#maker 92

CoolerMaster’s MasterLiquid Maker 92 takes the term all-in-one a little too seriously as it integrates a liquid cooling radiator paired with a pair of 92mm fans directly on top of a CPU pump block. This approach renders the AIO unit almost completely chassis agnostic as its clearance concerns are only limited by height. Cooler Master then turns this idea on its head, almost literally, as it gives the MasterLiquid Maker 92 the ability to operate both vertically or horizontally like a tower type or a C-type air cooler. Being different and new is nice, but being functional and effective is better especially since the compact AIO space is still terra incognita for cooling manufacturers, so a review is in order to see where and how this cooler fits in the market.

[sc:sponsor sponsor=”Cooler Master” product_link=”http://www.coolermaster.com/cooling/cpu-liquid-cooler/masterliquid-maker-92/” product_name=”MasterLiquid Maker 92 CPU Cooler” product_price=”$99.99″ ]

Cooler Master has dropped their old purple color on white packaging and have adopted a totally gray with blue product numbering with their Master-generation product line. Printed on the side is the specifications table and a dimensional overview is provided at the lower part of the back.

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Inside is a dual-compartment design with the MasterLiquid Maker 92 unit housed at the top and the accessories contained in a smaller box at the bottom. The AIO unit is protected with folded cardboard on all four sides with added foam on the backside and a see-through hard-shell plastic sheet at the top. A pair of 92mm fans come pre-installed on the radiator body with screws and require no further assembly.

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The accessory box is very organized with the mounting accessories contained and pre-sorted in a clear hard-shell container. The backplate and documentation are also stored in their own zip-lock bags.

The accessories aside from the pre-installed 92mm fans includes:

1x fold out documentation for installation

1x MasterGel Maker Nano thermal compound in a small tube

4x nuts

4x backplate screws

4x LGA2011 screws

4x backplate screw clips

1x dual-input cable (SATA + 4-pin fan connector)

1x universal backplate

Specifications:

Model Number: MLZ-H92M-A26PK-R1 Socket: INTEL: LGA 1150 / 1151 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011 / 2011-V3 Power Connector: SATA and 4-Pin Radiator Material: Aluminum Vertical Dimension (LxWxH): 99.9 x 81.6 x 167.5 mm Horizontal Dimension (LxWxH): 99.9 x 142 x 118.8 mm Fan Dimension 2x Ø95 x 25.4 mm Fan Speed: 550 – 2,600 RPM (PWM) ± 10% Fan Air Flow: 49.7 CFM (Max) Fan Air Pressure: 6.4 mmH2O (Max) Fan Noise Level: 30 dBA (Max) Fan MTTF: 350,000 hours Fan L-10 Life: 50,000 hours Fan Rated Voltage: 12 VDC Pump Noise Level: <12 dBA (Max) Pump MTTF: 175,000 hours Pump L-10 Life: 50,000 hours Pump Rated Voltage 12 VDC Weight(with Fan): 875g

[section_title title=A Closer Look at the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Maker 92]

A Closer Look at the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Maker 92

The Cooler Master MasterLiquid Maker 92 is a lot more compact than a typical all-in-one CPU cooler considering it is comparable in size to a slim tower air-cooler. Like an air cooler, the radiator is directly on top of the CPU block but unlike other AIO units, the pump is located on the radiator. Oriented vertically, it stands 167.4mm tall and is only 81.6mm wide. Oriented horizontally parallel to the mainboard, the Maker 92 measures a compact 118.8mm tall and 141.9mm wide.

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The radiator body is mounted to the block via a swiveling bracket that allows for up to a 90 degree rotation. This enables the Maker 92 to function in both vertical and horizontal modes. Since the radiator is mounted on the block, this greatly improves case compatibility since it does not require additional mounting other than the CPU block.

