This is what happens when companies actually listen!

I feel like companies are finally starting to listen to consumers! Small steps leads to long journeys... or some shit like that...
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[@marc3793]

Whenever I watch Jay's videos I always think "it's just 3 mates doing what they love"...and that's what makes it great.

[@JustAnOldPyro]

I hear you there... when I first stumbled across his videos I had to do a double take as I had originally thought my previous roommate / co-worker started a KZbin channel.

[@fugginrambo]

Where I'm from it's called an Orgy

[@ksks6802]

I think his content has taken a dive. Of course that's just me.

[@ryanq.4799]

The vids + RTFM are a great break from the more “serious”/intense channels/work (I.e. LTT)

[@BreakinoutGaming]

🤘🏻

[@PaulLemars01]

The comparable Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 is currently at Newegg for $125 and Arctic's QC and customer support is exemplary, not to mention the Arctic's radiator is 35mm thick. I know which brand I'd go for. The rookie mistake of the serial number being torn off by the protective film is indicative of EK's attention to detail.

[@Gazer75]

Oh really? That is nice. I was looking for them to compared to Europe, and couldn't find any with comparable price. The few ALF2 I found was like 150-170.

[@ComputerGeeks-R-Us]

That's what I went for. No RGB for my rig and the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 works like a champ.

[@username8644]

Especially since almost all AIOs are exactly the same and all come from the same manufacturers.

[@maxime7771]

I have i7-13700K with Artic Liquid Freezer II 360 and it works great. I love EK products but its QC decrease with still high price. And, f**k, I don't pay high price to have aluminium radiator ... So, still on Artic until I do custum loop.

[@ghosthorse77]

I'm from the UK, and I like Arctic Freezer and have had no problems.

[@theduck17]

EK's QA leaves a lot to be desired. I built a full custom loop using their products and their leak tester had a leak in it. It took me way too long to figure that out.

[@TalesOfWar]

Should have used a leak tester on the leak tester to test for leaks for the leak tester. Did they replace it? Sometimes it just happens that you get a duff product, it's how they fix it that really matters.

[@robinmaurer2645]

You mean a leak tester tester?

[@demonofelru3214]

I have become a huge fan of Aquacomputer products.

[@Some1_Some1_Some1_Some1]

Same experience with my first watercooling build recently. Also, even though they're pretty much the most expensive, they offer the least. 45$ for a box of fittings and can't throw in an extra 20 cents o-ring or two 400$ for a waterblock, and they don't even bother to preinstall thermal pads

[@vandermitch5146]

yep we stop selling them at my shop because of too many return and complain

[@michaelthompson9798]

Good to see EK showing their QC issues on video ….. which I’ve personally experienced on 3 generations of EK GPU waterblocks from missing screw parts, receiving about 1/3 of the required thermal pads, leaking fill-port fitting within a week of use and some hassles getting said parts sent out / replaced etc …… I’ve gone to Bykski, saved heaps of $$$ and no hassles with their GPU Waterblock.…… I know which next water cooled build Waterblock manufacturer I’m going to next.

[@Knaeckebrotsaege]

Similar story here with a pinched o-ring on a brand new EK Quantum Vector RX6800/6900 block that caused a quite dramatic leak/fountain. After googling around a bit it seems this is pretty much normal in terms of EKs QA in the past couple years. Quite shameful for the prices that keep increasing. I now try to look at what alphacool has to offer first, or in terms of adapters and fittings barrow and bitspower too. Bykski stuff seems strangely hard to find here. Only a few shops offer fittings and associated bits and pieces, and blocks seem almost completely unobtanium

[@csjpokey]

lol yet you kept buying them. Odd.

[@ZombieLurker]

Ek just recently sold me a 3090Ti Gpu water block that had already been previously opened and returned. Their response to me was, "We don't sell open box or returned products on our website". Never purchasing from them again. The QC sticker was also missing. So their is 100% something going on with their QC department.

[@quantum5661]

thats pretty sus of them

[@EricFixalot]

I was torn between going with EK or Arctic. Customer service with Arctic has always been good for me so that makes it easy.

[@KunoMochi]

Where did you purchase it from? If it's from a site like Amazon, was it sold and shipped by either EK or Amazon, or some third third party seller?

[@theduck17]

@@EricFixalot go Arctic, their product tests better and QC is on point. I have a full EKWB custom loop and i've had multiple QC problems with their leak tester, ARGB fans and a leaky fitting. All things that should've never got passed QC but here we are.

[@MudSluggerBP]

There 👍🏻

[@deandremoore905]

This may be comparatively "cheap," but it's also a $40 increase in price over their previous non-RGB Basic 360 AIO from their previous generation of AIO's.

[@stijntakesitall]

Fair point. Inflation right? Right…?

[@reanimationxp]

@@stijntakesitall i'm sick of hearing companies bitch about inflation. they can afford to eat it. we can't.

