The original Castle 240 offered a great value RGB offering with quiet fans and good cooling performance, however, with the 240EX, things are a little different.
Firstly, getting rid of the RGB fans seems like a bit of a mistake, the RGB lighting on those was beautiful with the synchronised effects on the pump housing. We get that not everyone likes RGB lighting, but you then wouldn’t be buying a pump with any RGB lighting, with the pump still pushing out plenty of light shows. Having said that, the RGB lighting that is on the pump housing is beautiful, the effects are smooth and transitions are diffused perfectly. It’s not the brightest RGB but the colours are incredibly deep.
The cooling performance of the loop is certainly up there with the best, it kept our 9700K plenty cool enough, but the acoustic performance was let down somewhat by the fans. This is a surprise compared to the performance of the previous iteration of the Castle 240, where acoustics were kept well under control by the RGB fans.
Having explained earlier in the review the big changes made to the pump and its enclosure, idle noise is kept to an absolute minimum, the pump makes barely any noise whatsoever. It’s not something we’ve isolated and measured scientifically between the different AIOs that we’ve tested but we’re pretty sure this is the quietest and we must applaud Deepcool on their efforts.
Installation is also a problem, with the pump being very difficult to install with only a single set of hands. You will absolutely need to ask a friend or partner to help you with this. Installing a CPU cooler shouldn’t be a two-person task, if you ask us.
The Gamer Storm Castle 240EX has a lot going for it but the TF 120S fans let it down hugely with their loud audible output at high loads.
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Firstly, getting rid of the RGB fans seems like a bit of a mistake, the RGB lighting on those was beautiful with the synchronised effects on the pump housing. We get that not everyone likes RGB lighting, but you then wouldn’t be buying a pump with any RGB lighting, with the pump still pushing out plenty of light shows. Having said that, the RGB lighting that is on the pump housing is beautiful, the effects are smooth and transitions are diffused perfectly. It’s not the brightest RGB but the colours are incredibly deep.
The cooling performance of the loop is certainly up there with the best, it kept our 9700K plenty cool enough, but the acoustic performance was let down somewhat by the fans. This is a surprise compared to the performance of the previous iteration of the Castle 240, where acoustics were kept well under control by the RGB fans.
Having explained earlier in the review the big changes made to the pump and its enclosure, idle noise is kept to an absolute minimum, the pump makes barely any noise whatsoever. It’s not something we’ve isolated and measured scientifically between the different AIOs that we’ve tested but we’re pretty sure this is the quietest and we must applaud Deepcool on their efforts.
Installation is also a problem, with the pump being very difficult to install with only a single set of hands. You will absolutely need to ask a friend or partner to help you with this. Installing a CPU cooler shouldn’t be a two-person task, if you ask us.
The Gamer Storm Castle 240EX has a lot going for it but the TF 120S fans let it down hugely with their loud audible output at high loads.
Pros
+ Silent pump
+ Beautiful RGB
+ Supports all current Intel and AMD sockets including TR4
+ Easy to re-orientate the central Gamer Storm logo
Cons
- Tricky to install to an Intel LGA 1156 socket
- Loud fans under load
- Pricey
+ Silent pump
+ Beautiful RGB
+ Supports all current Intel and AMD sockets including TR4
+ Easy to re-orientate the central Gamer Storm logo
Cons
- Tricky to install to an Intel LGA 1156 socket
- Loud fans under load
- Pricey
Click here for an explanation of our awards at Vortez.net.
Stay connected with the Vortez Social Media pages:
