EVGA's First AIO! Is it Right for You

**A Closer Look at EVGA's CLC 280 Liquid Cooler**

Speaking of the software, well, EVGA still hasn't perfected the UI, and this version 1.0 isn't even labeled as the flow control software, it does not even look closer to what EVGA has posted on their website, which might seem a little misleading either way it looks pretty basic with appropriate controls for fan speed, LED lighting control, with different effects, and different profiles to store within the system. You'll also be able to find real-time coolant temperature and fan rpm readings alongside a visual fan curve. If you'd like to configure your preferred setting, like I said, it does need a lot of work, and I'm hoping EVGA updates the software sooner than later.

**Performance Comparison with the Competition**

Alrigh so how well does this new CLC cooler from EVGA stack up with the competition? We used a harder running 4.5 gigahertz 4770k for these tests to operate under the assumption that cooling for today's KB Lake processors will be even better testing was also done a bit differently since we compared the coolers at different rpm levels to see if EVGA and their custom setup can really achieve a good balance between rpm levels and temperatures. Comparing it to popular 240 millimeter solutions other than the Predator 240, the CLC 280 does a pretty good job cooling the 4770k overclocked to 4.5 gigahertz starting at 1250 rpms. We can see that EDG is cooler really dust trail behind the competition while it can achieve better results than the 240 millimeter a iOasis like NM Access 240 HP and the Liquid Pro 240. It's one's quite a bit warmer than the H100 i GT and NZXT X62.

**Price Point and Warranty**

Luckily, the CLC 280 is at a price point that's more affordable than many -80 millimeter alternatives. It's also backed up by a long 5-year warranty. Bumping up fan speeds up to a louder 2000 rpm sees EVGA schooler catch up with Corsair and NZXT in terms of performance, but what about noise? Let's check out some acoustics at 1250 rpms.

**Noise Levels**

EVGA has obviously created an extremely quiet AIO with their custom fans, but when compared to NZXT results here there is a bit of concern. Not much just a bit. It looks like even though the air P fans on the X62 are about as noisy as the ones on the CLC 280, they provide much more performance. Listen to this; it's very quiet and what happens at 2,000 rpm here where the CLC 280 provides its best competitive cooling performance it also becomes much louder than the X62. Meanwhile, on the positive side, it does remain quieter than Corsairs H110 i GT and many of the 240 millimeter coolers.

**Fan Design Improvements**

To test out a theory, we took the NZXT fans and installed them on the EVGA LC 280 and those results speak for themselves at 1250 rpms installing those quieter NZXT units resulted in much lower temperature results. It looks like despite images claim of an optimum noise to performance ratio and sixties air technology is just so much better; it's almost like the CLC 280 fans aren't properly designed for low rpm scenarios like we expected when operating at higher rpm levels EDG stock fans are almost as good as NZXT T's but I doubt many people will want their massive 280 mm intercooler running at these speeds anyways.