[@reanimationxp]

came here to say this. are people actually bitching because they have the OPTION of RGB? here's a thought genius.. don't plug it in. leave the rest of us with 10 year old pc's who are just now getting our first expensive RGB build alone. if you tell companies you want LESS features, they'll give you exactly that and charge us all more.

[@stephanstangl5573]

It´s also not the only non RGB AIO out there. Basically nearly every brand has them...

[@stanley3647]

It's not only more expensive, but also incomplete ;) (missing rubber damper)

[@rlig5932]

Defects happen so often on the retail version of units. It was great to see you experience the pain us commoners have since we don't get free units shipped to us in Pelican cases :)

[@davidjames0106]

Funny to see that defect after Jay just put a video out saying brands are pushing products through, and QC is lacking. Then EK, a higher end brand, comes in, and sure enough has a stupid defect that should have been easily seen by QC.

[@xT1MOTHYx]

Shoots fired… boom boom boom

[@seriouscat2231]

@@xT1MOTHYx, shots, not shoots.

[@superzomb2123]

​@@seriouscat2231 no its shoots :)

[@seriouscat2231]

@@superzomb2123, you're torturing me :)

[@Efreeti]

Here in Norway this AIO is so far the equivalent of $254. Compared to the $122 of an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 or $170 for a Lian Li Galahad 360. A Corsair H150i Elite Capellix meanwhile is $268.

[@qarinah8586]

That is crazy. I always hate how americans get lower prices compared to europe (most stuff) Your prices are similar to Croatian but around 10$ more here.

[@thorlus]

@@qarinah8586 most people forget that when US prizes are shown for things that these don't include taxes (VAT) bc of the different tax rates depending on the state you are buying the stuff which is not a thing here in europe where you always have to show the prize including VAT. But yeah even then the gap is smaller there's still a gap between prizing most of the time.

[@dagolf06]

Paid 190 something USD for mine. It is the lux rgb. Gladly paid a little extra for high quality. But 250+ is crazy! I feel for you guys that absolutely sucks!

[@officialyashvirgaming]

@@dagolf06 how to change logo or can we put a logo in that EK nucleas AIO

[@Ancipital_]

The lack of a rubber is a deal breaker to me.

[@rexlupis]

For "No RGB! Reduce the price!" there's a really good option in the Arctic Freezer II 360 which is what I used in my current build which has as little RGB as possible. (Also using Noctua fans with no RGB as case fans.) Steve from Gamers Nexus gave them a stellar review when he reviewed that AIO a few years ago and from my short experience using one, even after having gone with a fully custom loop in one of my previous builds, it seems to be excellent for cooling my 7900X3D. My build was cursed for a while with a bad mobo that was frying graphics cards and somehow fried the high power GPU cable, but it's finally up and running now... The inside is barely visible since basically only the small strip in the Phantex EVO II and the Soundblaster AE 7 are the only components that light up in it and I'm rather happy with both its thermal performance and noise.

[@szaszm_]

How is your mobo frying the cable between your GPU and PSU? The motherboard should have no control there.

[@blahorgaslisk7763]

I'm firmly on the Arctic train as I don't want any RGB or lights of any kinds in my computer. The only light I've ever liked was the swan neck service light in some LianLi cases (was it the V1000?) way back. Only problem was they were powered by the PSU, so when the computer was turned off they were useless. Still I appreciated the idea of having a work light in the computer even if it didn't really work out in the end.

[@TheJamesLykins]

Sounds more like your PSU fried the GPU / mobo

[@AshLordCurry]

The inside of my computer is the last thing I want to see. I don't understand the rgb hype.

[@jmike8934]

They did reduce the price by $45 USD compared to the RGB version. You can't compare price of the Nucleus directly to the Arctic Freezer II as there are differences that account for the price. The EK has much higher quality connectors at both the block and radiator as well as having the option to refill.

[@ViceGripGarage]

appreciate ya buddy!

[@CalcProgrammer1]

I love my RGB but I'm glad non-RGB options still exist for those who don't. Looks like a nice cooler. I've had good experiences with EK products.

[@AbbStar1989]

Agreed. I love RGB but if you don't then you could always turn it off?

[@jonathanluttrell1380]

As someone who was anti-RGB thanks for making OpenRGB. You made dealing with RGB easy.

[@TheExileFox]

imagine buying non-rgb and then adding your own rgb strips xD

[@GD_MoonBlister]

Glad to see more and more company's offering a non rbg option to parts. Some of us out there do not care for rainbow diarrhea options and want to keep the cost down as much as possible. Thanks Jay!

[@fridaycaliforniaa236]

Same for glass panels that explode. I want a fully closed case with only vents for airflow =)

[@bobbygetsbanned6049]

@@fridaycaliforniaa236 Vents, dust filters, no rgb or glass, that's all I want.

[@shammy6064]

you realize you can just turn off the rgb? it would make sense if it was cheaper than the RGB version but seeing as its priced exactly the same. why wouldn't you just get the RGB version and just disable the RGB?

