Thursday, October 6th 2022
Alphacool Unveils Core Ocean P38 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler
Lots of performance at a fair price. With the Core Ocean AiO, Alphacool presents an all-in-one solution that offers an entry into performance-oriented CPU water cooling thanks to its excellent price-performance ratio. The difference to Alphacool's Eisbaer CPU AiO is that the Ocean All-in One is not expandable. Adding more components such as radiators, pump or expansion tank is not intended here. But also not necessary! The choice of components and the design of the Core Ocean AiO allow a long lifetime with low maintenance for water cooling of all common mainstream sockets from AMD and Intel. The included mounting hardware already allows Alphacool's latest all-in-one to be used on AMD's AM5 socket. Also included in the package is Alphacool's Subzero Thermal Grease. This electrically non-conductive 16 W/mk thermal compound is particularly well suited for high contact pressures, but can still be applied perfectly due to its viscosity of 850000 TF.
Features
Radiator
Radiator
- Material: 3003 aluminium
- available sizes: 120 mm, 240 mm, 280 mm, 360 mm, 420 mm
- Alphacool Core 120 mm & 140 mm
- Connection & control: 4-pin PWM
- Fan speed Core 120 mm: 0-2500rpm/min (±10%)
- Max. Air Flow Core 120 mm: 62.8CFM
- Max. static pressure Core 120 mm: 2.13 mm/H2O
- Fan speed Core 140 mm: 0-2000rpm/min (±10%)
- Max. Air Flow Core 140 mm: 92.3 CFM
- Max. static pressure Core 140 mm: 2.53 mm/H2O
- Material cooler bottom: nickel-plated copper
- Material pump housing: synthetic material (ABS+PC)
- Fin structure cooler bottom: 0.1 x 0.1 mm
- Pump bearing & shaft material: Ceramic
- Number of aRGB LEDs: 12
- Speed: max. 3500 rpm (±10%)
- Connection & control: 4-pin PWM
- Compatibility:
- Intel: LGA 115x / LGA 1200 / LGA 1700 / LGA 2066
- AMD: AM4 / AM5
- MSRP 62,98€ - 96,99€
16 Comments on Alphacool Unveils Core Ocean P38 AIO Liquid CPU Cooler
very nice to see bigger than 360.
c1.neweggimages.com/ProductImageCompressAll1280/35-288-009-V36.jpg
The EVGA model pictured uses a standard Asetek design.
Also, we don't know the internals of the Alphacool model. It might have a superior pump mechanism. The coolant flow channels might be better designed as well. The radiator tubing might be better dispersed, the radiator fins might have a better density, et cetera ad nauseam.
You just can't just an AIO by appearances alone.
While the small circular plate of the EVGA cooler might be large enough to cover a processor's IHS, due to the layout, the cooling channels likely won't extend to the outer perimeter.
Based on my experience with custom cooling components from Alphacool, my guess is that their custom AIO design is superior to the standard Asetek design that the EVGA AIO uses (I have both 120mm and 240mm versions of the EVGA CLC products).
Remember that a thicker radiator doesn't automatically mean better performance and it certainly doesn't scale linearly. Radiators show different performance at different fan speeds anyhow so whether you are getting the full benefit of a thicker radiator depends whether the fans are running at 600 rpm, 900 rpm, 1200 rpm, or even 1800+ rpm.
I have a couple of 240mm AIO radiators (EVGA and CoolerMaster) and one 360mm radiator (Arctic) and I'd say that the standard thicknesses will cover most usage cases if the AIO is well designed and correctly installed.
I never really saw the logic in making a round cooling plate to be put onto a square/rectangular chip, but it seems that at least a few mfgr's have woken up to that fact too :D
I also always found it curious that mfgr's like AC don't expound on what makes their coolers superior to other ones in their PR's. Granted, they don't want every other mfgr copying their designs, but as long as they have them copyrighted and/or patent-protected, that should prevent most of this from happening, although I know some less-principled companies (we know who they are !) would certainly resort to copying the air the other companies breathe if they think it would get them a few moar % points of marketshare....
When all AIOs are almost or basically the same, just being cheaper than the rest is already a major advantage (if it proves to be good quality of course)
Some companies will load up their press releases with superlatives and hyperbole. Other companies will just list some specifications and physical descriptions.
Alphacool leans more to the latter. Eddy -- an Alphacool staffer -- occasionally posts here at the TPU Q&A forum and his attitude largely matches the company's own written marketing materials. He has pointed out that in the end, a third party review is going to be more believable anyhow than first party claims.
It's important to note that all the products are compromises: features, durability, ease of manufacturing, materials, component design, expected usage cases, expected operational environments, ease of use, quality variability, acoustics, performance, cost, warranty coverage, whatever. All of those factors are considered by the manufacturer before taking a product to market. Most prototypes don't see the light of day as a shipping product that will be boxed up in retail packaging and placed on a store shelf.
At the end of the day, it's up to the buyer to decide whether or not the value proposition of any given product is worthwhile.
Remember that trust is earned. Some companies have well-deserved reputations at building quality products at prices that make them attractively placed in the market. At different price points too.
I'll tell you what makes our product superior. We don't buy the AIO from ASetek or CoolIT and just stick our logo on an attached design. We don't show off with empty words and promises that are just empty air. We don't try to create short-term hypes but rely on our customers passing on their own experiences. Or in other words, we rely on organic growth generated from the experiences of our customers and not through aggressive and loud marketing like almost all the others. We rely on credibility, not on empty phrases that are constantly repeated.
We are currently the second largest company worldwide in the DIY market and will probably be the largest company in this sector next year. We are growing very strongly in the B2B sector, we have been firmly established in the AIO market for 5 years and we offer the world's only full-cover AIOs for graphics cards. We have the world's largest portfolio of radiator sizes and fittings/adapters. We have achieved this not through a lot of marketing blah blah, but through constant development and word of mouth and the trust of our customers.
What makes AIO better? Find out for yourself or wait until someone tells you about it and decide for yourself.
But if you really want, I can write you a long text with a lot of marketing blah blah blah about how great and first class this new AIO is. I can write about how fantastic the new pump is, how great the cooling base is, how extravagant the design is, why the radiator is superior to everything else..... that would be no problem. I've been around marketing and in business long enough to write you a comprehensive pamphlet. But how credible is that? We have a different style.
But the question I ask you is... would you really believe the drivel?
But FYI, my older brother, who has advanced degrees in both Mechanical & Electrical Engineering, has thoroughly disassembled, dissected and analyzed several of your AIO's over the years and found them to be of excellent quality, design and workmanship (and compared them to other, lessor brands)...that's how I know what the deal is with your stuff :)
The only thing I was saying is why not list a few technical details in your PR's that highlight some of the key differences that make your products better than others. That would be credible IMHO as long as it wasn't filled with useless, sensationalized hype as you say :)