EK Performance 280 and 360 Liquid Cooling Kit Review: Open Loops Made Easy

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Early Verdict

If you absolutely need the most cooling possible, these kits eases the transition to high-end liquid cooling.

Pros

  • +

    Fantastic cooling

  • +

    Excellent construction

  • +

    Copper radiator core

  • +

    Expandable

  • +

    Very quiet at lower fan speeds

  • +

    Extended PWM range support

  • +

    Compatible with all current sockets

  • +

    Configurable waterblock for any CPU.

Cons

  • -

    Expensive

  • -

    Time intensive to install

  • -

    Open loop means regular maintenance required

  • -

    More cooling than most people need

  • -

    Short warranty.

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Introducing EK Performance Kits

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Eric Vander Linden
Eric Vander Linden is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews motherboards, specializing in high-end Intel chipsets.
12 Comments Comment from the forums
  • blppt
    Maybe if you could test a premium closed loop cooler alongside as well, for comparison? Or something like a H115i?
    Reply
  • RedJaron
    It's already tested against a Predator, which, while expandable, is set up to be a sealed loop also.
    Reply
  • thundervore
    Nice kits!!
    Reply
  • thundervore
    18772536 said:
    Maybe if you could test a premium closed loop cooler alongside as well, for comparison? Or something like a H115i?

    Testing a custom loop against a AIO is not a good test. The AIO will always loose.

    This is because the AIO does not have that much liquid and made with inferior parts (weak pump with built in block, aluminum radiator)

    Testing a custom loop with only go head to head with other custom loops like Swifttech,
    Reply
  • blppt
    Of course the AIO would lose, but for those of us iffy about putting together an open loop, it would have been nice to see by how much.
    Reply
  • 1800Allen
    What would be great is to see the value vs cost vs performance of adding a GPU block in there. It is the next logical step for someone who is getting into water cooling. I know there is GPU addin kits for the Predator line, using the same block and swapping connectors for your custom loop would give some insight on all 3 kits value.
    Reply
  • RedJaron
    18774239 said:
    Of course the AIO would lose, but for those of us iffy about putting together an open loop, it would have been nice to see by how much.
    As I already said, I compared this against a Predator 240. I think more than a few people would consider that a "premium" AIO. You can see how much better the Performance kits were if you looked at the graphs.


    18774295 said:
    What would be great is to see the value vs cost vs performance of adding a GPU block in there. It is the next logical step for someone who is getting into water cooling. I know there is GPU addin kits for the Predator line, using the same block and swapping connectors for your custom loop would give some insight on all 3 kits value.
    Depends on where you put the value. In straight performance / cost, the more money you put into a custom loop, the more the value drops. You're simply too far past the ideal return on investment point. As I said in the review, you can almost always get better performance value using air. A GPU block is also $100+ on top of the cost for the rest of the loop, which makes it even more cost prohibitive.

    If your value is on noise or consistent temps that allow less thermal throttling, then that's a slightly different matter. However, you're spending $100s to get that small benefit, so again, value in the traditional sense isn't much a factor.
    Reply
  • zodiacfml
    Didn't notice immediately that this is a different cooler to Anandtech's review.
    Am i missing something, that it has 30 degrees above ambient?
    Reply
  • n0ns3ns3
    18776518 said:
    Didn't notice immediately that this is a different cooler to Anandtech's review.
    Am i missing something, that it has 30 degrees above ambient?

    So ?
    let's say the ambient is 25C, so it makes overclocked 6 core 140w (before overclock) CPU to run Prime95 at 55-60C.
    That's quite amazing.
    Reply
  • RedJaron
    18776518 said:
    Didn't notice immediately that this is a different cooler to Anandtech's review.
    Am i missing something, that it has 30 degrees above ambient?
    You'll need to specify which Anand review you're referring to as they've covered more than a few liquid coolers.

    But yes, Nonsense has explained the temperature delta. The ambient temp during my tests was between 20 - 24 °C ( day to night fluctuation, and yes, I recorded the beginning and ending ambient temp of each test ). The P280 and P360 keep this CPU at least 15° cooler than some of the best big air coolers like the D15 and Dark Rock Pro 3. You just pay more than three times the money for these liquid kits, which is why it only gets an Approved award instead of Recommended.
    Reply