Enermax liqmax iii rgb 240 review in Spanish (full analysis)

Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240 is the new liquid cooling system proposed by the Taiwanese brand, and which has been presented together with its 120 mm version for small chassis. In this model, he proposes an aesthetic improvement to the system with a cold acrylic block and plenty of lighting both on it and on the fans.

The manufacturer has also improved the effectiveness of this block with dual liquid chamber technology to better capture heat from the copper surface and transfer it to the aluminum heatsink. As always, we will see what it is capable of with our i9-7900X and we will face it with other proposals from the competition, and pay attention to the price because it will surprise you.

Before proceeding, we must thank Enermax for the trust they gave us by lending us their RL system for our analysis.

Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240 technical characteristics

Unboxing

The Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240 uses a fairly high-quality and clear presentation standard in the refrigeration market. We have a compact size box built in rigid cardboard with a case-type opening. All of it is printed on the visible faces with a pleasant RGB color on a black background, to present the product and the main characteristics of the system.

Inside, we have the entire cooling system disassembled, except the circuit logically. All components are packed in plastic bags and accommodated in a lifelong cardboard egg box mold.

So inside, we have all these elements:

• Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240 Cooling System 2x Enermax Dual-Convex Fans Universal Backplate Intel & AMD Socket Brackets Mounting Screws Dow Corning Thermal Paste Syringe Power 4-Pin Multiplier for Fans 4-Pin RGB Connector Cast User Instruction Manual

Then we will see that in this model the subject of cables has been optimized a lot, although there will still be many that we have for power and lighting.

Exterior design and features

There is no doubt that more and more liquid cooling systems are establishing themselves in the market as basic elements for a gaming computer. And this is demonstrated simply by seeing that manufacturers are adjusting the prices of their products to lower figures than many air coolers.

This is precisely what the Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240 offers us, very economical and with the proper performance of a liquid, almost always superior to an air system. We have two versions, although we have chosen to analyze the 240mm configuration as it is the most standardized and appealing to most users. Nor can a complete RGB lighting system be missing, although we will see all of this during these paragraphs.

240mm radiator

The radiator of the Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240 is the one in charge of cooling the water that circulates inside the system. An element with standard measurements of 274 mm long, 120 mm wide and 27 mm thick. It is entirely made of aluminum and painted completely black.

It also has a standard design of flat ducts running longitudinally through the radiator, completely filled with wave-type fins that help dissipate heat. The manufacturer ensures a 330W TDP cooling capacity, ideal for high-power CPUs. Both the upper and lower areas are made of aluminum, and the manufacturer has had the detail of placing a plug in the block to purge the system fluid change. It is something we highly value from a maintenance point of view.

The block offers us the possibility of installing fans on both sides of the surface, with a reinforcing metal frame with very good finishes. In this case the sockets for the tubes appear to be metallic, as always located in the upper lateral area. The tubes are constructed of rubber polyamide and feature a nylon mesh liner. Judging by the low flexibility, they appear to be quite acceptable thickness and good quality.

The set is also characterized by a low weight of only 0.795 kg without counting the fans, which indicates that the next element that we will see, the block, has enough plastic.

Pumping block

We continue with the cold block, pumping block or cold plate of this Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240, which is committed to a very sober design called Aurabelt. It is a basically square block with beveled corners to form an essentially octagonal design. The truth is that it is not small, something that comes in handy for processors with large IHS such as the Intel of the 2066 platform.

Virtually the entire exterior structure is made of black acrylic plastic to greatly reduce the weight of the set. At the top of the block a methacrylate plate has been installed that provides RGB lighting in the central logo of the brand. Likewise, in the lateral area we can see another thick band of translucent white plastic that obviously has RGB lighting.

We come to the area of ​​the grips, which in this case is a system of 4 arms in each corner that we will have to disassemble if we are going to opt for the AMD platform, since they come with Intel grips in the factory. This way they will be compatible with all specified socket systems. And finally a very well polished copper cold block has been installed to capture the heat from the processor.

So we come to the pumping system, with a new improved Enermax design called Dual Chamber. This system is based on a double chamber with the isolated pump motor. The first chamber is the largest, which puts the liquid in direct contact with the center of the cold plate, thanks to the Enermax Central Coolant Inlet system. The second chamber is the one that collects the hot fluid to send it to the heatsink.

The pump is made up of ceramic-type bearings that give it a useful life of around 50, 000 hours. The motor, we imagine that of the DDC type, is capable of rotating at around 3, 100 RPM thanks to a 12V to 0.4A supply supplied directly from the connector on the motherboard. In this case we will not need the SATA cable for everything to work. In fact, on one of the sides is where we have the output of this power cable and the 4-pin connector for the RGB that we will see later.

For its part, the thermal paste is supplied in a separate syringe of only 2 g for manual application. The compound comes from Dow Corning model TC-5121, offering a thermal conductivity of 2.5 W / mK. It is not too high a conductivity, although the system has proven to be very solvent with high-end processors. With this syringe we will have at least for two or three applications, which is not bad.

