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Review: G.Skill Enki 280 AIO

by Parm Mann on 30 April 2021, 14:01

Tags: G.SKILL

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaeqi7

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Conclusion

Cooling performance isn't in question but overall refinement doesn't align with the £130 price point.

Though it is always nice to see a manufacturer try something new, G.Skill's inaugural liquid cooler has the feel of a debutant that's still rough around the edges.

Cooling performance isn't in question - just about any 280mm all-in-one with a high-speed pump and hasty fans will deliver results - but overall refinement doesn't align with the £130 price point.

Enki 280's large silver mounting kit is an eyesore, the bundle lacks a fan splitter cable, and both the pump and fans are far noisier than we'd like in their default configuration. These are, however, fixable quirks, and we don't imagine a manufacturer with G.Skill's experience will be dissuaded; there's certainly scope for a second-gen successor to iron out these first-gen niggles.

Bottom line: spending over a hundred pounds on a CPU cooler? G.Skill's Enki 280 will get the job done but there are better options out there.

The Good
  
The Bad
Strong cooling performance
No superfluous software
Five-year warranty
  
Noisy pump
Fan curve needs optimisation
Mounting kit ought to be black
No splitter cable for fans


HEXUS.where2buy*

TBC.

HEXUS.right2reply

At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.



*UK-based HEXUS community members are eligible for free delivery and priority customer service through the SCAN.care@HEXUS forum.


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Posted by QuorTek - Fri 30 Apr 2021 23:07
What is shown, is that is barely any better than Air Coolers, I would expect even more cooled down when using liquid cooling, so it does question a few things as of what they are trying to sell us on general.

And it is not just one brand of ‘water’ cooled loop but alot of them, it must be a bad quality radiator or something or slow loop or whatever… or worse, crap quality sinks that leads nada heat away instantly or simply just too difficult to cool down.
Posted by Spud1 - Sat 01 May 2021 09:12
QuorTek
What is shown, is that is barely any better than Air Coolers, I would expect even more cooled down when using liquid cooling, so it does question a few things as of what they are trying to sell us on general.

And it is not just one brand of ‘water’ cooled loop but alot of them, it must be a bad quality radiator or something or slow loop or whatever… or worse, crap quality sinks that leads nada heat away instantly or simply just too difficult to cool down.

That is the case for 90% of AIOs, particularly of this size - you can get better results, with quieter operation, from a good air cooler.

AIOs are not typically there for performance - they are there for looks/convenience/space saving around the CPU imo.
Posted by QuorTek - Sat 01 May 2021 09:18
Spud1
QuorTek
What is shown, is that is barely any better than Air Coolers, I would expect even more cooled down when using liquid cooling, so it does question a few things as of what they are trying to sell us on general.

And it is not just one brand of ‘water’ cooled loop but alot of them, it must be a bad quality radiator or something or slow loop or whatever… or worse, crap quality sinks that leads nada heat away instantly or simply just too difficult to cool down.

That is the case for 90% of AIOs, particularly of this size - you can get better results, with quieter operation, from a good air cooler.

AIOs are not typically there for performance - they are there for looks/convenience/space saving around the CPU imo.

The point about Liquid Cooling and or Phasechanging and anything down that line in my head is about getting temperatures under 30 degrees under heavy load, for increased stability, yes I know they say these GPU's and CPU's is designed to be able to handle the heat, but they will run better cooler, why does Hexus not show the competetion that actually cools down stuff, and how much or less noise they make.

Then I can't use Delta and Actual C for anything at all.
Posted by Rubarb - Thu 06 May 2021 19:05
47.5 db overclock is bloody loud by anyones standards….. at night that would wake next door up!