Fractal Design Kelvin S24 Review
Category : Watercooling
Published by Marc Büchel on 10.04.15
With the Kelvin S24, Fractal Design has a first all-in-one watercooler in its portfolio. In this case you can get an AiO with 240 millimeter copper radiator and two PWM fans for just 135 Euro. This makes us hope for lots and lots of cooling performance and overall we're more than just curious too see whether Fractal Design is capable of convincing us already with their first product in this market segment.
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Article en français |
Articolo in italiano |
Fractal Design is famous especially for making great cases and next to that the manufacturer also has fans and power supplies in its portfolio. Lately the Swedish Company decided to add a Complete series of all-in-one watercoolers to their line-up. We've already reviewed the S36 with triple radiator and today we're having a look at their Kelvin S24. This particular model features a 240 millimeter radiator made by Alphacool. Actually this is a full copper radiator and checking the dimensions it measures 275 mm in lenght and it's 30 mm thick. 30 millimeter actually makes this a "slim" radiator, which brings the benefit, that you Can install it in almost any Case, which supports 240 millimeter radiators. A closer look at the CPU Water Block reveals that it's also been milled from Copper. Overall this AIO is well made and it comes with nice and clean looks. The bundle includes two 120 mm PWM fans with white wings and black frame. Mounting system supports most, if not all, recent Intel and AMD socket CPUs.
The Kelvin series is actually Fractal Design's first liquid Cooler and the Pump, radiator as well as CPU water block are made by Alphacool.
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As you can see from the picture, manufacturing quality of the Kelvin S24
is on the level it should be. It's not exceptional but still on good level for
a 117 Euro all-in-one cooler with dual radiator. The latter actually
measures 25 x 30 mm and is made
from copper. The tubes are fitted with anti-kink coils to avoid too tight
bending angles. In the water block we find a pump with ceramic bearing as
well as a copper base plate and on top of that the pump is adjustable via the
PWM signal. The fans included in the delivery feature the typical Fractal Design colors, which are black and white. Furthermore they measure 120 x 25 mm and
rotation speeds are between 800 and 1700 rpm. Maximum airflow is advertised at 62.4 CFM.
Specifications |
|
| Model |
Kelvin S24 |
| Type | AIO WaterCooler |
| Dimensions | 275 x 124 x 30 mm (LxBxW) |
| Weight | 1.2 kg |
| Provided Fan(s) | 2 x 120 x 25 mm PWM |
| Supported Fan(s) | 4 x 120 mm |
| Base Material | Copper |
| Radiator Material | Copper |
| Socket Support | Intel LGA 1150, 1155, 1156, LGA 1366,
2011 AMD AM2(+), AM3(+), FM1, FM2, FM2+ |
| Thermal Compound | Zero Thermal Paste 1g syringe |
| Product Page | Kelvin S24 |
The packaging is standard for an all-in-one water cooler. Alongside the AIO unit you get two fans, a manual and mounting kits. Fractal Design bundles the Kelvin S24 with two mounting kits, one for AMD and one for Intel-based systems, as well as two backplates for both AMD and Intel sockets. The manufacturer also includes a syringe containing 1 gramm of thermal Compound, which is enough for multiple application. Als in the delivery there is a PWM splitter cable, which is always a useful thing to have. Furthermore this all-in-one cooler is compatible with almost any socket from Intel and AMD. If anything should break down with the Kelvin S24 AIO water Cooler you get a warranty that covers such event for two years.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation |
| Page 4 - Test Setup |
| Page 5 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 6 - PWM Performance |
| Page 7 - Conclusion |
Photo Gallery
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation |
| Page 4 - Test Setup |
| Page 5 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 6 - PWM Performance |
| Page 7 - Conclusion |
Installation
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The installation procedure is simple and practical. It is pretty much self explanatory and everything is clearly explained in the manual, so it should not be a problem even for less experienced users. The design is not completely tool-less as we have to use a torx key to mount the fans, which is included in the bundle. Also we need a screwdriver to mount the water block itself. The pressure on the CPU is good and since the base/pump is a low profile design there shouldn't be any clearance issues as even tubing can be moved in any direction without having to worry about blockage or leaking.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation |
| Page 4 - Test Setup |
| Page 5 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 6 - PWM Performance |
| Page 7 - Conclusion |
Test Setup |
|
| Cooler |
|
| Mainboard | ASUS Z87-Deluxe (BIOS 1602) |
| CPU | Intel Core i7-4770K Stock (Turbo On / HT On) |
| Memory | ADATA XPG V2 2x4GB DDR3-2800 CL12 1.65V |
| Video | Intel HD Graphics 4600 |
| Software |
Windows 7 x64 wPrime Benchmark v2.10 CPUID HWMonitor 1.24.0 |
| PSU | Seasonic Platinum SS-660XP2 |
| Fan Controller | Lamptron FC5 V3 |
| Thermal Compound | Pre-applied |
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation |
| Page 4 - Test Setup |
| Page 5 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 6 - PWM Performance |
| Page 7 - Conclusion |
Absolute Performance
Temperatures
