Overall and Final Verdict
So with testing done and having taken a look at the Gamer Storm Castle 280EX, what is the conclusion? Well, Deepcools gaming brand isn’t just following the standard OEM out of the box solution for an AIO and I think that in itself is great. There are so many other AIOs that are cloned of themselves with a few small changes, it’s great to see something different. Being a dual 140mm AIO, the cooling performance as good as you would expect. What I was surprised with was just how good the addressable RGB lighting ended up looking. This might be a little too much for some people, and I don’t blame you, but if you are going to have RGB lighting this looks better than what Corsair ended up going with on the H100i RGB Pro XT that I recently took a look at. Through I think if you are going to go crazy with it, fans to match would match better. I also think the customization with the insert that can be put in the top of the pump is cool too if you can add your own sticker to it.
There were small details like the mounting brackets being chrome that didn’t match everything else is blacked out. I also have to say that while a little quieter than the H100i, when you compare with the air cooling the noise performance still isn’t there. The pump is also extremely tall as well, partially because of the RGB section on top.
Overall though, the Castle 280EX does offer the market variety in designs and solid performance as well. Their Anti Leak technology is interesting and at least on paper makes sense but only time will tell for sure on that one. As for pricing, the Castle 280EX has an MSRP of $149.99. Digging around on Newegg for other 280mm AIO coolers they start at $120 but adding RGB to the pump quickly brings the price up from $140 to $200 through the H115i RGB Pro XT being on the low side of that does give the Castle 280EX a lot of competition. The extra $10 will get you a bigger RGB setup on the pump as well as the customization but performance should be similar.
Live Pricing: HERE
