Keeping your PC performing flawlessly during extreme tasks is every gaming PC owner first preference. A cooling device comes into play while maintaining your system’s temperature levels. We have handpicked some of the best budget 240mm AIO liquid coolers you can buy for your PC. Before that, let’s get deeper into the working of AIO coolers.
There’s a long debate while picking up the coolers for your PC. We often get stuck in a decision whether to go for an air cooler or a liquid cooler. Well, both of them can get their job done by lowering down your CPU temperature levels.
Nowadays, Liquid cooling has taken an edge over traditional air coolers because of their incredible and efficient cooling functionality, On top of that, all in one liquid cooler give your PC an aesthetic look as well.
All in One ( AIO) are plug and play liquid air coolers that can be easily installed on your PC which comes with a Water pump, Tubes and Radiator. You don’t need to assemble AIO liquid coolers as anyone can easily plug them into the motherboard without any technical knowledge.
The mechanism behind the working of the liquid cooler is a bit complex than air coolers. In a nutshell, the heat generated by the processor gets absorbed by the metal base plate fitted over the CPU. As a result, the liquid containing in the CPU block turns hot.
The tubes attached to the container helps to transfers the hot liquid (water) directly to the radiator. After that, the radiator dissipates the heat from the liquid with the help of the static pressure of fans. The other tube transfers the cold liquid to the container again. Hence, the cycle continues to absorb the heat and cools down your CPU.
Benefits of AIO Liquid Cooling
- AIO liquid coolers are lightweight when comparing to bulky air coolers.
- Liquid cooling tends to give better results when it comes to overclocking CPUs.
- Liquid coolers are less noisy than air coolers.
- Static airflow and massive heatsink.
Sizes of AIO Coolers
Aio liquid or water cooler comes in various sizes. However, there are 3 most commonly used sizes are 120 mm, 240 mm and 360 mm.
- 120 mm AIO: These AIO are good for low-mid range PCs. As they comes with a single fan, it still manages to does the job of keeping your processor tempratures balanced. If you have a small cabinet and don’t wanna go for the stock coolers. Then, you are left with only 120 mm AIO coolers your last choice.
- 240 mm AIO: If you are someone who’s into intensive gaming or video rendering which requires overclocking frequenty. Just go for a 240 mm AIO which currently the most popular ones in the market. They are equipped with 2 fans and delivers a perfect cooling for mid-high end CPUs like Ryzen 5 and intel core i7.
- 360 mm AIO: Although 240mm is quite efficient for all the CPUs unless you are having the premium line of processors like Ryzen 9 or Intel core i9, The 360 mm AIO comes with 3 fans which are more than enough to provide seamless cooling even while maximising the overclocks with premium CPUs.
Budget-Friendly 240 mm AIO Coolers
Coming up next, here are the top 5 most affordable 240mm AIO liquid coolers that you should definitely check out for your PC:
1. DEEPCOOL GAMMAXX L240 ARGB
Our very first recommendation without any doubt would be Deepcool Gammaxx L240 which is absolutely a value for money AIO cooler. Comes along with 2 decent quality ARGB fans which is acceptable for this price point. The build quality is solid as the tubes are quite durable and wrapped up with braided sleeves for a promising look.
Now looking at the performance of this cooler, you won’t regret buying it if you are looking for a budget-friendly cooler. Let’s take a look at the effectiveness of Deepcool L240.
We have used Ryzen 7 5800x while moderate usage and the results were quite good for high-end processors. The temperature we were getting was around 72-75 ° C constantly. Therefore, Deepcool has done a great job in balancing the performance of their budget segment AIOs.
2. Cooler Master MasterLiquid | ML240L ARGB V2
Cooler Master is well known for its superior build quality of components. And this AIO is standing tall for its brand. It features a dual-chamber pump along with a huge radiator to make sure it dissipates the maximum amount of heat.
The performance of this AIO is quite impressive as it makes less to no noise while gaming. The minimalistic design of CPU stock makes it look even more premium. If you are someone who doesn’t like the brand logos on AIO then you can go ahead with this one.
3. SilverStone PF240 Series Liquid Cooler
Silverstone budget segment AIO surely deserves a place on our list. The 240mm AIO is the perfect combination of design and performance. Talking about performance, the unit comes with 2 ARGB fans which don’t look like a cheap one. All thanks to its high static air pressure fans to maximise the heat dissipation.
The cable is braided and durable that is long enough to adjust your AIO on top or bottom. You won’t get a better AIO that offers performance and design in this price bracket.
Also, it comes with a controller to change the RGB effects if your motherboard doesn’t have any RGB headers.
4. Corsair Hydro H100x Liquid CPU Cooler
A simple yet so powerful in terms of performance. Despite not having flashy RGB lightning on fans, this AIO is still widely popular among PC users. Corsair has focused more on the build quality and performance for the AIO and clearly, the results are astonishing.
Although, the pump itself has a beautiful RGB logo along with an incredible radiator which has a large surface area for the heatsink. You can adjust the fans speed and corsair RGB with their dedicated software. The best part is, Corsair hydro is the easiest to install for any newbie among all the AIO’s.
5. MSI MAG CORELIQUID 240mm AIO
Another liquid cooler from a well-known brand. The MSI Mag cooler is built differently than other coolers in the market. Usually, other AIO coolers have an inbuilt pump inside the CPU component. However, this cooler has a pump installed on the radiator itself.
MSI has also stated the reason behind this design is to minimize the sound of processing the liquid within the tubes and makes it silent throughout the usage. The aesthetics and designs are crafted to perfection as the vivid Msi logo and RGB fans are really eye-catching.
In terms of performance, it performs quite average for high-end processors but it justifies the price of the overall build and features.
Frequently Asked Questions
On average, the lifespan of a good AIO liquid cooler is anywhere around 3-5 years.
No, All in one cooler doesn’t require any maintenance.
Currently, almost all the brands have implemented the no leak technology, which prevents it from leaking any liquid to avoid damage.
