Cooling Reviews Watercooling

Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L RGB in review

At the end of 2017, Cooler Master introduced the MasterLiquid ML240L RGB, the illuminated answer to the ever-increasing popularity of RGB components. At its core, however, the MasterLiquid 240, which was released at the beginning of 2017, remains identical with identical technical data. More than two years later, the ML240L RGB still bravely stays in the top 10 of the most popular 240mm AiO water coolers on the German market and captivates with its low price of sometimes less than 50 euros. For the release of the Ryzen 3000 CPUs in combination with certain motherboards, the AiO was even available for free!


Installation / Installation
The months for the AM4 socket are very simple: the backplate and brackets pre-assembled on the boards are likely to remain. The brackets are mounted on the cooling block with 4 screws. The eyelet of the brackets is then hung in the brackets next to the base and the knot screws are pulled on with your hand. Theoretically, I'm already done and can dedicate myself to wiring, if it weren't for a small pitfall: you have to pay close attention to how to put the pump block on the CPU. Not quite placed in the middle, it lies on the side of the brackets and has very poor contact with the heatspreader of the CPU due to the 1-2mm extra height. In my open housing I noticed the slight imbalance of the block directly, but if you only have the top view from a normal housing, this can easily be overlooked. So, in case of doubt, prefer to double-check!

AiO unpacked
AiO built-in

Test hardware
CPU: Ryzen 5 1600X – 4.00Ghz – 1.40V
RAM: 8GB DDR4 Crucial Ballistix Sport
Mainboard: Asus Prime B350-Plus
Graphics card: Asus RoG Strix GTX 1060 6GB
Power supply: BitFenix Whisper M 450W
Case: Thermaltake Core P3 – Open Benchtable

Test software
Aida64 Extreme 6.10.5200
CPU, FPU, Cache, System Memory Stress Test

Prime95 29.8b6
Small FFTs – Maximum Heat Stress Test

Testing is carried out with 100% PWM at the pump and 30%, 60% and 100% for the fans.
Since I do not have air conditioning, the values in the graphs are the delta between room temperature and temperature of the CPU. Thus, all coolings can be compared fairly, even if the room temperature is different.

Aida64 Stress Test – 30% RPM Fan Speed: 910 RPM – Silent Siren Environment: 22.2°C Maximum Temperature:
6
0°C Aida64 Stress Test – 60% RPM Fan Speed: 1200 RPM – Audible Hum Environment: 23.1°C Maximum Temperature:
6
7°C Aida64 Stress test – 100% RPM fan speed: 2090 RPM – clearly audible hum Environment: 22.0°C Maximum temperature:
6
3°C Prime95 – 30% RPM Fan speed: 910 RPM – quiet siren environment: 22.4°C Maximum temperature :
68°C Prime95 – 60% RPM Fan speed: 1200 RPM – audible hum Environment: 23.9°C Maximum temperature: 6
8
°C Prime95 – 100% RPM Fan speed: 2090 RPM – clearly audible hum Environment: 23.0°C Maximum temperature: 62°C


Conclusion / Summary

The Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L RGB (what a name!) was able to prove itself and show why it is still so popular after more than 2 years after release. Good, Cheap and Glow. In doing so, it ticks off pretty much all the checkboxes that are relevant to the price-conscious buyer. Even the subjective feeling of the background noise does not tarnish the overall picture when the air bubbles are gone after installation. From about 60% PWM, the fans become more and more audible, but give rather a "hum" of itself, which is much easier for the ears to hear than a high-frequency "sirren". For the RGB controller I would have preferred to see a SATA plug instead of Molex and the coldplate could be a bit smoother.

All around, therefore, a good overall package for a good price, which is only somewhat clouded by small things. Thanks to the sleeped hoses, extra points can also be collected visually.

The 120mm model is not worth it in my opinion, the price difference to the 240mm version is simply too small. The big brother with 360mm radiator is also intended for the TR4 Threadripper socket thanks to the higher cooling capacity. But this AiO is also higher-priced and therefore rather uninteresting for the vast majority, who are looking for a particularly cheap AiO.

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