[@Teddyk_]

My main problem is that in "essential" stuff like motherboards, GPUs and so on, if you want to move up on performance (and feature) tiers, you most certainly are forcefed unnecesssary stuff like RGB. So you can't buy a motherboard with (example) "the best" VRMs without also getting funky paintjobs, RGBs, keychains, stickers, 5 M.2 slots and 50 USB ports.

[@taproot0619]

Maybe it's because it's sold on amazon so prices are crazy, but when I needed a good AIO with no RGB, I was able to get the Arctic liquid freezer 2 420mm for $140. Now its selling for over $200. And the 360mm varient is selling for $180 when, 2 months ago, it was selling for $120. Prices are weird...

[@jackend8400]

I couldn't agree more! It's great to see companies listening to what their customers want and making changes accordingly. It shows that they care about their consumers and are willing to put in the effort to exceed their expectations. Keep up the good work! 👍

[@TheMistr25]

I recently did a new build, and while I had issues during build (maybe my own installation issues), I am SO HAPPY that the only component that has RGB is only the little logo on the GPU (that can probably be turned off but I can't be bothered). I need my PC to do computation. I have actual meters of controllable RGB strips to shine me away separate from the PC. Oh and also insanely happy I found a case without an acrylic side panel. Finding something to replicate the "cool'n'quiet" aspects even visually from my build from the 2011 was harder than I had hoped for.

[@snortder]

Sweeeet! I really dislike RGB. I don't need my PC looking like a 3 ring circus

[@lm4278]

about time. Not everyone wants their rig to look like a ufo. I like mine completely dark.

[@RafitoOoO]

I like just a little light, usually on the ram stick and the waterblock and that's it. Enough to see my components in the dark but not enough to light my room at night.

[@markb5775]

But a ufo rig will get at least 10 more fps

[@The1astGuardian]

You can usually turn it off tho 🤷‍♂️

[@davide4725]

Mine has the ability to do both, good RGB can be turned off.

[@Sareth94]

@@The1astGuardian you can still usually see the white plastic inserts where the LEDs are though. And they're usually not subtle - it's not going to look like a blackout build, it's looking like an RGB build that's turned off...

[@luketurner314]

I've utilized the RGB on the front of my system to indicate the temperature of the CPU, GPU, and mobo. iCue even has a preset called "Temperature"

[@QuantumS1ngularity]

What i like about AsRock's mobos is that basically all of their CPU fan headers has also added /WP and from BIOS you can select that heather as a water pump and it automatically ramps it up to 100%. You can then adjust the speed of the pump, but unless you have a seriously loud one, there is no need for that.

[@BlackMageLozi]

When I built my new computer the only RGB it had was on the keyboard and mouse. On the third day of use, the one for the mouse lives off and the one for the keyboard is at a minimum just to see the keys haha. I don't understand how that market for annoying little lights really grew so much.

[@ZnakerFIN]

I used to be against RGB. Part of that was due to a lot of people going way over the top with it. Part of it was that I had a case with no way of really seeing the RGB even if I'd had it. Now that I have the Lian Li Lancool 216, and the RGB version was the only one available to buy here, I'm considering changing to their RGB fans and Galahad AIO. But still going to be subtle with the lights.

[@bjgaspar]

No matter how many times I've seen the World of Warships promo, I break every time I hear Phil pop-in with "YEAH!"

[@MrGhostface_]

I just built my 2nd computer and the RGB cables were an absolute nightmare... Corsair Icue case with 3 fans, MSI AIO cooler, and a solo cooler master fan. Spent ages trying to get them all working properly but seeing everything lit up ( especially in a dark room ) was worth it 👍 I definitely understand the frustration of setting them up and the cost for a trend most people don't see the point of.

[@TalesOfWar]

A lot of people just don't like it and think it looks tacky (I'm in that camp) more than being annoyed at how tedious it can be to get it all working, but to each their own. If you like it then that's great and its nice to have the option. I just turn it off and it's the same result as it not being there to begin with, it's just kind of annoying that I had to pay for it to not use it lol. It's like when TV's were 3D for a few years, it was almost impossible to buy one that didn't have it then the TV makers were all like "oh everyone clearly wants it because that's all they buy!". I think we're in the same place with RGB lol. RGB isn't a gimmick though like 3D was, so probably not the best example, but you get my point lol.

[@MrGhostface_]

@@TalesOfWar I understand your point 100% . Another example is Tempered Glass, there's a lot of people who don't like it or want it but really it's starting to phase out acrylic side panels, so what do people do? I guess its the same with RGB.

[@totallynottrademarked5279]

@@TalesOfWar I don't understand why people don't just set them to white... I need to be able to see if a leak develops. Also Lian Li's solution is far superior to anyone else and is no more work than having a PWM hub.

