Best 240mm AIO Coolers (2026): 5 Picks, Budget to Noctua

A 240mm AIO is the radiator size that fits almost everywhere: the front of a compact mid-tower, the top of a small mATX case, and most mini-ITX cases that take liquid cooling at all. For a gaming CPU such as the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, which draws well under 120W in games, it is all the cooler you need.

These five are all sold new on Amazon today by Amazon itself or the brand's own store. They run from a budget Thermalright to Noctua's first AIO, none needs extra software, and each one suits a different build.

Our top pick: Corsair Nautilus II 240 RS ARGB

The Corsair Nautilus II 240 RS ARGB is the 240mm AIO most builders should buy: a standard-size radiator, tidy ARGB from motherboard headers, five years of warranty and no software to install.

CORSAIR NAUTILUS II 240 RS ARGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler – Black | RS II ARGB Unified Fans Included, AMD AM5/AM4, Intel LGA 1954/1851/1700, Daisy-Chain Connectivity, PWM, Easy Installation

$99.00

Buy the Corsair Nautilus II 240 RS ARGB on Amazon

Quick picks

Specs at a glance

How we picked

Every cooler here had a new offer on Amazon US when this guide was updated, sold by Amazon itself or by the brand's own store at a normal price. Sellers marking a cooler up past its usual price did not make the cut. Several coolers from the earlier version of this guide lost their listings or their new offers, which is why the lineup changed.

When 240mm is the right size

Pick 240mm when the case will not take anything bigger, or when the CPU is a gaming chip that never asks for more. The 9800X3D, 7800X3D, 9600X and Core Ultra 7 265K all sit comfortably on a 240mm radiator in games. A chip that holds 250W for long stretches, such as the Core Ultra 9 285K under rendering, wants a 360mm radiator if the case allows it. Our 240mm vs 360mm comparison goes through that call in detail, and our 280mm picks cover the in-between size.

Air first, liquid when it earns it

A good dual-tower air cooler handles most gaming CPUs with no pump to fail, and an air cooler is enough for a 9800X3D. A 240mm AIO earns its place in a case that will not take a tall tower, a build where the look matters, or a hot chip that needs the extra capacity. An AIO pump can wear out around year four, so warranty length counts. We left out coolers whose main selling point is a pump screen; if that is what you want, our AIO coolers with screens list covers them.

Check clearance before price

Radiator thickness and top-mount clearance cause more returns than anything else. Read the case's maximum radiator thickness, add 25mm for the fans, and compare that to each cooler's stack. Our CPU cooler clearance guide shows how to measure.

Best Overall: Corsair Nautilus II 240 RS ARGB

CORSAIR NAUTILUS II 240 RS ARGB AIO Liquid CPU Cooler – Black | RS II ARGB Unified Fans Included, AMD AM5/AM4, Intel LGA 1954/1851/1700, Daisy-Chain Connectivity, PWM, Easy Installation

$99.00

Buy the Corsair Nautilus II 240 RS ARGB on Amazon

Specs

What it does well

The Nautilus II is Corsair's cooler for people who do not want Corsair's software. The pump's 4-pin cable goes to the motherboard's AIO_PUMP header, the fans run from PWM, and the ARGB lighting plugs into a standard 5V header. Your BIOS fan curve and your motherboard's lighting app run the whole thing, with no USB hub and no iCUE install.

The second-generation model moves to Corsair's FlowDrive 2S pump and a thinner cold plate tuned for AMD chips, which suits the AM5 gaming builds most 240mm buyers are planning. The RS II fans come as a unified-frame pair, so mounting them is one job instead of two and the cable run is shorter.

The full stack is 52mm deep, standard-thickness territory, so it clears the compact cases where a thick radiator does not. The five-year warranty covers the years when an AIO pump is most likely to fail.

What you give up

It is a mainstream 27mm radiator. Under a sustained all-core load on a 250W chip such as the Core Ultra 9 285K, it runs hotter and louder than the Noctua below, and a 360mm cooler would be the better match for that workload.

There is no screen and no iCUE integration. If the rest of the build already runs iCUE Link fans, Corsair's Link coolers keep everything on one chain; the Nautilus II deliberately stays off it.

This is a new model, so long-term reliability data is thin. The five-year warranty is the hedge.

Who it's for

The gaming builder with a 9800X3D, Ryzen 5 9600X or Core Ultra 7 265K who wants a 240mm AIO with tidy ARGB, sold and shipped by Amazon, and no extra software in the tray.

Best Value: MSI MAG CoreLiquid A13 240

MAG CORELIQUID A13 240 | Full CPU Coverage, Improved Water Channel Design, Minimalism Meets Illumination, CycloBlade 7, Split-Flow Radiator

$64.99$69.99

Buy the MSI MAG CoreLiquid A13 240 on Amazon

Specs

What it does well

The A13 240 is the step between a bare-bones budget AIO and the Nautilus II. Amazon.com sells and ships it, and it sits closer to the Thermalright on price than to the Corsair.

The setup is the same no-software pattern as the top pick: pump and fans on motherboard headers, ARGB on a standard header, and your motherboard's lighting app if you want to change colors. It supports AM5 and LGA1851 out of the box.

Tom's Hardware's review called its cooling reasonable for the price, which is the honest pitch. It is a standard 27mm radiator, so case fit is the same as any mainstream 240mm cooler.

What you give up

The fans top out around 2,050 RPM and get loud when the CPU is pushed. A gaming load keeps them well below that, but a long all-core render will not.

MSI publishes less about the pump than Corsair or Noctua do, and the warranty term varies by listing. Check it on the product page before you buy.

Next to the Nautilus II, you give up the five-year warranty and the unified fan frame. If the price gap is small on the day you buy, take the Corsair.

