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As of now, ASUS’ ROG brand has three separate lines of liquid cooling systems for the processor. The most sophisticated among them was the Ryujin series, equipped with Noctua fans, a color display on the pump, and an additional fan for cooling the power supply circuits of the processor. The middle position is occupied by Ryuo “dropsy”, in general they are quite ordinary, and from the unique “chips” there is only a color display on top of the pump, on which you can display a variety of information. In the budget, by ASUS standards, ROG Strix LC systems have settled. They are available in black and white versions, in 360, 240 and 120 mm radiator formats, and also with and without RGB backlighting. Naturally, there are not very many differences in efficiency for all this diversity, because all these CBOs are equally made according to Asetek’s patents. And the subject of this review will be the ASUS ROG Strix LC 240 RGB – a black system with ARGB-backlit fans and a water block.
Packing and scope of delivery
Packed ROG Strix LC 240 RGB in a characteristic box, made in the brand’s signature black and red colors. On the front side there is an image of the product, on the back – its advantages are listed in the form of pictures with text and some technical characteristics are given.
Inside, all parts are packed in plastic bags and a mold made of pressed cardboard.
The ASUS ROG Strix LC 240 RGB, in addition to the system itself and two fans, includes:
- installation instructions;
- Micro-USB cable for connecting the pump to the motherboard (900 mm long);
- ARGB backlight splitter from one + 5VDG connector to four (450 mm long);
- fan power splitter from one four-pin connector to two (400 mm long);
- plastic reinforcement frame for Intel LGA 115x and 1366 sockets;
- mounting metal frame for AMD sockets;
- four screw racks for AMD AM4 sockets;
- four screw racks for Intel LGA 2011 sockets and its analogues;
- four screw racks for Intel LGA 115x and 1366 sockets;
- four knurled nuts with a hole for a Phillips screwdriver;
- 16 metal washers for mounting screws;
- 8 long screws for mounting fans;
- 16 short screws for mounting the heatsink.
Appearance
The design of the ROG Strix LC 240 RGB heatsink is similar to that of similar CBOs. The pump is connected to the radiator by flexible 380 mm rubber hoses in a nylon sheath. The outer diameter of the tubes is 11 mm, and the inner diameter is about 7 mm.
The radiator is made of aluminum and completely painted in black. Its length is 272 mm and its width is 122 mm. The side slats have two sets of mounting holes for 120mm fans, arranged without a gap. Radiator fins are band-type, stacked at 19 FPI (fins per inch). Between the fins are 13 channels through which the refrigerant is pumped. The total heat dissipation area is approximately 5530 cm2. The weight of the equipped system, excluding fans, is 700 grams. The propellers weigh 151 grams each.
The tubes are fixedly connected to the radiator fittings by crimping, plastic clips. The thickness of the manifold on the hose side is 19 mm.
The collector on the opposite side has a thickness of 14 mm.
The radiator has a standard thickness of 27 mm. On the sides there are three rivets on each side.
The upper part of the water block is made of plastic, has a diameter of 80 mm and a height of 45 mm. Mirror cover with illuminated logo. Diagonal slits on the sides are also backlit.
The hoses are connected to the water block using angle fittings that can be easily rotated to the sides at large angles. The pump installed inside has a PWM speed control in the range from 800 to 2800 rpm. At the same time, the levels of emitted noise range from 37 to 39 dB (A), it is quite quiet, therefore there is no practical sense in reducing its speed.
A four-pin pump power connector, 300 mm long, is connected between the hoses on a ribbon cable. To the left of the hoses there is a Micro-USB connector, it is needed purely for synchronizing the ASUS Aura backlight, via a standard USB header on the motherboard. Whether it works with boards from other companies is hard to say.
The base is round and copper, with a diameter of 54 mm. The sole of the cooler is attached to the pump with eight screws screwed around the perimeter. By default, a thin layer of thermal paste is applied here, which in my version was a little hardened. The frame with fastening paws is spring-loaded, easily removed by pressing and turning counterclockwise. Installation takes place in the reverse order. By default, a frame is fixed here, suitable for installing a cooler on Intel LGA 115x/1366/2011 sockets.
After removing a layer of stock thermal paste, we saw that the copper sole is relatively flat and has a transverse linear polishing.
The ASUS ROG Strix LC 240 RGB uses two proprietary ROG Ryuo FAN Fan model 12 RGB propellers marked CF1225H12D as fans. They have seven large blades with an average angle of inclination, made of translucent plastic, backlight LEDs are built into the stator in the center. It was not possible to determine the type of bearing exactly, perhaps it is a regular sleeve. The available speed range is PWM controlled and ranges from 800 to 2500 rpm. Noise levels thus vary from 42 to 71 dB (A) for two propellers mounted on a radiator. This means that this system cannot be completely silent by definition. The length of the four-pin power cord and the three-pin backlight cable is 300mm.
This is what the fans attached to the heatsink look like:
Assembled with fans, the total thickness of the system is 54 mm due to the protruding 2 mm screw heads.
Let’s move on to installing the CBO and testing its effectiveness.
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