**Conclusion**

Higher rpm pretty much defeats the purpose of buying a bigger cooler. Conclusion EVGA has come up with an excellent AIO solution that competes well within the Allenwood liquid coolers battle ground; the price point is really competitive, and the hardware you get for that screams premium quality however the custom designs 140 millimeter fans struggled to push air through the radiator which in turn resulted in higher temps at lower rpm levels compared to the competition combining the air fans with the CLC 280 resulted in an amazing combination so I'm genuinely hoping EVGA can go back to the drawing board come up with a better fan design plus please update the driver software it seriously looks like a rushed out release that took inspiration from the 90s.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enwell well well what do we have here a closed-loop liquid cooler from EVGA that taught my friends after launching a pretty successful air cooler a few years ago EVGA has expanded their cooling solutions towards all-in-ones EVGA may be in for a challenge though since companies like Coursera NZXT and coolermaster have experienced market share and the time on their side I'm really interested to see how well this cooler can keep up with those competitors since as you know EVGA has been well known for their all-in-one hybrid water cooling solutions for Nvidia based GPUs will that awesome performance on the graphics card side translate into a competitive AI oh let's find out and dive into this new cooler from EVGA right after a message from our sponsor you can only rely on the pro to do the job with every keystroke satisfying like the millions before it call it feel with every key regardless of your space Kula master master keys bro take it with you make it yours so this is the new CLC 280 liquid CPU cooler that runs for about a hundred and thirty US dollars the model name itself implies the fact that it sports a 280 millimeter radiator that we'll talk about shortly but if you're having trouble finding room for a massive radiator inside your case EVGA also offers a 120 millimeter variant for $90 unfortunately there isn't a 240 millimeter variant for the time being but expect one in the near future pricing for the 280 millimeter cooler lies right in between Corsairs H 110 i GT and NZXT s you x6 - both of which are 280 millimeter liquid coolers now on paper the CLC 280 certainly looks to be a powerful cooling solution as it offers a massive 280 millimeter radiator that's just 27 millimeters thick too large custom 140 millimeter fans and a well-built custom EVGA branded water block / reservoir combination unit this is hands-down one of the best-looking and easy to install coolers I've come across lately the tight nylon braiding tubing makes installation a breeze and it's a relatively flexible plus you don't have to worry about accidental leaks from traditional PVC tubing found on some other a iOS there's also a custom water pump that has its Inlet and outlet ports on the top instead of the side which reduces water pressure and thus noise the water block features an acrylic top with a glowing evj RGB LED lit logo its colors and behavior can be customized through a VJs flow control software it's also pretty unique looking I love the metal frame around the unit that adds an extra layer of premium quality which EVGA has always been well known for there's a micro USB port which is used for adding a data link for evj control software and the included cable connects easily to the motherboards a USB header running up the bottom comes with a fairly polished copper base plate that has thermal paste pretty applied so let's talk about those included 140 millimeter fans they're definitely unique looking and I appreciate EVGA taking the step to design something that promises high-performance longevity and quiet operation and that last point has to be highlighted you see the unique chassis design allows these 140 millimeter to rotate at a blistering 2200 rpm yet maintaining lower noise levels remember these are claims so I guess it's just a matter of time to find out how well they perform during our benchmarks another thing I need to mention is that EB J's design causes part of the fan blades to expose so watch out for cables or anything else that could get in their way the installation process was pretty straightforward I mounted this cooler inside the NZXT s340 allayed metal chassis now given this is a 280 millimeter radiator I had no clearance issues within the chassis and the fan blades never made contact with the front frame something I was a little worried about with its design it's still important to remember that your case has to natively support two eighty millimeter radiators and EB G's own layout so make sure to check the exact specifications and measure before buying the CLC 280 i've been preceded to install the included intel-based back plate for sky Lake and KB Lake do know that EVGA includes back plates and retention brackets for x99 and AMD based motherboards - the next step was to install the bolts to the CPU mounting holes in the motherboard and secure them given the plastic nature of the backplate I'd be extra careful with tightening the bolts since overdoing them could cause some serious damage down the road thankfully EVGA pre-installed the inter bracket on the CPU block so it was just a matter of time of placing it on top of the bolts and I tightened them with the included screws the pump doesn't require separate SATA power to function it just works fine through the traditional three pin power / CPU fan connector you do get two PWM fan headers to connect the dual 140 millimeter fans and the fan speeds can be adjusted directly through the flow software speaking of the software well EVGA still hasn't perfected the UI in fact this version 1.0 isn't even labeled as the flow control software and it does not even look closer to what EVGA has posted on their website which might seem a little misleading either way it looks pretty basic with appropriate controls for fan speed LED lighting control with different effects and different profiles to store within the system you'll also be able to find real-time coolant temperature and fan rpm readings alongside a visual fan curve if you'd like to configure your preferred setting like I said it does need a lot of work and I'm hoping EVGA updates the software sooner than later alright so how well does this new CLC cooler from EVGA stack up with the competition we used a harder running 4.5 gigahertz 4770k for