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A pair of 92mm Cooler Master fans with product number FA09025L12LPB are pre-installed. Unlike the 92mm fan used on the MasterAir Pro 3, there are only five fan blades designed for high-static pressure on the FA09025L12LPB and the mounting frame is designed specifically for the MasterLiquid Maker 92. The five impeller blades are much wider as it goes further from the 35.5mm hub. The curve is also quite steep from the center but relaxes as it reaches the outer area. It ramps up to 2600 RPM and is a PWM fan connected to the pump-hub.

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Both 92mm fans ramps up to 2600 RPM and are PWM connected to the pump-hub. This hub then connects to the supplied SATA+4-pin fan header cable which supplies power and controls the fan PWM function. The SATA connector fully powers the fans and the pump while the 4-pin fan header only uses the PWM and tach functions of the 4-pin PWM header in order to delegate fan speed when necessary.

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The radiator is aluminum and the coolant inside is formulated so that the self-contained unit can function within its designated lifetime (with 5-years of warranty compared to the typical 1-year AIO warranty) without reacting negatively with the copper coldplate. Distributing the coolant from the block to the pump and radiator and back again are two 10mm diameter FEP flexible tubes connected on both sides of the pump at the top. For a more premium look, Cooler Master has also sleeved these tubes.

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The connectors for the hose can be rotated to accommodate the swiveling movement of the radiator unit. Because of the bracket built into the pump block, the MasterLiquid Maker 92 freely stands on its own unlike other compact AIO units such as Corsair’s H5. If users want more clearance horizontally, the top fan can be removed but it is recommended that this “push” fan moved to the other side and have it blowing through the radiator for better cooling rather than pulling air from the radiator.

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Underneath, the contact surface is exposed copper with a raised surface providing further clearance for the pump and the motherboard’s components. The actual contact square measures 40.10 x 40.20mm which is more than enough for all current desktop CPUs since Intel’s LGA2011 has a 38x38mm IHS surface area. There are faint rounded machining marks on this surface.

[section_title title=Installation Procedure and Clearance Compatibility]

Installation of the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Maker 92

Before proceeding with installation, lay out all accessories and cross reference the package content with the illustrated user’s guide. With the exception of Intel LGA2011 mounting, the Intel LGA 115x installation requires the use of the universal backplate provided. One side is for AMD and one side is for Intel but since the MasterLiquid Maker 92 only officially supports Intel sockets, the other side will not be used. This is the same backplate used with Cooler Master’s other liquid cooling units, hence the shared design.

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First, the mounting posts must be assembled at the tip of the corresponding mounting hole and it is made up of the metal post and the plastic lock that holds it in place. If you find that the mounting post is not fitting correctly through the motherboard mounting hole, make sure that the post and the plastic lock is secured completely with no gaps on the edge.

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With the backplate assembly done, it can be put in place on the motherboard and it should be snug enough to hold in place even on a vertically mounted motherboard. On LGA2011 systems, instead of this backplate assembly, users simply just need to install the LGA2011 stand-offs instead. The brackets are already pre-installed so after the stand-off assembly is completed and in place, the next step is just attaching the MasterLiquid Maker 92 to the motherboard.

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Remove the plastic covering the contact surface, apply some thermal compound and then place the MasterLiquid Maker 92 with the mounting bracket going through the protruding stand-off mounting posts. After it is in place, secure all four posts with the locking nut and tighten partially each corner in a criss-cross fashion so as to evenly distribute weight and pressure on the CPU integrated heatsink surface.

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The last step is plugging in the unit so attach the bundled cable into the pump hub on one end and then attach the 4-pin fan header and SATA power connector on the other. The SATA header powers the entire MasterLiquid Maker 92 unit including the fans, the fan headers are for the PWM control from the motherboard so that users can control it instead of running them at 100% all the time.

Clearance Compatibility

The test motherboard is an ASUS Maximus VI Gene micro-ATX motherboard and measuring from the edge of the socket (the gray plastic part), there is a 31mm gap between the CPU socket and the first DIMM slot as well as a 52mm clearance between the CPU socket and the topmost PCI-E x16 slot where the graphics card is installed.

