for each) and the top of the pump. What i care most right now is to see just how the tri-fan 360mm model compared to the dual-fan 240 model so let's move forward with today’s review.
SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES
PACKAGING AND CONTENTS
Just like with past products by EK Water Blocks the front of the box is taken by a large product picture placed just over the Intel, AMD and RGB logos.
You can find the main features list on the left side and in 8 languages.
At the rear we find the main product features showcased by three pictures and three product drawings showcasing its size.
Printed at the base are the technical specifications, bundle contents and socket compatibility in 6 languages.
Typically the entire bundle is placed in plastic bags and inside a formed piece of cardboard.
Along with the main body of the EK 360 AIO D-RGB inside the box you will also find the three EK-VARDAR S 120ER fans, y-splitter, small thermal paste tube, fan and radiator mounting screws, backplate, installation instructions and all the required bits and pieces to mount the cooler onto Intel LGA1150/1151/1155/1156/1200/2011/2011-3/2066 and AMD AM4 compatible mainboards.
THE EK AIO 360 D-RGB
The main body of the EK 360 AIO D-RGB is nearly identical with that of the 240 model (minus the longer radiator and tubings and the 3rd fan).
Once again EK Water Blocks has used an 27mm thick aluminum radiator (27.5mm to be exact) which this time however has an FPI count (fins per inch) of 22.
A fill/drain port can again be found at the top of the radiator (accessing it voids the warranty).
For the tri-fan 360 model EK Water Blocks has used 400mm long black sleeved low permeability tubes.
EK Water Blocks has placed their logo on top of the acrylic pump cover.
As with most AIO models in the market today both tubes can rotate up to roughly 90+ degrees from the base.
The pure copper coldplate comes ready with a thin pre-applied layer of thermal conductive material on it (since I never use the bundled thermal pastes, I removed it to fully expose the copper base).
Here you can see an exposed model of the pump (marketing material).
Each of the three EK VARDAR S 120ER RGB fans can spin up to 2200RPM to produce up to 66.04CFM of airflow and 2.89 mmH2O of air-pressure with just 36.4dBA of noise.
With both fans mounted the thickness of the radiator jumps from 27mm to just under 54mm.
Here you can see the top of the pump in all its glory.
TEST BED
TESTING METHODOLOGY
Testing complete water cooling kits or individual radiators is no different than testing CPU Coolers and since we want all of you to be able to compare similar products, we created new and separate charts (you can still cross-compare results however since we are using the same test rig). So once again single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests complete water cooling kits or radiators with bundled fans are measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. Finally, much like when testing CPU Coolers, it's very important to point out that just because a water cooling kit outperforms another when tested with our test rig (when we test complete water cooling kits) that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).
To successfully record the load temperatures, we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded, we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests (when fans exist in the bundle) are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the radiator. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here, we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).
TEST RESULTS
CONCLUSION
The dual-fan EK AIO 240 D-RGB is clearly among the best AIO liquid CPU coolers today and so there’s was only one way the performance of the tri-fan 360mm variant could had gone, up (or to be more exact, down). Well, that’s exactly what happened and so surpasses its smaller brother by almost 4 degrees Celsius a result which clearly makes it one of the best 360mm AIO models out there today. Of course by adding a 3rd EK VARDAR S 120ER fan does increase noise levels but only slightly so no problems there either. My sole concern is with support for AMD CPUs since once again on both the box and the specifications page the EK AIO line only seems to support the AM4 socket (since I am not into AMD CPU testing, I have no idea of knowing if that’s accurate or not, not without asking EK at least).
EK Water Blocks has placed a very tempting price tag of USD154.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 156.20Euros inside the EU (EK Water Blocks Webshop) so really no complaints from me here. Well EK Water Blocks has done it again so just like the EK AIO 240 D-RGB the EK AIO 360 D-RGB is without doubt one of the best tri-fan AIO money can buy today and for that it clearly deserves the Golden Award.
PROS
- Build Quality
- Near Excellent Cooling Efficiency
- ARGB Lighting (Compatible with Gigabyte Fusion, ASUS Aura, MSI Mystic Light and ASRock RGB LED)
- Up to Six 120mm Fans in Push & Pull
- 5 Year Limited Warranty
- Price (For Some)
CONS
- AMD compatibility? (AM4 Alone Listed)
- Size (Compatibility)
