The best AIO of 2023 Already? EK Nucleus CR360 Lux AIO Liquid Cooler Review
EK quality without the hassle of DIY Liquid Cooling
EK is one of the best-known producers of PC liquid cooling products, with their products pre-dating the of All-in-One (AIO) Liquid Cooling solutions that are commonly used today. With this in mind, it makes sense for EK to enter the AIO market, with the company having a great deal of liquid cooling expertise, especially when compared to most of their rivals.Â
With their new Nucleus series of all-in-one CPU liquid coolers, EK are aiming to deliver incredible levels of cooling performance for users of modern processors. Today’s high-end CPUs are hotter running than ever, with high core/thread counts and growing CPU TDPs demanding more and more from our heatsinks.Â
Today we are reviewing EK’s Nucleus CR360 Lux D-RGB AIO liquid cooler, which features three EK-FPT 120mm D-RGB cooling fans, a 360mm liquid cooling radiator, and supports all modern AMD and Intel CPU sockets. This includes LGA 1700 (Intel Alder/Raptor Lake), and AMD AM5 (Zen 4/Ryzen 7000). Â
Unlike many other companies, EK hasn’t opted to create an RGB lighting software/hardware ecosystem that is incompatible with competing solutions. EK’s Nucleus CR360 Lux D-RGB liquid cooling solution utilises standard 3-pin 5V addressable D-RGB headers for RGB control, allowing their RGB lighting products to be controllable by all motherboards and controllers that are compatible with standard 5V addressable RGB headers. This allows EK’s RGB lighting to be controllable using software solutions like ASUS Aura Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light, and ASRock RGB LED. Simple.Â
Packaging
EK’s packaging for their Nucleus CR360 Lux liquid cooler is simple and effective. The heatsink, radiator and its supplied fans are all stored within a foam insert that protects the AIO from harm during shipping. There is enough foam here to ensure that your AIO survives pretty much any drop your package may experience during transit, which is good news for anyone who has an clumsy with their packages.
Inside the orange box at the right-hand side of EK’s AIO box are a small tube of thermal paste (though there is already paste that’s pre-applied to the heatsink), AMD/ Intel CPU mounting kits, and all of the AIO’s required cables.