| 7V | Idle | Load |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 31 °C | 50 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 31 °C | 50 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Raijintek Triton | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 31 °C | 51 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S24 | 32 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 34 °C | 53 °C |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 34 °C | 53 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 36 °C | 55 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 34 °C | 56 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 34 °C | 56 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 37 °C | 56 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 36 °C | 61 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 35 °C | 63 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 37 °C | 64 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 39 °C | 65 °C |
| Lepa LV12 | 36 °C | 66 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 38 °C | 69 °C |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 37 °C | 73 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 38 °C | 75 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 83 °C |
To measure the Cooling Capacity we took temperatures in idle and load with the fans at 7 and 12 V. The idle temperature represents the lowest temperature hit by the processor package after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes and puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is at 25 C.
| 12V | Idle | Load |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 30 °C | 48 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 30 °C | 49 °C |
| Raijintek Triton | 31 °C | 49 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32 °C | 50 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 33 °C | 50 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 31 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 32 °C | 51 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S24 | 31 °C | 51 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 32 °C | 52 °C |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 33 °C | 52 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 31 °C | 53 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 34 °C | 53 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Lepa LV12 | 35 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 35 °C | 59 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 37 °C | 60 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 37 °C | 65 °C |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 34 °C | 68 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 36 °C | 69 °C |
| Intel Stock | 35 °C | 70 °C |
Fan Speeds
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 840 rpm | 1'180 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 840 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 750 rpm | 1'300 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 780 rpm | 1'200 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 520 rpm | 1'260 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 840 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 780 rpm | 1'380 rpm |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 960 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Raijintek Pallas | 960 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Scythe Ashura | 600 rpm | 1'440 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 780 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 900 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 960 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Alpenfühn Matterhorn Pure | 660 rpm | 1'530 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S24 | 1'270 rpm | 1'540 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 960 rpm | 1'560 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 1'020 rpm | 1'560 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 1'400 rpm | 1'740 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 600 rpm | 1'740 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 420 rpm | 1'800 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 1'020 rpm | 1'860 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Cluster | 1'260 rpm | 1'860 rpm |
| Lepa LV12 | 1'100 rpm | 1'850 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 1'180rpm | 1'840 rpm |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 1'140 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 1'200 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 1'200 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 1'180 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 1'500 rpm | 1'980 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'260 rpm | 2'040 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 1'270 rpm | 2'050 rpm |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 300 rpm | 2'180 rpm |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 280 rpm | 2'220 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 1'440 rpm | 2'220 rpm |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 1'400 rpm | 2'240 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 1'500 rpm | 2'280 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 1'140 rpm | 2'300 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 1'560 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 1'580 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 1'620 rpm | 2'400 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 1'620 rpm | 2'480 rpm |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 1'620 rpm | 2'580 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 1'080 rpm | 3'080 rpm |
| Raijintek Triton | 1'140 rpm | 3'450 rpm |
Fan speeds (RPM) at 7 and 12 V.
