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
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.
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Yuriman - Thursday, December 14, 2017 - link
It would be nice to see some common heatsinks within the same price bracket included in the comparison charts, even if it's only a handful. They're direct competition after all.HollyDOL - Thursday, December 14, 2017 - link
I have to agree, otherwise the results are quite relative.Put in at least a couple for reference (like Intel highend stock, AMD highend stock, and some elite one like Noctua NH-D15), it would make the info much more worthwhile for general public
HollyDOL - Thursday, December 14, 2017 - link
not like stock coolers could hope to do anything except bbq with 340W load ofc...Dr. Swag - Thursday, December 14, 2017 - link
Awesome! A decent alternative to the S24 when it comes to quiet AIOs that also has rgb!sweetca - Thursday, December 14, 2017 - link
Catchy name.Lord of the Bored - Saturday, December 16, 2017 - link
"I am Captain DeepCool, of the Federation starship EX RGB."ReeZun - Thursday, December 14, 2017 - link
Sometimes I wonder... if some of these reviews are sponsored (either by one manufacturer or a group of manufacturers, to boost brand exposure and potentially sales)... and not necessarily direct monetary sponsorship. I also wonder... if the reason Anandtech didn't include a high-end air cooler (e.g., NH-D15)... is because it would make a strong case for the AIO solutions making a very poor value proposition... especially when considering noise/cooling ratios... and, in turn, rendering this entire review pointless.E.Fyll - Thursday, December 14, 2017 - link
Actually, the answer to your question is far less complicated than that. We only compare air coolers to air coolers and liquid coolers to liquid coolers because each represents a specific type of product. It's an "apples to apples" kind of thing. I also personally do not believe that these two actually compete with each other. Users are much more likely to go for an AIO cooler because they want easier access to their system, or because they just don't like a 2kg piece of metal hanging off their motherboard, or just because it "looks cool", than for the performance. If acceptable performance is all that a user needs, an average air cooler can do the job just fine, they do not even need a NH-D15 to begin with.Besides that, the magic of having and using professional equipment like ours is that everything is both repetitive and comparable. They were all tested on the exact same device and everything is in our methodology page that can be found in every cooler review. Long story short, you can easily go to our review of the NH-D15 cooler (or any cooler that you'd like to compare, regardless of its type and platform) and just compare any of its performance figures to any AIO cooler that you want to, taking into account your personal requirements too.
tricomp - Thursday, December 14, 2017 - link
Sorry no.. it is green apples to red apples in most buyers considerations.. or dreams, and they really need to know what they are paying extra in case their dream comes true.rtfmx9 - Thursday, December 14, 2017 - link
I think that "apples to apples" does not hold here. After all, both liquid and air coolers serve the same purpose. It would be nice to be able to compare them without having to do research through Anandtech's archives. Is it possible that once comparison is made obvious liquid coolers don't make sense from the cost/performance point of view? I don't know since review does not try to inform me from that perspective. My guess is that there are many people who would like to inform themselves of whether upgrade to a liquid cooler would make sense or not but to do that you recommend that they dig though the past reviews instead of you offering that information in your review. All for the sake of keeping apples and oranges separated. I don't buy that reasoning.