Both vertical and horizontal mount provides unobstructed clearance for all four DIMM slots to be populated. On the horizontal mount, the first DIMM slot has an additional 36.75mm of clearance from the top of an installed bare PCB DDR3 module until it gets obstructed by the edge of the MasterLiquid Maker 92.  The tallest DDR3 module I know of is the first-generation Kingston HyperX Predator DDR3 kits which stand 53.90mm tall from PCB contact to heatspreader top so the 66.75mm clearance that the Maker 92 has on the first DIMM slot is not going to be a problem at all.

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PCI-E clearance is not an issue as well with only the tubes going as far as the top end of the bottom DIMM latch. With a video card installed, users can also easily reach the release latch on the PCI-E slot since there is a lot of space between the AIO and the video card.

[section_title title=Test System and Benchmarks]

Test System and Benchmark Results

Test System:

Processor Intel Core i7-4770K (Retail) Motherboard ASUS Maximus VI Gene Z87 Motherboard (1603 BIOS) Memory Mushkin Stealth 1600MHz DDR3 Drive OCZ Agility 4 256GB SSD Video Card Intel Integrated Graphics Thermal Compound Noctua NT-H1 Case DimasTech Mini v1 Power Supply Corsair HX850W Operating System Windows 7 x64 Pro

Test was conducted on a DimasTech MiniV1 open-air test-bench for parity performance between tower-style coolers and C-type downward or upward blowing coolers. Ambient temperature is measured at the fan intake and kept as constant as possible (room controlled temperature). All case and heat sink fans were benchmarked with fan control settings disabled and running at 100% unless otherwise specified.

To get closer to real world performance, a retail Intel i7-4770K CPU was used (non-delidded). Stock settings use a constant 1.1Vcore voltage while overclock settings use a constant 1.2Vcore voltage with EIST disabled (1.28Vcore OC test added for high-end air coolers). The Intel core i7-4770K integrated graphics was used for display output and no discrete graphics card was installed to prevent additional heat sources from contributing inside and outside the case. Multi-core enhancement is enabled in the BIOS by default and left on (ASUS Turbo Core policy used instead of Intel standard). Note that performance results on this setup are not directly comparable with any benchmarks from some of the previous reviews as the UEFI BIOS on the motherboard has been updated and now has a much tighter control on the Vcore voltage.

Mushkin Stealth DDR3 modules ensure full compatibility with any CPU cooler tested as its heatspreaders only add ~1.5mm to the standard JEDEC module height of 30mm compared to other modules which limit cooler compatibility.

Temperatures are averaged (last minute) from individual core temperature results monitored by AIDA64 after 15 minutes using the default CPU, FPU, Memory and Cache simultaneous load. AIDA64 is able to use the latest instructions including AVX and AVX2, etc unlike other older CPU load tests so it is also a lot more “future proof” as more software start to utilize it. FPU-only load average is used to simulate worst case scenario load levels similar to Intel Burn Test or OCCT. Please keep in mind that this test is brutal and not even close to real-world load (especially not that constant for that amount of time), so not many CPU coolers are expected to pass this test but the ones that do are exceptional. Results marked “100″ and in red means thermal limit was reached and the CPU was throttled, even for just but a second. This includes results where even just the first core reached the limit and even if it briefly happened. It is marked as 100 in red in the review if it happens three times. Three runs are conducted per cooler and a fourth run is done after a remounting to verify. Last minute average is taken instead of peak because it represents the averaged behaviour of the thermal performance instead of worst-case scenario or a snapshot. Temperature delta results are used to account for variance since not all heatsinks can be conducted on the same day.

Screenshot of the Noctua NH-U9S under FPU-only load surviving 15-minute run in AIDA64. Getting the thermal behaviour presents a more accurate performance assessment than a single second snapshot or a mere peak temperature recording.

The Corsair HX850W power supply’s fans only ramp up when system load is past 20% making it an excellent power supply to use for when testing the CPU cooler’s noise levels. Any load under that and the fan does not spin at all, effectively acting in passive mode.