Noise Levels
| 7 Volt | 12 Volt | |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 33.4 dBA | 34.9 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 33.5 dBA | 37.0 dBA |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 37.1 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32.2 dBA | 37.4 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.3 dBA | 37.4 dBA |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 32.3 dBA | 38.4 dBA |
| Lepa LV12 | 34.6 dBA | 38.8 dBA |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 33.4 dBA | 38.9 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 33.7 dBA | 38.9 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 34.7 dBA | 39.3 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 34.2 dBA | 39.5 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33.4 dBA | 39.6 dBA |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 31.2 dBA | 39.7 dBA |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 33.9 dBA | 40.1 dBA |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 32.8 dBA | 40.3 dBA |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 32.5 dBA | 40.4 dBA |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 32.3 dBA | 40.4 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 35.5 dBA | 40.5 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 35.7 dBA | 40.6 dBA |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 32.4 dBA | 40.6 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 33.4 dBA | 40.6 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.0 dBA | 40.3 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 33.1 dBA | 40.7 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 33.3 dBA | 40.7 dBA |
| Scythe Ashura | 32.0 dBA | 41.0 dBA |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 34.1 dBA | 41.2 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 34.7 dBA | 41.2 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 34.7 dBA | 41.2 dBA |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33.3 dBA | 41.7 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 34.5 dBA | 41.7 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 34.2 dBA | 43.0 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 35.8 dBA | 43.1 dBA |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 36.7 dBA | 43.2 dBA |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 36.6 dBA | 43.4 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 36.1 dBA | 43.6 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL | 34.3dBA | 43.8 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 34.9 dBA | 44.5 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S24 | 37.0 dBA | 46.3 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 33.2 dBA | 46.5 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 38.2 dBA | 46.9 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 37.8 dBA | 48.7 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 37.5 dBA | 48.8 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 39.7 dBA | 49.3 dBA |
| Raijintek Triton | 37.0 dBA | 49.7 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 46.3 dBA | 58.2 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 47.9 dBA | 65.2 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the Cooler. Measurements are Conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we Can get in our room. Also here the measurements are Conducted at 7 and 12 V.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation |
| Page 4 - Test Setup |
| Page 5 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 6 - PWM Performance |
| Page 7 - Conclusion |
PWM Performance
Temperatures
| Idle | Load | |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 50 °C |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33 °C | 51 °C |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 34 °C | 52 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 33 °C | 52 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 33 °C | 52 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 33 °C | 53 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S24 | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33 °C | 54 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 34 °C | 54 °C |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 35 °C | 54 °C |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X | 36 °C | 54 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 34 °C | 55 °C |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 35 °C | 55 °C |
| Raijintek Triton | 33 °C | 55 °C |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 36 °C | 55 °C |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 35 °C | 56 °C |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 36 °C | 56 °C |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 34 °C | 57 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 35 °C | 57 °C |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 35 °C | 57 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 36 °C | 57 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 37 °C | 57 °C |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 35 °C | 58 °C |
| Scythe Ashura | 36 °C | 58 °C |
| Raijintek Pallas | 37 °C | 58 °C |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 38 °C | 58 °C |
| Alpenföhn Matterhorn Pure | 35 °C | 59 °C |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 37 °C | 59 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 36 °C | 60 °C |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 36 °C | 62 °C |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 39 °C | 64 °C |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 42 °C | 66 °C |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 39 °C | 67 °C |
| Lepa LV12 | 37 °C | 70 °C |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 39 °C | 70 °C |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 38 °C | 71 °C |
| Intel Stock | 39 °C | 75 °C |
At this point we plugged the fan(s) to the motherboard CPU fan header and let the motherboard take Care of fan speeds. In other words the motherboard will adjust the fan speed via PWM signal according to CPU temperature. The idle temperature is the lowest temperature hit by the processor after 10 minutes in idle. The load temperature is the highest temperature hit by the processor after one pass of wPrime v2.10. The wPrime test takes 4 minutes puts load on all 8 threads. Room temperature is 25 C.
