While EVGA may be best known for its graphics cards, motherboards and power supplies, the company has recently ventured into the magical world of liquid coolers. Using 5th generation Asetek hardware, the imaginatively named CLC 240 should provide good cooling, an easy installation process and – of course – RGB lighting. But how does it fare against the competition? Let's find out.
Although EVGA is certainly not known for its liquid coolers, the company has a reputation for doing things right, so hopefully the CLC 240 will be no different. In this review, we go through the installation process, features and performance of the CLC 240 before giving our final verdict.
Specification:
Waterblock
- Premium Retention parts for Intel LGA2066/2011/2011-v3/1150/1151/1155/1156/1366 and upcoming variants
- AMD retention ring for supporting AM2/AM3/AM4/FM1/FM2/TR4 and upcoming variants
- 100% Copper
- Fully controllable RGB LED
- Noise Level = 20dB(A) (MAX)
Radiator
- 276mm X 122mm X 28mm (LxWxH)
- Aluminium
Fan
- Size: 120 x 120 x 25mm (x2)
- Teflon Nano Bearing
- Speed = 500-2400RPM
- Airflow = 74.82 CFM (MAX)
- Static Pressure = 4.04 mmAq (MAX)
- Noise Level = 16.0 dB(A) (MIN) – 39.9 dB(A) (MAX)
- Warranty
The EVGA CLC 240 ships in a very nondescript black box, devoid of any images or colour, though there is some EVGA branding.
Inside, however, everything comes very well protected thanks to some specially made foam with perfectly-sized cut-outs for the liquid cooler and accessories. It is good to see EVGA taking extra care to make sure its coolers arrive unscathed by the shipping process.
Getting to the accessories, all of the mounting hardware arrives in separate bags. AMD/AM4 screws are labelled, too, so it's easy to know what bits you will or won't need.
The manual is very brief but well written and is overall easy to understand.
Before talking about the CLC 240 itself, it is worth noting that the liquid cooler actually arrives with its 2x120mm fans pre-installed – so that is one less thing to do when it comes to installing the cooler. Personally, I usually spend more time screwing the fans on than I do actually mounting the pump/waterblock so I am definitely appreciative EVGA has taken that extra step and put the fans on for you.
Now, the actual cooler looks pretty swish thanks to its sleeved tubing (400mm long, by the way) and transparent pump/waterblock. It uses an aluminium radiator that measures 28mm thick, while the pump is an Asetek 5th generation design. EVGA has also implemented its own RGB lighting system as well, so the EVGA logo should be able to light up once we have the cooler installed.
It is also worth noting that there is a dual fan header cable that is attached to the pump. Users can connect the two radiator fans to this cable and then control the fan curve via EVGA's software, providing the pump has been connected to an internal USB header. For the sake of our testing, we always connect fans to the motherboard, but it is good to know the option is there.
Here I will walk you through the installation process. It is worth noting we test using a Z97 motherboard – socket LGA 1150. The process below reflects that.
First of all, position the backplate behind the motherboard's socket area.
With that done, four standoffs screw into the backplate – the pump/waterblock will sit over these standoffs. It is also worth noting that, at this stage, the backplate may be slightly loose – that is normal, so don't worry. Everything will get nice and tight once the cooler has been mounted and secured.
Speaking of mounting, you can now place the pump/waterblock over the standoffs and onto the CPU. The block is secured with four thumbscrews.
And that's it – job done! The Asetek installation method is dead easy, and considering EVGA installed the fans for you, the whole process shouldn't take more than two minutes. Perfect.
Taking a look at the RGB lighting, it is just the EVGA logo on the waterblock that is illuminated by RGB LEDs. Compared to something like the NZXT Kraken X62, the CLC 240's lighting is very subtle and minimalistic. Personally, I quite like that as it still gives you the choice of whatever colour you like, without being too gaudy or in-your-face.To test all CPU coolers, we devised an easily repeatable test with no variables other than the coolers themselves. This ensures that figures from every cooler we test are comparable with each other.
Test rig
Using an open-air test bench, we deploy an Intel Core i7-4790K plugged into a Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force motherboard. Alongside this is 16GB of 2400MHz Corsair Vengeance DDR3, as well as a 120GB OCZ Trion 150 SSD. Powering everything is a Corsair RM750x PSU.
