Introduction & Closer Look
Introduced in 2016, be quiet!’s Silent Loop range of all-in-one water coolers were a hit with customers. For 2017, be quiet! have added to the range. Revealed at CeBIT 2017 and debuted at Computex, enter the daddy of them all… a triple fan, 360mm variant.
Prior to this new model being available to the public, be quiet! sent us a unit to see how it fares on our test bench, and where it would place on our ever-expanding league table of CPU coolers.
Housed in a fairly substantial box given the size of the radiator, the Silent Loop 360mm comes packaged with three Pure Wings 2 fans, various mounting brackets, a three-way fan splitter cable, and a full-size tube of thermal paste. The paste is actually a nice touch, as I have lost count the number of coolers where the supplier has plumped for providing the smallest volume possible.
As mentioned above, be quiet!’s superb Pure Wings 2 fans are again included as standard on this Silent Loop 360 cooler. Featuring PWM speed control functionality, and a maximum RPM of 2000, these fans are renowned for being top performers, whilst still operating quietly even at full load compared to other fans.
Build construction of the Silent Loop 360 is really high. Whilst I’m not a huge fan of the coiled spring type sleeving of the tubing, it does make them extremely flexible, and not stiff in the slightest like some we have seen.
Another fantastic feature of the SIlent Loop 360 is the tubing fittings. Instead of the usual shrink-wrapped finish, be quiet! have opted for knurled metal connectors. They cannot be removed for expandability, but they increase the premium feel of the product.
The 360mm radiator is full copper in construction, and that is evident by the weight of it, feeling much more substantial than its aluminium counterparts. With all the fans fitted, it looks like an absolute beast!
The pump/CPU block is low profile in design, and features a brushed metal effect to its face, with a subtle be quiet! logo sat in the middle. be quiet! have resisted the urge to change this design to include LED’s of any colour, which whilst the RGB clan might not approve, it certainly maintains the sleek design of the entire unit.
The Silent Loop 360mm has support for all the major Intel and AMD sockets. They are as follows:
Intel
LGA 775 / 1150 / 1151 / 1155 / 1156 / 1366 / 2011(-3) Square ILM / 2066
AMD
AM2(+) / AM3(+) / AM4 / FM1 / FM2(+)
Specifications
- Dimensions radiator, incl. fan (H x W x D), (mm): 397 x 124 x 55
- Maximum power capacity (W TDP): 450
- Pump Type: Reverse Flow Pump
- Pump Speed: 2,200
- Pump Connector: 3 Pin
- Radiator Dimensions: 397 x 124 x 30
- Radiator Material / Finish: copper / black spray painted
- Base Material / Finish: copper / dark nickel plated
- Fan dimensions (mm) / Quantity (pcs.): 120 x 120 x 25 / 3
- Noise level (dB(A)) @ 25 % / 50% /100% rpm: 16.1 / 23.8 / 36.9
- Speed @ 100% PWM (rpm) : 2,000
- Airflow @ 12V (cfm / m3/h): 65.51 / 111.3
- Air pressure @ 12V (mm / H2O): 2.23
- Bearing type: Rifle
- Motor technology: 4-pole fan motor
- Connector: 4-pin PWM
- Lifespan (h / 25°C): 80,000
Thermal Performance
Since our previous cooling reviews prior to November 2016, we have decided to update the method accordingly for better and consistent results. It isn’t ideal running Prime95 for a prolonged period of time and if you get called away to do something, it could be left running for much longer than needed. Our new methodology involves running a very stressful multi-threaded performance benchmark called ROG RealBench.
It should also be noted that the reason we omit acoustic/noise testing is due to an inaccuracy within the readings and method. To provide truly accurate readings, you need a lab setting with the same ambient noise on an hour by hour, day by day and week by week basis. As ambient noise can increase at different times of the day, we believe that it’s pointless providing noise testing if we can’t measure consistent and accurate data due to our office being a busy setting.
Test Setup
- CPU – Intel Core i7 6700k – (4.2GHz at 1.25v & 4.5GHz at 1.38v)
- Motherboard – Asus ROG Maximus VIII Hero Alpha
- GPU – ZOTAC GTX 1060 AMP! Edition
- RAM – Crucial Ballistix Elite 16GB DDR4 3000MHz
- PSU – BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 11 1000w
- SSD – Crucial MX300 525GB SSD
- Case – Cooler Master Test Bench V2
- Monitor – Philips P-Line 241P6 4K Ultra HD
Idle Testing Methodology
To test each cooler at idle, the minimum temperature is taken after leaving the PC with only start-up programs on Windows 10 being allowed to run for 5 minutes. After this, the minimum temperature with the core temperature being offset against the room temperature; thus achieving delta.
Load Testing Methodology
To load test, we run RealBench while selecting the heavy multitasking benchmark only. We run this a maximum of 3 times concurrently and the maximum temperature recorded is taken. This temperature is deducted from the current room temperature and our final delta temperature is provided.
Results
Conclusion
Performance
Prior to today’s test, the largest AIO on our league table was a 280mm variant from Cooler Master that I reviewed last month. Therefore, I was keen to see how a triple fan design would fare. As you can see from above, the performance of the Silent Loop 360mm was nothing short of phenomenal.
Design
Whilst I admit to being a sucker for a bit of RGB goodness to add a bit of bling, I can really appreciate the sleek, svelte look that be quiet! have opted for on the Silent Loop 360. The low-profile block is very understated, and adding any illumination to it would have detracted from that. Build quality around the remainder of the unit is first class, and I’m willing to overlook the one thing I’m not entirely happy about, which is the coiled sleeving on the tubing.
Value
At a cost of £150 in the UK, this is not a cheap AIO cooler. There are others on the market that cost significantly less, whilst still providing some really good results. However, the be quiet! Silent Loop 360mm has shown itself in our tests to be the best performer we have ever seen. If you want the best of anything, you normally must pay a premium… and this is the case here.
Final Thoughts
Our charts, which have been dominated by numerous Cooler Master offering in recent months, has a new king! Yes it’s not cheap, but it’s performance is superb. Add great aesthetics, and top notch build quality, and the conclusion is simple… Platinum Award! Can any other AIO beat these impressive scores??? I don’t know, but I can’t wait to find out.
Buy at Overclockers UK: £149.99
Massive thanks to be quiet! For sending in the Silent Loop 360mm for review
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Performance
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Design
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Value
Summary
Pros:
– Stunning performance
– Build quality is top notch
– Excellent aesthetic appeal
Cons:
– Quite expensive (but you get what you pay for)
Might be OT, but: I read this & and i also read this review you made:
https://play3r.net/reviews/cooling/cooler-master-masterliquid-120-and-240-aio-cooler-review/
Am i right if i come to the conclusion, Bequiet 120 isnt significantly different fron Bequiet 240 and
the CoolerMaster Masterliquid 120 ist better than both Coolers from Bequiet?
It generally seems that the 240 size of Coolermaster/Bequiet doesnt give any advantage over the 120 version of each, unless in idle which isnt really the biggest worry when it comes to cooling problems?
I don’t know without checking but you tend to find that 120mm AIO radiators are a lot thicker than 240 versions so can often contain a similar amount of liquid. They are also frequently push-pull with 2 fans whereas 240mm AIOs usually only come with fans for one side, so it’s one of those times you can choose for case compatibility without losing too much in terms of performance – of course if you added another 2 fans to a 240mm AIO then you would probably see an improvement whereas 120s are often maxed out without any upgrade options.
Hi Dover, you are absolutely right in your understanding…and Craig is quite right also, in that the 120mm Cooler Master is equipped with 2 fans in push/pull config, hence the better results.