Cooler Master Master Liquid 240L Core ARGB Review

Cooler Master has a pretty strong reputation when it comes to their AIO coolers, as they use their own in-house pump designs and manufacturing processes to ensure their quality and performance. Not that there's anything wrong with many brands just using Asatek or similar pumps though, they're pretty great too, but I certainly appreciate that Cooler Master does their own thing. The Master Liquid 240L Core ARGB is a 240mm AIO, with the Core series sitting between their more budget-focused Lite series and their flagship Pro/Flux series. This is just the latest version of this cooler that's seen pretty much yearly updates since its introduction. There's a revised dual chamber pump design, and they've increased the overall surface area of the radiator too. To deal with the more densely packed radiator, there are new 120mm fans, which promise 71.93 CFM and low noise of just 27.2 dBa, and that's all topped off with their latest CryoFuze thermal paste. So again, the MasterLiquid we know and love, but just fine-tuned a little to make it better than ever! Features New Gen S Dual Chamber PumpExpanded Radiator Surface120mm ARGB FansClean Classic DesignCryoFuze Performance Thermal PasteFor more in-depth specifications, please visit the official product page via the link here! What Cooler Master Had To Say? "Cooler Master has built upon the classic MasterLiquid L Series to present a redesigned and improved release of the MasterLiquid 240L Core ARGB. Featuring new design elements that bring a classic minimalist look to the series, the MasterLiquid 240L Core ARGB represents Cooler Master’s ongoing innovative spirit." Packaging The box looks great, with lots of vibrant colours, with the Cooler Master purple being the most prominent. There's a nice photo of the cooler on the front too, showcasing the ARGB lighting on the fans and the pump Around the back, there's a quick rundown of the main features, and on the sides of the box, you'll find dimensions and compatibility information. The cooler and all components are well protected, with two layers of cardboard on the outer box, then further layers provided by a moulded cardboard carton and plastic wrappings on all major hardware. In the box, you'll find two 120mm fans, splitter cables for ARGB and fans, and fitting kits for all major AMD and Intel sockets. They also include a tube of their premium thermal paste, so if you need to reinstall your cooler at any point, you can refresh that. A Closer Look Their latest fan revision looks decent enough, with a fairly simple aesthetic to the frame, but with 9 thick fan blades all in a frosted white that should allow for the built-in ARGB lighting to really make them glow. They have rubber anti-vibration pads on all corners on both sides, and both the fan and the ARGB cables are treated to a lovely glossy black braiding too. The fans are the 202003650-GP which are 12v and run from 650 - 750 RPM with a 5v ARGB header on a separate cable. The pump and radiator look pretty much as you might expect, with a slim 240mm radiator that can support fans on either side of it, and a small Cooler Master logo is printed on the sides. The radiator is nicely packed with a good fin density that has a greater surface area than the old model; unfortunately, Cooler Master doesn't provide the % difference, but regardless, it looks good. The pump is a pretty basic design, with a matte black plastic housing, and a small ARGB-lit icon in the middle. On the underside, the copper contact plate is quite large, so coverage of the larger CPUs it supports shouldn't be an issue. Just remember to remove the label before you use it, and that you'll need to apply the thermal paste that's included in the box. The fans are very easy to install, as the screws are thumbscrews, so you can get most of the work done by hand, and then just grab a screwdriver to get them a little tighter (but not too tight!). Installation of the pump was super easy too, just pop the backplate on, four standoffs, and then the thumbscrews to hold it in place. Really only took a few minutes, but again, remember to apply thermalpaste! The RGB is great too, and you just hook up the connector to your motherboard or any hub you like really, and you're good to go. Test System & Methodology As you may appreciate, we review a lot of coolers here at eTeknix. As such, our prior results sheet was getting more than a little crowded. We have, therefore, applied a new system in which we have picked those coolers we consider most popular, recent, or most relevant to this design. Test system: NZXT Z690 ATXIntel Core i9-12900K @ stock and & 4.9 GHz all P-Core 4 GHz E-Core 1.3vAorus RTX 208016GB Crucial DDR4 4400 MHz512GB NVMe SSDThermaltake Tough Power 750WNZXT H7 Flow RGB CaseAll testing is conducted using NT-H1 thermal paste We’d like to say a big thank you to Gigabyte, Noctua, Crucial, Intel, Thermaltake, NZXT and more for providing us with the above testing equipment and their ongoing support. Testing Methodology We always use Noctua Noctua NT-H1 thermal paste to make sure testing reveals the