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EVGA CLC 240 AIO CPU Liquid Cooler Review: Perfect First Attempt?

EVGA has been in the computer hardware business for nearly two decades and in that time, they have established themselves as an industry leader. Initially only selling graphics cards, EVGA has since expanded their product line to include motherboards, power supplies and now AIO liquid cooling units. I’ve always enjoyed “all in one” liquid coolers and the convenience they provide and when EVGA released their CLC line of AIOs, I knew I’d be in for a treat!

Unboxing

The outside of the box has EVGA’s branding as well as a picture of the CLC 240 complete with its fans.

Upon opening the box, you will see the manual and a large piece of foam that is in the same shape as the CLC 240.

Our unit arrived in perfect condition and the packaging did a great job protecting the unit as there was no damage to it whatsoever. An installation guide is included as well as a bag with all the necessary mounting hardware for all modern Intel and AMD CPUs such as Coffee Lake and Ryzen 2.

EVGA CLC 240 CPU Support List:

Intel sockets:

AMD sockets:

Initial Impressions

As you’d expect from an EVGA product, excellent build quality is most certainly present in the CLC 240.

The CPU block/pump combo was excellently designed, it’s very good looking and feels great in your hands. EVGA kept the design minimal on the front, with a sharp looking silver band around the sides. The pump block is large, but it did not come close to touching the RAM in our system.

Along the bottom of the silver band is a micro USB port. The included micro USB to USB 2.0 header wire allows you to customize everything from the lighting to the fan and pump speeds within EVGA’s Flow Control software.

The tubing is sleeved and utilizes thin tubes. This tubing is far superior to the tubing included with older AIO liquid cooling units and it also makes installation in smaller ITX cases much easier as the tubes are not so stiff.

To remain competitive on the pricing front, AIOs tend to be bundled with very basic fans that simply get the job done. EVGA made special fans for their CLC lineup, dubbed “FX”, these fans have a unique curved housing.

The FX fans were surprisingly quiet even under heavy load during stress tests on our 8700K CPU. While expensive aftermarket fans will likely yield superior results while being quieter, your money is better spent on upgrading the more important components in your build.

Installation

Installation was straightforward and EVGA makes the job even easier as the radiator fans come pre-installed out of the box. Simply attach the backplate to your motherboard unless you are on an X99 system in which case one should already be installed on your motherboard.

Next, install the four standoffs for your selected processor. Attach the CPU block/pump to the standoffs and use the four included low-profile screws to secure the CPU block to your CPU. The pump block fan wire should be plugged in to the CPU fan header on your motherboard.

If you want to control the radiator fans through EVGA’s software, you will need to plug them in to the fan splitter wire that comes out of the CPU block. You will also need to install one end of the provided USB wire into the port on the pump block and the other end into an available USB 2.0 header on your motherboard.

Otherwise find two available fan headers on your motherboard if you prefer to control the fans and setup fan curves in the BIOS.

Performance

We achieved 5GHz on our Intel Core i7-8700K processor and saw idle temperatures in the 36° range. Temperatures under load reached as high as 94° which seemed very unusual. We initially thought this may have been an issue with the AIO so we applied new thermal paste and reseated the CPU block. We ran the tests again and topped out at 94°.

Our CPU was not delidded and while the 8700K is known to run hot, these temperatures were much higher than they should have been. Luckily, we had another 8700K in the office and after swapping them out, the 2nd 8700K’s temperatures were much better.

Idle temperatures in the 29° range and heavy load temperatures that did not exceed 74°. The 2nd 8700K was also not delidded so we believe that our 1st 8700K may win the award for the hottest running Coffee Lake CPU out of the box. It has since made an early retirement!

Given that this is an aluminum radiator as nearly all AIOs are, the performance you get for your money is quite good. High TDP processors especially when overclocked require quality cooling and I would advise getting a 240mm AIO at a minimum for a CPU like the 8700K. EVGA does make a 120mm version of this AIO but I would only use that if you are restricted by case size.

Another option is EVGA CLC 280 which has 280mm of radiator surface area paired worth 140mm fans which will push more air through the radiator, keeping your CPU temperatures lower all while with the quietest sound level of EVGA’s offerings.

Conclusion

The EVGA CLC 240 is an excellent choice for computer builders who desire a clean looking build while achieving solid overclocking results. Installation is a breeze and the included radiator fans are more than sufficient. Cooling performance proved well for a 240mm unit paired with our non-delidded 8700K, even better temperatures can be achieved with a delid.

EVGA builds quality products and the CLC 240 is no exception, it will provide many years of service for even the hottest running processors. At it’s current price under $100, we highly recommend the EVGA CLC 240 for overclocking minded system builders.