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EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Dark

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Before we have a closer look at the EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Dark from EKWB, I have found the specifications from their website.

Central Features

• Intel Socket: 115X, 1200, 1700, 2011, 2011-3, 2066 + next-gen Intel Socket
• AMD Socket: AM4, AM5
• Size & Weight radiator
  • (H x W x D) 281 x 124 x 27 mm

All about the EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Dark

EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Dark is an AIO water cooling. It's a pitch-black cooler that doesn't come with RGB. It is designed to fit the most popular cases on the market, with a thin radiator design. It supports the latest Intel and AMD sockets, and should be ready for the next-gen Intel socket. It is possible to turn the pump head so that the logo always stands correctly.

The accessories themselves in the box come in a nice packaging, which contains everything necessary to be able to mount on both Intel and AMD. EKWB offers the more modern and common sockets, where LGA1366 has been deprecated. However, it is ready with 115x, as well as the next generation of Intel. On the AMD side, it supports both AM4 and AM5. Extra cooling paste and tools for mounting the equipment are also included.

The fans that are used are two EK-FPT FAN 120 – Black Full Pressure Technology fans. Which is optimized to provide high cooling capacity, with a maximum speed of 2300 RPM, and a noise level of 36 dB. They have an air flow of 72 CFM. Next to that, the fans also have a daisy chain, which makes it possible to minimize cables that have to go around the cabinet.

The plate that touches the CPU is made of copper, improving heat distribution, along with a dense stack of micro fins that should boost heat transfer. The pump head has a speed of 3100 RPM.

Assembly

As previously mentioned, it is all collected in a box, and provides an easy overview of everything that comes with it. There are no screws that need to be on the bracket in the first place. However, you must pay attention to which screws you use for the bracket, as it depends on which socket the Intel CPU is.

As it is Intel, the bracket is placed behind the motherboard, and fixed with screws, which must also ensure that the pump head is mounted.

The Test – Use and Performance

Test system

• MSI MEG Z690 Unify
• Intel I7 12900K
• MSI Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti
• 32 GB HyperX Fury DDR5 5200 MHz CL36
• Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB SSD

Test software

• Cinebench (Benchmark)
• HWinfo64 (Monitoring)

Procedure

The test is set up so that we first warm up the system with Cinebench for 5 minutes. Then run it further for 10 minutes where we measure the average temperature in HWiNFO64. We then finally subtract the room temperature at the given time and land on a delta temperature to give as neutral a picture as possible. The fans are set to run at full speed, so that you get a picture of the maximum cooling performance with the load we are now giving it. It should give a real picture of how much you can stress on the different coolers, and whether they can take more or less than what we give it.

**After following up a bit on the I9 12900K and heat generation, I have chosen to turn off Hyper-Threading, to give the cooler the opportunity to show what it can do, rather than pushing the CPU to its maximum. All tests in the future will run like this.

The measurements:

• Room temperature: ~ 23 degrees
• Fan speed: ~ 2300 RPM
• TDP: 200W

We start off quietly at idle with the EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Dark. Which gets off to a bit of a "hard" start. Here it reaches 9 degrees in delta temperature.

However, it comes quickly after that, when a little pressure is put on the system. Where this one achieves the best result among those tested. Here it comes out with a result of 45 degrees in delta temperature. Which is incredibly nice, compared to some of the other coolers, is 280mm.

Noise level

Our noise measurements were made with a UNI-T UT353 dB meter. The measurements were made in a "real world" setup and therefore not in a sound chamber. External influences have of course been tried to be reduced as much as possible, but as I said, this has not been done in a sound chamber. Our measurements must therefore most of all be taken as a general indicator and not a scientific measurement. They primarily serve as a basis for comparison across tested products, which are always tested under as comparable conditions as possible.

Price

It has only been possible to find a price for the EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Dark, which is 130$.

If you want to find more information about the EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Dark from EKWB, you can click on the banner.

Conclusion

We have come to the end of the test on the EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Dark from EKWB. An AIO that doesn't go for lots of nice colors and a special design, but thinks about the user, who doesn't always want a huge cabinet, and needs something that's stylish and fits.

The price may well be a bit on the "high" end for a 240mm. But when we look at the performance, there is no doubt that it is worth the money. The assembly itself is easy, and even though it uses some "other" screws for the bracket, they are reminiscent of so many others. The only thing is that you have to use the supplied tool to fasten them.

This is not the first time I have come across fans that do not use the standard 4-pin. Which in the starter seemed a bit silly, but it starts to make more sense in terms of being able to daisy chain, and throw more data through, than just air control. Of course, this also means that the fans have a limitation in relation to being dependent on the adapter cable, which can hopefully be ordered next to it, should the accident happen.

If we return to the performance, it comes with a little noise. But given that it's at 100% and I'm testing outside a cabinet, I'm sure most people can survive the noise that would now come from it. Because there is no doubt, it is one of the best 240mm that has passed here, if we look purely at the performance.

I conclude the test by giving the EK Nucleus AIO CR240 Dark a score of 9 out of 10, along with the great product award. If you want an AIO, without RGB and with high performance, look deep into your pockets to make sure you have budgeted 1000 kroner so that you can get this one. Even if it is a cabinet where things must not take up too much space.

Pros

• Easy to install
• Neutral design
• Good performance
• Price
• Uses special connectors for daisy chain

Cons

• (Uses special connectors)
• Slightly high noise level

Score: 9 + Great Product