efficiency of the tested coolers not the efficiency of the bundled thermal pasteCinebench R23 is run for 10 minutes to calculate “load” resultsUnigine Superposition is run for 10 minutes to calculate “gaming” resultsMultiple readings are taken with the average of the package temperatures calculated for our recorded resultFans are left to operate at default PWM profile speeds unless otherwise statedFor water cooling tests, all pumps have been operated at 12 volts unless otherwise statedAmbient temperatures should be between 21-23 degrees in all our tests unless otherwise statedAcoustic measurements are taken 10cm horizontally and 10cm vertically away from the CPU cooler with the VGA fan disabledStock tests are performed using “out of the box” settings for the CPUAll coolers were tested under identical settings unless otherwise stated.There is approximately a 1-degree Celsius margin of error in our temperature recording software CPUID HW MonitorThere is approximately a 1.5dBA margin of error with our Benetech GM1351 decibel meterIn all these graphs we may have a few “reference” results of particular products that do not fit within that category for comparative purposes. Software Used CPUID HWMonitorCinebench R23Unigine Superposition Performance The Cooler Master 240L Core is up against some strong competition here, as we're starting on our new i9-12900K test bench, which is a hard CPU to cool to begin with. Plus, we've tested the Kraken, Noctua D15S, and the RYUO III, easily three of the best CPU coolers on the market today. However, with all that in mind, the 240L clearly has no trouble delivering competitive results and actually ran cooler than the Kraken 360mm at stock settings. Stock Temperatures Stock Acoustics The same with the acoustics, with it clocking in at just 41 dBa, but hardly surprising given it has fewer fans than the other AIOs here. Overclocked Temperatures Pushin the temperatures up it... wait, what? That's right, it actually outperformed the big boys again! 56c over ambient, which is 80c max temperature on the CPU, and that's after a brutal run through Cinebench R23. Overclocked Acoustics Now this is interesting, the noise levels did creep up, but not by as much as I thought given the more budget-focused design of the 240L. It's clearly a fantastic cooler. The only point I would make is that the sound profile of the pump and fans sound a little choppy and higher pitched than the others, but it is running at a higher RPM to keep up with the 360mm radiators, which have a lower pitch fan noise. Still, not too shabby given the performance here. How Much Does it Cost? The Cooler Master MasterLiquid 240L Core ARGB CPU Liquid Cooler is available now on Amazon for just £94.99 but at the time of writing it was on sale for just £88.99, making it pretty exceptional value for money! Considering it went up against the Kraken 360 which costs £200 and the Ryuo III that's £300, and it still delivered competitive performance. Of course, the other two make no excuses about much of that money going towards extensive aesthetic options and LCD displays in their pumps. However, it's clear you can get all that performance for a hell of a lot less. Overview I'm super impressed with this cooler, as it just made for an easy day's work for me. Firstly, it's 240mm which is just easier to work with, as there are fewer fans to install vs the 360mm models, and case compatibility is much higher, and the smaller size makes them easier to install in general. The fans come with really nice quality screws that made for easy installation, and the premium braided cables made cable routing a breeze too. Cooler Master even includes their own high-end thermal paste, so you can reapply in the future, so again, I'm very impressed. Then there's the performance, it made relatively easy work of our Intel Core i9-12900K, which is not a CPU to be taken lightly, as it runs notoriously hot and will quickly make a fool of an inferior CPU cooler. However, even when I overclocked it, temperatures were really consistent, and while the fans and pump did have to work a bit harder, their noise levels were still very much acceptable. That being said, if I was planning to OC and run the CPU at 100% loads for long times, I'd still get the 360mm just for the long-term TDP improvements, but for gaming or just hitting boost clocks, it's clearly up to the job. The RGB is a nice addition too, and while the pump ARGB lighting is fairly limited to that small logo, the quality of the lighting in the fans is really good, offering lots of vibrant colours and effects as they're fully addressable and will work with your motherboard, hubs or built-in case ARGB controllers. Should I Buy One? At this price range, I think Cooler Master has done a remarkable job with their latest cooler design. Not only did it deliver performance that I would consider very good, but it also did so on our new and more potent test bench, going up against three of the best coolers on the market. Easy to install, with great performance, and it's priced very competitively between the MasterLiquid Lite and the Masterliquid Illusion.