The American Recording Technologies SPL-8810 meter is placed 20-inches/50cm from the source fan to measure sound level. The entire test unit is moved to an acoustically treated room to get the ambient noise as low as controllably possible for real-world results. All other fans are disabled to eliminate sound sources that are not from the cooling unit itself that is being tested. This includes all case fans and all other component fan is shut off. The boiler during winter or the air conditioner during summer is also shut off to eliminate ambient noise further and sound testing is conducted from 2AM to 5AM so sound traffic from the outside is minimized as much as possible. Fan levels are controlled manually via software and at a separate time from the temperature testing.

A FlirONE Thermal Imaging Camera was used to observe thermal behaviour under load. This is a lower-cost thermal imaging unit equipped with a low resolution thermal lens working in conjunction with a regular resolution camera lens to produces a composite image. Because of the FlirONE’s low resolution performance, it is not used as a benchmarking tool to measure temperature but rather a tool for observing thermal behaviour under load.

Temperature Benchmarks:

    Sound Profile (Fan RPM vs Noise Level) – Room ambient noise is 34.8dBA:

Fan Speed 2x 92mm Cooler Master FA029025L12LPB RPM dBA 2600 41.1 2500 40.7 2400 39.4 2300 39.1 2200 38.8 2100 38.6 2000 38.4 1900 38.3 1800 38.3 1700 37.8 1600 37.7 1500 37.5 Pump-only 37.4

  [section_title title=Final Thoughts]

Final Thoughts about the MasterLiquid Maker 92

Although compact in size, the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Maker 92 is not short on ambition. Instead of attacking the high-end segment of the liquid cooling market where there are many players currently introducing their own brand of large radiator wielding self-contained units with expandability, Cooler Master was wise to seek innovation in the unexplored space of compact liquid cooling. Obviously, the demand in this space is not quite there yet with only a few coolers competing including some slim 120mm AIOs and Corsair’s H5 which is specifically designed for mini-ITX systems, so there is still a lot of room for growth.

The downside with AIO’s in this space is of course the cost. Complexity grows as manufacturing liquid coolers goes smaller compared to larger AIO coolers, so the cost does not necessarily shrink like it would relative to size with air coolers. The MasterLiquid Maker 92 retails for $99.99 and that price is easily its greatest weakness when it comes to attracting users. Its closest competitor is the blower-style fan equipped Corsair H5 which retails for $79.99.

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The advantage with the MasterLiquid Maker 92 is that it is versatile with its vertical and horizontal option. This allows it to fit in almost any case without modding and if need be being actually reasonably easy to mod. It is bundled only with an Intel mounting bracket but it is locked in place only by a screw so users can actually just screw in an AMD mounting hardware kit from a different Cooler Master AIO unit (requires drilling holes) so that they can install it on an AMD system. Both mounting positions are very clearance friendly to every component and there are no difficulties with installing around it.

The fans bundled with the MasterLiquid Maker 92 is quite sensibly tuned acoustically, topping out at only 41.1 dBA on full blast. Normally, manufacturers would use a higher RPM fan to score higher in the benchmarks but since the MasterLiquid Maker 92 is designed for compact units, Cooler Master seemed to have kept that in mind. The best part is that the built-in fan hub can operate the fans in PWM mode while the pump is fed full 12V power via SATA so users only need to manage a single cable passing through rather than dealing with multiple ones on a typical AIO.

Overall, the MasterLiquid Maker 92 is an interesting piece of new design. It has enough versatility that it is very functional, and its fans are very quiet for a compact AIO. The pump could stand to be quieter but then that would affect performance too much. Once inside a case, it will operate at a relatively low noise. Temperature-wise, it is pretty much where I expected a compact AIO to land. There is only so much one can do with the physical limitations of cooling without resorting to ultra high-RPM fans or ground-breaking new technology so its cooling abilities did not come as a surprise.

[sc name=”recommended_hardware_award” ]