Caporegime
I finally managed to get this Raijintek Orcus 240mm AIO installed yesterday after having received it Friday.
My set up was as follows ;
AMD Ryzen 2700 running stock
16GB DDR4 @ 2933MHZ
Asus Prime X370 Pro
Sitting in a Xigamatek Elysium case
Raijintek AIO Cooler ; https://www.overclockers.co.uk/raijintek-orcus-rgb-aio-water-cooling-unit-240mm-hs-02h-rt.html
Introduction
This was running on the AMD stock cooler, so I was always in the market for an aftermarket cooler.
Previously I've usually gone for the custom WC route (In fact there's still an EK reservoir mounting kit left in my case).
The last time I ever used an AIO was back in the days of the Corsair H50 and the like, which were all 120MM radiator AIO's. Since then however AIO's have become a lot more mainstream and have spawned upto 360mm radiators for CPU's and there's official mounting kits to put a GPU under an AIO as well.
So, from that point of view I was excited to see how AIO's had evolved and to see how it'd cope with my set up.
Build Quality
Upon taking the AIO out of the packaging, I was initially impressed with the build quality from the 12cm fans. They felt solid and not at all like cheap plastic as some previous 12cm fans I've handled. The rubberised corners are a very nice touch, adding a bit of class and practicality.
The actual AIO was also of high quality, the braided tubes were solid without being too restrictive with movement. Some AIO tubes I've seen in the past felt rather weak and susceptible to being accidentally damaged, whereas this certainly wasn't the case with the tubes here.
The CPU block has a fill port on it (Raijintek have supplied a bottle of water to refill the loop) to refill the loop, however it's not as practical as one would wish. Most people would have to dismount the CPU block to actually use it. But for anyone used to handling a custom loop, this isn't exactly a deal breaker, rather an inconvenience.
The build quality was however let down by the RGB controller. It was a cheap plastic construction, however I guess once it's in place inside the case it's not something that would be fiddled with.
Installation
I'll be honest here. I've been running an AMD Stock cooler for well over a year now, and I was happy with the simple install of that stock cooler (Screwing it into the AM4 backplate). With AM4 having a solid back plate, I was expecting to just screw the block onto that AMD backplate. I'm assuming that has been AMD's aim because that's where my experience started to become a little soured.
As I mentioned previously, I've got an Asus X370 Prime Pro with an AM4 back plate.
After reading the installation manual of the AIO cooler I dismantled my PC, took out the motherboard and attempted to take the back plate off. For some reason the backplate wouldn't move. After about 20 minutes off flapping I decided to consult google.
It turns out that the back plate on my motherboard has an adhesive layer. Cue another 30 minutes carefully trying to pry the back plate off. I was successful in the end, but I was obviously very flustered, and I urge any AM4 owners to be very careful.
Once I'd managed to take off my back plate, the install was rather simple. I do think that the installation is somewhat convoluted however. This is where I believe AIO manufacturers should take a leaf out of CPU block manufacturers book and have the CPU block attach to the actual backplate, this would have sorted my AM4 issues and I'd have felt more comfortable in having the best possible contact.
Whereas with the installation in this case, I had to create the mounting bracket which was attached to the supplied raijintek back plate and then attach the CPU block to that mounting bracket. The CPU block mounts to the bracket using only 2 screws (One at the top of the block and one at the bottom). I'd prefer to have 4 screws in all corners personally.
Testing Results
Once I'd installed the AIO, it was time to test it.
AMD Stock Cooler Results ;
Raijintek 240MM AIO Results
Conclusions
Given the English weather at the moment, I was impressed by how the cooler managed to handle things.
Going forward I'm more than comfortable with the current temperatures and I can see this AIO cooler being a mainstay in my set up for the entirety of AM4 and possibly further depending on mounting holes and how the CPU war progresses.
Since I was in the market for an aftermarket cooler, I'm very grateful for OCUK for the chance to try out this AIO.
Apart from the odd niggle here and there as I've described (The AM4 backplate issue wouldn't be exclusive to this cooler. It's affects a whole raft of users depending on their motherboards) I would have had no hesitations in purchasing this product myself, and because of that I have no problems recommending this cooler to anyone who's considering it.
As for the RGB features of the cooler. I must say that the RGB is very nice, I find it relaxing as it changes colour. I can certainly understand the current trend of having full RGB set ups. It doesn't look tacky like LED's used to do in cheap cases from last decade.
It's easy enough to control with the supplied RF wireless controller. However I feel like once you've set it to auto you'd just forget about it and enjoy, which is precisely what I'm going to be doing.
