In this article we will see the review of Enermax’s Liqmax III 240 ARGB, a compact liquid dissipation system, also suitable for small homes
In this review we will talk about the Enermax Liqmax III 240 ARGB, the little brother of the 240 that we have already tested a short time ago. This product is especially dedicated to those who do not own a very spacious home or in any case that it does not have the possibility to mount a large heatsink. As we will see in the course of the review, even if this heatsink is more compact, the performance is still very good and not very far from the more bulky model. After all, the soul turns out to be the same.
We tested the performance of the Enermax Liqmax III 240 ARGB in three situations: idle, in gaming and with 100% CPU usage. But first we will talk a little about the assembly and installation of this product, a sometimes sore point for liquid dissipation systems. We will also evaluate the aesthetic factor, in harmony with Lian Li’s O11 Dynamic Mini Snow Edition case which was used as the basis for our tests.
Let’s discover this liquid cooling system thanks to its data sheet
- Lighting: ARGB
- Contact plate material: Copper
- Radiator material: aluminum
- Compatibility: Intel LGA 1200, LGA 115x, 1366, 775, 2011(-3) Square ILM, 2066 AMD FM1, FM2 (+), AM2 (+), AM3 (+), AM4
- Fan speed: 1600 RPM (2 fans included)
- Dimensions of the fans: 2 x 120mm
- TDP: fino a 330 W
All the details are available on the official ENERMAX website.
Packaging and design | Enermax Liqmax III 240 ARGB review
A highlight of the Enermax Liqmax III 240 ARGB is certainly the eye-catching ARGB lighting system that is sure to add a touch to your setup. The two fans (2x120mm), and the dimensions of the radiator (240mm), allow you to mount it comfortably in the side of our Lian Li cabinet.
Precisely for this reason the airflow of the configuration has remained at excellent levels and also the lateral placement (sadly not available on all cases) make the build cleaner and more elegant. It must also be said that this heatsink fits well for this type of mounting: the rubber tubes adapt easily, even if they cut the configuration a little in half, which you may like or not (especially if you are not used to use liquid heatsinks). Thanks to powerful pump that runs up to 3,100 RPM and to the management system of Enermax Liqmax III 240 ARGB, even in somewhat critical situations, we were able to obtain very good dissipation performance.
Enermax has not spared with the equipment and in the package you will find everything you need to mount our heatsink. In fact, in addition to the radiator with its fans to cool it, we also find a convenient one RGB Control Box which will allow us to manage the lighting system through a few buttons. A tube of thermal paste obviously signed by Enermax cannot be missing in the package. Very interesting and comfortable the idea of use a back plate that fits (thanks to different holes) to the various Intel or AMD sockets, making the system easy to install even in the event of a “flag change”. Finally, there is a good amount of wiring that will allow us to better manage the power supply and control of the system, depending on how we want to mount the heatsink.
Installation | Enermax Liqmax III 240 ARGB review
As mentioned earlier, we have decided to install this cooler in the side part of the O11 Dynamic Mini case. This way we could install the fans in push mode, bringing the air out of the case through the radiator which dries up the CPU heat.
The CPU anchoring system proposed in Enermax Liqmax III 240 ARGB is the classic 4-point system. The plates are fixed to the pump with 2 screws per side and then the pump is fixed to the back plate with 4 screws. A simple and tested system that we appreciate because it does not waste too much time, especially for those who already have manual skills with PC assembly. In any case, the company makes available a video (attached below) with all the instructions that we believe are easily interpretable even by novices.
Test and Benchmark Build | Enermax Liqmax III 240 ARGB review
- Motherboard: Asus TUF Gaming B550 Plus
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
- Case: Lian LI O11 Dynamic Mini
- Ram: 32 GB Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO
- Form Video: RTX 2080 MSI Ventus
The AMD Ryzen 7 processor was left in its stock configuration, but as we all know it’s not exactly easy to keep at bay. The thermal paste used is the one supplied in the package. The results that you can read through the graphs below show the average value of the temperatures found in the indicated time range. To monitor these temperatures we have relied on software HWiNFO64.
To avoid untrue results, we opted for a series of the same tests. Furthermore, to ensure a more complete idea, we have chosen to carry out the following tests in synthetic and non-synthetic mode, this has been our modus operandi: idle, gaming, Cinebench R20 e AIDA64.
Idle
To carry out the test in idle we started Windows, we let it charge completely for 5 minutes, then we started the temperature measurement for 10 minutes in which the PC was completely unused.
Gaming
The game session lasted about 90 minutes. In this period of time we have modified the various graphic settings while maintaining the same resolution of 2K (2560 × 1440). In this way it was possible to simulate different uses and loads of the CPU depending on the potential of your video card.
Cinebench R20
This is certainly the most cleared test within the PC hemisphere.
AIDA64
CPU full load simulation through AIDA64 stability test (CPU stress, FPU stress and stress cache enabled). We measured 58.8 degrees in this test.
Who should buy this cooler? | Enermax Liqmax III 240 ARGB review
This Enermax Liqmax III 240 ARGB in conclusion, thanks to the more compact dimensions of the radiator, allows a high mounting flexibility even in small houses, taking only a few degrees more than its big brother from 360 mm. Overall, also considering the quality / price ratio, we would like to recommend the product.
Even with a very hot CPU that can usually push up to 95 ° C and despite the scorching temperatures that are investing us these days we have obtained more than encouraging results. The LED management system is easily manageable through different software available. At full speed the fans are a little noisy but nothing excessive. ARGB LEDs make a really nice effect, especially when paired with a nice case like Lian Li’s, all white, which brings out the reflections. However, we feel the lack of centralized software to manage pump and lighting (even if the system is compatible with the main RBG lighting management systems such as Razer Chroma, ASUS Aura Synch and many others).
A point certainly the strong point of this product is the price: even if there are systems that guarantee better performance and more attention to detail, at this price it is really difficult to find something of such a good level. This Enermax Liqmax III 240 ARGB is compact, but with good performance that can cool even high-end systems with good results. If you focus on value for money, it is one of the best on the market!
Points in favor
- Good temperatures
- Compactness and ease of installation
- Elegant lighting system …
Points against
- … without proprietary management software
- a little noisy at high speeds