They are completely sealed and suit people who don't have water cooling systems

Jan 22, 2014 09:55 GMT  ·  By

Not all cases are good for water cooling systems, and some who do own desktops big enough for them might not really want the hassle of water-based cooling, which is why products like the new Cooler Master Nepton 140XL / 280L keep being made.

Closed-loop liquid coolers, or all-in-one liquid coolers, won over customers almost as soon as they were invented, years ago. They work quite differently from air-based coolers.

Air coolers pull the heat out of a chip (CPU, GPU, RAM, VRM) via a base plate, or just direct-contact heatsinks or heatpipes.

Said heat is then spread through a fin array and dispersed by a fan, or just left to dissipate alone in case of fanless models.

Water-based coolers, or those using other, cool fluids, have a water block, or base block, which allows coolant to flow through it, thus chilling the chip directly.

Said coolant keeps coursing through pumps and, most importantly, the radiator, which has one or more fans blowing cool air into it. Basically, while air coolers dissipate heat, water coolers prevent the heat from rising in the first place.

The two new all-in-one liquid coolers from Cooler Master, the Nepton 140XL and 280L, are different only in that the latter has a double-size radiator with two JetFlo 140 Series fans instead of one. 120 mm JetFlo fans are supported as well.

Also, the FEP tubes are longer and thicker than usual too, and the pure copper base is about as heat-conductive as base plates can possibly get.

Finally, the thumbscrews are used for tool-free installation (that goes for both the fans and pump).

The prices of the Nepton 140XL and 280L are of €92.69 ($92.69, or $125.64 according to exchange rates that ever so rarely pan out) and €121.89 ($121.89 - $165.22), respectively.

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Cooler Master Nepton 280L
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL
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