these tests to operate under the assumption that cooling for today's KB Lake processors will be even better testing was also done a bit differently since we compared the coolers at different rpm levels to see if EVGA and their custom setup can really achieve a good balance between rpm levels and temperatures comparing it to popular 240 millimeter solutions other than the predator 240 the CLC 280 does a pretty good job cooling the 4770k overclocked to 4.5 gigahertz starting at 1250 rpms we can see that EDG is cooler really dust trail behind the competition while it can achieve better results than the 240 millimeter a iOS like nm access 240 HP and the liquid pro 240 it one's quite a bit warmer than the H 100 i GT and NZXT X 62 luckily the CLC 280 is at a price point that's more affordable than many - 80 millimeter alternatives it's also backed up by a long 5 year warranty bumping up fan speeds up to a louder 2000 rpm sees EVGA schooler catch up with Corsair and n CX cease to eighty millimeter a iOS are proving that it can be very competitive if you don't mind noise but what does this all mean for how loud the cooler is well let's check out some acoustics at 1250 rpms EVGA has obviously created an extremely quiet a o with their custom fans but when compared to NZXT results here there is a bit of concern not much just a bit it looks like even though the air P fans on the X 62 are about as noisy as the ones on the CLC 280 they provide much more performance listen to this it's very quiet and what happens at 2,000 rpm here where the CLC 280 provides its best competitive cooling performance it also becomes much louder than the X 62 meanwhile on the positive side it does remain quieter than Corsairs H 110 i GT and many of the 240 millimeter coolers let's have a listen here to to test out a theory we took the NZXT fans and install them on the EVGA LC 280 and those results speak for themselves at 1250 rpms installing those quieter NZXT units resulted in much lower temperature results it looks like despite images claim of an optimum noise to performance ratio and sixties air technology is just so much better it's almost like the CLC 280 fans aren't properly designed for low rpm scenarios like we expected when operating at higher rpm levels EDG stock fans are almost as good as NZXT T's but I doubt many people will want their massive 280 mm intercooler running at these speeds anyways higher rpm pretty much defeats the purpose of buying a bigger cooler to conclude EVGA has come up with an excellent a i/o solution that competes well within the Allenwood liquid coolers battle ground the price point is really competitive and the hardware you get for that screams premium quality however the custom designs 140 millimeter fans struggled to push air through the radiator which in turn resulted in higher temps at lower rpms compared to the competition combining the air fans with the CLC 280 resulted in an amazing combination so I'm genuinely hoping EVGA can go back to the drawing board come up with a better fan design plus please update the driver software it seriously looks like a rushed out release that took inspiration from the 90s all in all for the price the CLC 280 is a great solution if you're okay running your fans at slightly higher speeds but looking away from the charted decibel results and towards what can actually be heard by a user I think this a IO deserves are damn good value award so what do you guys think of the EVGA CLC 280 liquid cooler do you guys think that they have potential to keep up with the big leagues let us know in the comments down below I meat bar with her mechanics thank you so much for watching and we'll see you in the next one youwell well well what do we have here a closed-loop liquid cooler from EVGA that taught my friends after launching a pretty successful air cooler a few years ago EVGA has expanded their cooling solutions towards all-in-ones EVGA may be in for a challenge though since companies like Coursera NZXT and coolermaster have experienced market share and the time on their side I'm really interested to see how well this cooler can keep up with those competitors since as you know EVGA has been well known for their all-in-one hybrid water cooling solutions for Nvidia based GPUs will that awesome performance on the graphics card side translate into a competitive AI oh let's find out and dive into this new cooler from EVGA right after a message from our sponsor you can only rely on the pro to do the job with every keystroke satisfying like the millions before it call it feel with every key regardless of your space Kula master master keys bro take it with you make it yours so this is the new CLC 280 liquid CPU cooler that runs for about a hundred and thirty US dollars the model name itself implies the fact that it sports a 280 millimeter radiator that we'll talk about shortly but if you're having trouble finding room for a massive radiator inside your case EVGA also offers a 120 millimeter variant for $90 unfortunately there isn't a 240 millimeter variant for the time being but expect one in the near future pricing for the 280 millimeter cooler lies right in between Corsairs H 110 i GT and NZXT s you x6 - both of which are 280 millimeter liquid coolers now on paper the CLC 280 certainly looks to be a powerful cooling solution as it offers a massive 280 millimeter radiator that's just 27 millimeters thick too large custom 140 millimeter fans and a well-built custom EVGA branded water block / reservoir combination unit this is hands-down one of the best-looking and easy to install coolers I've come across lately the tight nylon braiding tubing makes installation a breeze and it's a relatively flexible plus you don't have to worry about accidental leaks from traditional PVC tubing found on some other a iOS there's also a custom water pump that has its Inlet and outlet ports on the top instead of the side which reduces water pressure and thus noise the water block features an acrylic top with a glowing evj RGB LED lit logo its colors and behavior can be customized through a VJs flow control software it's also pretty unique looking I love the metal frame around the unit that adds an extra layer of premium quality which EVGA has always been well known for there's a micro USB port which is used for adding a data link for evj control software and the included cable connects easily to the motherboards a USB header running up the bottom comes with a fairly polished copper base plate that has thermal paste pretty applied so let's talk about those included 