Original Link: https://www.anandtech.com/show/12150/the-deepcool-captain-240-ex-rgb-aio-cooler-review
The DeepCool Captain 240 EX RGB AIO Cooler Review: Pump it Up, Without the Noise
by E. Fylladitakis on December 14, 2017 9:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- AIO
- Deepcool
- Cooler
Liquid cooling is far from a new concept when it comes to personal computers, with the first retail products having surfaced back in the 90’s. Still, liquid cooling remained an experts-only option for many years, both because of its cost and its complexity. That all changed not too long ago, when Asetek presented their first “all-in-one” (AIO) concept liquid cooler. As the name suggests, it was a preassembled liquid cooling system that the user only had to install into the case/system, a process of equal difficulty as that of any advanced air cooler.
With a product that is both economically competitive and ready to install, AIO coolers soon flooded the PC components market. Fast forward to today, there are dozens (if not hundreds) of AIO liquid coolers available from numerous manufacturers, even from manufacturers that do not produce air-based or other cooling solutions. With that much competition available, each manufacturer is trying to differentiate their products in their own way(s) and not necessarily compete in terms of raw performance.
In today's review we are taking a look at the Captain EX 240 RGB AIO cooler from DEEPCOOL, one of the best-established Chinese manufacturers of PC cooling solutions. DEEPCOOL upgraded their earlier series of Captain EX coolers and virtually added only RGB lighting. As we have not had a look at their products for quite a long time, we decided to put the new Captain EX 240 RGB to the test and examine its design and thermal performance, which should also be representative for the non-RGB version of the cooler as well.
Packaging & Bundle
DEEPCOOL ships the Captain EX 240 RGB AIO cooler in a large, strong cardboard box. The artwork is based on simple geometric shapes but is colorful, hinting the concept behind this cooler’s design. Inside the box, we found the cooler and its accessories well protected into a custom cardboard insert.
The typical bundle of AIO coolers consists of the mounting hardware and an installation guide. DEEPCOOL added a couple of extra items to it, which are a plastic fan hub and an RGB LED strip. The triangular fan hub can be attached to anywhere the user desires to power the cooler’s fans. It can power four fans, so two more fans can be added to the radiator for a push-pull configuration if required, or other case fans can also be attached to it. The RGB strip is a welcome addition that surely every user with a windowed side panel will appreciate. It comes with all of the necessary wiring/controller required for it to work in parallel with the RGB lighting onboard the cooler.
The two 120 mm fans supplied alongside with the Captain EX 240 RGB are unique designs from DEEPCOOL themselves, with the blades forming a rectangular channel across their bottom edge. This “2-layer” blade design is supposed to reduce air turbulence noise while maintaining a high pressure. The fans have fluid dynamic bearing (FDB) engines and, interestingly, the blades can be removed from the frame for easy cleaning or replacement. DEEPCOOL is offering the fan blades in several colors.
The DEEPCOOL Captain EX 240 RGB Cooler
The DEEPCOOL Captain EX 240 RGB is a classic CPU-only AIO cooler design, with the CPU block assembly attached to the radiator via two hoses. The CPU block assembly includes the CPU contact plate, the pump, RGB LED lighting, and the speed control electronics. All of the parts are black. The tubing is thick and has a nylon braiding surrounding it. It is not very flexible but it certainly is very tough. DEEPCOOL has the tubing entering the CPU block assembly from the side, using 90° joints.
The radiator of the kit is a typical two-pass design, very similar to that used by almost every 2×120 mm fans AIO kit in the market. It is 275 mm long, 120 mm wide and 27 mm thick (10.83 × 4.73 × 1.1 inches). Its narrow dimensions suggest that a push-pull fan configuration will not provide reasonable performance benefits, as it has little airflow impedance to begin with. The design is common and that is not a bad thing, as it is proven to provide relatively good performance. Interestingly, it has a visible refill port but DEEPCOOL has sealed it.
The highlight of this cooler is the CPU block. It is almost cubic in shape, with the company logo etched on the sides of the assembly and a decorative fin circular array on the top. DEEPCOOL has designed it so as to make the liquid flow visible to the user via a clear plastic tube that comes out of the assembly’s center and goes back in from the side. The downside is that it has two wires, one power wire for the pump and one for the RGB LEDs. The wire for the RGB LEDs need to be connected to the bundled cable with the attached controller for the RGB LEDs to work, requiring a SATA power connector and skillful cable routing to hide everything.
The RGB lighting of the Captain EX 240 RGB is somewhat limiting, as the user can only choose from seven solid colors (red, blue, green, magenta, cyan, orange, and white), or from a couple of basic pre-programmed visual effects. Unfortunately, the included controller is unable to generate any other configuration. However, it can be replaced by a more advanced aftermarket controller or be connected directly to a header of a motherboard that offers onboard RGB strip support, as both the included strip and the integrated LEDs are typical 4-pin RGB products.
