INTRODUCTION

    Whenever I start reviewing anything new I sometimes find myself going back to the time I first reviewed something similar to compare the two just to see how far things have progressed. When it comes to AIO liquid CPU coolers yes, we may have reached a bottleneck currently in terms of cooling efficiency (eventually I do expect AIO models which will actively cool the liquid inside to appear but that could take a while) but we've come a very long way since the first models made their appearance around 18 years ago, not just in performance but also size. be quiet! today officially launches their Pure Loop 3 line of AIO liquid CPU coolers and with me I have the tri-fan 360mm model.

    We are the German premium brand manufacturer of quiet hardware components for gaming, workstations and desktop PCs. Since our foundation in 2001, we are proud to have more than 20 years of experience in the industry. Our goal from the very beginning has been to develop products of the highest quality that are not only quiet, but also extremely powerful. With a wide range of power supplies, PC cases, water and air coolers and fans, we have established ourselves as a leading manufacturer in this field.

    The brand new Pure Loop 3 AIO liquid CPU cooler is available in 240/280/360mm sizes and just in black color without A/RGB lighting. The 360mm sized model which I have here with me today consists by an 397mm long, 120mm wide and 27mm thick aluminum & copper radiator (complete with a refill port), three daisy chained Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM high-speed fans (closed loop motor, 4 poles / 2100RPM / 59.6CFM / 2.41mmH2O / 30.9dBA), 400mm long flexible sleeved tubes, high-speed 5500RPM pump (6 pole, 3-phase motor) and an large copper cooling block/coldplate. As with previous lines be quiet! covers the entire Pure Loop 3 line with a 3-year limited warranty. 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

As always at the front of the box we find a large product picture, company logo and the product name.

A few words about be quiet! are printed on the right side.

The product specifications are printed on the left side.

At the rear we find three pictures used to showcase the pump and radiator.

Along with the main body of the Pure Loop 3 360mm and its 3 fans inside the box be quiet! has also placed fan extension cable, 3 cable ties, thermal paste tube, warranty information, user manual, Intel backplate and all the bits and pieces required to mount the AIO onto Intel LGA 1150/1151/1155/1200/1700/1851 and AMD AM4/AM5 motherboards.

THE PURE LOOP 3 360MM

Once again, just like most AIO models in the market the Pure Loop 3 360mm doesn't stand out.

The radiator is roughly 27mm thick which is the standard nowadays.

FPI (fins per inch) for the Poor Loop 3 360mm radiator is 20.

At the base of the sleeved tubes be quiet! has placed a plastic cover which could increase durability.

400mm long sleeved tubes should be plenty for an 360mm AIO.

The pump/coldplate combo has the be quiet! logo on top.

Typically, the tubes rotate from the base for up to around 100 degrees.

The waterblock be quiet! has used is quite large so it should work well with every consumer oriented CPU out there.

With a maximum speed of 2100RPM, 59.6CFM airflow and 2.41mmH2O pressure the new Pure Wings 3 PWM fans should provide good performance.

After mounting all 3 fans the thickness of the Pure Loop 3 360mm increases to 52mm.

INSTALLATION

Radiator mounting is as always first, unfortunately I took the picture after installing the cooler.

After the radiator you will need to place the backplate at the rear and secure it with the thumbscrews in the package.

Next step is to mount the top/bottom brackets and secure the pump/waterblock with the two attached screws (again, finished picture, you can also find a short clip on TikTok and YouTube).

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Testing complete water cooling kits or individual radiators is no different than testing CPU Coolers and since we want all of you to be able to compare similar products, we created new and separate charts (you can still cross-compare results however since we are using the same test rig). So once again single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests complete water cooling kits or radiators with bundled fans are measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room and as for thermal paste I’m using the NT-H2 by Noctua. Finally, much like when testing CPU Coolers, it's very important to point out that just because a water cooling kit (or a AIO) outperforms another when tested with our test rig (when we test complete water cooling kits) that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures, we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded, we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests, but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs, but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using the latest version of AIDA64 while noise level tests (when fans exist in the bundle) are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the radiator. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here, we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

* Since some manufacturers have ceased support for the Intel LGA 2011-3 platform, for such coolers, I’ll be using the Ryzen 7900X / ASRock X670E test rig.
** After high demand since September 2024 I’ll be including average temperatures in my AMD Ryzen 9 7900Χ/Χ670Ε charts (under light load such as Internet browsing and Office use).
*** Since November 2024 I swapped test systems with the Intel Core Ultra 285K (same methodology as with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

    As you can easily tell from today’s review the brand new Pure Loop 3 360 AIO liquid CPU cooler by be quiet! may not stand out in terms of cooling efficiency and looks (then Pure Loop 3 LX line does a much better job due to its ARGB lighting - will try to get one in the lab as well) but it should be more than sufficient for low/mid-end CPU models. By using high-speed (2100RPM) 120mm fans with the Pure Loop 3 360mm be quiet! has increased noise levels compared to previous models and the issue with this is that its overall cooling efficiency doesn’t really reflect that. The refill port on the radiator next to the tubes is a nice touch but since there’s no bottle of liquid included in the bundle (again like with previous models) this means you should go out and get one when/if the time comes (meaning you’ll need to spend both time and money).

    As mentioned earlier be quiet! just released their Pure Loop 3 line of AIO liquid CPU coolers and so for now the 360mm model is available inside the EU for 116.65Euros (Amazon.de) a rather balanced price tag. At the end of the day based on its overall cooling efficiency and looks the brand new Pure Loop 3 360mm by be quiet! may not be award winning material but if you’re out in the market for a new AIO model you should check it out.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Good Cooling Efficiency
- Motherboard Compatibility
- Large Coldplate
- Up to Six 120mm Fans in Push & Pull

CONS

- No A/RGB Lighting
- Noise Levels