Cooler Master Masterliquid 120 AIO CPU Cooler Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

The Cooler Master Masterliquid 120 is available from most major retailers for around £69.99, which isn’t a bad price, but we keep seeing the Masterliquid 240 for sale for around £2-3 more, although it’s MSRP is actually £79.99, making that the much better value option for those eager to overclock. Of course, performance isn’t the only factor, and you may be seeking something in a 120mm form factor to suit your build, so the 120 would obviously be the best option in those scenarios.

Overview

I loved the Cooler Master Masterliquid 240, it’s a great looking cooler and delivered respectable performance at a reasonable price. The Masterliquid 120 doesn’t quite live up to the same performance standards though, but that’s to be expected given it has around half of the radiator surface area.

The Masterliquid 120 is a great looking cooler, keeping the same squared off and cleanly finished radiator design of its big brother, as well as that new low-profile pump design with the LED lit logo. Another welcome upgrade to the range is the improved tubing, as it’s incredibly durable but also looks fantastic too. Overall, I would be proud to have this cooler on show in my system. It’s a bit more expensive than the competition, but it’s certainly a lot better made that most.

The inclusion of Masterair 120 AB fans is very nice too, as they’re very quiet compared to the fans we often see bundled with AIO coolers in this price range. In fact, they’re a little too quiet, and while we didn’t get the performance I had hoped for while overclocking, there’s easily room to push the fan speeds a little higher to keep your thermal performance in check; play around with a few settings to find a balance that works best for you.

If you’re pushing for a high-end overclock, the 240mm edition is the way to go. If you’re a little limited by space, and still want a cooler that looks great and that runs nice and quiet, the Masterliquid 120 is a great choice for you. I would like to see Cooler Master bring the price down just ever so slightly, so that’s it’s more competitive with the competition. It just misses out on our Bang for Buck award, but find one of these for £60 or less, and you can’t go wrong.

Pros

• Exceptionally good build quality
• One of the quietest pumps on the market
• Quiet fans with headroom to run at higher RPM
• Good cooling performance for stock and moderate overclocks/boost
• Durable mounting kit
• Support for AM4/2011-v3

Cons

• None

Neutral

• Price is very close to Masterliquid 240 at some retailers
• Fan profile needs tweaking up to meet overclocking demands, but the fans are still quiet if you do

“Great build quality and whisper quiet performance are the highlights for the Masterliquid 120, and if Cooler Master can get the price down just a little bit, it’ll be a great cooler for those building small form factor gaming builds.”