[@bjorn1583]

@@MrGhostface_ there are also people that still use optical drives and are fed up with the lack of cases with drive slots because its always about how many fans and rgb can be crammed in the case

[@Slane583]

@@bjorn1583 I've read a few reviews of people whining about cases not having a place for an optical drive. The problem is instead of finding a solution to their problem they would rather whine about it than fix it. They go for the popular flashy RGB enabled cases knowing they are made for high air flow and whine that an obstructive spot for a dvd-rom isn't in an AIR FLOW case. The way I see it, if you're spending $160 on a fancy case that obviously doesn't have a spot for an optical drive then just buy an external dvd drive that plugs into a USB port. Problem solved! If you can afford a $160 case you can afford an extra $35 for a cheap external dvd burner. I stopped caring about having optical drives in my computer when they started making cases that got rid of them. If I was to ever get back into burning media again I would go for an external dvd/bluray burner and put it away when not in use.

[@P4NCH1]

The main problem with RGB on todays PC parts is that they almost never include a hard switch to turn them off. I for e.g. take this issue personally cause I don't like the Sapphire's logo of my GPU blinding me but I have no way to turn it off as the first party RGB soft is only for Windows and, in that matter, I don't even know if in Win is possible to turn it off anyways :/

[@GBLecci]

I honestly prefer RGB but from time to time some full black stuff is quite nice to see. This one looks really neat.

[@JeepVsix]

you can alway's turn the rgb off, that's what i do when watching movies on my pc

[@thelmaviaduct]

Raging 😱🐹🌈

[@cgourin]

Can you imagine the amount of R&D that went into removing RGB, genius!

[@dreamshooter90]

Why not Noctua brown on beige? :3

[@Frenoir]

@@dreamshooter90 they also have the chromax stuff and that shits awesome

[@marcom2248]

I'm too old for a lightshow under my desk...😂

[@yukeyyashiro4806]

I just got the EK 360 basic as the discontinued it, and now this comes out 😄 oh well I needed a new aio and it's just nice to know I didn't have to go super high priced or forced argb that i didn't want but still got a good product. Thanks Jay Phil and Nic for demoing these products for us.

[@sublime2craig]

Got the same one on sale from Newegg for only $102, super deal for a quality AIO...

[@gj4178]

THANK YOU for not editing out the QA stuff. It shows you want the viewers to have the same experience as if they were opening it in their home.

[@robertmccracken6930]

QC usually doesn't check each individual item, they take a random sample of parts during production to check for flaws and/or specs

[@jakephilbrick7384]

Yes but everyone on the production line should be checking parts for defects.

[@kramnull8962]

@@jakephilbrick7384 50/50 job. 50% on the smartphone 25% doing the job 12.5% looking for an excuse to shut production down 12.5% being wrong and stopping production for nothing...

[@TrepidDestiny]

@@kramnull8962 That was a very long winded way of saying you believe their production workers are lazy.

[@jakephilbrick7384]

@@TrepidDestiny He is saying that's what 90% of production lines are like now.

[@squidwardo7074]

@@TrepidDestiny It's not about laziness it's that you would spend all day if you checked every part thoroughly.

[@Toliman.]

I'm probably not alone, but 10 years ago, EKWB was the high end (ignoring aquacomputer and the early hard-line products) of WC. Then they had competition... and suddenly they have QC problems, pre-cracked perspex, snapped screw-threads, clip/seals/couplers that were broken or ineffective, causing leaks, etc. They were the top of the field... until they weren't. Coming from asetek and other companies, it was enlightening. I bought a kit around 2014, had leaks during the first fill of the radiator, sic very early with the barb clips. Swapped every barb in the kit with a screw-type compression fitting, and this caused other leaks to come up, eventually replaced the EK GPU and CPU block, and added another black ice 120mm radiator to the 360mm in the kit to alleviate the CPU heat. . Retailer didn't accept the return as it was 'user error' with the cracked perspex when removing the hand-tightened barbs supplied, sic. I thought they only cracked when you over-tightened the barbs, but IDK. I glued and rubber-sealed the joint, but got nervous about how reliable it was, so got another WB. The only thing that worked was the pump (D5, not made by EK) and the radiator, but had to swap that when I pulled out the working components. Cost something like $400 to fix a $300 kit. the replacement parts are still working, 10 years later. Also bought a 2080Ti 'rgb' waterblock from china for $50, never had the EK issues, sic.

[@Gazer75]

Should compare this to the Arctic model, and I believe a couple more fairly known brands.

[@raymiku9910]

Non-RGB is always a nice option and not only for aesthethic purposes. Many people can't see the insides of their computers from their chairs, so it's always painful spending extra money on RGB components when they won't be able to see them 99% of the times. If not having RGB means they will go easier on the price, then it's a solid deal for those users. (I am "those" users).

[@yoltsbp]

Can just get the Artic 360 for less. I’ve had my fair share of faulty aios so I stick to custom loops which cool better, have better looks, and easy to expand or fix an issue if something happens.

