Cooler Master Nepton 140XL CPU Cooler Review

[nextpage title=”Introduction”]

The Cooler Master Nepton 140XL is a high-end liquid cooling system for processors. It has a big 140 mm radiator with two 140 mm fans in push-pull configuration.

As with any sealed liquid cooling system, the Nepton 140XL comes with the coolant liquid pre-filled inside the loop (block, radiator, pump, and hoses).

Figure 1 shows the box of the Cooler Master Nepton 140XL.

Figure 1: Package

Figure 2 shows the contents of the box: the radiator-block set, two fans, a Y-harness, a small syringe of thermal compound, a manual, and the installation hardware.

Figure 2: Accessories

This water cooler is discussed in detail in the following pages.

[nextpage title=”The Nepton 140XL”]

The sealed radiator-block system is shown in Figure 3. At the left is the radiator that transfers the heat from the circulating liquid to the air and at the right is the block that transfers the heat from the CPU to the coolant liquid. The hoses are 13.4” (340 mm) long and, according to the manufacturer, are 66% thicker than usual hoses.

Figure 3: Sealed system

Figures 4 and 5 reveal the radiator of the Cooler Master Nepton 140XL. It supports one 140 mm fan at each side and it is 1.5” (38 mm) thick. Even though it is a 140 mm radiator, both sides also have threaded holes for installing 120 mm fans, which makes it compatible with most computer cases.

Figure 4: Radiator

Figure 5: Radiator

[nextpage title=”The Nepton 140XL (Cont’d)”]

Figure 6 shows the top of the block, where the pump that makes the liquid flow is integrated. The cable has a three-pin connector, which draws power for the integrated pump. The clear area around the manufacturer logo glows in white when the product is working.

Figure 6: Block

The base of the block, which is made of copper, is revealed in Figure 7.

Figure 7: Base

Figure 8 illustrates the 140 mm PWM fans that come with the Cooler Master Nepton 140XL (model DF1402512RFUN-1, 140 mm, 2,000 rpm, 3.6 W, 122.5 cfm, 39 dBA).

Figure 8: Fans

[nextpage title=”Installation”]

In Figure 9, you can see the backplate for installing the Nepton 140XL on Intel LGA775, LGA1150, LGA1155, LGA1156, and LGA1366 sockets, and all AMD systems. Socket LGA2011 CPUs use the stock backplate.

Figure 9: Backplate

You also have to attach the two clips to the block. Figure 10 shows the Intel clips installed; there is also a pair of clips for use with AMD processors.

Figure 10: Clips installed

Place the backplate on the solder side of the motherboard and place the four spacers shown in Figure 11 on the component side.

Figure 11: Spacers

The last step is to install the system inside the computer, attaching the block on the CPU using four nuts and the radiator on the top panel. We installed both the fans outside blowing outwards.

One interesting thing is that the screws that hold the fans (and also hold the radiator at the case) are all thumbscrews, which we never saw before.

Figure 12: Installation finished

[nextpage title=”How We Tested”]

We tested the cooler with a Core i5-2500K CPU (quad-core, 3.3 GHz), which is a socket LGA1155 processor with a 95 W TDP (Thermal Design Power). In order to get higher thermal dissipation, we overclocked it to 4.0 GHz (100 MHz base clock and x40 multiplier), with 1.3 V core voltage (Vcore). This CPU was able to reach 4.8 GHz with its default core voltage, but at this setting, the processor enters thermal throttling when using mainstream coolers, reducing the clock and thus the thermal dissipation. This could interfere with the temperature readings, so we chose to maintain a moderate overclocking.

We measured noise and temperature with the CPU under full load. In order to get 100% CPU usage in all cores, we ran Prime 95 25.11 with the “In-place Large FFTs” option. (In this version, the software uses all available threads.)

We compared the tested cooler to other coolers we already tested, and to the stock cooler that comes with the Core i5-2500K CPU. Every cooler was tested with the thermal compound that comes with it.

