AIO(Kraken x62) vs EK A240

[NoobiexD]

Title says it all. Which one should I get in order to OC my 7700k to 5ghz.

 

Was thinking of getting an EK A240G but its 300$ and i'm not sure if that is worth it but the kraken x62 and EK 240 are the same price in Canada.

[Dargenfire]

I reckon the EK Kit would be better: More reliable pump and the ability to add more radiators or a GPU block to the loop.

[Chuck2001]

I have the same question, and google landed me here couple of hoursa after your post ! Just delidded my 7700k (so worth it !) and quite happy with my old friend NH-D14. Now with the Strix 1080Ti I just got, I'm wondering if my next step is a good AIO or step it the loop game.

 

I'm looking at everything, Arctic Freezer 260, X62, A240, or even a copper kit from EK like the P360.

 

I have a Phanteks Evolv, and as the Strix recirculate hot air in the case, the rad should be in front. AIO tube length is a concern...

 

I'm from Montreal (Canada). EK's price are subject to duty maybe ? Or we can buy it locally ?

[NoobiexD]

5 hours ago, Chuck2001 said:

I have the same question, and google landed me here couple of hoursa after your post ! Just delidded my 7700k (so worth it !) and quite happy with my old friend NH-D14. Now with the Strix 1080Ti I just got, I'm wondering if my next step is a good AIO or step it the loop game.

 

I'm looking at everything, Arctic Freezer 260, X62, A240, or even a copper kit from EK like the P360.

 

I have a Phanteks Evolv, and as the Strix recirculate hot air in the case, the rad should be in front. AIO tube length is a concern...

 

I'm from Montreal (Canada). EK's price are subject to duty maybe ? Or we can buy it locally ?

Is it the phanteks evolv tg? Jaystwocent made a video that the evolv tg is trash at watercooling. 

 

[Revan654]

14 hours ago, NoobiexD said:

Title says it all. Which one should I get in order to OC my 7700k to 5ghz.

 

Was thinking of getting an EK A240G but its 300$ and i'm not sure if that is worth it but the kraken x62 and EK 240 are the same price in Canada.

 

The biggest issue with EK's Gaming kits everything is aluminum. You do not want to mix metals inside your loop. It limits what parts you can use, 90% of watercooling parts are copper based(That includes radiators). Aluminum  also has it's share of problems within a custom loop.

 

My advice it's better to pick your parts then to buy a kit.

 

If I recall correctly someone did state EK kit is not enough to properly cool a 7700K specially if it's OC.

[NoobiexD]

8 hours ago, Revan654 said:

 

The biggest issue with EK's Gaming kits everything is aluminum. You do not want to mix metals inside your loop. It limits what parts you can use, 90% of watercooling parts are copper based(That includes radiators). Aluminum  also has it's share of problems within a custom loop.

 

My advice it's better to pick your parts then to buy a kit.

 

If I recall correctly someone did state EK kit is not enough to properly cool a 7700K specially if it's OC.

but custom loop seems to be more reliable like dargenfire said

[Revan654]

6 minutes ago, NoobiexD said:

but custom loop seems to be more reliable like dargenfire said

 

That's why I said it's better to pick your own parts.

[NoobiexD]

34 minutes ago, Revan654 said:

 

That's why I said it's better to pick your own parts.

whoops thought you said aio > custom loop even thought you never mentioned aio. guess im tired today. 

[NoobiexD]

1 hour ago, Revan654 said:

 

That's why I said it's better to pick your own parts.

as much as I would like to buy individual parts, I don't have that kind of money to spent on it. so that why i'm asking if i should get an aio or the ek 240 cause its the same price and it fits my budget.

[CaptainSav916]

I wouldn't recommend(nor would anyone else) aluminum for any type of OC. The A/G series are designed for lower TDP systems. Like everyone else says, "part it out". A kraken will only do your CPU good (keep in mind...) If you want a good ass deal look more towards ebay or go with XSPC. They are very exceptional quality and have great prices for their parts. They also use copper but with a lower fpi. Always go copper. Always. Don't regret buying an AIO and think to yourself "damn I want to cool my gpu but i'm out of funds... I should have listened to those guys on LTT."

[Revan654]

8 hours ago, NoobiexD said:

as much as I would like to buy individual parts, I don't have that kind of money to spent on it. so that why i'm asking if i should get an aio or the ek 240 cause its the same price and it fits my budget.

