Question Has AIO quality gone down in recent years?

[itsmedatguy]

Just looking for others to chime in if they've had an AIO mysteriously fail in the past few years, or I guess if you've been running one for a year+ without issues. A little context: I've been building gaming PCs since 2004. Around 2015 I got my first AIO, a 120mm Corsair unit that still works. I also manage a VR-based research lab and we have multiple workstations/gaming PCs in the lab some of which have had AIO's in them. Here has been my experience with the AIO's I've owned over the years:

2015: Corsair 120mm - OK
2017: HP pre-built 120mm - OK
2018: Custom 240mm loop - OK
2020:

1. CoolerMaster 240mm - overheated out of the box, pump functional, returned
2. CoolerMaster 240mm - this unit was used, ~1 year old, pump functional, overheated
3. Lian Li Galahad 240mm - worked for ~1.5 years, pump functional, overheated, RMA'd
4. MSI 240mm - worked for ~1.5 years, pump functional, overheated, RMA'd

I've noticed this pattern with AIO's, obviously a very small sample size, but that the pump would be functional but temperatures would eventually skyrocket. No amount of reseating or repasting would help. I remember watching a video Greg Salazar posted about a year ago with a guy who sent a system in, functional pump, terrible temperatures. He ended up cutting into the ~1 year old AIO and found that it was filled with bacteria and grime and all clogged up. It made me wonder if something in the manufacturing of these AIO's has changed for the worse across the industry. Personally I'm not even using the Lian Li or MSI AIO's that I had RMA'd for new units, and switched both systems to NH-D15's.

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

within the last 2 years have used the EVGA CLC 240, Corsair H100i, & Lian Li Galahad 360 in different builds that are still functioning perfectly.

for my personal systems i have a 4 year old EVGA CLC 280 and a 1 year old ASUS Ryujin 360 that are both still functioning perfectly.

with regards to newer AIO systems failing more often;
the only cases where i've realized a noticeable difference over time is with a lot of the newer designs that have incorporated the pump directly into the radiator.
most of the latest threads across the internet relating to failed coolers and abnormal temperatures have usually turned out to be with these types of models.