Gigabyte Aorus Waterforce X 240 and X 360 Review

By Meng Vang

Gigabyte Aorus Waterforce X 240 and X 360 Review

The Aorus Waterforce X series liquid CPU coolers are Gigabyte’s newest addition to their thermal solution lineup. This series includes the X 240, X 280, and X 360 models. These coolers come with ARGB fans with Graphene Nano Lubricant, which increases the life of the fan by 2.1 times compared to a double ball bearing design. The Aorus Waterforce X series also come with 380mm long water tubes, which are enlarged to 7.8mm for quicker heat dissipation. They also have support for various Intel and AMD sockets, including Intel’s upcoming Alder Lake CPUs for LGA 1700.

There is also a 60mm x 60mm LCD screen on the water pump, which has a 330 degrees manual rotatable design. Using the Aorus Engine and RGB Fusion 2.0 software, users can customize performance settings, RGB lighting effects, and upload gifs, custom texts, images, and videos to the LCD screen.

Gigabyte has sent us the X 240 and X 360 models for this review. Let’s take a look at the specifications to both of these units below.

Aorus Waterforce X 240 Specifications

  • Radiator & Block
    Dimensions : 277 x 119 x 27mm
    Pump Dimension :82 x 82 x 74mm
    Radiator Material : Aluminum
    Block Material : Copper
  • CPU Socket
    Intel 2066, 2011,1366,115x,1200,1700
    AMD TR4, AM4, sTRX4
  • LCD Display
    60 x 60mm Full Color LCD
  • Fan
    Spec : 2 x 120mm ARGB Fan
    Speed : 700~2500 RPM +/-10%
    Bearing type :Sleeve (Graphene Nano Lubricant)
    Air Flow : 6.92~60.07 CFM
    Air Pressure : 0.25~3.14 mmH2O
    Life Expectancy : 73,500 Hours
    Noise Level : 16.12~37.6 dBA
  • Software
    RGB FUSION 2.0 support
    AORUS ENGINE support* For the product to fully function, user must install and run both the AORUS ENGINE version 1.82 and RGB FUSION 2.0 version B20.0122.1 software.
  • Warranty
    3 Years
  • Note
    *Enable Video upload function must to plug Micro SD card.
    *Product not including Micro SD card in box.
    *Please note If assemble in AORUS chassis model GB-AC300W and GB-AC300G must use cooler’s accessary kit “r”screw to install the radiator.

Aorus Waterforce X 360 Specifications

  • Radiator & Block
    Dimensions : 394 x 119 x 27mm
    Pump Dimension : 82 x 82 x 74mm
    Radiator Material : Aluminum
    Block Material : Copper
  • CPU Socket
    Intel 2066, 2011,1366,115x,1200,1700
    AMD TR4, AM4, sTRX4
  • LCD Display
    60 x 60mm Full Color LCD
  • Fan
    Spec : 3 x 120mm ARGB Fan
    Speed : 700~2500 RPM +/-10%
    Bearing type :Sleeve (Graphene Nano Lubricant)
    Air Flow :16.92~60.07 CFM
    Air Pressure : 0.25~3.14 mmH2O
    Life Expectancy :73,500 Hours
    Noise Level : 16.12~37.6 dBA
  • Software
    RGB FUSION 2.0 Support
    AORUS ENGINE Support* For the product to fully function, user must install and run both the AORUS ENGINE version 1.82 and RGB FUSION 2.0 version B20.0122.1 software.
  • Warranty
    3 Years
  • Note
    *To Enable Video upload function user must use Micro SD card. (Micro SD card not included)
    *If assembled in AORUS chassis model GB-AC300W and GB-AC300G must use cooler’s accessary kit “r” screw to install the radiator.

The packaging to the Aorus Waterforce X 240 is well thought out. Overall quality of the packaging is high with a thick protective layer of foam. This provides good protection to the water-cooling unit and its accessories during shipping.

The same is true with the Aorus Waterforce X 360 as well but just in a larger box. Because of the thick protective foam, cable terminals and sharp objects are nowhere near the radiator. This prevents radiator damage, which can result in the possibility of a leak.

In terms of accessories, the X 240 comes with all of the necessary mounting hardware for Intel socket 2066, 2011, 2011-3, 1366, 115x, 1200, and even Alder Lakes LGA 1700. It also comes with AMD mounting hardware for TR4, sTRX4, and AM4. Two 120mm ARGB fans are also included along with a Quick Installation Guide and a tube a thermal grease.

The X 360 comes with an additional fan and radiator/fan mounting screws. The mounting hardware, thermal grease, and Quick Installation Guide are the same as the X 240.

Inside the box, both units also come with a micro-USB to motherboard cable. The micro-USB male end plugs into the pump, while the female USB port plugs into an available USB 2.0 header on the motherboard. This will allow the pump to communicate to the computer. Doing so will enable RGB and performance customization through the Gigabyte Aorus Engine and RGB Fusion software. We will take a look at the two software in a later section.

With the Aorus Waterforce X 240 unit out of the box, we can see it has a standard size radiator. The water tubes are enlarged to 7.8mm, which is larger than the 5.1mm diameter seen on a more standard water-cooling unit. This increases water flow by 37% to quickly dissipate heat more efficiently.

The rubber water tubes for both units have a braided Nylon sleeve over them. This improves aesthetics by hiding the fan cables from the pump to the radiator. Because of this cabling method, this eliminates the spider web of cables coming directly from the water pump to improve cable management.

Let’s take a closer look at both the Aorus Waterforce X 240 and X 360 cooling units in the next section.