Room temperature measurements were taken with a digital thermometer. The core temperature was read with the SpeedFan program (available from the CPU thermal sensors), using an arithmetic average of the core temperature readings.

During the tests, the panels of the computer case were closed. The front and rear case fans were spinning at minimum speed in order to simulate the “normal” cooler use on a well-ventilated case. We assume that is the common setup used by a cooling enthusiast or overclocker.

The sound pressure level (SPL) was measured with a digital noise meter, with its sensor placed near the top opening of the case. This measurement is only for comparison purposes, because a precise SPL measurement needs to be made inside an acoustically insulated room with no other noise sources, which is not the case here.

Hardware Configuration

• Processor: Core i5-2500K
• Motherboard: ASUS Maximus IV Extreme-Z
• Memory: 16 GB G.Skill Sniper (DDR3-1600/PC3-12800), configured at 1,600 MHz
• Hard disk: Seagate Barracuda XT 2 TB
• Video card: GeForce GT 630
• Video resolution: 1920×1080
• Video monitor: Philips 236VL
• Power supply: Seventeam ST-550P-AM
• Case: Cooler Master HAF 922

Operating System Configuration

• Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit SP1

Software Used

• Prime95
• SpeedFan

Error Margin

We adopted a 2°C error margin, meaning temperature differences below 2°C are considered irrelevant.

[nextpage title=”Our Tests”]

The table below presents the results of our measurements. We repeated the same test on all coolers listed below. Each measurement was taken with the CPU at full load. In the models with a fan supporting PWM, the motherboard controlled the fan speed according to core load and temperature. On coolers with an integrated fan controller, the fan was set at the full speed.

