Xianma is a brand familiar to many users, and its chassis and power supply have always had a high cost performance, and it also has high sales in the market. In terms of business development, Xianma chose radiators as its new product market and launched a series of radiator products. In the past two years, with the release of a new generation of processors by Intel and AMD, the integrated water-cooled heat sink has become a key market for many traditional chassis and power supply manufacturers.
Ice Color 240W is a new one-piece water-cooled radiator launched by Xianma, the all-white color scheme is very eye-catching, especially the integrated luminous catheter, which makes the use of RGB lighting effects to a higher level. In addition to the 240 specifications of the products, there are also 360 specifications of the products, and we have previously produced picture awards ("Xianma Bingcai 360W Integrated Water-cooled Radiator Picture Appreciation: 360-degree Illusion Light effect"). The Ice 240W has basically the same design, but it is smaller, more suitable for installation, and it is sold before the Ice 360W.
Appearance and packaging: all white appearance, simple and transparent
The outer packaging of the Xianma Ice Color 240W one-piece water-cooled radiator is mainly white, and the bottom surface of the product rendering drawing adopts blue ice water and sky style. Because Ice Color 240W is a pure white product, it not only better presents the radiator itself and the RGB lighting effect, but also hints at the heat dissipation effect of the product to consumers. The front and back of the outer package are the same, in addition to the radiator picture, there are models and basic characteristics, and there are some simple product introductions on the left and right sides, which look very concise.
The inner packaging of the 240W all-in-one water-cooled radiator includes cold drain and water cooling heads, two 120mm ARGB cooling fans, Intel and AMD platform fasteners, a variety of power supply and control cables, various screws required for installation, a hub, an installation manual and a warranty card. In the inner packaging, Ice Color 240W has actually installed the cooling fan, which reduces an operation step for many users, which is commendable.
Ice color 240W all white modeling design is more concise, the overall is relatively regular, there is no obvious bump, the appearance looks very bright and transparent, with a good appearance. It integrates a luminous catheter, with 360 degrees of light, each catheter has 39 beads, the light color is uniform and soft; the use of 360 cold drain with 14 waterways, plus 20mm thick horizontal fins, has better heat dissipation efficiency; equipped with a three-phase hexagonal motor, with a 32mm motor with a 38mm rotor, providing it with surging power.
The two cooling fans with the Ice Color 240W are all white, with RGB lighting effects uniformly designed with water cooling heads, which have a more coordinated lighting effect. It has 9 pressurized groove translucent fan blades, a hydraulic bearing fan, and 8 shock pads at the four corners can dampen shocks and shocks to reduce noise. According to the official introduction of Xianma, this cooling fan has an air volume of 66.53 CFM, a wind pressure of 1.86 mmH2O, and a noise of 29.5 dB(A), which is a cooling fan that focuses on air volume and has low noise.
The 240W supports the mainstream platforms of Intel and AMD, and also supports the latest 12th generation Core series processors, providing the LGA 1700 fastener for users to use on the new platform.
Improvements to the LGA 1700 platform
In order to adapt to the heat dissipation needs of Intel's new generation LGA 1700 platform, Ice Color 240W has made some improvements on the basis of previous products, including the water cooling head has been changed to a large 1.5mm thick copper bottom, with 160 miniature waterways, with a specification of 29.5 x 0.12 x 0.2 mm; the cold drain water channel has been increased from 12 to 14 channels; the front and rear end of the cold drain have been changed to a right angle design; and some changes have been made to the pipe connection. These targeted changes can further improve the heat dissipation efficiency.
Installation experience: Simple structure but requires skill
Xianma Bingcai 240W is not complicated in installation, its overall shape is concise, leaving a lot of operable space, wiring is also very simple, but the actual operation requires some skills. The column with spring is not directly fixed to the water-cooled head bracket, but is separated, and there is no column, and it is necessary to tighten the nut mouth of the positive bracket and the base at the same time. During this process, the position of the water cooling head is easily deviated, or the column is difficult to face the nut mouth of the positive base. If users usually install the integrated water-cooled radiator less by themselves, it may take some effort.
The direction of the first horse sign on the water cooling head can be rotated to ensure that the horse sign is in the correct position in the direction. Because the Ice Color 240W uses a luminous catheter, it is relatively rough, and the length is slightly shorter, which has a certain impact on the installation and layout, and you need to pay attention to the direction and position before installation to avoid conflicts with other hardware.
The RGB lighting effect of the Xianma Bingcai 240W does have a good visual effect, and the color of the RGB light is also more comfortable, coupled with the appearance of white, it looks beautiful. However, because the Xianma Bingcai 240W does not support motherboard synchronization, it limits the user's settings on the lighting effect, and there is no room for maneuver. As a low-priced all-in-one water-cooled radiator, the lack of synchronization is understandable.
Tests and instructions
The radiator performance test uses our customized test platform to better obtain consistency and facilitate the comparison of various types of radiator performance. In our test model, after a period of simulation testing, it is finally determined that according to the positioning of the heatsink itself, the heat dissipation capacity under the limit load (300W, simulating the power consumption of the enthusiast-level player CPU), the high load (250W, simulating the power consumption of the high-end CPU) and the medium load (200W, simulating the power consumption of the mid-range CPU) are tested, and the lower heat sink only tests the ability under the load, and the higher positioning will test the ability under high load and limit load. The reader can directly measure the heat dissipation capacity of the radiator from the temperature of the model under each load platform (the temperature has been converted to the temperature when the ambient temperature is 25 degrees by calculating the thermal resistance), the lower the temperature under the load, the better the heat dissipation performance, and this temperature is similar to the temperature of the cpu under the same power consumption under the heat sink, which can be used as a reference for the actual machine temperature.
