Best AIO cooler in 2023

What is the best AIO cooler? Find the best AIO cooler for your needs with our guide to the best all-in-one CPU coolers. They’ll stop your CPU from breaking into a sweat during intense gaming sessions while keeping the inside of your PC looking spacious and clean. Custom water cooling might look even slicker, and air coolers can be cheaper, but a top AIO cooler is a great way to keep your CPU cool.

They’re an optional upgrade for most people, but AIO coolers can really make the best gaming PC even better – particularly if you’ve learned how to overclock your CPU. A good AIO cooler lets you overclock to crank out more performance with less risk of melting your CPU to a crisp.

You might think liquids shouldn’t mix with electronics, yet an effective pump and radiator combo will move heat away from that CPU faster than you can say ‘thermal throttling’. We’ve put the best AIO coolers to the test, from top liquid CPU cooler brands like MSI and Be quiet! to veterans like NZXT, Cooler Master, and Corsair, so you’ve nothing to worry about when it comes to the safety of your rig.

Here are the best AIO coolers:

1. MSI MEG CoreLiquid S360 – our favourite AIO cooler
2. NZXT Kraken X63 – great value
3. NZXT Kraken M22 – compact to the tune of 120mm
4. Corsair H100i Pro RGB – doesn’t make a peep of sound
5. Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360R – give your setup a splash of RGB lighting
6. Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L – AIO on a budget

1. best AIO cooler

The best AIO cooler is the MSI MEG CoreLiquid S360.

Pros

• The best IPS screen
• Supports the latest sockets
• As quiet as a mouse

Cons

• Priced higher than most competitors

The MEG CoreLiquid S360 isn’t MSI’s first AIO cooler, but it’s certainly the best for three reasons: cooling, compatibility, and the extra considerations it makes. Not only does it balance impeccable performance with a low noise output even when the Silent Gale P12 fans spin at 2,000RPM, but it also supports Intel’s latest Alder Lake series of CPUs with an LGA1700 bracket right out of the box. It even packs a 60mm fan in the pump to make sure the motherboard’s VRMs remain cool – something that’s often overlooked by other AIO options.

MSI’s pièce de résistance is the built-in screen, which isn’t a new concept but none do it better than MSI’s MEG CoreLiquid S360. Alongside the usual images, GIFs, and system information others can display, this 2.4-inch IPS display does what most of its competitors can’t: play .mp4 files. You won’t need to tilt your head wherever you pop the radiator in your case, too, as the block twists 90 degrees so it’s always the right way up.

If money’s no object, no other AIO cooler hits all the same heights as the MSI MEG CoreLiquid S360.

2. Best value AIO cooler

The best value AIO cooler is the NZXT Kraken X63.

Pros

• Great thermal performance
• Affordable
• Infinity mirror design

Cons

• Software can be fiddly

This 280mm liquid cooler from NZXT is our pick if you’re looking for a seriously good all-rounder. The virtually silent fans on the radiator have fluid-dynamic bearings, giving them a longer lifespan and quieter operation than any other fan technology. Naturally, there’s customizable RGB lighting on the pump cover so people know you’re not running any old stock solution.

With the X63 you’ll see idle and load temps in another league to air coolers. If you are overclocking, just make sure you’re picking up one of the best gaming motherboards to match.

3. Best 120mm AIO cooler

The best 120mm AIO cooler is the NZXT Kraken M22.

Pros

• Compact
• Wide range of compatibility
• Quiet fans

Cons

• NZXT Cam software can be fiddly
• There are better options if you can go beyond 120mm

It’s true that the bigger the radiator, the better the job an AIO cooler can do, but sometimes you just don’t have the space for one. This doesn’t mean you should sacrifice the chilling effects a liquid cooler offers, however, as there are smaller options to choose from that might be easier to shimmy into your case, still offering cooling a cut above the best CPU coolers.

The NZXT Kraken M22 is the little brother to our favorite AIO cooler and comes with many of the same perks. It keeps things quiet, goes easy on your wallet, and keeps your CPU at the right temperature for gaming, but best of all, it could be considered the most compatible AIO cooler you’ll find with its small form factor and support for all modern Intel and AMD CPUs.

4. Quietest AIO cooler

The quietest AIO cooler is the Corsair H100i Pro RGB.

Pros

• Near-silent
• Maglev fans
• Good software

Cons

• Noisy at full speed

The latest update to the classic Corsair H100i liquid CPU cooler isn’t just about that new ring of LED light around the shrunken pump. It’s not even about the slicker radiator design, either. No, the best thing about the new H100i Pro RGB is the noise it makes… or rather the lack of noise, making it perfect for a near-silent gaming PC build.

Thanks to the super-quiet maglev fans included in the package, and the addition of a Zero RPM mode, the Pro RGB can stay almost entirely silent for most of the time your PC is online. Relying on the flow of water and the passive cooling of the radiator alone, the H100i can keep the CPU cool enough not to have to worry about the fans until you start to really thrash it. That means in a lot of the best PC games, ones that are more GPU and less CPU dependent, you may not hear the fans at all.

Read the PCGamesN Corsair H100i Pro RGB review for our full verdict and score.

5. Best RGB AIO cooler

The best RGB AIO cooler is the Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360R.

Pros

• Colorful RGB
• Three fans!
• Remains affordable

Cons

• Expensive
• Short warranty

There’s no reason you can’t be serious about your cooling and want to add a splash of color to your gaming PC in the process – after all, the best gaming keyboards and best gaming headsets all have RGB nowadays, so why shouldn’t your CPU cooler match?

Cooler Master’s MasterLiquid series does this beautifully with its bright CPU block, and it comes in a handful of different sizes to make your next CPU upgrade a bit easier. The MasterLiquid ML360R has plenty of surface area and three 120mm fans to dissipate heat across its large radiator.

6. Best cheap AIO cooler

The best cheap AIO cooler is the Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L.

Pros

• That low price
• RGB everywhere
• Two 140mm fans

Cons

• Average thermal performance

If you’re looking for a cost-effective AIO cooler that still looks brilliant in your windowed case, then this 240mm liquid cooler from Cooler Master is a great option. There’s customizable RGB lighting on both the fans and the pump cover. Even at this price point, it’s still better than pretty much any air cooler you’re going to find – plus, it still looks cool, right?

What we look for in an AIO cooler

When looking for products to populate our AIO cooler list, we take into account a few different factors. Size is one of the main factors, but you’ll need to make sure that you know what space you have available in your case beforehand. A larger fan is better at regulating your air flow which is why you should maximize the space you can use for the cooler. Next up is how many fans it has. This can sometimes be determined by size, but most coolers utilize two or three fans and you always want more for better airflow control.

Something we also consider is how easy they are to install, and what additional features you’re getting above and beyond just the cooling. If we have two coolers that are identical, but one offers an onboard thermostat, we would choose this one provided that the price is fair.

Are AIO coolers better than air coolers?

Both AIO and air coolers have their advantages. For sustained workloads, AIO coolers are the best product for the job. This means if you’re expecting your PC to always be under some sort of strain, this is the option for you.

Air coolers are better at handling burst workloads, meaning that if you only expect to be pushing your CPU at irregular intervals, an air cooler can manage better during these peaks.

For more ways to upgrade your gaming setup, you can check out the best wireless gaming headsets to ensure you’re getting the best audio possible. To round out the wireless revolution, you can also check out our list of the best wireless mechanical keyboards, so you’ll never be able to blame a misplay on your equipment again.