Who it's for

Mid-range gaming builds with a windowed case that want ARGB and a 240mm radiator without paying for a premium brand, and buyers who want an Amazon.com seller for easy returns.

Best Premium: Noctua NL-LC1-24

Noctua NL-LC1-24, High-Performance 240mm AIO CPU Cooler | Industry-Leading Quiet Cooling, 30mm Slim Radiator, Pump Noise Absorber, for Intel & AMD, 2x 120mm Fans, Rich Accessory Kit

$219.95

Buy the Noctua NL-LC1-24 on Amazon

Specs

What it does well

Noctua's first AIO pairs a 30mm radiator with two NF-A12x25 G2 fans, the same fans Noctua sells separately as its best 120mm model. The pump sits inside a noise absorber, which targets the one sound most AIOs never get rid of: pump whine at idle.

Reviewers have placed it at the top of the 240mm class, and PC Games Hardware found it ahead of most 360mm coolers it has tested. That makes it the 240mm cooler for a hot chip in a case that cannot take anything bigger.

There is no software at all. The fans and pump run from motherboard headers, and the six-year warranty is the longest in this list.

What you give up

It costs about twice as much as the Nautilus II. For a 9800X3D in a gaming build, most of that money buys silence rather than temperatures you would notice.

The look is Noctua's black and brown. There is no RGB and no screen, and in a windowed showcase build it will stand out for the wrong reasons.

The 59mm stack is a few millimeters deeper than a standard 27mm radiator with fans. Most cases that take a 240mm radiator have room, but check the top-mount clearance over tall RAM and VRM heatsinks.

Who it's for

Builders who want the quietest 240mm AIO they can buy, or who run a Core Ultra 9 or Ryzen 9 in a small case where 360mm is not an option. For long all-core work with room for a bigger radiator, our 360mm AIO picks are still the better fit.

Best Budget: Thermalright Frozen Notte 240 ARGB V2

Thermalright Frozen Notte 240 Black ARGB V2 Water Cooling CPU Cooler | 240 Specification CPU Liquid Cooler,Double PWM Fans, for AM4/AM5, Intel LGA 1851/1700/115X/1200

$47.29

Buy the Thermalright Frozen Notte 240 ARGB V2 on Amazon

Specs

What it does well

The Frozen Notte 240 V2 costs about half what the Nautilus II does and still covers the basics: two PWM fans, ARGB on the pump and fans from a motherboard header, and mounting hardware for AM5 and LGA1851 in the box.

For a mid-range gaming chip such as a Ryzen 5 9600X or Ryzen 7 9700X, any working 240mm radiator has more capacity than the CPU uses in games. Spending less here and more on the graphics card is the right trade for most budget builds.

Thermalright sells it through its own Amazon store, so the listing comes from the maker rather than a reseller.

What you give up

Buy the V2. Thermalright has several Frozen Notte 240 listings, and the V2 is the one that lists LGA1851 support; older listings may not include the Intel 1851 mount. Check the listing title says V2 before ordering.

The fans are louder at full speed than the Noctua or be quiet! fans, and under a long all-core load on a high-power chip this cooler runs out of headroom first.

Thermalright's warranty and support run through the seller rather than a long published term like Corsair's or Noctua's. For a part whose pump can fail after a few years, that is the cost of the low price.

Who it's for

Budget gaming builds that need a radiator, such as a small case with a front 240mm mount and no room for a tall tower cooler, and where every saved dollar goes into the GPU. If your case fits a tower, our air cooler vs AIO breakdown covers when air is the better buy.

Editor's Pick: be quiet! Pure Loop 3 240mm

be quiet! Pure Loop 3 240mm AiO Water Cooling for Slightly Overclocking | Non-RGB All-in-One Liquid Cooler, 2X Silent 120mm PWM High-Speed Daisy Chains Fans, 6-Pole Pump Motor, Easy Refill Port

$87.90$94.90

Buy the be quiet! Pure Loop 3 240mm on Amazon

Specs

What it does well

Some builds do not want lighting at all: a closed case, a workstation under a desk, a build where the goal is that you never hear it. The Pure Loop 3 240mm is the plain black cooler for that brief, sold through be quiet!'s own Amazon store.

The fans daisy-chain, so the pump and both fans can run from a single motherboard header without a hub. Setup is the pump on the AIO header, one fan lead, and the BIOS fan curve. There is nothing to install in Windows.

It uses a standard 27mm radiator with a 52mm stack, which fits the same compact cases the Nautilus II does.

What you give up

The warranty is three years, shorter than Corsair and Noctua. On a part whose likely failure is the pump in year four or later, that gap is worth weighing.

It is not quieter than the Noctua, which costs more but treats the pump noise directly. The Pure Loop 3 is the quiet cooler at a mainstream price, not the quietest one.

With no lighting at all, it will look out of place behind a glass panel next to RGB fans.

Who it's for

Builders with a closed or mesh-sided case, office and workstation builds, and anyone who wants a 240mm AIO with no RGB and no app. Sharing a desk with the PC is the best case for it.

Bottom line

If you want one 240mm AIO for a gaming build with no software, buy the Corsair Nautilus II 240 RS ARGB. If you want ARGB for less and an Amazon.com seller, buy the MSI MAG CoreLiquid A13 240. If silence or a hot CPU in a small case matters most, buy the Noctua NL-LC1-24. If the budget is tight, buy the Thermalright Frozen Notte 240 ARGB V2. If you want no lighting at all, buy the be quiet! Pure Loop 3 240mm.

Still deciding on radiator size? Our best AIO cooler guide compares 240mm, 280mm and 360mm picks side by side.

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