Final words and conclusion
Final words and conclusion
Both the LiqTech 120X and 240 can be compared with the more niche heatpipe based coolers. The big plus of course is the extremely cool looks inside your PC and the very low noise levels. Now, we did have higher hopes for a bit more performance, but with these radiator sizes, that might be wishful thinking. So yeah, the cooling performance is comparable towards the better class heatpipe based coolers. Comparing the 120X towards the 240 model the dual 120mm radiator makes a difference, cooling capacity is definitely good enough for even an overclock. But we have seen other LCS kits manage a little better though. Still, you can achieve a decent overclock on a Core i7 3770K and remain at acceptable temperatures if your processor's sweet-spot is 1.2 Volt on the CPU core maximum. Now the big benefit is that the fans are fairly silent. Unless you start to control at performance levels combined with a voltage tweak on your processor. We say, leave the fans at default, and the LCS kit can be considered to be silent. If you do not plan to overclock at all, just pop these babies at the lowest performance level and you'll have sheer silence emanating from your PC.
Aestethics
The overall looks are pretty good as far as I am concerned, all black design and that red stripe looks good, both kits are easy to install with the mounting system, pre-filled... it's one of the most easy and comfortable kits on the market to use and install. An all black design will make this kit look great in any PC, the y-splitter cable for the fans comes black as well, that's good attention for detail. Perhaps my one tip to Enermax would be 'a little less logo work' on that cooling block. I understand it is great marketing and advertising through that see-trough panel of your PC for Enermax, but yeah many logos ... not my thing man.
Pricing
The reality remains though that you may consider both kits to be mainstream cooling products just closing in on high-end performance, not even the 240 model would reach the "enthusiast" segment. But make no mistake, the performance is good, but remains to be just that; if you compare it to proper LCS gear. Let me also remind you that you can easily spend 200/300 EUR on tubing, radiators, cooling blocks, reservoirs and so on whereas the 120X all in one kit can be found for 80 EUR with the 240 model sitting at hundred bucks. So overall the price is a positive thing here.
Final words
The Enermax Liqtech 120X and 240 both offer great looks and fairly low noise levels. Next to that I must admit that they are a breeze to install as well. So as a package these kits will really work out. Both kits are among the more silent models we have tested to date, whilst offering you a fairly nice chance to overclock as well. Don't expect heaps of cooling performance though as performance can be compared with a decent class heatpipe cooler. It does look 10x better and is very silent. If you are worried about the temperatures you have seen at 1.3 Volts, well... this is the nature of the Ivy Bridge processor tested. You will likely not need 1.3V for 4400~4600 MHz anyway. Armed with a two year warranty the Enermax Liqtech 120X and 240 are slowly becoming available as we speak. Both coolers come recommended, just don't expect them to offer top notch performance when you plan to overclock with very high voltages on your processor.
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