Introduction

Well known as a custom water-cooling supplier, Alphacool is instantly recognizable among water-cooling enthusiasts in the DIY PC space, having entrenched themselves as a premier manufacturer. Their selection of water-cooling parts is quite extensive, including radiators, fans, fittings, pumps, reservoirs, blocks, and even all-in-one units. All-in-one liquid coolers especially have become a major focus with Alphacool targeting multiple market segments with multiple designs that give users a copper alternative to the mostly mixed metal loops that have flooded the market.


In today's review, I focus on the Eisbaer Aurora 360. This standard-sized 360 mm all-in-one liquid CPU cooler differs from the majority of its competition via the use of a copper radiator. That having been said, the company is not immune to the RGB craze, and there is thus the "Aurora" in the name as this latest offering delivers flashy RGB LEDs to the pump and fans. Considering the majority of RGB fans of late have been a good deal smaller, it will be interesting to see how they influence performance.

Packaging

The packaging is typical Alphacool fare in that it's pretty much solid black with little to see. The top of the box shows off the illuminated pump block and lists the supported CPU sockets. Flipping it over, the back gives us a nice view of one of the fans fully illuminated and the same supported socket list, but nothing else to really write home about.


The other sides are essentially devoid of any real information; you won't find specifications, dimensions, or anything of note, which is a shame. I suppose we all buy the majority of our parts online these days, and the specifications are typically listed there, so I can't really fault them. Still, it's always nice to have a quick reference on the box.

Contents

Like just about any all-in-one liquid cooler on the market, the Alphacool Eisbaer Aurora 360 comes packaged in a cardboard tray with a sheet of foam on top. This bog standard packaging is essentially used industry-wide as it has proven effective, so no real complaints here.


The cooler supports all the sockets you would expect, as well as some lesser-known AMD offerings, such as C32 and G34. As for the mounting hardware, it's of high quality, and the all-black design looks good. However, there are quite a few brackets and pieces to keep track of, and the splitter cable for the fans is pretty short and could benefit from being roughly 60 mm or 2+ inches longer to make it easier to tuck behind the motherboard tray.

Common parts supplied for mounting include:

• 12x Radiator screws
• 12x Radiator screw washers
• 4x LGA115x screws
• 4x LGA 2011 screws
• 1x TR4 mounting set
• 4x AMD screws
• 4x AMD washers (2.0 mm)
• 4x Springs
• 4x Mounting washers
• 4x Mounting post nuts
• 2x Intel mounting brackets
• 2x AMD mounting brackets
• 2x TR4 mounting brackets
• 1x Tube of thermal paste
• 1x Backplate
• 1x Pre-filled liquid cooler
• 1x User's manual
• 1x Digital RGB controller + adapter
• 1x Fan splitter cable