Enermax Liqtech 240 Review
Category : Watercooling
Published by Marc Büchel on 04.08.14
Enermax, famous for its quality PSU and recently, PC cases and Fans and Aicoolers, have been also making quite a push in the All-in-One water cooling market and some of its aircoolings have been quite impressive. Today, we are looking at the latest Enermax Liqtech series AIO water cooler which stands out with its impressive manufacturing quality and exceptional design. We will certainly try to find out if it has what it takes to compete in the quite crowded AIO water cooling market.
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Today we have the pleasure to check out Enermax's Liqtech 240 compact liquid
cooling system, which should be perfectly suitable for powerful gaming PCs or
rigs that require great cooling with low temperatures. The special 240mm radiator on the Liqtech
240 is slightly thicker than a normal 120mm radiator, which should
help improving
performance while kink-resistant tubing allows for routing in
smaller cases and tighter spaces. Overall this cooler is
very well made and it looks nice and clean. The most unique feature
about it is probably its color,
as it features matte black with red
accents which is something we have
not seen with this type of cooler before.
The build quality is also on a really
high level. The bundle includes
two 120mm PWM fans and on the back of
each fan
you will find a really nice feature, a little switch that lets
you choose the maximum rotation speeds of the rotor. The settings you can choose
from are: silent mode 600 to 1300 rpm, performance mode 600 to 2000 rpm or
overclock mode 600 to 2500 rpm. Mounting system
supports most, if not all, recent Intel and AMD socket CPUs.
The Liqtech 240 is actually Enermax's new liquid cooler which is not based on Aseteks
OEM design. In fact this all-in-one cooler is made by AVC like the previous ELC
series from Enermax.
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As you can see from the picture manufacturing quality of the Liqtech 240 is impressive. Enermax decided to go for high quality materials, making the Liqtech 240 look and feel much better than their former ELC series. It packs a 273 x 27 mm radiator made from aluminium and apart from that, there is a GPU block with integrated pump, that comes with polished cooper base plate. Furthermore there is a high-quality ceramic bearing pump which should be inaudible. To be precise the dimensions of the Liqtech 240 are 273mm x 120mm x 27mm (WxHxD). Enermax has also decided to use the new, and quite good looking, design for the pump/base part. The fans also come with a new design that works quite well with the rest of the Liqtech 240 AIO cooler. Enermax decided to pair the Liqtech 240 with two 120x25mm LT120HP fans, which are suitable with the other high-quality components used.
Specifications |
|
| Model |
Liqtech 240 |
| Type | AIO WaterCooler |
| Dimensions | 273 x 120 x 27mm (LxBxW) |
| Weight | 1095g |
| Provided Fan(s) | 2 x 120x25mm PWM |
| Supported Fan(s) | 4 x 120mm |
| Base Material | Copper |
| Radiator Material | Aluminium |
| Tube | Polyamide (PA) rubber tube |
| Socket Support | Intel LGA 775, 1150, 1155, 1156, LGA 1366,
2011 AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1, FM2, FM2+ |
| Thermal compound | Enermax (Tube) |
| Product Page | Enermax Liqtech 240 |
The packaging is quite standard for an all-in-one water cooling syste as you get the AIO unit, two fans, manual and the mounting kit. Enermax bundles the Liqtech 240 with two mounting kits, one for AMD and one for Intel-based systems, as well as a backplate which is compatible with both AMD and Intel sockets. Enermax also threw in a Y-split fan cable and some Dow Corning TC-5121 thermal compound in a small tube, making the installation quite a breeze even for an average computer user.
Enermax has a two year warranty backing the Liqtech 240 AIO water cooler.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Photo Gallery
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Installation
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|
The installation procedure is quite easy and practical. It is pretty much self explanatory and everything is clearly explained in the manual, so it should not be a problem even for less experienced users. The design is not completely toolless as you will still need a screwdriver in order to mount the fans and the waterblock. The pressure on the CPU is very good and since the base/pump is a low profile design there should not be any clearance issues as even tubing can be moved in any direction without worry of blockage or leaking.
