Cooler Master Glacer 240L AIO Liquid CPU Cooler Review @ [H]

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FrgMstr

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Cooler Master Glacer 240L AIO Liquid CPU Cooler Review - All-In-One or "AIO" CPU coolers have become the go-to cooling system for many [H]'ers out there. A quality AIO setup offers its users what is usually a quick and simple liquid cooling solution that many find superior to air cooling solutions on the whole. The Glacer 240L is not the run-of-the-mill AIO cooling solution at all; its "Semi-DIY."
 
Sweet review. Having just grabbed a H100i myself, this burns, but only by a little bit.
Did you find the thicker tubing to be any harder/easier to bend around than some of the other AIO units you've worked with? I.e., would it be hard to fit this guy into a 250D?
 
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Sweet. Since it is semi customizable you should hook up a Koolance INS-FM17 or something similar to see the actual flow rate of the pump.
 
I'm wondering how does this one ($125) compare (performance-wise) to the XSPC kit here ($150)
 
Very nice to see. Hopefully this will keep pushing all AIO water mfg's to keep pushing the bar with performance. It will certainly hit a ceiling at one point or another as did air cooling for the most part though.

Unless something better comes out in the AIO space, looks like 240L will cool X99 for me come Autumn.
 
on page 1

Load

Load temperatures will be recorded after a twenty minute period of 100% load. To obtain this load we will be using AIDA64 Extreme Edition v3.00.2500. This places an even greater load on the CPU than before and includes some benefits. Because the load is so extreme we see the temperature vary wildly from 72C to 86C in some instances. To get an accurate reading we will utilize AIDA64’s ability to average the temperature over time. Given twenty minutes at 100% load we arrive at a temperature that accurately represents our heatsink’s performance.

Then on page 3 you say the following:

Load temperatures will be recorded after a thirty minute period of 100% load.


Otherwise, nice review :)
 
Looks like a winner. The USB controller on my antec 920 died on me, and I'm in the market for a new water cooling kit. I'd like to see the 360L review, any idea if/when you'all have one of those on the test bench?
 
I have been rolling the CM Glacer 240L for a couple months now. Absolutely love it.
 
Seems pointless compared to e.g. Noctua NH-U14S for those who find low noise important.
 
Why didn't you tear this thing apart and see if the "semi-DIY part was true or bullshizzle?

I notice this is not compared to the Corsair H100?
Maybe due to proximity to the Kuhler 1200?

Since this unit is different, it would have been nice to see how easy or difficult it is to modify.....and what happens to the system when you add a gpu block, how difficult it is to bleed, what kind of coolant.....lots of questions.
 
Modred189 said:
Sweet review. Having just grabbed a H100i myself, this burns, but only by a little bit.
Did you find the thicker tubing to be any harder/easier to bend around than some of the other AIO units you've worked with? I.e., would it be hard to fit this guy into a 250D?
Click to expand...

I installed one in my Switch 810 2 weeks ago. The tubing is EXTREMELY flexible, along the lines of EK AMT, Primoflex, Tygon, etc.
 
magoo said:
Why didn't you tear this thing apart and see if the "semi-DIY part was true or bullshizzle?

I notice this is not compared to the Corsair H100?
Maybe due to proximity to the Kuhler 1200?

Since this unit is different, it would have been nice to see how easy or difficult it is to modify.....and what happens to the system when you add a gpu block, how difficult it is to bleed, what kind of coolant.....lots of questions.
Click to expand...

Because when we start tearing things apart then those things are useless for testing going forward, and we are not sure we are done with it yet. If we have issues come up after publication we need to be able to re-test with a factory spec unit.

Corsair H100 was not compared because it was not tested on the same system and therefore not comparable. Even though you will find other sites that will show you testing across a wider breadth of units even though test parameters have changed.

As to putting a GPU in the loop. What block? What card? Odds are the results we would show would not line up with others and therefore not be so useful. Given the results and the data we have we did of course talk about that.

As far as modifying the loop.....it is compression fitting. So I highly doubt it is hard to work with. Bleeding? Given the location of the fill port, I doubt it would cause you any issues. It is liquid cooling, not rocket science.

I would suggest that this is not a system for an already full-on DIY liquid cooling kind of guy, but rather a nice intermediate step for someone possibly looking to be able to expand on an AIO type system down the road.
 
One thing that looks interesting is the fact that the radiator is quite short at 269mm, which is 4-6 mm shorter than the shortest retail 240mm (2x120mm) stand-alone radiator. This is a nice extra measure of space for a touch more compatibility in tight spaces. Add in the fact that you don't NEED an extra reservoir and the pump/WB component looks to have less bulk than Swiftech's Apogee Drive II I see this as becoming a great system for those Mini-ITX WC lovers. Fully watercooled Corsair 250D anyone?

I think my only concern with expansion is whether CM will sell a custom pre-mixed liquid for warranty preservation.

From what I can see with the performance, a modest GPU in the 150-170w TDP range and a carefully overclocked 4670/4770k could be decently cooled by this.

My only question from the component selection point of view is why CM didn't use their JetFlo fans which seem like their flagship? Other than possible cost it seems a bit weird. Every review seems to indicate they are solid fans with higher-than-spec'd airflow and solid static pressure compared to RPMs and a decent noise characteristic.