 

At 300 dollars you can get some decent gear. I would just wait until you have some more money & get high quality parts instead of just settling. It's better to wait then regret buying a budget kit that can't really be upgraded.

 

If you really want a Kit Here are some options(They don't have GPU Block, Everything else is included). Two are little bit above your budget & one is below your budget. The kits contain better parts & all copper.

 

Option 1(Higher Performance): https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-kit-p240

Option 2(Highest performance) : https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-kit-x240

Option 3(Middle Performance): https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-kit-l360-r2-0

 

EK's so called Gaming series Kits. There already reports of issues with the kits. One of the blocks included contains some copper & your mixing it with aluminum. You never want to mix metals.

 

It's also why most coolants are designed for copper based parts. Not to mention Mayhem has a giant warning on there website saying "Not For Aluminum Radiators"

 

Another thing that will limitation there gaming series.

 

----

 

EK's is also suppose to be releasing a new AIO "SOON", which will allow you to add GPU to the loop.

 

Link: https://www.ekwb.com/news/ek-is-announcing-modular-liquid-cooling-products/

 

6 hours ago, CaptainSav916 said:

I wouldn't recommend(nor would anyone else) aluminum for any type of OC. The A/G series are designed for lower TDP systems. Like everyone else says, "part it out". A kraken will only do your CPU good (keep in mind...) If you want a good ass deal look more towards ebay or go with XSPC. They are very exceptional quality and have great prices for their parts. They also use copper but with a lower fpi. Always go copper. Always. Don't regret buying an AIO and think to yourself "damn I want to cool my gpu but i'm out of funds... I should have listened to those guys on LTT."

Actually only the RX has low FPI. The EX has a FPI of 18, AX has a FPI of 21.

[For Science!]

1 hour ago, Revan654 said:

EK's so called Gaming series Kits. There already reports of issues with the kits. One of the blocks included contains some copper & your mixing it with aluminum. You never want to mix metals.

 

It's also why most coolants are designed for copper based parts. Not to mention Mayhem has a giant warning on there website saying "Not For Aluminum Radiators"

As far as I am aware, there is no copper in the Fluid Gaming series, what you may be confusing with is a slither of stainless steel in the CPU block used for the jetplate. Many have assured me that this is not an issue for corrosion, but time will tell. 

 

With regards to Mayhems, while they do say they react to Thermaltake Aluminium Radiators, their technical support point directly at thermaltake aluminium radiators, and not necessarily other aluminium products. And furthermore, under the properties they list out that  "Blended with Non-Toxic Corrosion & Scale Inhibitors for protection of Copper, Brass, Steel, Nickel and Aluminium Proven to ASTM D3306 and BS6580 standards". So Mayhems are partly to blame for this confusion as well - Their pastel line up should definitely not be used with any aluminium to be on the safe side, but since we have no idea what's in their coolants, we're none the wiser. Interestingly, Primochill says a flat out no to aluminium for their opaque fluids.

11 hours ago, NoobiexD said:

whoops thought you said aio > custom loop even thought you never mentioned aio. guess im tired today. 

The A240 performs better than AIOs, but takes time to assemble and has increased risk of failure (through user error). It may have expandability in the future, but the ecosystem is still immature and we will have to see. Definitely not many options surrounding coolants, as discussed above, just stick to EK-CryoFuel or you will likely have problems.

 

While the CPU cooler performs better in the A240, I think custom watercooling is really worth it if you are going to cool the GPU too (A240G) since the loudest thing by far is the GPU under gaming loads.

 

My personal recommendation is go for an AIO if you aren't looking at the A240G, and then eventually go full custom in the future (copper or aluminium depending on how the dice for that rolls). Having an AIO is handy when you go custom water anyway just in case you need to do a POST before the loop is complete.

[NoobiexD]

4 hours ago, Revan654 said:

 

At 300 dollars you can get some decent gear. I would just wait until you have some more money & get high quality parts instead of just settling. It's better to wait then regret buying a budget kit that can't really be upgraded.

 

If you really want a Kit Here are some options(They don't have GPU Block, Everything else is included). Two are little bit above your budget & one is below your budget. The kits contain better parts & all copper.

 

Option 1(Higher Performance): https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-kit-p240

Option 2(Highest performance) : https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-kit-x240

Option 3(Middle Performance): https://www.ekwb.com/shop/ek-kit-l360-r2-0

 

EK's so called Gaming series Kits. There already reports of issues with the kits. One of the blocks included contains some copper & your mixing it with aluminum. You never want to mix metals.

