Alphacool Core 1 White and Aurora Black CPU Water Block Review

Installation and the Test PC

Since the CPU blocks are a part of the whole liquid cooling loop, then we need many more components to make it work. It’s a product designed for more advanced users, but in the last years, the installation has become much easier, and manufacturers prepare all their product lines in a way that everything is compatible.

In the Alphacool online shop, you can find everything you may need to build your dream cooling. Alphacool products are also widely available in other stores, like Amazon.

Our test build is based on the latest AMD Ryzen setup, which includes Ryzen 9 7950X processor, ASUS Crosshair X670E Gene motherboard, ADATA Lancer Mera Edition 32GB DDR5-7200@6200 CL30 memory kit, and GeForce RTX4070 Founders Edition. Since there are no full-cover blocks for our graphics card, then it’s out of the water loop. The water loop itself is based on Alphacool products which include the Core Distro Plate 240/left with the APEX VPP pump, two 360mm full-copper radiators, and 10/16 soft tubes with matching fittings.

Below you can also see the white version installed on the i5-13600 CPU and Colorful B760M Frozen motherboard. The build will be wider described in future reviews, while now we can focus on the Alphacool Core 1 design, which is clearly unique. Not a long time ago, I was talking about the lack of white CPU water blocks, and here we have one. Not only white but also looking and performing exceptionally well.

The Alphacool Core 1 presents fantastic regardless of version. I feel it’s a step forward for Alphacool. I had mixed feelings about previous CPU coolers, but I can’t find weak spots in the Core 1.
The Aurora version has an adapter for a standard ARGB connector, so we can connect it to other Alphacool devices or directly to the motherboard. Either way, we use only one ARGB connector on the motherboard. The RGB works without issues with popular motherboard brands and other devices. All the colors match perfectly with other devices.

I assume that most users who decided on a custom liquid cooling loop already know how to install everything. If you aren’t sure, then Alphacool prepared a user’s manual which describes everything in an easy way. The installation itself is not much different than that of other CPU blocks and most other coolers.
I won’t hide that I was surprised that Alphacool made the mounting kit so simple. There are no additional springs or anything else that we could see in previous coolers. Simple four screws hold the block in the perfect position. If we install it on an AMD socket, we use the motherboard backplate, so it’s even easier.

On the next page of this review, we will take a closer look at the performance.