"The backplate has a tendency to push away when you’re trying to secure the block but with some patience, it is nothing that you can't handle. It would be best to have a third hand here." this is the reason why I hate my current alphacool 280 aio and why I would not buy an aio from alphacool again. if you don't change your build for years, it may be acceptable, but if you rebuild once a year (or even more often), this mounting mechanism can aggravate you as hell. also, at least in my case, the backplate is made of plastic and on mine, one corner has already broken off 😡 -andy-

On other hand their AIO is like other AIO... you use for some time then change. But what bother me a bit is more the price of this one, you can buy real WC system from alphacool for that price. It's good to see that they still do new thing in parallel with classic product. BTW if you have big pump, they have high pressure radiator that are awesome and not so pricy (look in "industrial rad") and a ball looking reservoir with pump inside that look good.

@rl66 the "real" coolers (as in put together yourself) will cost almost double with same hardware/performance, so not sure why you want to compare those. this aio is the best performing kit, maybe an EK predator would be similar,that's it. so no real competition from anyone that can beat this. this shows this isnt a unit, where i see a big difference vs a (value priced) custom loop (that also requires a lot more work). and having a big pump should not be the case, if the system was properly planned (why would i go with more performance/power than i actually need? not even talking about higher cost and most likely more noise).

fry178:

@rl66 the "real" coolers (as in put together yourself) will cost almost double with same hardware/performance, so not sure why you want to compare those. this aio is the best performing kit, maybe an EK predator would be similar,that's it. so no real competition from anyone that can beat this. this shows this isnt a unit, where i see a big difference vs a (value priced) custom loop (that also requires a lot more work). and having a big pump should not be the case, if the system was properly planned (why would i go with more performance/power than i actually need? not even talking about higher cost and most likely more noise).

This kit is at 249,95 Euro in AlphaCool Shop right now you have a sale on the 3x120 rad, 2x ODD pump + reservoir with the CPU waterblock and tubing DIY kit at ... 249,95 Euro from the same shop AND the regular CPU waterblock + reservoir + pump, tubing and 2x140 radiator DIY kit (so the same that this AIO) have a regular price of ... 249,95 Euro also from AlphaCool shop. This is why i compare them price to price 🙂 Also with the 2x140 AIO's price are from 99,95 Euro (Artic liquid freezer 2 280) to 154,95 Euro (TT water 3 280, and Corsair in 280), of course i would chose AlphaCool because i like their product, but if the price of the DIY kit is right, i found the price of the AIO a bit too much.

Little too expensive...Option to add some tubing/GPU block is handy, but price wise...no, too much.

@rl66 you need to compare the product by parts, not just by price. especially when it comes to pump/block/radiator. not many use copper rads, and no arctic/corsair etc aio will have a +80$ block, nor a pump thats anywhere close to this. and the alpha thats coming with similar parts like those above (asetek designs), the price gets closer to those as well (for non-ex eisbaer). Yet its still modular, easily allowing me to upgrade/ad the pump/block/rad later, same as this/custom kit, which no corsair/arctic and the like will offer.

Not related, but a heads up: the new privacy popup is super annoying when browsing this webpage on the phone. It is too small to read anything, and it pops up asking over and over every single time you open a new page or refresh a page on guru3d... on the pc it asks once, then is done, so there its all good. I read guru3d on a daily basis but stopped reading it over my phone now due to the pop up making it painful to browse.

@KazeGG Look for kits that include the same rad/pump/block. This is like saying a fully loaded honda civic is cheaper than a base porsche. They aren't even close None of the sub 200$ kits have identical block/pump, and most in the 200$ range still have a 240 rad, not 360 or 280 like this. I would have no problem spending another 40$ to have custom loop performance on a prefilled aio that i can install in 10-15 min. Not gonna happen with a kit.

In regards to this cooler, or water vs air?