Aorus liquid cooler 280 review in Spanish (full analysis)

AORUS Liquid Cooler 280 is the new liquid cooling system from AORUS to compete with the high-end with manufacturers like Asus or Corsair. This time it is presented in two different configurations, 280 mm, which we will analyze, and 360 mm. The system has a circular LCD screen that occupies the entire pumping block that shows us real-time statistics of our hardware.

This system can not miss an impressive addressable RGB section or excellent manufacturing quality, with a copper and aluminum pump block compatible with the main current sockets including the TR4. Let's see in detail what this system offers us with our i9-7900X 10C / 20T.

But before we begin, we thank AORUS for their trust in us by giving us their RL to do our analysis.

AORUS Liquid Cooler 280 technical characteristics

Unboxing

The AORUS Liquid Cooler 280 is presented to us in a rigid cardboard box as usual, although of considerable size as it is a fairly wide format. This box has its traditional case-type opening and all its faces will be printed with the brand's own colors, along with photographs and a panel of specifications for the cooling system.

Inside more of the same, an egg tray type is in charge of keeping the different elements that make up this system perfectly in place. All of them come in their respective plastic bags, with the fans tucked into a cardboard box.

The bundle consists of the following elements:

• AORUS Liquid Cooler 280 Cooling System 2x AORUS ARGB 140mm Fans Universal Backplate Intel & AMD Socket Brackets Mounting Screws Thermal Paste Syringe User Instruction Manual

In this case, the topic of cables is greatly reduced since both the RGB connector, the fan connector and the general power connector are already installed in the block. It is important to note that the adapter for AMD's TR4 socket is not included, as it should come with the motherboards themselves.

Exterior design and features

We always like to highlight which are the main strengths of the systems we analyze, and one of this AORUS Liquid Cooler 280 is its exterior design. We could say that the manufacturer has taken quite into account what rivals like Asus offer, so in the pump block it has incorporated a circular LCD screen to monitor the status of the CPU in real time.

In addition to this, we have a minimalist and different construction design, with a high-quality block this time, yes, built in unibody aluminum and painted in satin black with very good texture and finishes. The measures offered by the system in this case are those of a 280 mm radiator mount, so we will have to be aware of the capacity of the front of our chassis, since not everything supports this width.

Let's start studying the different components in detail.

280mm radiator

In the market we clearly have a larger presence of 240 mm system, so the AORUS Liquid Cooler 280 has chosen something different, such as this case. In addition to this 280mm configuration, we also have another 360mm configuration available as a top of the range.

This radiator is entirely made of aluminum, being a block with measurements of 315 mm long, 143 mm wide and 30 mm thick. Take for example that this thickness is slightly higher than typical 240mm systems, which are mostly 27mm. We have no data on the TDP that it is capable of dissipating, but if we consider the values ​​of the 240 systems, it must be well above 330W.

The radiator is very well finished with solid aluminum frames and corresponding holes to install the two included fans or any other 140 mm. In any case, having more width gives us a total of 15 cooling ducts between wave-shaped fins that will perfectly dissipate heat. Something that we would have liked to have is a system for purging and emptying liquid, as other models available on the market do. We think that in a high range like this, it should be something already widespread.

The tube system is of course made up of two hoses made of high quality rubber with a braided coating of nylon thread. They are roughly standard 350mm long enough for virtually any type of ATX chassis mount. These tubes are quite thick and of very good quality, and the union sleeves have aluminum sockets on both the radiator and the block.

Pumping block

We now continue with the pumping block of the AORUS Liquid Cooler 280, the design of which is technically quite small. This hole has a completely circular design and the outer shell is constructed of single-block aluminum with a very elegant satin black finish. The measurements are quite wide, with 80 mm in diameter and 60 mm in height.

Starting with the cold plate part, we have a very well polished bare copper plate attached to the pump body with torx screws. In this case, we will have to apply the thermal paste, which comes in a syringe with a good quantity to carry out various assemblies.

At this point, we would have liked to have more information about the Asetek Gen6 pump that mounts this AORUS Liquid Cooler 280 system, since the manufacturer does not give performance data about it. In any case, the assembly is exactly the same as that of this manufacturer and others such as Asus or Thermaltake.

The compatibility we have with this block will be:

• For Intel we have compatibility with the following sockets: LGA 1366, 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 2011 and 2066 And in the case of AMD, the following: AM4 and TR4

In this case, the rest of AMD's AM type socket are not specified, although the bracket is exactly the same as in other systems that are compatible. In any case, we will not ensure compatibility with previous sockets, because we have not had the opportunity to test it on them.

In the lateral area of ​​the pumping block we have the invaluable presence of all the connectors necessary for the system to work. These are made up of:

• A SATA connector for general power supply of the system Cable with two headers for power supply and PWM of the fans Cable with double RGB head for ARGB lighting of the same Internal USB 2.0 connector for management with software of the set

In this way we will not need to connect the fans to the motherboard, and it will be the internal microcontroller integrated in the block that takes care of everything.

Fans

We continue with the AORUS Liquid Cooler 280 fans which in this case are two with a size of 140 mm. We have already talked about your lighting system, so we will focus on the performance that they will offer us. Regarding the design, we have a standard thickness of 25 cm to form a 55 mm thick radiator + fan system, so there will be no major problems in the installation.

