INTRODUCTION

   When people ask us about what kind of CPU cooler to use in their new systems our answer is always that it largely depends on the CPU model (TDP - thermal design power - required), budget and of course the tower/case they've chosen to use (due to interior space). As we've pointed out many times in the past thanks to their impressive cooling efficiency, size, easy installation and looks (especially due to the recent addition of RGB illumination) AIO (all-in-one) Liquid CPU Cooling Solutions are currently extremely popular among gamers, enthusiasts and professionals so i also tend to recommend them to people. ID-COOLING may not be among the oldest players in the market but they've released numerous CPU coolers since their introduction to the market back in 2013 and today with us we have their AuraFlow 240 AIO High Performance CPU Liquid Cooler which was announced in May of last year.

   Teamed up by a few veterans from PC industry, ID-COOLING was officially announced to the world during Computex 2013. The mother company of ID-COOLING is the cooling solution provider for many motherboard and VGA card brands for over 10 years. ID-COOLING is specialized in CPU air cooler, CPU water cooler, VGA cooler, built-in cooling case, computer case fans, server cooler and etc. Having been a certified supplier for world's top information companies such as Cisco, Alcatel-Lucent, Huawei, Lenovo, etc. ID-COOLING accumulated a good reputation for strict quality control, fast service and innovative solutions.

   The AuraFlow 240 AIO by ID-COOLING features a TDP (Thermal Design Power) of 200W and consists of an 27mm thick and 274mm long aluminum radiator, two SF-12025-RGB 120mm PWM hydraulic-bearing fans (1800RPM/ 74.5CFM/ 2.15mmH2O/ 35.2dBA), two 315mm long flexible sleeved tubings, high-performance ceramic-bearing pump (2100RPM/ 25dBA/ 50.000 hours MTBF) and a pure copper waterblock. The AuraFlow 240 also features RGB illumination (supports 7 different modes - Static/ Breathing/ Color Circle/ Rainbow/ Comet/ Flash & Dash/ Strobing) both on its ceramic-bearing pump and its two 120mm fans which as expected is compatible with Asus AURA Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion and MSI Mystic Light sync-enabled mainboards (consumers without RGB compatible mainboards are also covered via a bundled RGB controller).

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The AuraFlow 240 arrived inside a black box which typically has a product picture at the front along with the main product features, company logo and supported RGB mainboard technologies.

Three product drawings showcasing its measurements are placed at the base of the box.

At the top ID-COOLING has placed the three main product features.

The product specifications and mainboard socket compatibility are placed at the rear of the box.

Just like with most AIO the AuraFlow 240 is safely wrapped inside two plastic bags and placed inside a formed thick piece of cardboard (the bundle is placed in white cardboard boxes).

Contained inside the box are the AuraFlow 240 with its two SF-12025-RGB fans, Molex to RGB controller, 4-way RGB splitter cable, fan y-splitter, thermal paste tube and all the required bits and pieces to mount the cooler onto Intel LGA 775/1150/1151/1155/1156/1366/2011/2011-3/2066 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/AM4/FM1/FM2/FM2+ compatible mainboards.

THE AURAFLOW 240

Nothing new in terms of design compared to other AIO models, minus the pump of course.

ID-COOLING decided to use the standard 27mm thick radiator for the AuraFlow 240 (as expected really).

With a fin count of 18 the radiator should perform quite well.

The AuraFlow 240 features two 315mm sleeved tubes for extra durability.

The top of the round pump enclosure features the ID-COOLING logo (which you guess correct is RGB illuminated).

Both tubes can rotate at the base of the waterblock/pump combo to simplify installation.

The pump is powered by a SATA connector and also features a 4-pin RGB connector for compatible mainboards.

Moving to the base of the copper waterblock as you can see it has several visible machine marks on it and that was something we didn't expect.

The SF-12025-RGB 120mm PWM hydraulic-bearing fans can reach speeds of up to 1800RPM to produce 74.5CFM of airflow with 2.15mmH2O of air pressure and 35.2dBA of noise.

Both fans also feature anti-vibration rubber pads on all four corners, 4-pin mainboard connectors and 4-pin RGB mainboard connectors.

By plugging the RGB connectors of both fans and the pump to the 4-way RGB splitter cable and then connecting it to the RGB controller you can manually control the mode and color of the AuraFlow 240.

With the fans mounted the AuraFlow 240 is now roughly 53mm thick and ready for our tests.

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. When testing complete water cooling kits we use the Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste. 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

   When ID-COOLING asked us to review their AuraFlow 240 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler we really had no idea that it was released last year (as expected manufacturers prefer to promote their latest products). On top of that when we wrapped up all our tests we decided to redo them because we thought our results weren't accurate enough. After wrapping all our tests up for the second time however it was quite clear to us that our recorded numbers had to do with either the SF-12025-RGB fans (due to their overall performance), the ceramic-bearing pump or the copper waterblock (too many machine marks in our sample) ID-COOLING decided to use in the AuraFlow 240 (or a combination of all three). In the looks department the AuraFlow 240 may not be half bad but still the SF-12025-RGB fans are far from the best ones in the market (ID-COOLING has released the improved DF-12025-RGB series which do look quite better and are used in their new DashFlow series of AIO Liquid CPU Coolers). As for noise levels at almost 60dBA while under heavy load the AuraFlow 240 is certainly not among the most silent AIO out there today so if noise is an issue for you then you should keep this in mind.

   So just how much will you need to spend in order to get your hands on the AuraFlow 240 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler by ID-COOLING? Well as I type these lines the AuraFlow 240 retails for USD119.99 inside the USA (Newegg.com) and for 67Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk) a price tag which seems to be extremely balanced on our side of the Atlantic (and the exact opposite on the other). At the end of the day based on both its performance and current price tag although we can’t really recommend the AuraFlow 240 AIO to anyone in the USA (at least not at that price) we can certainly recommend it to consumers in the EU looking to get an affordable 240mm RGB AIO model.

PROS

- Good Build Quality
- Sleeved Tubings
- RGB Pump/Fan Illumination
- Easy Installation
- Bundled RGB Controller
- Price (EU)

CONS

- Noise Levels
- Overall Performance
- Price (USA)