Test Setup |
|
| Cooler |
|
| Mainboard | ASUS Z87-Deluxe (BIOS 1602) |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4770K Stock (Turbo On / HT On) |
| Memory | ADATA XPG V2 2x4GB DDR3-2800 CL12 1.65V |
| Video | Intel HD Graphics 4600 |
| Software |
Windows 7 x64 wPrime Benchmark v2.10 CPUID HWMonitor 1.24.0 |
| PSU | Seasonic Platinum SS-660XP2 |
| Fan Controller | Lamptron FC5 V3 |
| Thermal Compound | Pre-applied |
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Absolute Performance
Temperatures
| 7V | Idle | Load |
| Enermax Liqtech 240 | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 34 °C | 53 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 36 °C | 61 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 35 °C | 63 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 39 °C | 65 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 38 °C | 75 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 83 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 38 °C | 69 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 34 °C | 56 °C |
To measure the cooling capacity we took temperatures in idle and load with the fans at 7 and 12 V. The idle temperature represents the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes and puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is at 25°C.
| 12V | Idle | Load |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 240 | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 31 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 37 °C | 60 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 36 °C | 69 °C |
| Intel Stock | 35 °C | 70 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 37 °C | 65 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 35 °C | 55 °C |
Fan Speeds
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 840 rpm | 1'180 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 780 rpm | 1'200 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 240 | 750 rpm | 1'300 rpm |
| Raijintek Pallas | 960 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Scythe Ashura | 600 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 660 rpm | 1'530 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 960 rpm | 1'560 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 1'020 rpm | 1'560 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 600 rpm | 1'740 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 1'260 rpm | 1'860 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 1'020 rpm | 1'860 rpm |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 1'140 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 1'200 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'260 rpm | 2'040 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 1'270 rpm | 2'050 rpm |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 300 rpm | 2'180 rpm |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 280 rpm | 2'220 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 1'580 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 1'620 rpm | 2'580 rpm |
Fan speeds (RPM) at 7 and 12 V.
Noise Levels
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 37.1 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 240 | 33.5 dBA | 37.0 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.3 dBA | 37.4 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32.2 dBA | 37.4 dBA |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 32.3 dBA | 38.4 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 33.7 dBA | 38.9 dBA |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 33.4 dBA | 38.9 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 34.7 dBA | 39.3 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 34.2 dBA | 39.5 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33.4 dBA | 39.6 dBA |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 31.2 dBA | 39.7 dBA |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 33.9 dBA | 40.1 dBA |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 32.8 dBA | 40.3 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.0 dBA | 40.3 dBA |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 32.3 dBA | 40.4 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 33.4 dBA | 40.6 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 33.1 dBA | 40.7 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 33.3 dBA | 40.7 dBA |
| Scythe Ashura | 32.0 dBA | 41.0 dBA |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 34.1 dBA | 41.2 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 34.5 dBA | 41.7 dBA |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33.3 dBA | 41.7 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 36.1 dBA | 43.6 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 36.1 dBA | 43.6 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at 7 and 12 V.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
PWM Performance
Temperatures
| Idle | Load | |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 240 | 34°C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 36 °C | 54 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 35 °C | 57 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 58 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 35 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 42 °C | 66 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 39 °C | 70 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 75 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 39 °C | 67 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 35 °C | 58 °C |
At this point we plugged the fan(s) to the motherboard CPU fan header and let the motherboard take care of fan speeds. In other words the motherboard will adjust the fan speed via PWM signal according to CPU temperature. The idle temperature is the lowest temperature hit by the processor after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25°C.