The test process
Testing coolers involves taking a total of 4 temperature readings per cooler. First, we measure the idle temperature of the i7-4790K at stock speeds (turbo boost disabled), before measuring its temperature under load at stock speeds. Next, we overclock the CPU to 4.5GHz using a 1.3 Vcore, ensuring greater heat output. In its overclocked state we then measure the idle and load temperatures of the CPU again. The figures we present are temperature deltas – meaning we take each temperature reading and minus the ambient temperature from it. This allows us to test in an environment that is not temperature-controlled.
To ward off potential comments or questions, we know 4.5GHz using a 1.3 Vcore is not the ‘best’ overclock – this particular CPU could reach that frequency at closer to 1.25 on the Vcore, which is more efficient. That is not the point, however. We are trying to stress the coolers to see how they deal with excess heat … hence the higher than necessary Vcore.
Where possible, each cooler’s fans are plugged directly into the motherboard using the CPU_Fan or CPU_Opt headers. Some AIOs, however, ship with their own fan controllers or PWM hubs. If we are unable to plug the fans directly into the motherboard, it is specified in the performance section of the review.
An idle reading comes from leaving Windows on the desktop for 15 minutes. A load reading comes from running Prime95’s (version 26.6) Small FFTs test for 15 minutes – enough time for temperatures to plateau.
Noise output
Unfortunately I am unable to accurately measure the sound output of CPU coolers using a digital sound meter. This is because I am based alongside a busy road (with high ambient noise levels). Using a sound meter is, as such, not possible as there are variables out of my control. However, I will try my best to subjectively describe the noise output in a helpful manner.Temperatures
All temperature charts are sorted with lowest load temperatures at the top.
For a 240mm liquid cooler, the performance of the CLC 240 is actually mightily impressive. It may not do enough to claim the top spots in our tests, but Asetek 5th gen technology is clearly quite sophisticated. The CLC 240 actually beats the be quiet! Silent Loop 360 – and yes, that is a 360mm liquid cooler!
Acoustics
The CLC 240's thermal performance is, however, tempered its the noise levels. In short, the EVGA CLC 240 is one of the louder liquid coolers I have reviewed, and this is down to its fans – they have huge range of speed and can reach up to 2200rpm. Thus, when the CPU is overclocked and running hot, those fans really kick in and make a big racket.
It is not quite at the jet-engine noise levels of the ID-Cooling FrostFlow 240L but it is certainly pretty irritating. I am sure with a custom fan curve the noise could be tamed at the expense of some thermal performance, but for our testing we use the same fan curve every time to keep things consistent, so in this case, the CLC 240 has to be regarded as a loud cooler.On the whole, the EVGA CLC 240 is a very good liquid cooler.
For starters, it comes very well packaged and that gives a great first impression. Installation is also dead easy, and given that EVGA actually pre-installed the radiator fans, you will be up and running in mere minutes.
There is also the RGB lighting to talk about – it is very subtle and understated, but looks very good with accurate and vibrant colours. If you want something bombastic and unmissable, it might not be for you, but if you like your RGB lighting to be smooth and tasteful then you will love the CLC 240.
Now, that's all well and good – but how is performance? In short, excellent. Across our testing, the CLC 240 actually outperformed the 360mm Silent Loop from be quiet! – no mean feat considering the EVGA has 120mm less of radiator space.
That excellent performance does come at a cost, though, and that is acoustics. Simply put, the two radiator fans can reach a max speed of 2200rpm and that does create quite an irritating racket.
However, I am still more than happy to recommend the EVGA CLC 240. It looks great, is very easy to install and performs very well. It is quite loud, yes, but with a custom fan curve – and slightly lessened cooling performance – that issue will quickly go away. Overall, it's a very good cooler that I'd be happy to use myself.
In terms of pricing and availability, the CLC 240 is yet to hit the UK channel. The EU price is set at 129.99 Euros, but given the CLC 280 is £129.95 at Overclockers UK right now, we can only assume the CLC 240 will be slightly less than that.
Pros
- Looks good.
- Very easy to install.
- Radiators fans come pre-installed.
- Very good performance.
- Effective RGB lighting.
Cons
- Very loud using our standard fan curve.
KitGuru says: The EVGA CLC 240 is a very effective cooler. It is capable of producing quite a racket, which holds it back from our highest award, but with a bit of tuning you will have a cooler that you are more than happy with.
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