Fan Speeds
| Idle | Load | |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 306 rpm | 680 rpm |
| Scythe Ashura | 436 rpm | 550 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 380 rpm | 687 rpm |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 450 rpm | 740 rpm |
| Alpenfühn Matterhorn Pure | 471 rpm | 770 rpm |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 580 rpm | 805 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 413 rpm | 825 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 750 rpm | 830 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 637 rpm | 854 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 466 rpm | 860 rpm |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 424 rpm | 880 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X (600 - 1300 rpm Preset) | 790 rpm | 950 rpm |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 560 rpm | 955 rpm |
| Raijintek Triton | 955 rpm | 955 rpm |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 800 rpm | 969 rpm |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 580 rpm | 970 rpm |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 490 rpm | 990 rpm |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 800 rpm | 980 rpm |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 870 rpm | 1'000 rpm |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 765 rpm | 1'077 rpm |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 710 rpm | 1'090 rpm |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 950 rpm | 1'100 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 820 rpm | 1'110 rpm |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 990 rpm | 1'115 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Dual Fan | 740 rpm | 1'140 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 760 rpm | 1'150 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 920 rpm | 1'170 rpm |
| Raijintek Pallas | 952 rpm | 1'170 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 1'120 rpm | 1'190 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 715 rpm | 1'200 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S24 | 780 rpm | 1'200 rpm |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 800 rpm | 1'210 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 840 rpm | 1'270 rpm |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 1'120 rpm | 1'270 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL Single Fan | 800 rpm | 1'280 rpm |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 1'190 rpm | 1'320 rpm |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 790 rpm | 1'360 rpm |
| Lepa LV12 | 870 rpm | 1'400 rpm |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 700 rpm | 1'430 rpm |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 950 rpm | 1'465 rpm |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 1'250 rpm | 1'500 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 1'280 rpm | 1'610 rpm |
| Intel Stock | 1'230 rpm | 1'630 rpm |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 1'390 rpm | 1'690 rpm |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 1'475 rpm | 1'672 rpm |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 970 rpm | 2'250 rpm |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 1'475 rpm | 2'253 rpm |
Values are in RPM, we took the lowest speed hit by the fan(s) in idle and the highest under load.
Noise Levels
| Idle | Load | |
| Noctua NH-U12S Single Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.0 dBA |
| Thermalright Macho Rev.B | 32.0 dBA | 32.1 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Dual Fan | 32.1 dBA | 32.3 dBA |
| Noctua NH-U12S Dual Fan | 32.0 dBA | 32.4 dBA |
| Noctua NH-D15 Single Fan | 32.1 dBA | 32.6 dBA |
| Alpenfühn Matterhorn Pure | 32.0 dBA | 32.7 dBA |
| Thermalright Archon IB-E X2 | 32.5 dBA | 32.7 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 120X | 32.1 dBA | 32.8 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 Black Twister | 32.3 dBA | 33.0 dBA |
| Corsair H75 Single Fan | 32.2 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-T40 White Claster | 33.0 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Thermolab LP-53 | 33.0 dBA | 33.2 dBA |
| Scythe Ashura | 32.0 dBA | 33.4 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X61 | 34.6 dBA | 35.8 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 612 Ver. 2 | 33.1 dBA | 33.5 dBA |
| Enermax Liqtech 240X Dual Fan (600 - 1300rpm Preset) | 33.2 dBA | 33.5 dBA |
| Cooler Master Hyper 103 | 32.0 dBA | 33.6 dBA |
| Prolimatech Lynx | 33.3 dBA | 33.9 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Single Fan | 33.5 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Corsair H90 Single Fan | 33.7 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Thermolab Bada 2010 | 33.8 dBA | 34.2 dBA |