When testing, the fan of the radiator is running at full speed, and we sometimes test the performance at low speeds as needed for reference.
In order to better compare the heat dissipation, we also convert the heat dissipation performance index of the radiator into a super energy index:
Exp = 19 * Pd/(Tc – Ta)
This super energy index is actually a simple conversion of the thermal resistance of the heat sink, where Pd refers to the load power consumption, Tc refers to the temperature of the above model at the ambient temperature of 25 degrees, Ta refers to the ambient temperature (set to 25 degrees), the larger the Exp, indicating that the heat dissipation performance of the radiator is better. For example, the temperature of the owl D15 air-cooled radiator at 250W is 92.2 degrees, and its super energy index Exp = 19 *250/(92.2-25) = 70.7, under each power consumption, the heatsink thermal resistance of the same condition is basically the same, so this super energy index is also a fixed value, it can be approximated that for every 1 point of the super energy index, the cooling effect on the 300W CPU is better than 1 °C.
Thermal test: can meet normal needs
In the heat dissipation test, Xianma's Ice Color 240W all-in-one water-cooled radiator played a normal level. It can be seen that in the heat dissipation test, although the Ice Color 240W and XPG L240 ARGB will be inferior, it is much cheaper than the price of the latter (899 yuan). With the heat dissipation performance of Ice Color 240W, it can meet the configuration needs of ordinary users, which is enough for general PCs.
It should be noted here that at present, the test platform of our super network has been targeted for Intel's new generation LGA 1700 platform. For users who want to use it with Intel's 12th generation Core series processors, there is also a certain reference value.
According to the test data, after converting to the super energy index, the score of 240W of The First Horse Ice Is 72.8, which is a normal level.
Stress test: slightly below platform standards
Intel's new LGA 1700 socket (Socket V) while retaining a width of 37.5mm, the length increased to 45mm, from square to rectangular, its Z height will be reduced from 7.3mm to 6.5mm, reducing 0.8mm. This requires manufacturers to use new backplanes and brackets to meet the installation requirements of the LGA 1700 socket. In order to ensure good contact between the CPU top cover and the bottom of the heatsink, higher installation pressure is required.
According to Intel's official specifications, the heatsink used by the processor of the LGA 1200 socket must have an installation pressure of at least 30 kg force and a maximum of 80 kg force. In the case of heatsinks used by the processor of the LGA 1700 socket, the range is between 50 kg force and 100 kg force.
The important role of the installation pressure is that when the heatsink comes into contact with the processor, the greater the installation pressure, the smaller the thermal resistance between the two. In the process of increasing the installation pressure, the greater the installation pressure, the faster the thermal resistance decreases, but after reaching a certain level, the decline rate will slow down until it is flat.
The 240W was tested by the pressure sensor in the installation mode of LGA 1700 and LGA115x/1200 sockets, respectively, and the results showed that the installation pressure of the LGA 1700 socket was 21.6 kg force and the LGA115x/1200 socket was 28 kg force. For the LGA 1700 platform, the installation pressure of the Xianma Ice 240W is small, while the LGA115x/1200 platform is close to the standard value.
Fan test: Measured to reach the nominal value
In the test, the data comes from the ultra-energy network self-made air volume wind pressure test device, the test device is prepared according to the relevant national standards and ISO standards, through the pipeline test air chamber multi-nozzle / orifice plate to measure the air volume and wind pressure of the fan, as well as with different system impedances (ordinary cold drain, ordinary tower radiator) under the air volume, through the speed tester to monitor the immediate speed of the fan, and in the special silent cabinet to measure the full speed of the fan and the noise value under the ordinary cold discharge.
The maximum speed of the standard fan of the 240W standard fan is about 1800RPM, the maximum static pressure is 1.78mmH2O, and the maximum air volume is 66.8CFM, which is different from the official nominal value. In addition, the air volume installed after the radiator is 24.5CFM. If the air volume, wind pressure, and system impedance are still relatively vague, you can refer to our popular science article "Truly understanding the air volume and wind pressure of the cooling fan".
This one-piece water-cooled radiator comes standard with a fan with low wind pressure, which has a slight impact on the heat dissipation effect.
Noise test: Quieter when running
The noise test is done in our special mute cabinet, and the ambient noise in the mute cabinet can reach a minimum of 25dBA, which can basically test the true noise level of the sample very well. The following noise values are the noise levels 1 meter away from the sound source.
The noise is 37.3 dBA at full speed idling and 35.8 dBA when installed to the heat sink. Overall, the Xianma Bingcai 240W is running with low noise and relatively quiet. The noise test can only be used as a reference, and the user's use environment is related to the chassis style.
Summary: Lighting effects that exceed expectations
The 240W all-in-one water-cooled radiator is indeed very impressive in terms of lighting effects, and the integrated luminescent pipe has a visual effect that exceeds expectations. Its simple and crystal clear appearance, when the lights are lit, not only the shape is chic and good-looking, but also looks dazzling in the chassis, and the characteristics of the luminous catheter are fully exerted, which can meet the needs of some lighting enthusiasts.
Although the performance in terms of heat dissipation is decent, it is enough to meet the purchase requirements of ordinary users. In addition, the Ice Color 240W all-in-one water-cooled radiator has good noise performance, which will be more attractive for users who are sensitive to sound and prefer a quiet environment. If the user is more concerned about the lighting effect and wants to build a light color different from other similar products in the host, I believe that the price is not high, and the 240W all-in-one water-cooled radiator is a choice worth considering.