Four Closed-Loop CPU Coolers Take On Noctua's NH-D14

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Closed-loop liquid coolers relieve stress from our motherboards, without the portability and maintenance issues of traditional open-loop kits. Are these the best devices for system builders who plan to move their machines and want to avoid damage?

Enermax ELC240

Not yet available in the U.S., an overseas price of around €90 roughly matches the $120 price estimated by Enermax during its launch. We imagine there will be some international vendors willing to ship here, but you'll probably want to wait until it shows up at a local distributor.

A round head and radial mounting tabs are reminiscent of the classic design offered by several of Asetek's OEM customers, but closer inspection reveals that none of the components Enermax is using are an exact match. Those design changes include a new base plate that Enermax says is more efficient than those previous versions.

The only cooler in today’s test that doesn’t have a lighted logo, Enermax instead focuses on functionality. Powered by a motherboard’s CPU fan header, a single three-conductor cable spits off to feed both fans and the pump. The pump itself has no RPM feedback wire, complicating detection should it fail.

We felt the pump to verify that its motor was working and checked CPU temperature to make sure liquid was flowing.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
80 Comments Comment from the forums
  • austing
    I'm suprized to see a single 120mm rad can keep up with the h100i, bravo Zalman.
    Reply
  • EzioAs
    Love the title!

    Nice review as well. Too bad you didn't test NZXT kraken cpu coolers.

    If you ask me, I'd rather stick with the D14
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    Keeping up and beating with all the Water coolers should earn the NH-D14 a "best of the best" award of its own. And its a ~2-3 year old product!
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    Small nit : i would have liked to see similar test done with a 3770K and a high OC.
    Reply
  • sluggercz
    A possibly overlooked benefit of closed loop AIO systems are their ability to fit in SFF cases. While this certainly applies more to the single 120mm radiator designs, some cases (such as the Fractal Design Node 304) can accommodate 240mm radiators)

    (Source: Using a Corsair H60 w/ 2 Noctua NF-F12's in push-pull config in my Lian-Li PC-Q08; such large air-coolers as the Noctua could not fit due to the limited vertical clearance above the CPU)
    Reply
  • hero1
    Awesome review. Keep it up. I remember commenting about how much better the closed loop CPU coolers have gotten and I got down voted but this just proved my point. I have very sensitive hearing and I can never hear my CoolIt R120(?) spin apart from the initial startup. And this is inside a CM Haf XM. I play games with CPU+GPU OCd to 4.5GHzby 1.2GHz and you can barely hear any noise. First I thought something was wrong then I got my friends and wife to listen whil I played with muted sound and they were impressed. Up next is water cooling my GPU when I add another one in a month in SLI mode. Gaming PCs FTW!
    Reply
  • tanjo
    No NZXT Kraken and Thermaltake Water 2.0 (which is 3rd gen Asetek iirc)?
    Reply
  • hero1
    BTW DH-14 still deserves an award alongside the H100i and Zalman. Not many, if any air coolers out there can keep up with top notch closed loop CPU coolers.
    Reply
  • hero1
    tanjoNo NZXT Kraken and Thermaltake Water 2.0 (which is 3rd gen Asetek iirc)?
    Bit-tech.net has a review of Thermaltake water coolers and their top end 240mm took the crown. Better than H100i and the rest shown here.
    Reply
  • nukemaster
    With MB control the NH D14 can be very quiet :)

    It is HUGE, but I got it for 50$ and to me that was a great value. It was also on for 50$ again at NCIX's boxing day sale.

    Sure fills up an SSF system.
    Not embedding the image because it may mess up the page.
    http://imageshack.us/a/img39/1358/dsc0458s.jpg

    Reply