| Corsair H110 Dual Fan | 33.3 dBA | 34.4 dBA |
| Intel Stock | 33.3 dBA | 34.4 dBA |
| Scythe IORI Scior-1000 | 33.2 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Raijintek Nemesis Dual Fan | 33.7 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Lepa LV12 | 34.4 dBA | 34.7 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow IB-E | 34.0 dBA | 34.8 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X31 | 34.5 dBA | 34.9 dBA |
| Deepcool Captain 360 | 33.9 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Thermalright Silver Arrow ITX | 33.8 dBA | 34.6 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin T12 | 34.1 dBA | 35.1 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S36 | 34.2 dBA | 35.3 dBA |
| Raijintek Themis EVO | 34.8 dBA | 35.3 dBA |
| Fractal Design Kelvin S24 | 34.7 dBA | 35.6 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 120 | 34.9 dBA | 35.7 dBA |
| Raijintek Triton | 36.2 dBA | 36.2 dBA |
| Enermax ETS-N30 | 33.8 dBA | 36.9 dBA |
| Cryorig R1 Universal | 33.5 dBA | 37.1 dBA |
| Thermolab ITX30 | 34.1 dBA | 37.6 dBA |
| NZXT Kraken X41 | 34.8 dBA | 37.9 dBA |
| Deepcool Maelstrom 240 | 36.1 dBA | 37.9 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 140XL | 34.8dBA | 39.4 dBA |
| Cooler Master Nepton 240M | 33.8 dBA | 40.1 dBA |
| Raijintek Pallas | 35.9 dBA | 41.4 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 950 | 41.7 dBA | 45.8 dBA |
| Antec Kühler H2O 1250 | 43.5 dBA | 47.9 dBA |
Decibel meter (Voltcraft SL-200) has been placed 1 meter away from the Cooler. Measurements are Conducted in a quiet room, where there are no other noise source. 32 dBA is the lowest we Can get in our room. Also here the measurements are Conducted at lowest and highest fan speeds in idle and under load respectively.
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation |
| Page 4 - Test Setup |
| Page 5 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 6 - PWM Performance |
| Page 7 - Conclusion |
Conclusion
| General | + | - | |
| Overall, the Fractal Design Kelvin S24 is a very solid product with a good looking color scheme, which is perfectly in line with the ASUS X99 Deluxe and MSI's Krait as well as any other black and white motherboard. Cooling performance is good but when it comes to noise level we would have loved to have an inaudible pump in front of us. Especially when the system is in idle it's well possible to hear the pump. | - Quality - PWM | - Noise levels 12V - Pump Noise | |
| Installation | + | - | |
| The installation is simple and pretty straightforward. With two included mounting kits, where one is for Intel and another for AMD sockets, it should be quite easy even for less technical users to mount the cooler properly in a heartbeat. Mounting the fans needs a torx key which is included in the delivery. The thermal compound provided in a 1g syringe is good and apart from that it's more than enough even for multiple applications. In case the mounting isn't self-explanatory there is a detailed and nicely designed instruction manual. |
- Easy and practical
- Compatible Intel and AMD |
||
| Performance | + | - | |
| The cooling performance of the Fractal Design Kelvin S24 is on a reasonable level. With the fan driven at 7V and 12V we find this cooler in the top quarter of our Charts, where we have over 44 AIO and aircooler. In PWM mode, the performance is a little bit better and the Kelvin S24 comes in on the eighth place. | |||
| Noise Levels | + | - | |
| Our tests show that the fans included in the bundle are audible at 7V and at 12V they are noisy, reaching 37.0 dBA when running at 7V and 46.3 dBA at 12V. Rotation speeds at 7V and 12V are 1'270 and 1'540 rpm. In PWM mode, the fan speeds are lower, Causing the noise level to drop to 34.7 dBA in idle and under load conditions the noise level was still ok with 35.6 dBA. As we already mentioned the pump well audible with this cooler. We want to add that driving the fans at 6.5V makes the fan speeds drop to 320 rpm and in this case they become inaudble and the only thing you can still hear is the pump. |
|
- Noise levels 12V - Pump Noise | |
| Recommendation / Price | + | - | |
| The Kelvin S24 from Fractal Design is listed on Geizhals with prices starting at 117 Euro. Since this is a dual radiator AiO the price is rather steep. Nevertheless this is a great looking all-in-one and we're sure the black and white color scheme will convince quite a few customers. |
- Gaming PC - Overclocking |
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| Rating |
| The Fractal Desing Kelvin S24 receives good 4 out of 5 stars. |
| Page 1 - Presentation / Specifications |
| Page 2 - Photo Gallery |
| Page 3 - Installation |
| Page 4 - Test Setup |
| Page 5 - Absolute Performance |
| Page 6 - PWM Performance |
| Page 7 - Conclusion |