Over the previous few years, as high-end CPUs have turn into extra thermally demanding, cooling producers have launched upgraded liquid coolers to successfully dissipate extra warmth. This summer season particularly has seen the discharge of many spectacular liquid coolers from the likes of Cooler Grasp, DeepCool, and others.
Immediately we’re trying on the newest 280mm AIO from Lian Li, the Galahad II LCD. It options Asetek’s newest Eighth era liquid pump, plus followers optimized by Asetek for low noise ranges. However will or not it’s sufficient to tame Intel’s i7-13700K and earn a spot on our Greatest AIO Coolers record? We’ll need to put it via testing to say for certain. However first, listed below are the cooler’s specs, direct from Lian Li.
Cooler Specs
| Cooler | Lian Li Galahad II LCD 280 |
| MSRP | $229.99 |
| Radiator Materials | Single Wave Aluminum Fins |
| Pump | Eighth Technology Asetek Design |
| Pump Pace | 3600 RPM |
| Pump MTTF | Unlisted |
| Socket Compatibility | Intel LGA 1700/115x/1200 AMD: AM5/AM4 |
| Base (CPU & SSD) | Copper |
| Max TDP (Our Testing) | ~250W on Intel i7-13700K |
| Put in Measurement (with followers) | 319.5mm (L) x 140mm (W) x 55mm (D) |
| Guarantee | 6 years |
Packing and Included Contents
Lian Li’s Galahad II LCD 280 arrives in a really large field. The form jogs my memory of an ultrawide 32:9 pc monitor.
Included with the package deal are the next:
- Two 140mm followers, pre-installed
- 280mm radiator
- 2.9-inch IPS 480 x 480-resolution show
- PWM & ARGB cords
- Cable administration Velcro strap
- Mounts for all fashionable CPUs
- Pre-installed thermal paste
- Tube of thermal paste
LGA 1700 Cooler Set up
As with different AIOs, I like to recommend securing the radiator to your pc case earlier than every other steps are taken.
1. Intel customers will start by urgent the backplate in opposition to the motherboard and safe it sliding on the standoffs to safe it.
2. Subsequent, take the CPU block and press it in opposition to the CPU. Use the included thumbscrews to safe the unit in opposition to the motherboard.
3. Now you’ll have to resolve the way you wish to management the gadget. You possibly can join the followers on to the AIO for management through Lian Li’s L-Join 3 software program suite, or you may join them to your motherboard’s PWM and ARGB headers for a extra conventional configuration.
4. Don’t overlook to take off the plastic peel on the display earlier than turning in your pc.
Options of the Lian Li Galahad II LCD
▶ LCD Show CPU block
Probably the most eye-catching function of this AIO is, as its identify implies, the colourful LCD show panel on the highest of the CPU block. It’s a sq. 2.88-inch (480 x 480-pixel) IPS display.
▶ L-Join 3 Software program Suite
To make the most of the IPS show, you’ll have to obtain the newest model of Lian Li’s L-Join software program, which additionally gives (non-compulsory) integration to manage fan and pump speeds in addition to ARGB lighting settings.
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You’ll discover all kinds of customization choices for the LCD show provided throughout the software program. You possibly can select from a wide range of results, and even add a video as much as 3 minutes lengthy. I’ve demoed a few of these results beneath.
▶ Eighth-generation Asetek water pump
The Galahad II LCD options the newest (Eighth era) Asetek water pump, which Asetek claims delivers as much as a 2°C/100W enchancment in comparison with its earlier era design.
- Upgraded pump makes use of a three-phase motor for greater liquid circulation and quieter operation
- Optimized design will increase total floor space and reduces circulation impedance
- Beneath-the-hood enhancements for quieter operation versus earlier generations
▶ Copper Contact Plate
This AIO arrives has a pure copper CPU contact plate, its design has been optimized by for the newest Intel and AMD CPUs.
▶ Further thermal paste
Most coolers include both a small tube of thermal paste or pre-installed paste, however Lian Li goes the additional mile and features a small tube of thermal paste, together with what’s pre-applied, to facilitate a number of installations of the cooler.
▶ Velcro straps for cable administration
Lian Li consists of velcro straps with the AIO, which can be utilized to handle cables or the liquid tubing.
▶ Rotatable tubing
The tubing of the liquid cooler could be rotated, making set up simpler.
