EK AIO Elite 360 D-RGB CPU Cooler Review

Installation

While the installation manual isn’t the most mind-blowingly impressive thing to look at, in all honesty, it doesn’t need to be. All consumers want is nice clear instructions with detailed diagrams, and in that respect, EK has absolutely nailed it. Offering you a step by step guide (each separated depending on your socket), the installation method (at least on paper) surprisingly looks remarkably easy for a cooler as potentially intimidating as this.

Mounting

When it comes to CPU coolers, the installation usually falls into one of two categories. It’s either easy or a nightmare. Fortunately, for the EK AIO Elite 360 D-RGB, despite its rather complex appearances, it’s (perhaps surprisingly) definitely within the latter.

The mounting method to the motherboard is about as straightforward as it gets. Admittedly, with the screw spacers, it is a little tight work when you have VRMs are chunky as on our test bench, but on the whole, I’m actually impressed that despite the overall ethos of this being a premium cooling product (that usually spells complicated installation methods), this is honestly no harder than the vast majority of other ‘good’ systems.

Installing the CPU block is again very straightforward. All you need to do first is to mount the appropriate clips that only differ depending on whether your socket is AMD or Intel-based. Better still, EK actually provides you with a spare screw just in case you accidentally lose one. Something that gets a huge thumbs up from me as this is usually fiddly work and particularly so when you’re working against the resistance of the hoses.

The only real mild gripe I have about the installation is that springs must be placed before installing the thumbscrews on each corner. It’s not a huge issue, and I’ve certainly seen many manufacturers do something similar. Still, overall it’s a step that would make installation within a pre-built system a lot trickier rather than us having the relative advantage here of a horizontal working surface. And no, EK doesn’t give you any spare springs, so make sure you don’t lose them!

Once fitted, the EK CPU blocks really does look great. Albeit, with that shiny surface, you’re probably going to want to give it a good wipe over afterwards as by the time I’d got this fitted, rather than a super-reflective surface, all you could largely see was my fingerprints.

D-RGB – The EK-HUB

I’m just going to say this now, and very bluntly too. If the EK AIO Elite 360 D-RGB hadn’t have come with a good quality hub, this product would’ve been an absolute disaster. Fortunately, you’re not just given something that’s ‘good’. The one provided with this AIO cooler is perhaps one of the best I’ve ever seen.

With so many cables to connect, the EK-HUB is absolutely perfect as it includes ports not just for the D-RGB cables but also the PWM adaptors. With this, while you have 13 cables going into the hub (12 for the fans and 1 D-RGB from the CPU block), you only have two going to your motherboard. One which attaches to your ARGB connection, and the other that hooks up to your main CPU PWM port to correctly regulate the fan speed.

The good stuff doesn’t end there, though. Each of the masses of ports are clearly denoted to mark their usages. The back of the hub is magnetic, meaning that finding a place for it in your case should be a piece of cake. And as the icing on the cake, there’s even a bit of ARGB branding going on in the middle.

Admittedly, with all the cables fitted, the words ‘rats nest’ does again come to mind. You do have to consider, though, that if EK didn’t provide you with this truly high-quality HUB (and I legitimately mean it when I say that this is the best one I have EVER seen included with an AIO), the EK AIO Elite 360 D-RGB would’ve been an absolute nightmare to ensure everything was successfully connected while still offering you a relatively decent shot at some tidy cable management.

Any hub provided with this cooler had to be excellent. And fortunately, EK seemingly agreed with this assessment by giving you one with it!

Overall Thoughts

Thanks to that exceptionally impressive hub, the EK AIO Elite 360 D-RGB looks absolutely fantastic when installed. Cable management should, if you have the patience, be no problem here and you’re well rewarded if you put the effort in as all of the D-RGB effects are brilliant!

Although the lighting action is a little light on the CPU clock, what is there adds a really nice touch to the overall aesthetics. One that is certainly helped massively by that exceptionally reflective covering that really makes the light shine and bounce around.

The radiator fans, however, are clearly the cherry on top of the cake here with the D-RGB effects being bright, bold, exceptionally vivid and offering colouring choices to suit practically all tastes.

The lighting quality is best shown in dark environments, and as you can see in the pictures we took, they really stand out, offering some exceptionally potent lighting effects.

While the fans mounted to the ‘back’ of the radiator don’t really add much to the party, this is perhaps the key reason as to why the overall visual appearance is so bright and bold. Offering plenty of open areas, while it’s doubtful that this area would predominantly be on display in your system, it’s still a nice unexpected feature for you to show off.

In all honesty, the EK AIO Elite 360 D-RGB really manages to pull off some excellent aesthetics whether the lights are turned on or off. So, in terms of presentation, this is absolutely a 10 out of 10 for us. How it looks, however, is clearly not as important as how it performs. So, just how good is the EK AIO Elite 360 D-RGB? – Well, let’s find out by running those all-important tests!