Thermaltake floe dx 240 review in Spanish (complete analysis)

The Thermaltake Floe DX 240 is now available to users, and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to fully test it with our i9-7900X. The Taiwanese manufacturer presented its new line of refrigeration systems at Computex and, as always, the star model is the 240 mm model, due to its versatility and good performance.

This Premium Edition version has a fully addressable lighting system with an included microcontroller and a thousand ways to personalize it. In addition to the pump block, its two TT range-top Riing Duo RGB fans will offer us the best possible performance for high-end gaming equipment. And if this seems little to you, they have versions in 280 mm and 360 mm.

Before proceeding, we always appreciate the trust Thermaltake places in us by lending us his RL system for our analysis.

Thermaltake Floe DX 240 TT Premium Edition technical features

Unboxing

On this occasion, the Thermaltake Floe DX 240 has used a presentation of the most common in the brand. It is a large rigid cardboard box to be a 240 mm system that will open as always on the upper side in the form of a case. On the outer faces we have a complete and elaborate screen printing that shows us the equipment in operation along with many of its characteristics, especially affecting the lighting system.

Inside we have a distribution exactly the same as other models, with all the accessories of the system perfectly accommodated in an egg-shaped cardboard mold and all of them tucked inside plastic.

The bundle in this case consists of the following elements:

• Thermaltake Floe DX 240 Cooling System 2x Thermaltake Riing Duo RGB Universal Backplate Fans Intel & AMD Socket Brackets Mounting Screws Power MOLEX Adapter RGB & Micro USB Internal Controller Microcontroller Adhesive Base User Manual Instruction Manual

This time the cold plate already has the thermal paste applied, so it will only accept one assembly before having to buy thermal paste individually.

Exterior design and features

We start with the review of the Thermaltake Floe DX 240, which is a Premium edition, which means that both build quality and performance should be superior to the Water 3.0 ARGB models for example. The presence of top-of-the-range fans such as the Riing Duo or a 3600 RPM pump are reason to trust this.

We have the 240 mm version, in our opinion the one that offers the most versatility of all to mount it on most chassis on the market. However, the manufacturer has versions of 280 mm (2 fans of 140 mm) and 360 mm (3 fans of 120 mm) as the maximum performance. Let's see the characteristics of each of its components.

240mm radiator

The radiator that mounts the Thermaltake Floe DX 240 is completely made of aluminum, a typical material for this element whose function is to cool the liquid in the circuit. Its measurements are obviously standard, 274 mm long, 120 mm wide and 27 mm thick. To improve the presentation it has been covered with a thin layer of matte black paint.

The central part has 13 vertical ducts in longitudinal configuration through which the hot fluid coming from the pump will circulate. Between each duct, we have a dense wave-type finning that will better distribute the heat on the surface. The manufacturer does not provide a maximum dissipation TDP for the system, although it should be at least 330W as other equipment available on the market. The edges of this radiator are covered by a thicker metal frame that offers rigidity and the necessary perforations to install the fans.

Something we miss in this model is a plug to access the fluid in the circuit. In this way, we could change the liquid after a couple of years of use or purge it when necessary. We think that a top-of-the-range model like this should have it for maintenance.

What we do have are tubes of very good quality and length, since they are made of rubber with good thickness, judging by how little they bend, and with a length of 326 mm. We didn't hit 400mm for 360mm configurations, but we should have no trouble installing under any oversized chassis. These tubes have a mesh covering, presumably nylon to reinforce them.

The sockets on the radiator are made of aluminum with pressure mounting, and the socket at the ends is made of hard plastic. They do not allow rotation as in the case of the pump, something normal to avoid breaks in the handling of the equipment.

Pumping block

We go on to see in more detail the pumping block of the Thermaltake Floe DX 240, which contains the pump and the cold plate that is responsible for dissipating heat from the CPU. Thermaltake maintains a nice cylindrical design for the block with a fairly compact size and not too wide a cold plate surface.

Precisely this base is made in the form of a polished copper plate with the thermal paste pre-applied. The polishing is very good, being practically a mirror, and the paste layer is not bad. This is good for inexperienced users in its application, but on the other hand it limits us to only one assembly, since for a second we should buy thermal paste on our own.

This base is fixed by a large number of screws to the body of the block, which once again is entirely made of rigid plastic. We understand the choice for the simple fact that it is a material that does not rust with the liquid and that it weighs little, but it is not the most premium finish that can be found. Likewise, the entire upper area includes RGB lighting, both in the logo and in the outer ring, later we will see it in action.

The pump that has been used offers a maximum speed of 3600 RPM and will be controlled by a PWM signal from the motherboard or the corresponding software. It works in a range between 5 and 12 V with an intensity between 0.325 and 0.4 A. The pumping system corresponding to the DDC type with double chamber for hot and cold fluid, although in this case the pump does not inject the fluid into the copper plate, but removes it to send it to the radiator. The types of motor bearings and the windings it uses are not specified, so we do not have an MTBF figure from the manufacturer.

The mounting system in this case is based on a double interchangeable ring for AMD or Intel, which we must insert directly into the cylinder of the pumping block and fix it with a second ring. The truth is that it is a derivative that we have already seen other times, very simple when we understand how it works. The Asus Ryuo uses a very similar one, but more simply because it does not have the second ring and it is directly attached. In this case, the tube inlets are two pressure-resistant, hard plastic elbows that can rotate.

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 those that follow: AM4, AM2, AM2 +, AM3, AM3 +, FM2, FM2 + and FM1

We only lose the support with TR4 of the Threadrippers and socket 775 of the first Core 2 of Intel.

