Kaby Lake 7700K 5GHz AIO Cooler Mega Test

Cryorig A40

Price:  £106.21

Technical Specification

 

Up Close

And so to the Cryorigs.  Some say we could be saving the best til last.  Truth be known as we type this, all the testing results are yet to be compiled, but if their air cooler performance is anything to go by we should expect style and greatness in equal measures. 

  

 

So what we have here then is a 27.5mm thick rad coupled with a pump based on Aseteks Generation 5.0 pumps.  Tubing is of the Matte rubber variety which we’ve seen throughout the testing and has usually proven to be quite effective.

  

 

Cryorig say their rad is of the “high fin count” variety, but to be honest, it’s no higher than all the other 21FPI rads we’ve tested.  Couple that with a water channel count of 12 and what we have is what appears to be a distinctly average radiator.  The proof though is in the pudding. 

 

The pump as we mentioned is based on Aseteks 5th gen designs, but with a few tweaks that Cryorig hope will help it put it’s head above the others.  It comes ready fitted with an Intel bracket, but an AMD unit is included.  The odd shaped slot in the top of the assembly is to accept a small fan as we’ll see below.

  

 

This little chappy is designed to lock into the top of the pump assembly and offer cooling to those components immediately adjacent to the motherboard, such as RAM and voltage regulators.  Cryorig claim that conventional watercooling offers great cooling, but sacrifices airflow over these vital components, which can compromise cooling and ultimately a stable overclock.  Their solution is simple, a small fan that blows (or sucks) air over these components and thus stabilises the whole shooting match.

 

The cold plate itself is circular and comes resplendent with a coating of TIM, which needless to say we will be removing prior to testing.  How is it that some manufactures feel that eight screws are absolutely necessary, whereas others are totally fine with four?  Seriously guys, we’d love to know.

  

 

The A40 comes with all the fixtures and fittings you’ll need for an AMD or Intel CPU, with the fitting process being a welcome relief from the experience of the last two coolers we looked at.  Seriously Gents, if the likes of Cryorig, who aren’t exactly known for their extensive background in water cooling can come up with a better system that Alphacool, who are, then somebody at Alphacool/bequiet, or at the very least the OEM that supplies them, needs to go for a long walk and have a think about what their purpose in life is.

  

 

 As previously mentioned, fitting the A40 is a piece of cake, with the only real fiddly part being getting the small fan to engage in the top of the pump assembly.  The tubing is nicely flexible and resists kinking, while the 27.5mm thick rad tucks up into the roof nicely.