While you might not have heard of ID-Cooling, the company is targeting the mainstream all-in-one cooler market with its FrostFlow 240L. A big part of its appeal is undoubtedly the price – at £79.99, it is not ‘cheap' but is definitely more affordable than a lot of other AIOs currently on the market. Can it justify the price with solid performance? Featuring an LED pump, colour-coordinated fans and compatibility with both AMD and Intel CPU (including AM4 with an additional bracket), the ID-Cooling FrostFlow 240L is definitely worth looking at. In this review we will look at the installation process, its performance and noise levels before coming to a final verdict.  Specification The ID-Cooling FrostFlow 240L ships in a dark box, with a large product photo visible on the front. Inside, the manual is the first accessory we get a look at – it is decent, with clear diagrams, and a bit of text to help you along. The installation hardware comes bundled in one bag, though none of it is labelled. Elsewhere, two 120mm fans are included, both 4-pin PWM models. My sample is the blue LED model, so the fans have blue rings to match, though white and red options are also available. The AIO itself is very conventional, with a 27mm-thick radiator and sleeved tubes. The pump is a bit more interesting as it features several LEDs around the outside, while there is also a small ID-Cooling logo in the middle. The pump is powered by a 3-pin fan header.Here I will walk you through the installation process. It is worth noting we test using a Z97 motherboard – socket LGA 1150. The process below reflects that. First of all, get the fans out of the way by screwing them onto the radiator. Next, we need to push four long screws through the backplate. Once you have done that, slot the backplate into place on the underside of the motherboard. When you have got the screws poking through the motherboard socket holes, a washer needs to be placed on-top. After that, there are 4 spacers that also need to be placed over the screws. Next, mount the pump on-top of the CPU, aligning the pump's pre-installed bracket with the four screws. The pump is secured to the screws using four small thumbscrews/nuts. After that, installation is complete. It is a simple process and should not prove a challenge for even the most inexperienced PC builder. Before moving on, it is worth noting the pump's LEDs lighting. As I have already mentioned, my pump is fitted with blue LEDs, and the LEDs themselves light-up in a circular motion. It is not exactly rivalling the NZXT Kraken series for sophistication, but the lighting does look good and is a worthwhile inclusion at the price-point.To test all CPU coolers, we devised an easily repeatable test with no variables other than the coolers themselves. This ensures that figures from every cooler we test are comparable with each other. Test rig Using an open-air test bench, we deploy an Intel Core i7-4790K plugged into a Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force motherboard. Alongside this is 16GB of 2400MHz Corsair Vengeance DDR3, as well as a 120GB OCZ Trion 150 SSD. Powering everything is a Corsair RM750x PSU. The test process Testing coolers involves taking a total of 4 temperature readings per cooler. First, we measure the idle temperature of the i7-4790K at stock speeds (turbo boost disabled), before measuring its temperature under load at stock speeds. Next, we overclock the CPU to 4.5GHz using a 1.3 Vcore, ensuring greater heat output. In its overclocked state we then measure the idle and load temperatures of the CPU again. The figures we present are temperature deltas – meaning we take each temperature reading and minus the ambient temperature from it. This allows us to test in an environment that is not temperature-controlled. To ward off potential comments or questions, we know 4.5GHz using a 1.3 Vcore is not the ‘best’ overclock – this particular CPU could reach that frequency at closer to 1.25 on the Vcore, which is more efficient. That is not the point, however. We are trying to stress the coolers to see how they deal with excess heat … hence the higher than necessary Vcore. Where possible, each cooler’s fans are plugged directly into the motherboard using the CPU_Fan or CPU_Opt headers. Some AIOs, however, ship with their own fan controllers or PWM hubs. If we are unable to plug the fans directly into the motherboard, it is specified in the performance section of the review. An idle reading comes from leaving Windows on the desktop for 15 minutes. A load reading comes from running Prime95’s (version 26.6) Small FFTs test for 15 minutes – enough time for temperatures to plateau. Noise output Unfortunately I am unable to properly measure the sound output of CPU coolers using a digital sound meter. This is because I am based alongside a busy road (with high ambient noise levels). Using a sound meter is, as such, not possible as there are variables out of my control. However, I will try my best to subjectively describe the noise output in a helpful manner.Temperatures All temperature charts are sorted with lowest load temperatures at the top. As you can see from both of our tests, the FrostFlow 240L is a acually a pretty decent liquid cooler. Its performance rivals that of the MasterLiquid 280 (which is a good £30 more expensive) but the Arctic Liquid Freezer 240 is still the king of our cooling charts. Even so, it is still competitive considering its £80 price-tag. Acoustics However, the FrostFlow's performance comes at a cost – painfully loud fans. I mean these things are seriously loud, think Corsair's original H100i levels of noise. It is a shame really as, otherwise, this cooler offers solid performance for a good price. Unfortunately, though, as soon as the CPU comes under load, the fans sound like a jet taking off, and it is quite an annoyance.The ID-Cooling FrostFlow 240L is a pretty conventional AIO aimed at the mass-market. It has a pretty standard design, with a 27-mm thick radiator and sleeved tubes. The pump does sport integrated LEDs, though, which adds a bit of pizzazz once the system is powered on. Installation is also pain free, though it is not as quick as the classic Asetek method. Still, you'll be up and running in minutes. Thermal performance is also very decent for the price. Admittedly it is not quite chart-topping, but for £80, this cooler does pretty well. So far so good? Unfortunately, the biggest issue is fan noise. Simply put, the fans are just too loud when the CPU is stressed, and it is very off-putting. When the fans hit their max speed of 2,000 rpm, you (and everyone else !) will know about it. That does mean the ID-Cooling FrostFlow 240L is less appealing than it should be. With quieter fans, it would be a decent unit for the money thanks to its solid performance and good-looks. As it is, we still recommend the Arctic Liquid Freezer 240 to anyone looking for an AIO – it is just £78, offers top performance and is still nice and quiet. You can buy the FrostFlow 240L for £79.99 inc. VAT from Overclockers UK HERE. Discuss on our Facebook page, over HERE. Pros
Cons
KitGuru says: While the FrostFlow 240L is marred by its horribly-loud fans, ID-Cooling has otherwise produced a decent AIO liquid cooler at an affordable price. |
