James Dawson November 13, 2023 Cooling, Featured Tech Reviews, Reviews
There have been plenty of new AIO CPU cooler launches this year, for the most part we have covered them through individual reviews which you can find on the website and our YouTube channel. But we have been left with a stack of coolers to take a look at before the year is out, so today we have an AIO showdown where we will take a brief look at the specs and features of eight AIO coolers, test them on our Intel Core i9-13900K system and let you know which of these coolers are worth spending your hard-earned cash on before the year is up. Automotive Harness Supplier
00:00 Start 01:08 Lian Li Coolers 02:01 Lian Li GA II LCD 360 – Unifan SL-INF 120 Version 07:08 Installation and discussion 09:55 Lian Li GA II Trinity Performance 15:03 Installation and discussion 17:38 Sharkoon S90 White 360 22:10 Installation and discussion 22:57 Silverstone ICEMYST 360 + 420 + IMF70 70mm Fans 28:30 Installation and discussion 30:33 Be Quiet! Pure Loop 2 360 V2 35:31 Installation and discussion 37:00 Enermax LiqMaxFlo 360 AIO 40:55 Installation and discussion 42:06 Valkyrie SYN360 48:01 Installation and discussion 48:36 Cooler and testing details 49:37 Noise output 50:18 100% fans 51:16 40dBA noise normalised 51:52 1400rpm fans 52:39 James thoughts
We have two coolers from Lian Li, the Galahad II Trinity Performance and LCD, both 360mm and in white. Two more from Silverstone with 360mm and 420mm versions that feature a unique clip on VRM fan solution. Valkyrie is a new name in the cooling space to me but has an interesting 360mm LCD-clad AIO that’s worth a look. Enermax is back with some new LIQMAXFLO coolers featuring an active VRM cooling fan on the CPU block and we have a couple of more basic budget coolers from Sharkoon with the S90 RGB white and be quiet!’s revised Pure Loop 2 360.
We've rounded up all the specs, features, and the usual pro's and con’s, as well as the performance charts below for you to browse through. However, if you want to see the coolers in all their glory make sure you check out the video in the YouTube link at the top of this page. There's a lot to get through so let's get cracking.
Lian Li Galahad II LCD 360 – UNIFAN SL-INF 360
All are available now in the UK from Overclockers UK for £269.99 for the SL-INF 360 version HERE
Lian Li Galahad II Trinity Performance 360
Available in the UK from Overclockers UK priced at £169.99 HERE.
Silverstone ICEMYST 360mm and 420mm + IMF70 70mm fans
UK buyers can pick up the Silverstone IceMyst from Amazon UK, the 360mm version is available for £127.28 HERE and the 420mm is £146.38 HERE.
The Sharkoon S90 White is available from Amazon UK for £157. 47 currently HERE.
Be quiet! Pure Loop 2 360 V2
The original Pure Loop 2 launched in October 2020 and the FX version with be quiet! Light Wings ARGB fans launched in August 2022.
We are primarily focussing on the performance of each cooler at 100% fan speed and also when locked to 40dBA noise output but for this showdown, we have added in a fixed 1400RPM fan test. We will focus on cooling performance using a manual overclock with all-core frequency and VCORE locked to 5.5GHz/4.3Ghz (P/E Cores) 1.3v with level 5 LLC in the BIOS.
We will start by looking at noise output which gives us a good indication of thermal performance based on noise.
The Lian Li Galahad II and Enermax LIQMAXFLO are the quietest of all the coolers by a noticeable margin. be quiet! lives up to its name being next in the chart but I expected less noise from the Pure Wings 3 fans, however they are high-speed versions running up to 2300 RPM so they are running faster than both the Galahad II LCD and the LIQMAXFLOW fans.
All the other coolers run at +50dBA so the noise output of the rest is quite noticeable at maximum RPM and could be a little distracting for some users.
Thermal Performance – 100% Fan Duty Cycle
With all coolers fans maxed out at 100% duty cycle results are quite interesting because both Lian Li Galahad II coolers top the charts here even though they are two completely different coolers from separate OEM suppliers.
Even though the Trinity Performance tops the charts, the performance of the LCD version seems more impressive due to its lower fan speed and noise output but it's still only a couple of degrees hotter on performance compared with the Trinity Performance.
Both Silverstone and Valkyrie coolers are quite evenly matched in terms of performance at max fan speed just a couple of degrees behind the Lian Li coolers, which is a good outcome considering the price of the Silverstone coolers is significantly lower.
However, the final three coolers from Sharkoon, Enermax and be quite! Are a fair way off the performance of the others with average temperatures at max RPM 5 or 6°C higher, which is a little disappointing considering they all use 360mm radiators.
Thermal Performance – 40dBA Noise Normalised
At 40dBA noise normalised again the Li Lian coolers both top the charts with very similar performance. Like the previous test, at 40dBA the Silverstone IceMyst 420 is close behind, the IceMyst 360 is a couple of degrees hotter and the Valkyrie SYN360 is holding its thermal performance too.
The be quiet! Pure loop 2 shows an improvement in thermal performance at 40dBA and is very closely matched by the Enermax LIQMAXFLO but the Sharkoon S90 white suffers when the fans are limited to 40dBA noise output.
Thermal Performance – Fixed 1400 RPM Fan Speed
For an additional test, we fixed all the cooler's fan speeds to 1400 RPM. This resulted in a change at the top of the chart with the Silverstone IceMyst 420 having the advantage of larger fans. Still, the Lian Li Galahad II Trinity Performance was very close to the IceMyst 420mm performance, and the Galahad II LCD again wasn’t far behind at all.
The performance of the Valkyrie SYN360 dropped off a little at 1400 RPM relative to its performance in the other tests, the Enermax, Sharkoon and be quiet! coolers are not far behind, however, there's almost 10 10-degree delta between the top and bottom coolers which is significant when you take into account that the Silverstone IceMyst and be quiet! coolers are similarly priced, which means that the Silverstone AIO looks like better value for money.
Overall, the Lian Li Galahad II coolers are a little more expensive but their performance is excellent in any scenario which makes them my all-around favourite while the Silverstone IceMyst offer the best value in terms of performance.
Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.
KitGuru says: Both of the Lian Li Galahad II coolers topped the charts in almost all of our tests showing outstanding thermal performance on the Intel Core-i9 13900K. For us, the best all-round package is the Galahad II LCD if you have the budget for it. If you are looking to be a little more savvy with your money, you can't go wrong with the Silverstone IceMyst coolers which offer good thermal performance and decent RGB lighting effects at an affordable price. If it is all out raw performance that you need then the Lian Li Galahad II Trinity Performance is your best bet.
Be sure to check out our sponsors store EKWB here
Tags 360mm radiator 420mm AIO cooler review be quiet! Pure Loop 2 best cpu cooler Enermax LIQMAXFLO intel core i9-13900K thermal test Lian Li Galahad II LCD Lian Li Galahad II Trinity Performance multireview Sharkoon S90 RGB White Silverstone IceMyst Thermal performance Valkrie SYN360
The EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 Direct Die D-RGB is the first AIO CPU cooler designed for …
Custom Car Wiring Loom How do you feel about getting the right RGB for your rig/peripherals?