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▶ 30mm thick radiator
The AIO features a radiator 30mm thick. With followers put in, the thickness is a complete of 55mm.
▶ Full RAM compatibility
Because the AIO’s CPU block doesn’t overhang or intrude with a motherboard’s DIMM slots in any method, you might be free to make use of any measurement of RAM, irrespective of how tall, with none worries of incompatibility.
▶ Two 140mm performance-focused followers
There’s extra to a cooler than simply the heatsink or radiator. The bundled followers have a major impression on cooling, noise ranges, and the unit’s seems. The followers included are listed as “efficiency” fashions, which aren’t offered individually at the moment. These followers are 9-bladed and optimized for decrease noise ranges. They arrive pre-installed, making set up simpler and quicker.
Moreover, the followers make the most of Lian Li’s daisy-chaining system which makes cable administration a lot easier. The followers could be managed by the motherboard utilizing the usual PWM and ARGB cable included, or related on to the AIO pump for management through the L-Join 3 software program suite.
| Mannequin | Lian Li 140mm Efficiency followers |
| Dimensions | 143 x 140 x 25mm |
| Fan Pace | As much as 1550 RPM |
| Air Stream | As much as 89.7 CFM |
| Air Strain | As much as 2.99 mmH2O |
| Bearing Sort | Fluid Dynamic Bearing (FDB) |
| Lighting | ARGB |
| MFFT | Unlisted |
LGA1700 Socket Bending
Notice there are numerous components apart from the CPU cooler that may affect your cooling efficiency, together with the case you employ and the followers put in in it. A system’s motherboard may affect this, particularly if it suffers from bending, which ends up in poor cooler contact with the CPU.
With the intention to forestall bending from impacting our cooling outcomes, we’ve put in Thermalright’s LGA 1700 contact body into our testing rig. In case your motherboard is affected by bending, your thermal outcomes can be worse than these proven beneath. Not all motherboards are affected equally by this subject. I examined Raptor Lake CPUs in two motherboards. And whereas considered one of them confirmed important thermal enhancements after putting in Thermalright’s LGA1700 contact body, the opposite motherboard confirmed no distinction in temperatures in anyway! Try our assessment of the contact body for extra data.
Testing Methodology
Fashionable high-end CPUs, whether or not Intel or AMD, are tough to chill in intensive workloads. Prior to now reaching 95 levels Celsius or extra on a desktop CPU may need been a trigger for concern – however with right this moment’s flagship processors, it’s thought of regular operation. Related habits has been current in laptops for years because of cooling limitations in tight areas.
All testing is carried out with a 23C ambient room temperature. A number of thermal assessments are run on every CPU to check the cooler in a wide range of circumstances, and acoustic measurements are taken with every end result. These assessments embrace:
1. Noise-normalized testing at low noise ranges
2. “Out of the field”/default configuration thermal and acoustics testing
a. No energy limits enforced
b. As a result of CPUs hit TJ Max on this situation, one of the simplest ways to check cooling energy is by recording the whole CPU package deal energy consumption.
3. Thermal and acoustic testing in power-limited situations
a. Energy restricted to 175W to emulate a medium-intensity workload
b. Energy restricted to 125W to emulate a low-intensity workload
The thermal outcomes included are for 10-minute testing runs. To make certain that was sufficiently lengthy to tax the cooler, we examined each Thermalright’s Murderer X 120 R SE and DeepCool’s LT720 with a 30-minute Cinebench check with Intel’s i9-13900K for each 10 minutes and half-hour. The outcomes didn’t change a lot in any respect with the longer check: The typical clock speeds maintained dropped by 29 MHz on DeepCool’s LT720 and 31 MHz on Thermalright’s Murderer X 120 R SE. That’s an extremely small 0.6% distinction in clock speeds maintained, a margin of error distinction that tells us that the 10-minute assessments are certainly lengthy sufficient to correctly check the coolers.
Testing Configuration – Intel LGA1700 Platform
| CPU | Intel Core i7-13700K |
| Motherboard | MSI Z690 A Professional DDR4 |
| Case | Be Quiet! Silent Base 802, system followers set to hurry 1 setting. |
| Monitor | LG 45GR95QE |
| PSU | Cooler Grasp XG Plus 850 Platinum PSU |
| SSD | 2TB TeamGroup Z540 PCIe 5 SSD |