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: AM2, AM2 +, AM3, AM3 +, AM4, FM2, FM2 + and FM1

Fans

Next we turn to the fans of the Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240, which of course will be two and will come included. These are the Enermax RGB Dual Convex Blade built specifically for that new system.

In essence they are 120mm fans with a thickness of 25mm, which added to the radiator makes a thickness of 53mm. It has RGB lighting, so its blades are made of white plastic. In the 4 corners they have the corresponding rubber plates to reduce vibrations.

The type of bearing its motor carries is not specified, although they ensure a MTBF of 50, 000h, which is certainly not much for a fan. They will be able to rotate in a range between 500 and 1, 600 RPM thanks to an integrated PWM control through 4-pin headers that we will connect to our board. The performance of these fans gives us a maximum air flow of 72.1 CFM and a maximum static pressure of 1.98 mmH2O, generating a maximum noise of 27 dBA.

Mounting details

In the bundle of the Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240 the instruction manual for liquid cooling is included as usual.

The truth is that it does not have too much complication, much less if we are going to install it in a 2066 socket like us. The system has a generic backplate that many manufacturers already use that make it compatible with all the sockets we have specified. We just have to remove the original from the plate (except the 2066) and place this with the corresponding screws as stated in the instructions.

But if we must comment that it has a slight inconvenience when mounting it. The system is based on 4 screws that are previously installed to serve as the base for the cold plate, and then another 4 screws that fix it. When we leave the system mounted and we want to disassemble it, all the screws will come with the block, since the screws that make the base cannot be tightened because they do not have a head. This causes us to have to use pliers to be able to separate both screws.

We must bear in mind that for AMD sockets we will have to remove the metal grips from the cold block and place the second set that is supplied.

That said, the rest is fairly straightforward. The manufacturer provides a divider to connect the two fans to the board, as well as a cable to connect their lighting to the pump and thus synchronize the entire system.

RGB lighting

Last but not least, we will see the complete lighting system that the Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240 brings. Despite its low price, it is at the level of the competition.

The system in question is integrated in both the fans and the pumping block. For its part, the microcontroller is integrated into this block, which has a 4-pin connector on the side to also synchronize the fans.

The system does not have any type of USB 2.0 connections for the board, nor a command to modify the animations. This means that we have to install it in the RGB header of our motherboard. The system is compatible with all major lighting technologies, Asus AURA Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light, and ASRock Polychrome RGB.

Performance tests with the Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240

After mounting, it is time to show the temperature results with this Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240 in our test bench that consists of the following hardware:

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel Core i9-7900X
Base plate:	Asus X299 Prime Deluxe
Memory:	16 GB @ 3600 MHz
Heatsink	Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240
Graphic card	AMD Radeon Vega 56
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 permanently maintained at 24 ° C.

Regarding the temperatures we have not been surprised, the set offers a good performance and the thermal paste does a good job managing the temperature peaks. In fact, an average of 51 ⁰C is almost the best we have on our cooling system review list.

The system in general is quite silent, being a small pump that is barely noticeable working and fans that when not exceeding 2000 RPM also maintain a low noise level.

Final words and conclusion about Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240

This cooling system has left us quite good feelings regarding its performance. A 240mm configuration with a nice cold plate that has kept temperatures very low on a high performance CPU like the 7900X. Even surpassing other models of the competition of greater cost and greater size.

The good thing about the 240mm format is that virtually all chassis are compatible. Similarly, it offers compatibility with all current sockets except Threadripper, something normal. The block is a good size to cover all types of CPU and also very well polished.

We recommend our guide to the best heatsinks on the market

The build quality however could be better. We have a block with a lot of plastic and that in the touch and aesthetic finishes shows. In addition, having a MTBF of 50, 000 h in pump and fans makes it a little below the more TOP model. Something very positive is that it has a cap to change the coolant and very quiet, high-performance fans.

The complete lighting system is a great attraction for the general public, since again, due to its good price, having something so striking makes it very appetizing. Despite offering a great viewing experience, we do not have our own addressing system. To interact with it we will have to connect it to the RGB header of the board, without being able to customize its LEDs one by one.

This Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240 we will have it available for a price of only 60 euros, being one of the cheapest 240 that we can find on the market. For its completeness, and the performance it has proven to have, it is a highly recommended system for gaming equipment.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ GREAT PERFORMANCE ON HIGH-END CPU	- PLASTIC IS USED ENOUGH
+ WITH RGB LIGHTING	- NO OWN SYSTEM TO DIRECT THE RGB
+ EXCELLENT PRICE	- FIXATION ON THE NON-OPTIMAL SOCKET
+ ENOUGH SILENCE AND GOOD AIRFLOW
+ VERY SIMPLE INSTALLATION AND WITHOUT MANY CABLES
+ PERFECT FOR HIGH-RANGE CPU COOLING

The Professional Review team gives you the gold medal and recommended product:

Enermax Liqmax III RGB 240

DESIGN - 83%

COMPONENTS - 80%

REFRIGERATION - 90%

COMPATIBILITY - 88%

PRICE - 90%

86%