Fans

We continue with the ventilation system of the Thermaltake Floe DX 240, which is made up of two Thermaltake Riing Duo RGB, which were also presented during Computex 2019. These fans can be purchased independently in a pack of 3 units with their own microcontroller to manage speed and lighting. In this case we are in the same circumstances, although there are two that we have included, as is normal.

They have measures of 120 x 25 mm, thus forming a maximum thickness of radiator + fans of 52 cm. These fans are capable of spinning from 500 to 1500 RPM using direct PWM control from the included controller. They also generate a maximum flow of 42.52 CFM and a static pressure of 1.45 mmH2O, so they have a good balance between flow and pressure ideal for radiators. Finally, they generate a maximum noise of 23.9 dBA. The Riing Duo have a hydraulic type bearing and each weigh 163 grams. Its useful life or MTBF is 40, 000 h, a relatively low figure for this type of bearing, we must say.

The build quality is very good with a central crown provided with lighting as well as the rotor area, thus giving a number of 36 addressable LEDs. The helical blade system is translucent white, as is usual for RGB fans. Likewise, the four corners have rubber protectors on both sides to avoid vibrations and thus reduce noise.

RGB lighting and microcontroller

The Thermaltake Floe DX 240 has one of its strengths in the RGB lighting system, which is integrated into the fans and the pump block. The system also includes the corresponding microcontroller, which in addition to directing the LEDs, also includes the speed control of the fans, which greatly facilitates the connectivity of the set and avoids having a tangle of cables.

All of this can be controlled in the first instance with our own Thermaltake RGB Plus software, connecting the USB cable from the controller to the internal USB 2.0 of the motherboard. However, the brand also offers perfect compatibility with Razer Chroma technology, as long as we have TT RGB Plus and Razer Synapse 3 installed. The advantage of this system is that we can integrate products from both brands, and it is possible to synchronize lighting with certain games such as DOOM or Metro.

And it is not everything, because it has also opted for high versatility, integrating a voice control system for the lighting and speed of the fans with the manufacturer's own AI Voice Control App for Android or with Amazon Alexa. So options the truth is that we are not lacking.

While it's true that we have quite a few control options available when it comes to Thermaltake's proprietary software, the interaction is exactly the same as with other products. The TT RGB Plus from our point of view does not offer the friendliest interface of all, with complete system management, but still upgradeable in terms of user interaction and cleanliness.

This included controller has a capacity to connect a maximum of 5 devices. We in this case have 3, two fans and the pump. Likewise, the system can be extended up to 16 controllers, which is what the software supports at most. The power input is made through MOLEX instead of SATA, and the data output is via Micro USB with the included cable.

At the bottom we have a panel of switches that only serves to assign a number to the controller. That will be useful if we have more than one, since the software needs the controller ID to be able to access it. Thermaltake will have its reasons for doing this manually and not by software.

Performance testing with Thermaltake Floe DX 240

After mounting on the Intel LGA 2066 socket, it is time to show the temperature results with this Thermaltake Floe DX 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	Thermaltake Floe DX 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.

The temperature values ​​fall within what is expected from a 240 mm system, although we expected a somewhat lower and lower average temperature of 60 ⁰C to match other models such as the recently tested Corsair or Enermax.

Temperatures have never exceeded 80⁰C, with very high peaks of 78 as we see in the graph. Perhaps these peaks would have been improved with a higher performance thermal paste or with a pumping system that puts the water with greater pressure into the copper cold plate. In any case, they are great results for a 10C / 20T processor oriented to Workstation.

Final words and conclusion about Thermaltake Floe DX 240

We come to the end of this review, and the system Thermaltake proposes has yielded some fantastic temperature results with a fairly powerful CPU like the 7900X. With an average of 61 ⁰C after 48 hours of stress we cannot complain, although we must admit that we expected values ​​below 60⁰C due to the cost of the product.

Both the compatibility and the mounting system are at a very good level. On the one hand, only the AMD TR4 socket is excluded, being available for the current platform challenge. On the other hand, the mounting system is quite simple when we discover the usefulness of the different rings that are included. A fairly reliable system and on top with the thermal paste already pre-applied, which makes things easier.

One of the main strengths of the Thermaltake RL system is that it has an impressive lighting section. Not only for its number of LEDs, but for the great integration with other systems such as Razer, voice management or having a useful controller that takes care of everything, including fan RPM. This saves a lot of cables and we can scale the system with more Thermaltake products. We only see the TT RGB Plus software interface that can be improved, one step behind the competition.

We recommend our guide to the best heatsinks on the market

The build quality of the system is at a very good level, not for nothing is the Premium edition. Especially having two Riing Duo fans, the manufacturer's best performance fans for RL. We would have liked to have a block with less plastic and more metal, and above all some extra information about the pump, such as MTBF or performance.

Finally, this Thermaltake Floe DX 240 is available for an official price of € 199, although we have seen it on Amazon for about 179 euros approximately. It is not exactly cheap equipment, especially compared to what other brands like Enermax offer. Similarly, the performance is very good, but within the standard of a 240mm RL, so a price like that of the TT Water 3.0 would have been great news.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ PERFORMANCE WITH HIGH-END PROCESSORS	- PRICE
+ COMPLETE ADDRESSABLE RGB SYSTEM WITH MICROCONTROLLER	- USE OF PLASTIC FOR THE PUMP BLOCK
+ HIGH QUALITY RIING DUO FANS	- SOFTWARE INTERFACE
+ AVAILABLE IN 240, 280 AND 360 MM
+ VERY SILENT

The Professional Review team awarded him the gold medal:

DESIGN - 89%

COMPONENTS - 85%

REFRIGERATION - 86%

COMPATIBILITY - 88%

PRICE - 70%

84%