[@GrizzAxxemann]

I long for the day when Arctic gets into the custom watercooling biz.

[@moxlolol]

yeah these influencers can show off these AIOs as much as they want but anyone with a brain would pick Arctic every time. Performance > tiny screens with bad pumps

[@GrizzAxxemann]

@@moxlolol Only reason I'm using a Corsair AIO is because it was cheaper than the air cooler I was planning on buying to replace a 12 year old Arctic Freezer whose fan died. Back then, the fan housing was molded to snap on to the fin stack instead of using clips. Why spend $35CAD on an updated Arctic Freezer when I could (at the time) get an H50 for $20?

[@Gazer75]

Arctic LF2s are not that cheap in the US for some reason. I was kind of surprised when I looked at some pricing compared to Europe.

[@highchiller]

Jay: "EK what the heck man. How is that gonna make it through QC?" EK: "Thats easy without QC. We have practicing it a lot for the past years now!"

[@kramnull8962]

I tried the Lian Li 360 AIO from Micro Center for my 13700K. $149 and really is decent compared to the nearest $229 priced 360 cooler. 5.4Ghz all core all core. Generally staying about. It was easy to assemble and like yours had plenty of wiring to make everything work great. The fan wires are actually long enough to wire from the cooler to the motherboard if needed.

[@mrjiggs8]

I've had 3 EK AIO's fail all within 2 years never buying them again. And ZERO customer service.

[@ChancySanah]

I find the mood lighting of an rgb setup kinda relaxing as my computer is my room, also it gives me just enough light to not trip over my cat and dive out the bloody window when I get up at 3am.

[@0wl999]

@Chancy Sanah then the solution is to get the cat a bright rgb collar so you can see it in the dark lol. Our tortishell cat keeps getting tripped over cause she blends in with the floor in the dark. 😁😻😻😻

[@polelix1023]

How about turn on the lamp?

[@nuanil]

@@polelix1023 too fucking bright. Who the fuck can see anything when blinded by a light bulb?

[@Teklien]

I recently did a complete tear down & deep cleaning on my 011 mini build. I have the EK distro plate in the front & noticed neither of my flow meters were moving very fast. So when I did the rebuild I swapped out my velocity CPU block for my old Alphacool Eisbaer CPU/Pump for a low key dual pump build. Water flow is crazy now LOL

[@thqp]

As much as I like these general overviews of the products, some performance test would be nice to go along with it.

[@josephgeisner8703]

Gunna preform the same as any 360 aio. They are all the same with the same Asetek pump.

[@TalesOfWar]

@@josephgeisner8703 This isn't an Asetek pump, as he mentioned a few times. It's their own custom design (or someone else's, either way it isn't an Asetek).

[@josephgeisner8703]

@TalesOfWar he doesn't say it's not an Asetek pump it just says it's not your typical Asetek rebrand.

[@DerrickRG]

@@josephgeisner8703 Exactly. Pump in block is an Asetek copyright, no matter how it's designed.

[@jmike8934]

​@@josephgeisner8703 You left off a key part of that which is: "it is designed from the ground up". What that means is EK used their own in house manufactured res, pump and heat exchanger. Just by the initial glance you can tell it's not an Astek pump unit because of how tall it is and are likely using an EK spec'd DC-LT2 pump like the Alphacool spec'd one in the Eisbaer series.

[@vikingunderworldgaming2331]

Well done mate, well done 👏

[@rawgage7]

9:18 Pro Tip: "... chamfered edge..." is pronounced SHamfered as in chateau; and "rad-iator" is pronounced RAY-diator because it RAY-diates 😎👍

[@Brigade069]

I had a EK 360 aio was a special run had the gold cap. Was nice but at about 1 year the pump stopped running. They refunded me the full price as it was no longer in stock was $270 usd.

[@Brigade069]

EK-AIO Elite Aurum 360 D-RGB was $229 they also refunded shipping cost so was nice.

[@CarnorJast1138]

When I first got into RGB a few years ago, I was all, "Everything has to be RGB! All of it!". Then I began to realize, or see, that there are places that RGB is unnecessary, and now, my RGB is very much toned down compared to just a few years ago. My keyboard, mouse and mouse pad are RGB, but that's it. The case has some RGB strips on it (The Alienware Triad Case), but they are subtle and not garish like what I used to have. More simply, they are accents, than "in your face" RGB. I like RGB, but I'm not as crazy with it as I used to be.

[@politenessman3901]

I was ahead of the curve, I never wanted my PC to look like a disco. Solid sides, either no lights or lights turned off.

