LEPA EXllusion 240

LEPA EXllusion 240 Review – The EXllusion 240 is the kind of CPU cooler that would make John Venn a happy man. It’s decidedly not a closed-loop cooler, but we wouldn’t call it a completely custom kit, either. Everything you need is included in the box, and the loop is prefilled, too. In short, if you know how to open a box and turn a few screws, you can install the EXllusion 240, so in that regard it’s as easy to set up as any closed-loop liquid cooler. The pump and waterblock are condensed into one unit, as well, which is another hallmark of closed-loop coolers.

Make no mistake, though, the EXllusion 240 just begs to be customized, and LEPA provides the materials for you to do so. The pump/cold plate unit has a fill port that lets you add coolant as needed (LEPA provides a 500ml bottle in the box to refill the loop—you’re welcome), but it also gives you an easy way to add dye to tint the coolant. And here, two and half paragraphs into our review, we arrive at the EXllusion 240’s value proposition: completely custom coolant color. The EXllusion 240’s tubing is clear, and LEPA includes a set of red, green, and blue dyes to use in the loop. That’s almost 16.8 million possibilities! So, simply add 101 parts red, 156 parts green, and 239 parts blue to get that cornflower blue coolant you’ve always wanted. We jest, of course, but the prepackaged dyes and the EXllusion 240’s fill port further extend the notion that this is one heck of an approachable cooler. An LED light built into the pump unit helps you show off your handiwork.

It makes perfect sense that, as a LEPA product, the EXllusion 240 borrows a lot of the same technology that made the AquaChanger 240 such a solid cooler. The EXllusion 240’s cold plate also uses LEPA’s patented CDP (Central Diffusing Passage), but on this cooler there are two passages cut into the microfin array, as opposed to the AquaChanger 240’s single passage. According to LEPA, CDP increases heat absorption while mitigating CPU hot spots. The included fans have the same dual convex blade design, as well. Despite their similarities, the EXllusion 240 has slightly greater cooling capacity (400W TDP) than the AquaChanger 240 (350W TDP).

To test the EXllusion 240, we used it to cool an Intel Core i7-5930K and then punished the pair with two CPU-intensive benchmarks: POV-Ray and Prime95. First, though, we let our processor idle for 10 minutes and took note of the CPU’s temperature. During the idle period, the average temp across all six cores was 27.1 degrees Celsius, and at one point one of the cores peaked at 35 C. The EXllusion 240 stayed strong after five consecutive runs of POV-Ray, holding the average CPU temp to 50.7 C and a peak core temp of 55 C. Prime95’s Small FFTs test, our nastiest test by far, raised the average CPU temperature to 60 C after running for 10 minutes; the peak core temp over this period was 65 C.

For power users who don’t want to fuss with hand picking liquid-cooling components but nonetheless want their setup to stand out from the crowd, LEPA’s EXllusion 240 is tough to beat. Priced to be competitive with a number of very good closed-loop liquid coolers that use 240mm radiators, this liquid cooler is a very compelling option indeed.

 

LEPA EXllusion 240 Specifications

• Materials: Copper (waterblock), aluminum (radiator)
• Socket compatibility: Intel LGA775/1150/1151/1155/1156/1366/2011(3), AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/
  FM1/FM2/FM2+
• Pump: 3,000rpm
• Fans: 2 x 120mm PWM (500 to 1,800rpm)
• Radiator dimensions: 32 x 274 x 120mm (HxWxD)
• Price $119.99