140 millimeter fans they're definitely unique looking and I appreciate EVGA taking the step to design something that promises high-performance longevity and quiet operation and that last point has to be highlighted you see the unique chassis design allows these 140 millimeter to rotate at a blistering 2200 rpm yet maintaining lower noise levels remember these are claims so I guess it's just a matter of time to find out how well they perform during our benchmarks another thing I need to mention is that EB J's design causes part of the fan blades to expose so watch out for cables or anything else that could get in their way the installation process was pretty straightforward I mounted this cooler inside the NZXT s340 allayed metal chassis now given this is a 280 millimeter radiator I had no clearance issues within the chassis and the fan blades never made contact with the front frame something I was a little worried about with its design it's still important to remember that your case has to natively support two eighty millimeter radiators and EB G's own layout so make sure to check the exact specifications and measure before buying the CLC 280 i've been preceded to install the included intel-based back plate for sky Lake and KB Lake do know that EVGA includes back plates and retention brackets for x99 and AMD based motherboards - the next step was to install the bolts to the CPU mounting holes in the motherboard and secure them given the plastic nature of the backplate I'd be extra careful with tightening the bolts since overdoing them could cause some serious damage down the road thankfully EVGA pre-installed the inter bracket on the CPU block so it was just a matter of time of placing it on top of the bolts and I tightened them with the included screws the pump doesn't require separate SATA power to function it just works fine through the traditional three pin power / CPU fan connector you do get two PWM fan headers to connect the dual 140 millimeter fans and the fan speeds can be adjusted directly through the flow software speaking of the software well EVGA still hasn't perfected the UI in fact this version 1.0 isn't even labeled as the flow control software and it does not even look closer to what EVGA has posted on their website which might seem a little misleading either way it looks pretty basic with appropriate controls for fan speed LED lighting control with different effects and different profiles to store within the system you'll also be able to find real-time coolant temperature and fan rpm readings alongside a visual fan curve if you'd like to configure your preferred setting like I said it does need a lot of work and I'm hoping EVGA updates the software sooner than later alright so how well does this new CLC cooler from EVGA stack up with the competition we used a harder running 4.5 gigahertz 4770k for these tests to operate under the assumption that cooling for today's KB Lake processors will be even better testing was also done a bit differently since we compared the coolers at different rpm levels to see if EVGA and their custom setup can really achieve a good balance between rpm levels and temperatures comparing it to popular 240 millimeter solutions other than the predator 240 the CLC 280 does a pretty good job cooling the 4770k overclocked to 4.5 gigahertz starting at 1250 rpms we can see that EDG is cooler really dust trail behind the competition while it can achieve better results than the 240 millimeter a iOS like nm access 240 HP and the liquid pro 240 it one's quite a bit warmer than the H 100 i GT and NZXT X 62 luckily the CLC 280 is at a price point that's more affordable than many - 80 millimeter alternatives it's also backed up by a long 5 year warranty bumping up fan speeds up to a louder 2000 rpm sees EVGA schooler catch up with Corsair and n CX cease to eighty millimeter a iOS are proving that it can be very competitive if you don't mind noise but what does this all mean for how loud the cooler is well let's check out some acoustics at 1250 rpms EVGA has obviously created an extremely quiet a o with their custom fans but when compared to NZXT results here there is a bit of concern not much just a bit it looks like even though the air P fans on the X 62 are about as noisy as the ones on the CLC 280 they provide much more performance listen to this it's very quiet and what happens at 2,000 rpm here where the CLC 280 provides its best competitive cooling performance it also becomes much louder than the X 62 meanwhile on the positive side it does remain quieter than Corsairs H 110 i GT and many of the 240 millimeter coolers let's have a listen here to to test out a theory we took the NZXT fans and install them on the EVGA LC 280 and those results speak for themselves at 1250 rpms installing those quieter NZXT units resulted in much lower temperature results it looks like despite images claim of an optimum noise to performance ratio and sixties air technology is just so much better it's almost like the CLC 280 fans aren't properly designed for low rpm scenarios like we expected when operating at higher rpm levels EDG stock fans are almost as good as NZXT T's but I doubt many people will want their massive 280 mm intercooler running at these speeds anyways higher rpm pretty much defeats the purpose of buying a bigger cooler to conclude EVGA has come up with an excellent a i/o solution that competes well within the Allenwood liquid coolers battle ground the price point is really competitive and the hardware you get for that screams premium quality however the custom designs 140 millimeter fans struggled to push air through the radiator which in turn resulted in higher temps at lower rpms compared to the competition combining the air fans with the CLC 280 resulted in an amazing combination so I'm genuinely hoping EVGA can go back to the drawing board come up with a better fan design plus please update the driver software it seriously looks like a rushed out release that took inspiration from the 90s all in all for the price the CLC 280 is a great solution if you're okay running your fans at slightly higher speeds but looking away from the charted decibel results and towards what can actually be heard by a user I think this a IO deserves are damn good value award so what do you guys think of the EVGA CLC 280 liquid cooler do you guys think that they have potential to keep up with the big leagues let us know in the comments down below I meat bar with her mechanics thank you so much for watching and we'll see you in the next one you\n"