[@HDXLH1200YT]

Kinda funny when jay first talks about rgb being in every product and making them more expensive but then proceeds to talking about how ek is a premium brand which charges you accordingly

[@SeijinSA]

EK's QC/RMA is like going back in time 20 years to a mom and pop shop. Distribution is completely detached and not ran though the same QC as EK Corp. In the process of trying to RMA a dead pump/AIO Email was only responded to once a day between Eastern Euro Hours. Initial troubleshooting was ignored and reasked though the process ending up taking upwards of 5 days via email. Once established that the part was damaged, a replacement was shipped from the regional distribution. This part itself was water damaged to the point the box was falling apart/soft. It also had physical defects due to impact/bent radiator housing. After about the 3rd day I just ordered a new AIO from another vendor. After 45 days, I was able to get the replacement undamaged part, but now it just sits on a shelf as a reminder of how bad the RMA/QC process is with EK, and short of running a custom loop, I would be extremely hesitant to interact with them again.

[@CrackedCogInTheMachine]

It is one of those bizarre trends that just never stopped. RGB on EVERYTHING. The only thing that has lights on mine is the evga graphics on the side of my gpu, just a dark blue light. That gets covered by a solid metal side of my case. It just sits there quietly churning away, makes a little bit of noise when im gaming. The way it should be. I don't need a disco in my office.

[@Dragonited]

I would like to see an AIO solution that have no cables from the pump at all by routing it inside the sleaving for the tubes up to the radiator and then have a cable from there to the pump header on the motherboard. It would look so much cleaner. The same goes with the USB for screens and aditional features some AIOs have.

[@genxracer]

I had a EK Nucleus Lux and the screws holes in the radiator were not even tapped I had to force them with major pressure and thread them with the screws and also the pump made a ticking sound. Returned!

[@williamriley3125]

QC doesn’t check every single product unfortunately. It’s usually based on a small percentage of batches. Some companies don’t QC very often at all. Maybe once a quarter or less.

[@darrenkhouston]

Derek would be proud to know you called it a "Rad-jiator". As a long time viewer of both channels, was very happy to see this crossover.

[@praetorxyn]

I pre-ordered the Nucleus 360 AIO with LCD screen like two years ago or something, and it's been delayed ever since. They kept e-mailing saying you could get a free existing EK AIO in exchange or just wait. So I waited. Then here recently they basically just said it wasn't going to come out and asked for bank account info for a refund, which they did refund me at least.

[@Omega247]

FINALLY! I've actually been looking for this! I'm so over RGB and the bloatware needed for it!

[@wizpig64]

I bought a kit a few years ago that had a radiator with a bad thread, and they shipped me a new rad all the way from europe for free. so now my pc has two :D

[@tijnsnijders]

I am in the non-rgb camp. Yes, it looks good, in some systems it looks sick AF. I, personally, like to game in the dark. Next to that, when I am not gaming, i have my lights on in the room, so it really doesn't add anything for my PC. If I was searching the market for an AIO, this would seriously be a good option for me.

[@SiliconPower74]

Arctic Liquid Freezer 2 360 has been out there for some years now and still the best overall AIO. -Internal brand desing -Similar perfomance as EK or NZXT -Much cheaper than EK, NZXT or Corsair -Full range of rad size with and without RGB -Cable management is a dream compared with ALL the other brands (The rad has a cable harness for the fans, goes to the pump by the tube sleeve and everything plug into one single fan header in mobo) -Pump is completely silent and it has a VRM fan incorporated. -Specific offset mount position for Ryzen -6 year warranty -yisus from Gamers Nexus approves this AIO I had worked building gaming PCs in a big company for a couple years. We didnt sell arctic AIO, everything was Corsair, NZXT, Cooler Master, Lian-Li or MSI. I got the arctic 360 (non-RGB) two weeks ago and can say, this AIO is the easier to install compared to the others brands BY FAR. Even after installing hundreds of them, I still have nightmares with the commander Pro, elite capellix and Masterliquid RGB fan controllers.

[@turtlewax3849]

Thank you EK for no RGB. The EK logo on the fan though looks a lot like Sapphire Tech's logo on their fans for their video cards. If so, top notch cooling!

[@The_Opinion_of_Matt]

My ARTIC Liquid Freezer II 420mm A-RGB AIO was only about $165 when I bought it last October. PC part picker shows it is $244 on Amazon right now though. PC Part Picker also shows it was $164 the last time it was available from Newegg. When I bought mine it was only available from Amazon and I hate giving Amazon any money because of how they treat their workers. I bought it for my R9 7900X build and I was struggling to confirm any other coolers would mount properly on the AM5 socket. Compatible AM4 didn't always mean compatible with AM5 at the time. ARTIC was the only brand I could confidently confirm compatibility. Thanks Steve!

[@ConfusedRaccoon]

I live near Exeter. It makes me smile every time I see this sponser spot and you says Eggsiter.

[@radbanshee4508]

My favorite part of RGB? I can just turn it all off or just pick a color of the day, make it bright or dim. I mostly use all green dimmed or all white dimmed. But 50% of the time I just turn it all off.

[@DieselThunderAviation]

On the PC I built at Christmas, I bought fab and a cooler that came with RGB. I’m neutral about it and since the build, it’s been set to a solid color and has not changed.

