Liquid cooling with Cooler Master’s AIO

My compact Corsair Carbide 240 Air was presenting some challenges in the way of cooling . I guess I was hoping for too much to expect raw, balls-to-the-wall processing power to fit into a stylish case to match my decor AND still somehow maintain stable temps. Okay, now when I type it out it actually sounds kinda nuts. It’s also kinda my fault for not checking that the air cooler I wanted would fit in this case that I so lustfully pursued. Granted, it’s a great case but the scales have fallen from my eyes and I see the error of my ways but that is a story for another time, for now – we need to deal with the throttling and bring the temps down.

Aida64 had the 4790k running at base clock @3999mhz peaking at around 82°c on a regular basis with the stock cooler, on more demanding rendering and gaming tasks. Even with the extra fan I added next to the cooler (which although in hindsight, should have been flipped around) it was toasty enough to significantly raise case temp and saw the chipset hit upper 60s to 70s. This obviously had a huge knock on effect on GPU temps with the GTX 760 hitting 85°c in no time and throttling me down to the point where titles started getting unplayable on medium settings.

Having already reached the point of no return I had to resort to water to fix this problem and given the space constraints, I took a few days to conduct some research into this new territory because truth be told, Water cooling was to me, one of those things that was super-out-there and expensive and meant for super powerful rigs… I came to two conclusions:

• It had to be AIO because: space and paranoia
• It had to be a recognised brand because: trust issues (paranoia)

Okay, I admit it. being someone who has a fair understanding of electricity (as in enough to not suicide myself with it), the though of having liquid running through my machine was a little terrifying. I conjured up scenarios from 1000 Ways to Die in my head involving electrocution so I decided I’d leave it up to the experts and narrowed my options down to a brand I knew and trusted, Cooler Master. The $99 Masterliquid 240 was the perfect option and after a ton of positive reviews I had it shipped overnight from RebelTech.

The packaging was as expected from a premium brand and two MasterFan Pro 120 Air Balance fans came included in the box, along a splitter, the radiator/pump assembly and brackets for Intel or AMD. Installation was a breeze after getting the mobo out to install the rear CPU bracket and the pump screwed into place with ease after a drop of included Coolermaster Mastergel thermal compound was applied to the clean CPU IHS. There was plenty left over to treat the GPU cooler to later on, and there’s still a bit left over even after reapplication twice (from re-positioning the cooling plate)

The pump runs off the CPU Fan header while the fans run off the CHASSIS FAN 1 header with the included splitter. A quick config via Asus Qfan Tuning in BIOS had the fans and pump up and running in no time. The radiator installed snugly into the front of the chassis, exhausting out and I removed the fan filters and mesh to aid airflow a bit more.

Overall, the upgrade was a success and saw peak chassis temp on load at 42°c with the CPU boosting as high as 4600mhz and peaking at around 55°c . The GPU still ran pretty hot at between 65°c- 75°c but a marked improvement with less temp spikes and throttling. While it didnt let me smash AAA titles at 4k@60fps, It made my usual rounds with the squad a little more enjoyable and I feel a whole lot more comfortable about my reduced contribution towards global warming.