 

It's also why most coolants are designed for copper based parts. Not to mention Mayhem has a giant warning on there website saying "Not For Aluminum Radiators"

 

Another thing that will limitation there gaming series.

 

----

 

EK's is also suppose to be releasing a new AIO "SOON", which will allow you to add GPU to the loop.

 

Link: https://www.ekwb.com/news/ek-is-announcing-modular-liquid-cooling-products/

 

Actually only the RX has low FPI. The EX has a FPI of 18, AX has a FPI of 21.

Might go for the options you named. im a bit confused why EK released the aluminum one when these one cost the same and are copper? Thinking about buying Option 3 but is there a 280 rad version instead?

[For Science!]

2 hours ago, NoobiexD said:

Might go for the options you named. im a bit confused why EK released the aluminum one when these one cost the same and are copper? Thinking about buying Option 3 but is there a 280 rad version instead?

The Aluminium ones are significantly cheaper (170 euro vs 280 euro for the cheapest kit above). If you're going for the copper kits, and especially if you want to change something, you might as well pick the parts out yourself.

[Revan654]

1 hour ago, NoobiexD said:

Might go for the options you named. im a bit confused why EK released the aluminum one when these one cost the same and are copper? Thinking about buying Option 3 but is there a 280 rad version instead?

 

Different markets. EK has separated there fluid series & rest of there products. Gaming fluid series is not even listed on EK's main website, just a small icon that sends you to a different website.

 

Not sure on website your looking at but site I'm using there about a 100 to 200 dollar difference between the AG series & Normal kits.

 

Not for there liquid series, If you want 140 fan sized radiators your going to need to buy parts separately or atlease the radiator. EK's 140 rads are average at best. There 120 rads are allot better (PE & XE series).

 

----

 

4 hours ago, For Science! said:

As far as I am aware, there is no copper in the Fluid Gaming series, what you may be confusing with is a slither of stainless steel in the CPU block used for the jetplate. Many have assured me that this is not an issue for corrosion, but time will tell. 

 

With regards to Mayhems, while they do say they react to Thermaltake Aluminium Radiators, their technical support point directly at thermaltake aluminium radiators, and not necessarily other aluminium products. And furthermore, under the properties they list out that  "Blended with Non-Toxic Corrosion & Scale Inhibitors for protection of Copper, Brass, Steel, Nickel and Aluminium Proven to ASTM D3306 and BS6580 standards". So Mayhems are partly to blame for this confusion as well - Their pastel line up should definitely not be used with any aluminium to be on the safe side, but since we have no idea what's in their coolants, we're none the wiser. Interestingly, Primochill says a flat out no to aluminium for their opaque fluids.

The A240 performs better than AIOs, but takes time to assemble and has increased risk of failure (through user error). It may have expandability in the future, but the ecosystem is still immature and we will have to see. Definitely not many options surrounding coolants, as discussed above, just stick to EK-CryoFuel or you will likely have problems.

 

While the CPU cooler performs better in the A240, I think custom watercooling is really worth it if you are going to cool the GPU too (A240G) since the loudest thing by far is the GPU under gaming loads.

 

My personal recommendation is go for an AIO if you aren't looking at the A240G, and then eventually go full custom in the future (copper or aluminium depending on how the dice for that rolls). Having an AIO is handy when you go custom water anyway just in case you need to do a POST before the loop is complete.

 

It was actually EK screwing up. Some kits got the wrong waterblocks, they got the copper version instead of what they were suppose to get. Some of the kits are missing complete parts.

[For Science!]

3 minutes ago, Revan654 said:

It was actually EK screwing up. Some kits got the wrong waterblocks, they got the copper version instead of what they were suppose to get. Some of the kits are missing complete parts.

That's very interesting, can you link me to the forum posts or whatever source you have?

[Revan654]

2 hours ago, For Science! said:

That's very interesting, can you link me to the forum posts or whatever source you have?

 

Don't have link, it's was bit ago. I don't recall exact place where I read.

[For Science!]

12 minutes ago, Revan654 said:

 

Don't have link, it's was bit ago. I don't recall exact place where I read.

I mean, the fluid gaming series only launched 2 months ago so it can't be that long ago....Anyway if you stumble upon the link, send me a copy. Otherwise I will note it down as a potential misreport, or at worst an incredibly isolated incident.

 

I just want to make sure there's some kind of cite-able source for the information especially if it is critical towards a particular product.