Final Words & Conclusion
Final Words & Conclusion
The Fluid Gaming A240G complete as tested today (including the GeForce GPU block) will cost you €249,95 And yes, that means quite a lot of value as you get to cool down the graphics card effectively as well. If you just want a cooling loop for the processor, you'd be set and ready to go at 170 euro / 160 USD. That is a good notch above the premium LCS kits sure, but this remains to be a true liquid cooling kit. Before we dive deeper into the conclusion I have to say it, I am not sure if Aluminum kits like shown today will be a success. Hey, I hope for EK that they do, but history has proven that Aluminum and DiY PC cooling are not two things that match. Safety, corrosion and leakage wise this is not an issue btw. I mean, the entire kit is aluminum hence bi-metal corrosion simply is a no go. If you use the included thermal paste on your CPU and GPU there simply should not be an issue. Another factor that jumps out is how incredible light-weight this kit is. It certainly is well designed, but looking at that discolored aluminum GPU block feels like I am staring at a motor-block from a car. Aluminum simply does not have the aesthetic appeal that copper or nickel plated copper solution with shiny brushed and polished fittings offer.
Prices in EUR
- EK-KIT A120 – 149,95€
- EK-KIT A240 – 169,95€
- EK-KIT A240G – 249,95€
Prices in USD
- EK-KIT A120 – 149,99$
- EK-KIT A240 – 159,99$
- EK-KIT A240G -239,99$
So why is EK offering this kit? Well, look at the price they are asking. This kit certainly is a lot cheaper compared to traditional copper LCS cooling kits and as such is the middle way in-between premium heatpipe / LCS kits and the expensive liquid cooling kits. From a price performance perspective, these kits are magnificent, easy to use and install. We consider cooling to sit at your normal proper performance level, the cooling capacity seems to be a notch lower than what I expected it to be.
Performance
Performance relative to noise and cooling levels, here I cannot complain whatsoever. We notice that the temps are a few degrees higher opposed to the more expensive liquid cooling kits, but again we're cooling the GPU here as well. All that is managed with a 30mm thick 240mm long radiator and two Vardar fans. The results work out nicely, but also do not impress massively as once the system heats up when overclocked, the fan RPM will jump up as well. There certainly is plenty of cooling capacity. Just set your BIOS FAN control to silent and lower FAN RPM a tiny bit if you desire utter silence. Aside from the aluminum block, EK did make something with terrific looks. The reservoir/pump and cooling blocks look brilliant. Lovely is that the graphics card also gets a nice matching back-plate to complement the nice looking front-side. Design wise you just cannot complain.
The cooling results offer what they need to be, our Core i7 4790K is a tricky beast of a processor to cool and tame. The test platform makes use of the Core i7 4790K and we tested it in a default setup (clocks) and then overclocked to 4600 MHz with 1.3 Volts. Now, the 1.3 Volts is not even needed for the overclock, 1.2 Volts would have been good enough as well. However we inject more voltage to see how the cooler behaves. We also know with certainty that many of you are overclocking at 1.30 Volts. And for this cooler, that is just not an issue at all. Then on top of that we added the GeForce GTX 1080, this product under hefty stress remains at roughly 55 Degrees C.
Aesthetics & Design
The overall looks are very nice as far as I am concerned. The cooling blocks look terrific in style with a nice dark theme. The visible aluminum parts however, well I'm just not a fan of it. However the reality is also that once you house a kit like this inside a chassis, most of that aluminum of course is not even visible. You do not have screaming logos and LEDs. So sure, the looks overall are fine really.
Concluding
With the Fluid Gaming A240G series, EK tries to address a gap in the market, that gap sits in the space in-between heatpipe / LCS and the 'proper' liquid cooling kits. Hence this ALU kit now is introduced at fairly competitive prices. Now I do like the Fluid Gaming A240G from EK, but I do worry that kits like these miss a certain point. See, if you go for liquid cooling you want that premium feel and aesthetics combined with robust performance and low noise levels. Now honestly, I could not point my finger at what the feeling was that I had, but it is exactly that lacking premium feel that is a problem for me. Whenever I work on a nice liquid cooling loop, I want to have that x-factor experience and feel. The first thing you notice when you pick up either the CPU of GPU block, is that it weighs absolutely nothing. Call me silly, but I do not like that. So while the kit itself is efficient, totally leak free (and I am not worried about corrosion as everything is aluminum), it just doesn't bring that premium feel to the table. Even that lovely looking GPU block is sweet, until you look at the aluminum parts. You kind of want that cooper or nickel plated look I guess, at least I do. And that probably is worth another 100 bucks to me. My perspective might be off and clouded here as these kits are about one thing, they are aimed at gamers on a budget. The price is right, it's a reasonably silent solution (you can configure that yourself with PWM controlled fans of course) and the cooler perf is good enough (but not exceptional though). The overall build quality is good as well with the well thought through concept. EK did a good and original job and these kits ooze and breathe value for what you get. But in the long run you might regret that you did not invest a little more into the real thing. I'll grant the Fluid Gaming A240G from EK a 'recommended' award as it certainly deserves that, but in the end I feel that the vast majority of consumers will end up with something copper and/or nickel plated. Hey, it's good he have choices. It's really a lovely kit and experience to build your own liquid cooling loop, that's a fact as well that it won't break the bank either.
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