[@__khaycee__]

Maybe, at these price points, EK could easily step up their QA game a little bit.

[@dressdenblack]

My newest build I went anti RGB, Everyone before had the RGB fans ect. This one I went all stealth with the exception of the grays on the Mobo.

[@bloodcarver913]

RGB lighting SUCKS IMO. I only buy Bequiet black fans. Why install more heat in the chassis?

[@PhotonHerald]

Reasoning similar to this is why I went with the Alphacool Eisbaer 420 AIO. The fact that the unit's expandable and refillable is just icing on the cake.

[@LRODGT_77]

The RGB "Subscribe pls" at the end, is cherry on the top!! 🤣🤣

[@Shard113]

So what happens is malicious compliance.

[@edge8625]

Thanks for the pump pin tip, I forgot to put it there and thought oh well. will fix it now

[@dennissmith1435]

All black isn't new for EK AIOs. They had the "basic" version of their AIO for some time prior to coming out with the next iteration, the Nucleus. The Nucleus is just their "next gen" AIO.

[@D.K81]

I just ordered one of these a few days ago on Amazon. I can't wait to put it in my new system

[@Shiggstream]

All black has a sort of classic, timeless feel in PCs to me. I really don't like white themed builds, but what I'd really like to see is more colors. Think of the Montech Sky Two case in morocco blue, or the various colors of the Fractal Pop cases. NZXT even made some 120mm fans a few years back that had these removable plastic accent rings on the frame, and while they didn't offer color variations that I remember, you could paint them and they looked nice. I also wish there were more silver/gunmetal type mobos and stuff. I've always thought a nice gunmetal and brushed aluminum build would look great with a single accent strip of leds and a few color splash touches like fan accents. Maybe someday.

[@nicholasdeluca3420]

Just got done with an all black build! I love it!,

[@Oc3anMaster]

Just had my NZXT Kraken Z73 fail on me...and NZXT has been a real pain in the ass to get an RMA for it, I gave up when I couldn't find my receipt for it and just used my Microcenter warranty instead that I thankfully had for my last PC build two years ago.

[@Vant1ca]

2 years ago i bought me a new case - a Sharkoon rev 300 - it comes with pre installed rgb fans - the first thing i did was ripping out all the rgb fans and the rgb hub, replacing the fans with Noctua non rgb fans ^^ and besides the Rog Strix logo on my MB there is no rgb in my pc.

[@Shaka215x]

Following Corsair's advice, I have the Corsair H150i Elite Capellix Liquid CPU Cooler connected to the CPU Fan header. With the pump continuously operating in my system, my Intel i9 12900k idles comfortably at around 30-32C. During intensive gaming sessions with a heavy GPU load from an RTX 4090 (running at 4k 120hz RT Ultra+ on a 55" LG C2 OLED), even after several hours, the CPU temperatures peaked at 51C. From a thermal performance standpoint, it's hard to find any fault.

[@Duvoncho]

What always ticked me off about aRGB was the rats nest of extra wires. I know things have improved over the past couple of years with the fancy daisy chain jobs. I'm still using x3 Corsair LL140s with that horrid little controller box. I only keep them because I can't justify spending another 100+ quid to replace them when they still perform perfectly well. Every time I consider it I just have to give myself a mental slap and remind myself that it's self indulgent first world problems.

[@VentureNW]

I have the RGB version of this. Its a good unit and I like the match up at the end of the radiator to the fans. Only thing that bothered me slightly was the long ass wire that goes to the AIO_Pump header that is literally right next to the socket... wire doesn't need to be that long and I had to hide it under the pump. Quality wise... I replaced an Arctic Cooler II with this, so its definitely a good unit. Only reason why I replaced that was for RGB, as the Arctic is a solid unit and I liked the little fan they put on that, on the pump block.

[@Gazer75]

Kind of weird pricing on Arctic Liquid Freezer II in the US. I can get the 420 one for less than 120USD converted and VAT removed in Norway. Used to be below 100USD before the prices when crazy.

[@Timmaaaigh]

Exactly this. I got mine for 122 EUROs without VAT in December, in Europe. 420 A-RBG actually. Why would i even consider any of the 360s shown in this video under such condition, i would not know.

[@squidwardo7074]

why remove vat? you have to pay for it one way or another

[@Gazer75]

@@squidwardo7074 Because US prices are listed without it. The local and/or state tax is added at checkout.

[@Timmaaaigh]

@@squidwardo7074 Under certain conditions you dont have to. Like when its business related, which was my case, cause it was a workstation build. That said, even with 20 percent VAT on top, its cheaper or about the same as those other AIOs, while being bigger, thicker and more performant.

[@squidwardo7074]

@@Gazer75 sales tax isn't as high as vat. don't europeans have to pay sales tax as well?

