Enermax AQUAFUSION 240 AIO Cooler Review

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Conclusion

We tested the Enermax AQUAFUSION 240 using our AIO test platform that sports an Intel 10980XE processor. When we started our adventure, we wanted to push this cooler to its absolute limits and our test bench certainly delivered that when its 18 cores were clocked to 4.7GHz. We’ll recap the performance below and see how the AQUAFUSION 240 stood up to the heat in our kitchen!

Summary of Temperatures

The Enermax AQUAFUSION 240 is our least capable cooler tested to date. However, it is also the smallest as it only sports a 240mm radiator/fan setup. In spite of this, it was able to operate at its quietest configuration and maintain a temperature of 87 degrees Celsius with our test bench running at stock clocks. As we increased the overclock, we had to increase fan speed to prevent the CPU from thermally throttling. Ultimately, we were not able to keep our Intel 10980XE in check at 4.7GHz at Max RPM and 100% Pump as the AQUAFUSION 240 let the CPU hit the magic number of 98 degrees Celsius and lit up the thermal throttling light.

Summary of Sound Levels

Conversely, the Enermax AQUAFUSION 240 is probably the quietest cooler (overall) that we have tested to date. At its slowest and quietest settings, the Enermax AQUAFUSION 240 easily blended in with the ambient room sound levels and we could not hear a thing. Moving up to 1500 RPM it became a bit more audible, but not obnoxious. At its maximum fan speed, 2200 RPM, it made a defined contribution to our testing environment while doing its job. When considering sound vs performance, the 1,000 RPM fan level provided the best balance.

Final Points

We first adjusted our cooling testing methodology to test the claim of the Enermax LIQTECH II 360 since it said it could dissipate 500W+ of heat; a bold claim for sure. Afterward, we thought for a moment and realized why not make this our threshold for testing all of our cooling solutions? We would have a good standard that is going to let us have as close to an apples to apples comparison as we were going to be able to get while not going “easy” on even the beefiest of coolers. Keep in mind that our test bench, even at stock speeds, can exceed the heat generated by high end overclocked enthusiast systems.

So here we are today with another cooling system; the Enermax AQUAFUSION 240 with its shunt channel technology SCT and Enermax SquA RGB fans. After putting it through our gauntlet, we can certainly tell a difference in the ability of this 240mm unit compared to the more beefy coolers we have previously tested. While this unit did trail in pure performance, it only “failed” in the most extreme edge case it falls a bit short of the raw performance we saw with both the Enermax LIQTECH II 360 and Corsair H115i Platinum when faced with a 500W+ heat load or when operating at low 600 RPM fan speeds. However, in every other case, the Enermax AIO cooler AQUAFUSION 240 was more competitive, when looking at its performance and sound levels, than one might expect from such a small fan/radiator setup. In fact, there were advantages to that as this was, overall, as this was the quietest unit we have tested to date; which matters to a lot of people.

As a bonus, the Enermax AQUAFUSION all in one 240 is available for $99.99 in e-tail. So, if you are in the market for a 240mm AIO solution that will handle just about everything thing you throw at it (save for the most edge case of scenarios) and sound matters to you, the Enermax AQUAFUSION 240 is a worth a look. It won’t be the highest performing cooler on the market, given its size, but it will do well for most people and do so quietly.

Discussion

David Schroth
David is a computer hardware enthusiast that has been tinkering with computer hardware for the past 25 years and writing reviews for more than ten years. He's the Founder and Editor in Chief of The FPS Review.

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