Cooler	Room Temp.	Noise	Speed	Core Temp.	Temp. Diff.
Intel stock cooler	18 °C	41 dBA	2000 rpm	97 °C	79 °C
Cooler Master Hyper TX3	18 °C	50 dBA	2850 rpm	69 ºC	51 °C
Corsair A70	23 °C	51 dBA	2000 rpm	66 ºC	43 °C
Corsair H100	26 °C	62 dBA	2000 rpm	64 ºC	38 °C
EVGA Superclock	26 °C	57 dBA	2550 rpm	67 ºC	41 °C
NZXT HAVIK 140	20 °C	46 dBA	1250 rpm	65 ºC	45 °C
Thermalright True Spirit 120	26 °C	42 dBA	1500 rpm	82 °C	56 °C
Zalman CNPS12X	26 °C	43 dBA	1200 rpm	71 °C	45 °C
Zalman CNPS9900 Max	20 °C	51 dBA	1700 rpm	62 °C	42 °C
Titan Fenrir Siberia Edition	22 °C	50 dBA	2400 rpm	65 °C	43 °C
SilenX EFZ-120HA5	18 °C	44 dBA	1500 rpm	70 °C	52 °C
Noctua NH-L12	20 °C	44 dBA	1450 rpm	70 °C	50 °C
Zalman CNPS8900 Extreme	21 °C	53 dBA	2550 rpm	71 °C	50 °C
Gamer Storm Assassin	15 °C	48 dBA	1450 rpm	58 °C	43 °C
Deepcool Gammaxx 400	15 °C	44 dBA	1500 rpm	60 °C	45 °C
Cooler Master TPC 812	23 °C	51 dBA	2350 rpm	66 °C	43 °C
Deepcool Gammaxx 300	18 °C	43 dBA	1650 rpm	74 °C	56 °C
Intel stock cooler	18 °C	41 dBA	2000 rpm	97 °C	79 °C
Xigmatek Praeton	19 °C	52 dBA	2900 rpm	83 °C	64 °C
Noctua NH-U12P SE2	18 °C	42 dBA	1300 rpm	69 °C	51 °C
Deepcool Frostwin	24 °C	46 dBA	1650 rpm	78 °C	54 °C
Thermaltake Frio Advanced	13 °C	56 dBA	2000 rpm	62 °C	49 °C
Xigmatek Dark Knight Night Hawk Edition	9 °C	48 dBA	2100 rpm	53 °C	44 °C
Thermaltake Frio Extreme	21 °C	53 dBA	1750 rpm	59 °C	38 °C
Noctua NH-U9B SE2	12 °C	44 dBA	1700 rpm	64 °C	52 °C
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Pro	15 °C	54 dBA	2000 rpm	52 °C	37 °C
Deepcool Fiend Shark	18 °C	45 dBA	1500 rpm	74 °C	56 °C
Arctic Freezer i30	13 °C	42 dBA	1350 rpm	63 °C	50 °C
Spire TME III	8 °C	46 dBA	1700 rpm	70 °C	62 °C
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Performer	11 °C	54 dBA	2000 rpm	49 °C	38 °C
Arctic Alpine 11 PLUS	11 °C	45 dBA	2000 rpm	82 °C	71 °C
be quiet! Dark Rock 2	10 °C	41 dBA	1300 rpm	58 °C	48 °C
Phanteks PH-TC14CS	16 °C	47 dBA	1300 rpm	58 °C	42 °C
Phanteks PH-TC14PE	16 °C	48 dBA	1300 rpm	57 °C	41 °C
SilverStone HE01 (Q)	19 °C	44 dBA	1150 rpm	63 °C	44 °C
SilverStone HE01 (P)	20 °C	57 dBA	2050 rpm	62 °C	42 °C
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Extreme (S)	17 °C	44 dBA	1250 rpm	52 °C	35 °C
Thermaltake WATER2.0 Extreme (E)	17 °C	53 dBA	1900 rpm	50 °C	33 °C
Deepcool Neptwin	11 °C	46 dBA	1500 rpm	56 °C	45 °C
SilverStone HE02	19 °C	49 dBA	2000 rpm	64 °C	45 °C
Zalman CNPS9900DF	23 °C	45 dBA	1400 rpm	68 °C	45 °C
Deepcool ICE BLADE PRO V2.0	22 °C	43 dBA	1500 rpm	67 °C	45 °C
Phanteks PH-TC90LS	24 °C	47 dBA	2600 rpm	95 °C	71 °C
Rosewill AIOLOS	20 °C	40 dBA	1600 rpm	94 °C	74 °C
Corsair H60	20 °C	49 dBA	2000 rpm	64 °C	44 °C
Zalman LQ310	27 °C	51 dBA	2050 rpm	65 °C	38 °C
Noctua NH-L9i	24 °C	44 dBA	2500 rpm	95 °C	71 °C
NZXT Respire T40	20 °C	45 dBA	1850 rpm	76 °C	56 °C
NZXT Respire T20	21 °C	45 dBA	1900 rpm	77 °C	56 °C
Zalman LQ315	20 °C	52 dBA	1950 rpm	57 °C	37 °C
Corsair H80i (Quiet)	19 °C	44 dBA	1100 rpm	61 °C	42 °C
Corsair H80i (Maximum)	19 °C	57 dBA	2500 rpm	55 °C	36 °C
NZXT Kraken X40 (Silent)	25 °C	44 dBA	1050 rpm	66 °C	41 °C
NZXT Kraken X40 (Extreme)	25 °C	53 dBA	1650 rpm	62 °C	37 °C
Zalman LQ320	20 °C	52 dBA	2100 rpm	57 °C	37 °C
Corsair H100i (Quiet)	22 °C	45 dBA	1150 rpm	58 °C	36 °C
Corsair H100i (Maximum)	22 °C	61 dBA	2500 rpm	54 °C	32 °C
NZXT Kraken X60 (Silent)	26 °C	46 dBA	1000 rpm	62 °C	36 °C
NZXT Kraken X60 (Extreme)	26 °C	60 dBA	1650 rpm	60 °C	34 °C
Prolimatech Genesis Black Series	25 °C	46 dBA	1150 rpm	69 °C	44 °C
Phanteks PH-TC12DX	25 °C	51 dBA	1850 rpm	74 °C	49 °C
Corsair H90	23 °C	51 dBA	1550 rpm	61 °C	38 °C
Corsair H110	27 °C	58 dBA	1500 rpm	60 °C	33 °C
Evercool Venti	23 °C	49 dBA	2250 rpm	72 °C	49 °C
Thermalright Archon SB-E X2	22 °C	45 dBA	1400 rpm	68 °C	46 °C
Scythe Kabuto II	20 °C	41 dBA	1450 rpm	67 °C	47 °C
Prolimatech Megahalems Red Series	20 °C	51 dBA	1500 rpm	63 °C	43 °C
Zalman FX100 (fanless)	18 °C	NA	NA	98 °C	80 °C
Zalman FX100 (92 mm fan)	18 °C	50 dBA	2850 rpm	69 °C	51 °C
Gelid The Black Edition	21 °C	45 dBA	1650 rpm	66 °C	45 °C
Thermalright AXP-100	22 °C	42 dBA	2400 rpm	76 °C	54 °C
SilverStone NT06-PRO	19 °C	50 dBA	2400 rpm	72 °C	53 °C
SilverStone AR01	11 °C	46 dBA	2150 rpm	53 °C	42 °C
Cooler Master Seidon 120M	16 °C	52 dBA	2300 rpm	58 °C	42 °C
Enermax ETS-T40-White Cluster	16 °C	50 dBA	2200 rpm	63 °C	47 °C
Cooler Master Seidon 120XL	17 °C	54 dBA	2250 rpm	55 °C	38 °C
Cooler Master Seidon 240M	13 °C	59 dBA	2200 rpm	49 °C	36 °C
SilverStone AR02	9 °C	46 dBA	2800 rpm	60 °C	51 °C
Cooler Master V8 GTS	10 °C	51 dBA	1650 rpm	54 °C	44 °C
SilverStone TD03	16 °C	57 dBA	2350 rpm	54 °C	38 °C
SilverStone TD02	17 °C	57 dBA	2350 rpm	50 °C	33 °C
Corsair H75	29 °C	51 dBA	2000 rpm	71 °C	42 °C
Cooler Master Nepton 140XL	25 °C	60 dBA	2150 rpm	58 °C	32 °C

