At $139.99, the ZADAK SPARK AIO 240 carries a small premium for what amounts to a middle of the road Asetek AIO. Under less stressful conditions, it does pretty damn well, but performance tapers off under intense workloads. This leaves it trailing more affordable units. For example, the recently reviewed Lian Li Galahad 240 is $10–$20 cheaper while performing much better under intense load. Granted, the SPARK AIO is a tad quieter out of the box at maximum fan speed, but set the Galahad 240 to 45 dBA (1–2 dBA quieter than the SPARK AIO) and it still outperforms the ZADAK offering in the OC tests by 1–3 °C. That said, if the unit goes on sale in the $120 range it would be a valid option.

The fan design likely isn't helping on the performance front. Switching to higher static pressure fans that deliver the same performance at lower RPM with the same noise level improved temperatures by 1–2 °C. This is likely due to the lower static pressure of the fans and the frame not being square, which has more air escape between fans, and while not a huge deal, it does impact performance—I have seen it on numerous other all-in-one liquid coolers as well.

This isn't just a one-off competitor proving to be a better alternative, either. Many other AIOs offer slightly better performance per dollar, such as the EK-AIO 240 D-RGB, or SilverStone PF240, among others. While some of these units may not offer better performance, they do cost less for similar performance and are thus a better value. Where ZADAK does come out ahead is the warranty. At five years, ZADAK is offering a warranty on par with the likes of Corsair and others, which, depending on availability in your region, can be an increase of 2–4 years in terms of warranty length. However, I don't feel that is enough to justify the cost.

While I can't say for certain whether the ARGB lighting problems I experienced are entirely ZADAK's fault, both samples I have would not sync with the motherboard without an ARGB controller. I tested on two motherboards, and the issue appeared on both. Using the included controller and syncing it with the motherboard helped, but I still noticed flickering LEDs and some inconsistencies with the uniformity of LED colors. Again, the Mystic Light software could be at fault, but using a generic third-party ARGB controller mostly eliminated these issues. That said, if you don't like ARGB lighting, this won't even apply to you. Maybe, I just got really unlucky, as unlikely as that may be. When the opportunity presents itself and I have access to a different motherboard, I will recheck the ARGB lighting and update this review. This is my experience for now, and I am working on finding the root cause so this problem can be fixed.

As for the unit itself, the radiator and pump are fine in regards to build quality. As with most Asetek units, installation was exceptionally easy, too. So while there is a lot to like, ZADAK needs to nail the minor details, such as including a Y-cable for the fans because it missing by default is a bit of a head-scratcher for sure.

Overall, the ZADAK SPARK AIO 240 has a solid five-year warranty and delivers acceptable cooling performance across the board. However, while it excels in less stressful, lower TDP situations, it is overshadowed by the stiff competition in an increasingly crowded all-in-one closed-loop cooler market. ZADAK still needs to pay more attention to minor details but they appear to be on the right track considering this is their first release.