Fan Speeds
| Idle | Load | |
| Scythe Ashura | 436 rpm | 550 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 380 rpm | 687 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 450 rpm | 740 rpm |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 471 rpm | 770 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 466 rpm | 860 rpm |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 424 rpm | 880 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 240 | 790 rpm | 950 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 560 rpm | 955 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 800 rpm | 969 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 580 rpm | 970 rpm |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 870 rpm | 1'000 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 765 rpm | 1'077 rpm |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 950 rpm | 1'100 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 820 rpm | 1'110 rpm |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 990 rpm | 1'115 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 920 rpm | 1'170 rpm |
| Raijintek Pallas | 952 rpm | 1'170 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 1'120 rpm | 1'190 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 1'120 rpm | 1'270 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 950 rpm | 1'465 rpm |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 1'250 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'230 rpm | 1'630 rpm |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 1'475 rpm | 1'672 rpm |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 1'475 rpm | 2'253 rpm |
Values are in RPM, we took the lowest speed hit by the fan(s) in idle and the highest under load.
Noise Levels
| Idle | Load | |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.0 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32.1 dBA | 32.3 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.4 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 32.1 dBA | 32.6 dBA |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 32.0 dBA | 32.7 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 32.1 dBA | 32.8 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32.2 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 33.0 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 32.3 dBA | 33.0 dBA |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 33.0 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Scythe Ashura | 32.0 dBA | 33.4 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 240 | 33.2 dBA | 33.5 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 32.0 dBA | 33.6 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.3 dBA | 33.9 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 33.5 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33.7 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 33.8 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33.3 dBA | 34.4 dBA |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 34.4 dBA |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 33.2 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33.7 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 34.8 dBA | 35.3 dBA |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 34.1 dBA | 37.6 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 35.9 dBA | 41.4 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the cooler. Measurements are conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we can get in our room. Also here the measurements are conducted at lowest and highest fan speeds in idle and under load respectively.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| Overall, the Enermax Liqtech 240 Series is a very good product with exceptional design and we especially liked the manufacturing quality. It offers really good cooling capacity while maintaining silent operation and good performance. Compared to the earlier ELC Series Enermax offers a huge improvement with their Liqtech products. Design, quality as well as performance simply cannot be compared between the two products. |
- Cooling capacity
- Noise levels - Quality - PWM - Design |
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| Installation | + | - | |
| The installation couldn't be any easier, as it is practical and pretty straightforward. With mounting systems included for Intel and AMD as well as a single back plate for both worlds and in combination with and easy to understand manual, it will be hard to experience difficulties installing the Liqtech 240. The thermal paste comes in a small tube containing Dow Corning TC-5121 and is actually what Enermax is using lately with their water and air coolers. |
- Easy and practical
- Compatible Intel and AMD |
||
| Performance | + | - | |
| The Enermax Liqtech 240 series has very good cooling performance in every scenario, including 7V and 12V as well as the PWM mode. We tested the Liqtech 240 with two fans installed in pull configuration. In the charts we've only added the results with the fan's silent preset (600 to 1300rpm), since even with the overclock preset, load temperatures weren't dropping by more than 1°C | - Cooling performances | ||
| Noise Levels | + | - | |
| The pump on the Enermax Liqtech 240 is unfortunately not inaudible. Using two fans and 7V setting the Liqtech 240 is subjectively speaking very silent. At the 12V setting we measured 37.0 dBA at 1'300 rpm which is subjectively silent. When testing the cooler with via the PWM feature noise level does not go past 33.5 dBA, which is almost inaudible. |
- Noiseless pump
- Noise levels 7V |
- Pump not inaudible | |
| Recommendation / Price | + | - | |
| With all this in mind, we simply have no choice but to recommend the Enermax Liqtech 240 series AIO water cooler, and we certainly do it with a great pleasure. With price of 88 Euros, it is well priced and in combination with the given performance it's just a great product. |
-
Price
- Enthusiast - Gaming-PC |
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| Rating | |||
| We gave the Liqtech 240 from Enermax 4.5 out of 5 stars. | |||
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation & Test Setup |
| Page 4 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 5 - PWM Performance |
| Page 6 - Conclusion |