Cooler Master Eisberg 240L Prestige Liquid Cooler Review

Cooler Master’s Eisberg 240L Prestige costs £131.99 in the UK. This isn’t exactly cheap, but I’d be foolish to just write the Eisberg 240L Prestige off for being over-priced compared to AIOs because it is clearly more than an AIO. The Cooler Master Eisberg 240L is unique because of one thing, that’s the pump reservoir combo unit. The radiator is good quality especially compared to AIO aluminium radiators but in practice copper doesn’t always make that much difference as our results show. The fans are okay, but for the money I’d definitely of wanted to see some fans that perform better.

Yet the pump unit is excellent. Why? Well firstly it has a huge amount of power, even at 5 volts, and this is enough to expand and add a graphics card water block to the loop quite easily. Secondly, it eliminates the need for a CPU water block, pump unit and resevoir unit, it is even better than a pump/res combo bay just because it sits all in one place and a pump/res combo unit would still need a CPU block. Unlike the Swiftech H220, its main competitor in my eyes, the reservoir is located in the pump/res/cpu block unit and not in the radiator. This means you don’t need to use the provided radiator and fans and can choose any configuration you like. This is great because it essentially means you can pick your own radiator and your own fans and buy the pump/res/cpu block unit separately and you’d have a custom loop, without the hassle of a custom loop. Although obviously this requires some degree of knowledge and effort to construct.

This leads on nicely to the Eisberg 240L Prestige as an AIO. As an AIO the Eisberg 240L isn’t that great. However, I will explain why. Firstly, you are paying for a pump/res/cpu block unit that is totally overkill for the relatively average fans and radiator you get. This means the Eisberg 240L Prestige is very expensive but actually performs very similarly because it is limited by the radiator and fans. The Swiftech H220 and Corsair H100i perform almost identically to the Eisberg 240L, while the Corsair H110 and NZXT Kraken X60 beat it. Secondly, the fans just don’t do the unit justice. I don’t know whether Cooler Master or Alphacool makes these fans, I’d take a pot shot at Cooler Master, but they just aren’t radiator optimised and you can tell from their performance. This isn’t a problem for a low cost aluminium AIO design, like the Seidon 240M, but for such a premium unit I think the fans needed to be better. Finally, and perhaps the most obvious reason why the Eisberg 240L isn’t that great an AIO, is the price. For £135~ if you have no intention of expanding this unit then you are paying a huge premium for an “extra” that you won’t use. You are better off buying something like a Cooler Master Seidon 240M which is much cheaper and suits your needs better.

While it may sound like I am attacking this product, I can assure I am not. Cooler Master’s Eisberg as a concept is great and its essentially the heart of an water cooling system crammed into one unit. That part is excellent, I just don’t agree with Cooler Master’s choice of fans and radiator at the given price. I feel that Cooler Master could have created a similarly performing loop at a lower price or created a better performing loop for the same price. If someone was to ask me whether they should buy an Eisberg unit then my answer would be quite simple. It depends on what you are going to use it for. If you just want an AIO, you should seriously consider something cheaper, like the Seidon 240M. If you want to get into water cooling, and you want to expand a loop at a later date then the Eisberg 240L Prestige will be great for that. It would also be a lot better than the Swiftech H220 in the sense that you could replace the radiator whilst still retaining the reservoir, unlike the Swiftech H220 where replacing the radiator means losing the reservoir. For example you may want to upgrade to a thicker 240mm radiator or to a 360mm radiator by replacing the current one.Another use is that if you have a small form factor gaming system, the Eisberg pump unit is great because you can build a custom water cooling loop but save immense amounts of space by using the Eisberg pump unit which eliminates the need for a separate pump or reservoir.

Pros

• Pump/reservoir unit is extremely versatile and powerful
• Provided tubing is excellent
• Attention to detail on cabling and sleeving is very high
• Overall build quality is really excellent
• Reservoir is integrated into pump not radiator
• Expandable
• Pump unit can be purchased separately
• Mounting is tool-less
• No backplate required

Cons

• High price
• Installation manual is unclear
• Pump is very loud above 5 volts
• Fans are average and don’t seem radiator optimised
• Doesn’t really perform any better than much cheaper 240mm AIO competitors

eTeknix says: Cooler Master’s Eisberg 240L Prestige is a refreshingly different and innovative take on easy water cooling. It comes highly recommended as an excellent starting point for a water cooled system. It boasts quality components and attention to detail that most AIOs just don’t have, but to get your value for money users really have to take advantage of the expandability and top notch Eisberg pump/res combo unit. As a result we recommend using this if you want to add more radiators or a GPU but we don’t feel this product is worthwhile when used as an AIO, if you are just interested in having an AIO then the Cooler Master Seidon 240M, among others, are much better value for money.

Thank you to Cooler Master for providing this review sample.