Enermax Liqtech 120X AiO Liquid CPU Cooler Review

Testing
The test rig consists of the following parts:

Processor: Intel Core i7 3770K
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.Sniper3
Video Card: EVGA GTX 690
Memory: Samsung Green MV-3V4G3D/US – 16GB
Power Supply: Enermax Maxrevo 1350W
Storage: OCZ Vertex 3 240 GB raid 0 Running Windows 7 64bit
Cooling: Enermax Liqtech 120X
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro

Testing was done using Intel Burn Test (IBT) with the AVX instruction set. The reason I use this instead of Prime95 with this setup is that it pushes our i7 3770K a whole lot harder, giving us a better sense of extreme load temps. Most of the testing was done at the high memory setting for a single pass. While admittedly this in no way would qualify the chip as stable when overclocking, it gives us a realistic idea of what temps it will be hitting. Additionally we are going to start using 3DMARK Fire Strike Extreme to give you a realistic idea of performance while gaming.

Our baseline was established using a bequiet! Dark Rock Pro 2 with the 3770K on stock settings:

Ambient temps: 22.22C/72F
Idle temps: 38.75C/101.75F core average
IBT temps: 63.5C/146.3F core average

And here are the results for stock settings for the Liqtech 120X:

Ambient temps: 22.22C/72F
Idle temps: 42.75C/108.95F core average
IBT temps: 63.25C/145.85F core average

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At this point I would typically go for a little overclocking session and try to push the chip as far as I could with the test unit. For the sake of more consistent results however, from here on we are going to do things a little different. Instead of having a max overclock as a goal we are simply going to shoot to hit 4.5ghz pass or fail. If the cooler will allow our 3770K to hit 4.5 ghz we not the temperatures and move on to test it on 3DMARK Firestrike Extreme. If not then back down to a more acceptable and stable overclock. Not as extreme, but slightly more consistent and far more analogous to normal use.

For the Liqtech 120X here are our results for i7 3770K @ 4.5ghz with 1.248V vCore:

Ambient temps: 22.22C/72F
IBT temps: 81.75C/179.15F with one core hitting 85C

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For the 3770K I consider 90C as the max acceptable temperature in this test, so well within that range.

And the results of a single run through 3DMARK Fire Strike Extreme @4.5ghz:

Ambient temps: 22.22C/72F
3DMARK: 66.25C/151.25F with two cores hitting 67C

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All testing was done with the fans set to the medium speed setting. At this setting with the side panels on there is no discernible noise emanating from the AIO. In fact based simply off my ear I believe removing the stock fan and replacing it with the two Enermax fans has dropped the overall sound level of the case.