Antec Mercury 240 AIO Liquid Cooler Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

Priced at around £75, this is reasonably inexpensive for a 240 AIO liquid cooler. Particularly one that has some nice LED effects and impressive performance figures. In this price range, it does, of course, find itself in competition with a lot of other brands. It is, however, towards the lower-end of the scale and this should be enough to tempt people into, at the very least, considering the Antec Mercury 240 as their next cooling solution.

Overview

AIO coolers fan sometimes struggle to pull off a look that would be pleasing to many. They are either too bland for their own good or riddles with enough RGB lighting to give you a seizure. In this instance, however, the Antec Mercury 240 has found an excellent balance. Not only does it look good when turned off, but the basic (but effective) visual effects give this a dimension most products don’t have.

It might be a little concerning, at least from a marketing standpoint, that the box doesn’t make mention of the AM4 socket, which I again confirm is included. Given the popularity of Ryzen in the last year, such an omission might cost sales. That being said it’s also possible that Antec has updated their box work accordingly now.

Build Quality

In terms of build-quality nothing feels cheap (with the exception of the interior cardboard) and for a product in this price range that is unusual. I had absolutely no concerns about the quality of the product which incidentally Antec rate the fans as having a 40,000 lifespan and the pump 50,000. That’s a lot of running time and with the figures this produces, it clearly speaks volumes of how much confidence even the manufacturer has in it.

Fans

The cooler comes packaged with 2 Antec fans which look, feel and perform to a high standard. There are some nice touches which include the padded edges to the corners where you attach them to the radiator. Although I could not find anything specific to say so, I presume that this is to reduce any vibration. From an aesthetic standpoint, where many just provide you with a black or grey 120mm square, it’s nice to see a little effort has been put into making these look impressive.

Performance

In both stock and overclocked levels, this cooler did fantastically. It performed massively over expectation and in terms of 240 AIO coolers was one of the best we have seen recently. That being said, it’s hard to deny that the noise figures are not too dazzling. It would have been nicer to say that in terms of looks, performance and noise this one hit it out of the park. The latter, item, however, just lets it down a little.

Without meaning to sound too downbeat though, I’d remind you of the price and that within that budget, the performance figures alone make this highly impressive.

Should I Buy One?

This depends on your priorities. If you value looks and performance then definitely. For the price, this is definitely one of the best performers in both categories we have seen. The lack of dazzling RGB lighting, while providing a temperature reflective system is also a very nice touch that will attract many. If, on the other hand, you care more about silent running, it’s hard to endorse this for you. Personally, I had no issue with the sound levels sitting less than 2′ away on a test bench.

In an enclosed system, with perhaps a tempered glass side, this cooler will not make any notable noise and will look fantastic. If that wasn’t enough for you, it will give you top performance, even when overclocking to ensure you get the maximum possible from your CPU. What more could you possibly ask?

We would usually give this the ‘bang for buck’ award, but for the performance figures alone, it deserves slightly higher praise.

Pros

• Separated Intel and AMD fixtures in a labelled bag make installation easy.
• Well presented.
• The lighting effects (to reflect temperature) is a lighting perk that not even the most ardent haters could dislike.
• Punches well above its price with top performance figures.
• True top performance competing with many more expensive or prestigious brands.

Cons

• The lack of notification of the AM4 bracket on the box is a massive oversight which might make many turn away from this excellent product.

Neutral

• Noise figures are higher than usually seen.