The square copper contact base of the Captain EX 240 RGB is attached to the main body of the cooler via large and visible Allen bolts. It comes with the thermal compound pre-applied and is polished to a very smooth, yet not a mirror finish. The DEEPCOOL Captain EX 240 RGB supports AMD AM4 but not TR4 CPUs.
Testing Methodology
Although the testing of a cooler appears to be a simple task, that could not be much further from the truth. Proper thermal testing cannot be performed with a cooler mounted on a single chip, for multiple reasons. Some of these reasons include the instability of the thermal load and the inability to fully control and or monitor it, as well as the inaccuracy of the chip-integrated sensors. It is also impossible to compare results taken on different chips, let alone entirely different systems, which is a great problem when testing computer coolers, as the hardware changes every several months. Finally, testing a cooler on a typical system prevents the tester from assessing the most vital characteristic of a cooler, its absolute thermal resistance.
The absolute thermal resistance defines the absolute performance of a heatsink by indicating the temperature rise per unit of power, in our case in degrees Celsius per Watt (°C/W). In layman's terms, if the thermal resistance of a heatsink is known, the user can assess the highest possible temperature rise of a chip over ambient by simply multiplying the maximum thermal design power (TDP) rating of the chip with it. Extracting the absolute thermal resistance of a cooler however is no simple task, as the load has to be perfectly even, steady and variable, as the thermal resistance also varies depending on the magnitude of the thermal load. Therefore, even if it would be possible to assess the thermal resistance of a cooler while it is mounted on a working chip, it would not suffice, as a large change of the thermal load can yield much different results.
Appropriate thermal testing requires the creation of a proper testing station and the use of laboratory-grade equipment. Therefore, we created a thermal testing platform with a fully controllable thermal energy source that may be used to test any kind of cooler, regardless of its design and or compatibility. The thermal cartridge inside the core of our testing station can have its power adjusted between 60 W and 340 W, in 2 W increments (and it never throttles). Furthermore, monitoring and logging of the testing process via software minimizes the possibility of human errors during testing. A multifunction data acquisition module (DAQ) is responsible for the automatic or the manual control of the testing equipment, the acquisition of the ambient and the in-core temperatures via PT100 sensors, the logging of the test results and the mathematical extraction of performance figures.
Finally, as noise measurements are a bit tricky, their measurement is being performed only manually. Fans can have significant variations in speed from their rated values, thus their actual speed during the thermal testing is being acquired via a laser tachometer. The fans (and pumps, when applicable) are being powered via an adjustable, fanless desktop DC power supply and noise measurements are being taken 1 meter away from the cooler, in a straight line ahead from its fan engine. At this point we should also note that the Decibel scale is logarithmic, which means that roughly every 3 dB(A) the sound pressure doubles. Therefore, the difference of sound pressure between 30 dB(A) and 60 dB(A) is not "twice as much" but nearly a thousand times greater. The table below should help you cross-reference our test results with real-life situations.
The noise floor of our recording equipment is 30.2-30.4 dB(A), which represents a medium-sized room without any active noise sources. All of our acoustic testing takes place during night hours, minimizing the possibility of external disruptions.
<35dB(A) | Virtually inaudible |
35-38dB(A) | Very quiet (whisper-slight humming) |
38-40dB(A) | Quiet (relatively comfortable - humming) |
40-44dB(A) | Normal (humming noise, above comfortable for a large % of users) |
44-47dB(A)* | Loud* (strong aerodynamic noise) |
47-50dB(A) | Very loud (strong whining noise) |
50-54dB(A) | Extremely loud (painfully distracting for the vast majority of users) |
>54dB(A) | Intolerable for home/office use, special applications only. |
*noise levels above this are not suggested for daily use
Testing Results, Maximum Fan Speed
Our maximum speed testing is performed with both the fans and the pump of the kit powered via a 12V DC source. At this voltage, the speed of the pump and the fans should match the manufacturer’s ratings. DEEPCOOL specifies that the TF120 fans have a maximum speed of 1800±10% RPM. Our tachometer indicated a speed of 1680 RPM, which is a bit on the low side but still fully inside the manufacturer’s specifications.
Our testing of the DEEPCOOL Captain EX 240 RGB was unsurprising, with the cooler’s thermal performance being very similar to that of most other equally sized AIO coolers. With the fans running at their maximum speed, the Captain EX 240 RGB has an average thermal resistance of 0.0824 °C/W, placing it higher than most dual 120 mm fan coolers. The average thermal performance of the Captain EX 240 RGB falls right in between the Zalman Reserator 3 Max Dual and the Fractal Design Celsius S24.
Core Temperature, Constant Thermal Load (Max Fan Speed) |
Although the Captain EX 240 RGB does not land on top of our thermal performance charts, the acoustics performance of the cooler tells an entirely different story. Apparently, DEEPCOOL’s unique fans were not really meant to improve the thermal performance of the cooler but to significantly reduce its noise output instead. The maximum noise output of the Captain EX 240 RGB was 39.6 dB(A), which is second only to that of the Fractal Design Celsius S24.