Great review [H]
 
Awesome review Marc and Kyle! This looks like a pretty bad ass cooler for those that don't want to go full on watercooling. I have been contemplating an update to my H80 but do not want to make the jump to a full blown setup and may just go with this one.
 
Nice article and it has me wondering..........

Currently I have a H100i and honestly the software never gets used.

I have a 290X so running it a bit faster with my rig would warrent a water cooled solution, and I am guessing this is where this product would come in.

So what GPU water block would you guys suggest going with this?
 
Basically a rebranded/slightly improved swiftech h220. Not surprised by its performance at all.

Swiftech is supposed to release the successor to this thing sometime this year, which will use compression fittings instead of barbs from what I remember (h220x).
 
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This is swifttech's answer to the H220 sales ban in the US, re-badged H220.
 
Morelian said:
Nice article and it has me wondering..........

Currently I have a H100i and honestly the software never gets used.

I have a 290X so running it a bit faster with my rig would warrent a water cooled solution, and I am guessing this is where this product would come in.

So what GPU water block would you guys suggest going with this?
Click to expand...

Would be careful trying to cool your cpu and your gpu with this. I could be wrong but I think you would be pushing it to the limit with your setup.

oh and nice review [H]
 
The Nepton 280L comes with the jetflo fans and its the same price as the Glacer 240L
 
Hellbent88 said:
290x and his cpu if your referring to my post. Don't think it would work.
Click to expand...

I've seen H220's cool overclocked CPUs and dual GPUs before, tbh. This is the same unit with the pump running a few hundred rpm higher. It wouldn't be an issue.
 
MADOGRE said:
They have a 360L coming soon as well, cant wait to see how it does.
Click to expand...

Yes 360L should come this year.

10e said:
I think my only concern with expansion is whether CM will sell a custom pre-mixed liquid for warranty preservation.

From what I can see with the performance, a modest GPU in the 150-170w TDP range and a carefully overclocked 4670/4770k could be decently cooled by this.

My only question from the component selection point of view is why CM didn't use their JetFlo fans which seem like their flagship? Other than possible cost it seems a bit weird. Every review seems to indicate they are solid fans with higher-than-spec'd airflow and solid static pressure compared to RPMs and a decent noise characteristic.

Great review [H]
Click to expand...

Jetflo 120 were considered but we didn't have a standard version of the Jetflo at the time we were developing Glacer 240L.

savagepagan said:
The Glacer performs better than the Nepton 280L does it not?
Click to expand...

Most if not all review sites that had experience with the Nepton 280L found that it was the best performing all-in-one cooler available, exceeding other 280mm competitors. While the market price may be the same, Glacer is positioned to a more enthusiast user. This type of user would appreciate the copper radiator and expandability.

Apple and banana :D
 
Fun read, I appreciate the laboratory-like methodology this site has adopted since I last visited. That said the difference between high and low fan speed performance - significant with no/low load - diminished at high load, at least percentage wise. It's something like 4 out of 41 C at low, 6 out of 72 some C at high. To me this, plus the extreme noise at full fan speed, indicates that the fans are too thin. They don't move enough air. I can see if you're building an AIO unit you want to cut down on potentially box-exceeding elements but this cooler would seem to benefit significantly from a 40 mm wide fan, pushing it into truly worthy, not headphone-requiring territory.

Also, the capacity to add liquid - and more importantly bleed air - is key when you mount the radiator on top so it's good to hear they added a port on the radiators.
 
I have some question about the pump issue with Glacier 240L which 10 of the users from newegg posting in the review. Have the pump issue been resolved and was the revision for 240L replace the defective ones that in stock from newegg?


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John G.
4/28/2014 7:33:46 AM
Tech Level: High
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
Verified Owner
2 out of 5 eggsFailed after 6 mos
Pros: Worked well while it lasted.

Cons: Pump fried during a BF4 match. Where the leads enter the pump is where the scorching is, I imagine the pump itself fried.
Upunitl then I wa getting great temps on my 4770K.

Other Thoughts: Cooler Master said they will be sending me a BNIB rev 2.
We will see how that turns out.

Cool Master Rep if you read this, make sure it's a BNIB rev 2.
Sucks I had to pay shipping. I work for Asus so I understand.
If possible please expedite shipping back to me.
RMA CUSUS144336 Thanks

Manufacturer Response:

Jeffrey W.
4/25/2014 7:14:51 AM
Tech Level: High
Ownership: 1 month to 1 year
Verified Owner
1 out of 5 eggsPump Failure! Twice!
Pros: When Working, this was an excellent water cooling setup. The expandable nature of the system was the primary reason I purchased this model.

Cons: The pump stopped working at around the 60 day point. I replaced the faulty unit with one from a local store and now only about 30 days later this one has stopped working as well. Verified both faulty pumps on multiple motherboards. This is the one item on the computer that you cant afford to play around with failures or intermittent problems. This has potentially damaged my motherboard and processor.

Other Thoughts: This is the one item on the computer that you cant afford to play around with failures or intermittent problems. I now have problems with my motherboard after the system overheated and the damage to the processor is unknown at this point.

I would not purchase this system until Cooler Master issues a statement or revision to the pump. I understand that electronic components have failures, but two units myself and the many reviews here show that there is something wrong with the pumps.

I will update the review once I go through the Customer service process with Cooler Master.
::
 
Anyone know if the stock fans are worth keeping on one of these, or is there something worth replacing them?
 
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