The blade configuration is notoriously focused on providing air pressure, with 7 blades quite wide and in axial format of translucent plastic to reflect the lighting properly. These offer a maximum speed of 2300 RPM managed by PWM control. The bearing system is made up of double ball bearings to offer an MTBF of up to 70, 000 h, which is approximately 6 years with intensive use. The air flow of each unit rises to 100.16 CFM, while the air pressure is quite high at 5.16 mmH2O. All this generates a maximum noise of 44.5 dBA in each fan.

Mounting details

The assembly of this AORUS Liquid Cooler 280 is the typical one used by Asetek, provided with a generic backplate for Intel LGA 15xx processors and two circular clamps, one for Intel and one for AMD. These are very easy to install, since they only have to be inserted into the pump block below and rotated to fix them.

In the case of the AM4 socket we will have to disassemble the two upper grips of the fixing system and keep the rear backplate of the plate to fix the corresponding 4 included screws there. Finally, the TR4 socket has its own included clamp, so we must use it if we want to mount this system on one of these CPUs.

LCD screen and support software

We still have to see the top of this pumping block of the AORUS Liquid Cooler 280, which has an integrated 60 x 60 mm LCD screen that also integrates RGB lighting.

This screen will offer us information about the CPU temperature, its operating frequency, fan RPM, operating profile, and features such as the model and processor cores.

Through RGB Fusion 2.0 software we can manage both the lighting of the entire system including the fans, and the data that will appear on the screen. We have various information modes available, although we may be the ones to introduce a personalized text.

It is also compatible with the AORUS Engine software, from which once again we can customize the text that appears on the screen. Likewise, it will allow us a good management of the fans and the performance profile of the pump, choosing between different plans depending on the performance we need.

Regarding the lighting of the block, we have no possibility to configure the lighting effects, although we do have the color of the two LEDs that make it up. Something we can do with the fans, each consisting of 8 addressable LEDs.

Performance testing with the AORUS Liquid Cooler 280

After assembly, it is time to show the temperature results with this AORUS Liquid Cooler 280 in our test bench that consists of the following hardware:

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel Core i9-7900X
Base plate:	X299 Aorus Master
Memory:	Corsair Dominator 32 GB @ 3600 MHz
Heatsink	AORUS Liquid Cooler 280
Graphic card	EVGA RTX 2080 SUPER
Power supply	Corsair AX860i

To test the performance of this heatsink with its two fans installed, we have subjected our Intel Core i9-7900X to a stress process with Prime95 for a total of 48 uninterrupted hours and at its stock speed. The entire process has been monitored by the HWiNFO x64 software to show the minimum, maximum and average temperature throughout the process.

We must also take into account the ambient temperature, which we have constantly maintained at 24 ° C.

We see in these graphs the temperatures obtained during the stress process, although the one that will interest us most will be the average, which is only 59 ^o C. Let's remember that this CPU can hold up to 105 ^o C, so we are at maximum performance clocked at 3.6 GHz at pretty good registers for a 280mm setup.

Likewise, the temperature peaks have been quite controlled throughout the process, never exceeding 70 ^o C, which shows that the performance profile and the thermal paste have done an excellent job of heat transfer.

Final words and conclusion about AORUS Liquid Cooler 280

We come to the end of this review, and if we can highlight anything about the system that AORUS proposes, it is its great quality of construction and careful design. We have an all-in-one system with a cylindrical pump block built in very good quality aluminum and with an LCD screen included to monitor data from our CPU and RL.

The system also includes RGB Fusion 2.0 lighting both in this block and in the fans. Everything will be manageable through the brand's own software, AORUS Engine or RGB Fusion, in any case we must have both installed to ensure the full functionality of the system.

Regarding performance, it does and it exceeds. A 280mm block will be more than enough for the vast majority of processors on the market. This is demonstrated with very good results with a 10C / 20T CPU such as the i9-7900X. In addition, it will support overclocking without any problem since the temperature peaks are quite controlled.

We recommend our guide to the best heatsinks on the market

Installation is extremely simple with the typical Asetek mounting kit. Compatibility is good but not round, as the manufacturer curiously says nothing about other previous AMD sockets such as FMs or other AMs. We cannot assure the compatibility, but seeing that the bracket used is the same as other systems we are quite sure that it can be mounted.

Finally, we will find this liquid refrigeration in the market for a price starting at 175 euros. If what we are looking for is pure performance, surely we will find many systems that adapt to this, but if we are looking for an extra in functionality and design, few manufacturers have it. We think this AORUS Liquid Cooler 280 unites both.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ HIGH-END CPU PERFORMANCE	- NO SYSTEM TO CHANGE / PURGE THE LIQUID
+ DESIGN OF QUALITY AND CARE
+ LCD DISPLAY WITH HARDWARE MONITOR
+ VERY SIMPLE 280 MM ASSEMBLY
+ COMPLETE RGB SECTION

The Professional Review team awarded him the platinum medal:

AORUS Liquid Cooler 280

DESIGN - 93%

COMPONENTS - 93%

REFRIGERATION - 92%

COMPATIBILITY - 89%

PRICE - 89%

91%