Testing Results, Low Fan Speed
Using a PWM voltage regulator, we reduced the speed of the fans manually down to their minimum rated speed, which is ≈500 RPM. The pump was also connected on the same power source, functioning properly at this low speed setting.
The thermal performance of the DEEPCOOL Captain EX 240 RGB with its pump and fans driven down to their minimum speed is mediocre, with an average thermal resistance of 0.1126 °C/W. Many similarly sized kits that we have previously tested were below 0.1 °C/W, albeit most are significantly louder implementations. As always, thermal performance only tells half the story when we are testing coolers, we need to have a look at the noise figures before jumping to conclusions.
Core Temperature, Constant Thermal Load (Low Fan Speed) |
The sound pressure reading that the Captain EX 240 RGB gives under these operating conditions is only 32.4 dB(A), one of the lowest that we have ever seen. One needs to place an ear literally next to the radiator in order to discern the airflow noise, and the pump is entirely silent. Assuming a typical setup where the cooler will be installed inside a computer case sitting on or under a desk, it would be essentially impossible to discern any noise coming from the Captain EX 240 RGB while it operates under these speed settings. Most mechanical hard disk drives are louder.
Thermal Resistance VS Sound Pressure Level
During our thermal resistance vs. sound pressure level test, we maintain a steady 100W thermal load and assess the overall performance of the coolers by taking multiple temperature and sound pressure level readings within the operating range of the stock cooling fans. The result is a graph that depicts the absolute thermal resistance of the cooler in comparison to the noise generated. For both the sound pressure level and absolute thermal resistance readings, lower figures are better.
It can be seen from the above graph that the overall performance of the DEEPCOOL Captain EX 240 RGB is very similar to that of the Fractal Design Celsius S24. The former has a small advantage when the fans rotate at their minimum speed, delivering slightly better thermal performance at the same noise level. As the speed of the fans increases, the roles rotate and the Fractal Design Celsius S24 ultimately delivers the same thermal performance with a slightly lower noise output. Other similarly sized coolers do give better thermal performance figures but also are much louder. The only other product that roughly compares in terms of noise output with these two coolers is the EKWB EK-XLC Predator 240, a product with availability problems and roughly twice as expensive.
Conclusion
DEEPCOOL obviously wanted to keep things simple and risks low with the release of the Captain EX 240 RGB. They simply took the core design of their former all-in-one cooler, the Captain EX 240, and added RGB lighting to it. The Captain EX 240 was a commercially successful product, with good ratings and proven performance. Adding RGB lighting to it should have been a trivial matter for DEEPCOOL’s engineers and the production of the new model would not require any significant production line modifications, allowing the company to quickly market a competitively priced cooler with RGB lighting.
The stock thermal performance of the DEEPCOOL Captain EX 240 RGB is average. The Captain EX 240 RGB actually falls behind most of the similarly sized AIO coolers that we have tested to this date. DEEPCOOL’s unique fans do not seem to help with the cooler’s thermal performance either, as the thin radiator has low-to-medium airflow impedance and limited dissipation surface. Only significantly higher airflow fans would be able to make an actual difference here.
On the other hand, DEEPCOOL’s engineers designed the TF120 fans to be quiet, and quiet they are. That makes the Captain EX 240 RGB one of the quietest dual-fan AIO coolers in our database. Many competitive products that offer better thermal performance than the Captain EX 240 RGB also are much louder. The only (similarly sized) direct competitors of the Captain EX 240 RGB in terms of silent operation are the Fractal Design Celsius S24 and the Alphacool Eisbaer 240, which lack RGB lighting and/or retail at a significantly higher price.
The highlight of the DEEPCOOL Captain EX 240 RGB is neither its thermal performance or the quiet operation, but its design. The Captain EX 240 RGB implements the same “external circulation” design that made its predecessor famous, which is a nothing more than a short glass tube attached on the CPU block assembly. It is just an aesthetic upgrade that has no practical purpose, yet it was enough to improve the popularity of the Captain EX 240. The unique feature of the Captain EX 240 RGB is the addition of RGB lighting, which may be a double-edged knife for some users. The operation of the RGB LEDs requires a controller and, if the motherboard does not have RGB strip header(s), the controller that DEEPCOOL provides is very basic and requires opening up the case every time you want to change a setting/color. Users that like very clean designs would probably prefer to purchase the Captain EX 240 over its RGB variant, sacrificing the RGB lighting for fewer cables and gizmos to hide. Finally, the rubber tubing perhaps is a bit too thick and inflexible, but it definitely is very tough, and its exterior layer has it looking much like a high-pressure braided hose.
The current retail price of the DEEPCOOL Captain EX 240 RGB is $120 including shipping, placing it dangerously close to other products that may be lacking the RGB lighting but offer better overall performance. The vanilla Captain EX 240 retails for $90 and is virtually the same cooler, minus the RGB lighting and the extra RGB strip. For people who value quiet operation over raw thermal performance and want a quality product, either version of the Captain EX 240 is a sensible choice and may even be quite the bargain during a sale. Whether the addition of RGB lighting is worth the extra $30, we leave this decision to you.