[@jkell411]

I laughed when Jay said, "I'm grown up." Not sure how he said that with a straight face. 🤣😂

[@OehrchenTV]

When I was searching for an AIO I went with an Arctic Freezer II 360. No RGB and at that time way cheaper than all the other products with RGB. My PC is under my desk, I don't look at it. So it doesn't need light.

[@GaryKokaisel]

I like just a hint of RGB, but this is a great option for that blacked out look.

[@Tuxedo512]

Arctic's liquid freezers also come without rgb, their qa and customer service are also top tier.

[@waynerowlinson6177]

Call me old, but RGB reminds me of when everyone had neon lights under their cars. Not a fan to say the least. The closest I have is a blue LED light on my CPU fan, and the case is solid with no window, so no harm done. I think RGB will eventually go the way of the beige horizontal desktop case. Yeah, I know lots of people like it, but unless you have an unlimited budget, the money spent on RGB can go towards a piece of hardware that actually does something in a computer.

[@HitemAriania]

I had massive issues with EK's AIO, rather their software that seems to not be very well supported anymore - i was unable to chose AIO water temp as the leading temp for the fanspeeds - so it picked up CPU speeds instead and not the avarage - as we all know the temp jumps a lot on any intel CPU >9.9k, so my EK fans went up and down like crazy - i had to resort to third party software but it was still not sufficient (as im very keen on soundlevels being low). Superb video btw!

[@MrRollmoreBlunts]

"I'm grown up so i don't care about Stickers." My 30 yo ass feels offended. I stickerbombed basically every case i had since i was 10.

[@BreitheNua]

I like *the look* of RGB but I hated the headache of setting it up on my friend's pc I built for her. Wiring RGB was not something I learned in my tech classes at my college, since it's not exactly essential.

[@pavelronin565]

My current build is in my bedroom. So no RGB and no display window on the case. So yes please, I'll take more stealthy options

[@KojiKazama]

Seems like something for me. I don't like RGB, in fact, I dont like my PC case to even be visible. If it were plausible, I would put my PC in the ceiling or in an outdoor mounted box and have the interface mounted on the interior wall, but then there's things like weatherproofing, ventilation, security, etc.

[@David-yx3bd]

So I recently had an interesting build. Guy picks his parts (they send me the list, I aquire and build then test and deliver) and among them is an EVGA CL11 120mm AIO. Well it's paired with a i7-13700K, so I'm like okay, let's see what happens because 90% of the builds I do with higher end CPUs are either noctua air coolers or 360mm AIOs like the one Jay is showing off. Cinebench? Throttle city. BUT every other program I could download and try? 50-55 average, with a 65 peak. Resulted in one of the cleanest setups I've built. 3 120mm fans at the front, the 120mm AIO as the exhaust in the back, and done. He'll never be able to rank on Cinebench, but for everything else, he's set on a 50 dollar cooling solution that actually looks pretty sweet.

[@necuz]

You can get a lot of RGB strips for 45 bucks, also has a retro feel since it's like a throwback to CCFLs.

[@pawelbirnbach5131]

Currently my problem with the radiators, they are offered only with one thin size. Ther shold be thicker options.

[@thomasg5554]

20 years of DIY watercooling, always needed to refill at some point. I don't think it's different with AIO's, so... where's the fill port?

[@zoixdark]

I just built a new system the only thing that lights up is the power button and i think a couple random LEDs on my mother board. didn't even get a case with a side window. Solid side all the way. Thank you Fractal for making the Meshify 2 with a solid side.

[@zoixdark]

Oh, and the ethernet port lights.

[@yeahright2022]

I spent hundreds on RGB fans in my last build and basically have them off all the time. Not making that mistake this time around. I'm going with a solid panel non-rgb build for my 7800x3d and 4090! Not to mention the 3 applications required to run RGB for different brands... icue, gigabytes, etc etc. It's a mess.

[@knives357]

used an EK 240 aio on my last computer. 3 years now and still going strong.

[@robwhitmore3040]

I had the EK 360 RGB AIO. I basically turned it into this when I swapped the RGB fans for Phanteks t30s. Dropped the Unicorn Puke and dropped about 6 degrees and some noise too.

[@RR185]

Honestly... most of the here approved reasons are already implemented by other companies: Artic pretty much makes the best AIO's bang for the buck (ARGB and non-ARGB) for under $140 non-ARGB and under $160 for ARGB, feature a 38mm rad and even an extra mini fan on the CPU/pump unit to help cool the VRM's. The rad fans are daisy chained and non proprietary (4pin PWM). Plus you only have a single PWM cable powering fans and pump, making cabling super easy. The fan cable is hidden in a tube sleeving going to the CPU/pump unit. Performance-wise they even beat the EK AIO's, which are generally considered having the best cooling, and also have MUCH quieter fans (P12).

[@Reet69]

I 100% want no rgb in my next build if I get around to it , my case is gonna sit somewhere not see so why pay for “pretty” lights I won’t ever see