Excuse the poor picture, but it was the only one I could get with it as my "setup".
My set up was as follows ;
AMD Ryzen 2700 running stock
16GB DDR4 @ 2933MHZ
Asus Prime X370 Pro
Sitting in a Xigamatek Elysium case
Raijintek AIO Cooler ; https://www.overclockers.co.uk/raijintek-orcus-rgb-aio-water-cooling-unit-240mm-hs-02h-rt.html
Introduction
This was running on the AMD stock cooler, so I was always in the market for an aftermarket cooler.
Previously I've usually gone for the custom WC route (In fact there's still an EK reservoir mounting kit left in my case).
The last time I ever used an AIO was back in the days of the Corsair H50 and the like, which were all 120MM radiator AIO's. Since then however AIO's have become a lot more mainstream and have spawned upto 360mm radiators for CPU's and there's official mounting kits to put a GPU under an AIO as well.
So, from that point of view I was excited to see how AIO's had evolved and to see how it'd cope with my set up.
Build Quality
Upon taking the AIO out of the packaging, I was initially impressed with the build quality from the 12cm fans. They felt solid and not at all like cheap plastic as some previous 12cm fans I've handled. The rubberised corners are a very nice touch, adding a bit of class and practicality.
The actual AIO was also of high quality, the braided tubes were solid without being too restrictive with movement. Some AIO tubes I've seen in the past felt rather weak and susceptible to being accidentally damaged, whereas this certainly wasn't the case with the tubes here.
The CPU block has a fill port on it (Raijintek have supplied a bottle of water to refill the loop) to refill the loop, however it's not as practical as one would wish. Most people would have to dismount the CPU block to actually use it. But for anyone used to handling a custom loop, this isn't exactly a deal breaker, rather an inconvenience.
The build quality was however let down by the RGB controller. It was a cheap plastic construction, however I guess once it's in place inside the case it's not something that would be fiddled with.
Installation
I'll be honest here. I've been running an AMD Stock cooler for well over a year now, and I was happy with the simple install of that stock cooler (Screwing it into the AM4 backplate). With AM4 having a solid back plate, I was expecting to just screw the block onto that AMD backplate. I'm assuming that has been AMD's aim because that's where my experience started to become a little soured.
As I mentioned previously, I've got an Asus X370 Prime Pro with an AM4 back plate.
After reading the installation manual of the AIO cooler I dismantled my PC, took out the motherboard and attempted to take the back plate off. For some reason the backplate wouldn't move. After about 20 minutes off flapping I decided to consult google.
It turns out that the back plate on my motherboard has an adhesive layer. Cue another 30 minutes carefully trying to pry the back plate off. I was successful in the end, but I was obviously very flustered, and I urge any AM4 owners to be very careful.
Once I'd managed to take off my back plate, the install was rather simple. I do think that the installation is somewhat convoluted however. This is where I believe AIO manufacturers should take a leaf out of CPU block manufacturers book and have the CPU block attach to the actual backplate, this would have sorted my AM4 issues and I'd have felt more comfortable in having the best possible contact.
Whereas with the installation in this case, I had to create the mounting bracket which was attached to the supplied raijintek back plate and then attach the CPU block to that mounting bracket. The CPU block mounts to the bracket using only 2 screws (One at the top of the block and one at the bottom). I'd prefer to have 4 screws in all corners personally.
Testing Results
Once I'd installed the AIO, it was time to test it.
AMD Stock Cooler Results ;
Raijintek 240MM AIO Results
Conclusions
Given the English weather at the moment, I was impressed by how the cooler managed to handle things.
Going forward I'm more than comfortable with the current temperatures and I can see this AIO cooler being a mainstay in my set up for the entirety of AM4 and possibly further depending on mounting holes and how the CPU war progresses.
Since I was in the market for an aftermarket cooler, I'm very grateful for OCUK for the chance to try out this AIO.
Apart from the odd niggle here and there as I've described (The AM4 backplate issue wouldn't be exclusive to this cooler. It's affects a whole raft of users depending on their motherboards) I would have had no hesitations in purchasing this product myself, and because of that I have no problems recommending this cooler to anyone who's considering it.
As for the RGB features of the cooler. I must say that the RGB is very nice, I find it relaxing as it changes colour. I can certainly understand the current trend of having full RGB set ups. It doesn't look tacky like LED's used to do in cheap cases from last decade.
It's easy enough to control with the supplied RF wireless controller. However I feel like once you've set it to auto you'd just forget about it and enjoy, which is precisely what I'm going to be doing.
Excuse the poor picture, but it was the only one I could get with it as my "setup".
