The Rosewill PB240 AIO liquid cooler list the AMD AM1 processor as a compatible socket on the box. Does the obsolete AM1 processor with a 25-watt TDP need an AIO liquid cooler? Let’s find out.
Disclaimers
Before I deep dive into today’s topic, I must address an issue from my last tech video and an issue with this tech video.
Several viewers asked me where they could buy the AM1 motherboard and processor for $50 US. You can’t. I bought mine six years ago and it was a great deal at the time. If you’re looking at eBay, expect to pay $50 US or more per component and an outrageous amount for shipping. As I demonstrate later, you don’t want to build a PC around the AM1 platform.
The Rosewill PB240 AIO liquid cooler is also no longer available. I bought mine for $50 US and tossed it into my junk box last summer. The Rosewill PB240 RGB AIO liquid cooler is available from $75 US to $110 US. I expect the actual performance between the non-RGB and RGB versions to be identical.
Rosewill PB240 AIO Liquid Cooler
The Rosewill PB240 AIO liquid cooler looks like every other AIO on the market. A cold plate attached with a pair of tubes and a pair of 120mm fans attached to the radiator. The only major difference is the pump built inside the radiator and not on top of the cold plate.
By relocating the pump off the cold plate, Rosewill doesn’t have to pay patent fees to Asetek. That’s what be quiet! did by in-lining the pump with the tubing on their Pure Loop AIO. That’s why the be quiet! Silent Loop 2 AIO isn’t available in the U.S. since the pump is on the cold plate.
The build quality for the AIO was surprisingly good.
Testing The Passive Air Cooler
The hardware list for testing the AM1 system with passive air cooler.
- ECS KAM1-I AM1 mini-ITX motherboard
- AMD Athlon 5150 AM1 processor
- Arctic Alpine M1 passive air cooler
- Arctic Silver thermal paste
- Corsair CX500 500-watt power supply
- Adata SP550 120GB SATA-3 SSD.
I installed Windows 10, HWInfo and Cinebench on the SSD.
I ran three passes of the multi-core CPU test for Cinebench. Each pass took 30 minutes since the AM1 processor with built-in GPU is old and slow. I averaged the Cinebench score, and the HWInfo CPU temperatures for high and average.
- The averaged Cinebench score was 513 points.
- The averaged high CPU temperature was 48C degrees.
- The averaged average CPU temperature was 45C degrees.
- The room temperature was 28C degrees.
The CPU temperatures would have been lower if the motherboard was inside a case with fans.
Testing The AIO Liquid Cooler
Forget about having an AIO liquid cooler on the AM1 platform. Rosewill listed AM1 socket compatibility on the box. Except it doesn’t include a square bracket for the smaller AM1 socket. All the other listed sockets use the horizontal bracket.
I sent an email to Rosewill tech support, but I never got a response back.
It might be possible to 3D print a square bracket for the AM1 socket. But that would be a wasted effort. The AM1 processor doesn’t generate enough heat to justify using a 240mm AIO liquid cooler. A 120mm AIO liquid cooler might still be an overkill.
I’ve ran my AM1 processor on a passive air cooler for years without any issues.