In the graph below, you can see how many degrees Celsius hotter the CPU core is than the air outside the case. The lower this difference, the better is the performance of the cooler.

 

In the graph below, you can see how many decibels of noise each cooler makes.

[nextpage title=”Main Specifications”]

The main specifications for the Cooler Master Nepton 140XL CPU cooler include:

• Application: Sockets AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1, FM2, LGA775, LGA 1150, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA1366, and LGA2011
• Radiator dimensions: 5.5 x 6.7 x 1.5 inches (139 x 171 x 38 mm) (W x L x H)
• Block height: 1.8 inches (45 mm)
• Fins: Aluminum
• Base: Copper
• Heat-pipes: None
• Fans: Two, 140 mm
• Nominal fan speed: 2,000 rpm
• Fan air flow: 122.5 cfm
• Power consumption: 2 x 3.6 W
• Nominal noise level: 39 dBA
• More information: https://www.coolermaster.com
• Average price in the U.S.*: USD 100.00

* Researched at Newegg.com on the day we published this review.

[nextpage title=”Conclusions”]

The Cooler Master Nepton 140XL is a real high-end liquid cooling system, beating systems with 240 mm radiators. It is also very easy to install and very flexible, thanks to the holes that allow to install it with 120 mm fans. It means you can install it in a case with no support for 140 mm fans.

The only drawback is the high noise level when the fans are at full speed.

The Cooler Master Nepton 140XL is a great choice if you are looking for a compact, high-performance liquid cooling system.