Reviews

Antec Mercury 360 AIO CPU Cooler Review

Final Thoughts

Pricing

For a 360 cooler, it is amazing that it can currently be purchased for as little as £65. Do not, however, be mistaken for thinking that Antec is a budget brand. In my experience that is never a market, they have specifically looked to target their products towards.

Admittedly, this price may take into consideration the limited lighting effects, but in terms of a 360mm AIO cooler, this price is certainly exceptionally impressive. You will undoubtedly struggle to find a better cooler for less money.

Overview

As I have said in prior reviews for the Mercury range, I am turning into a big fan of Antec. Not just for the aesthetics of their products but the overall design and presentation. I think it is a smart move of Antec to include lighting effects for this cooler, but only to do so for temperature purposes.

Admittedly, I do think that the color and temperature operating range is a little strange. Particularly the lighting turning red over 40C. That being said though, aside from some difficulties with the mounting bracket and the exceptionally poor quality of the manual I have very little else to fault with this cooler.

Build Quality

In terms of build quality, Antec makes an excellent cooler. The pump-block and radiator look to be a solid design and built to last. There is no reason to suggest based on the build quality that this cooler shouldn’t effectively last you through several systems.

My only true criticism is the sheathing used to protect the radiator hose. Rather than using a Kevlar-based covering (which incidentally Antec now do on newer RGB models in the Mercury range) they have chosen to use a fairly rigid plastic coating. This isn’t entirely easy to bend or operate and it can make the installation a lot harder than it really needed to be.

Fans

On aesthetic terms, I really like Antec fans. The black with white trim is a really nice feature and at the risk of sounding like a broken record when talking of Antecs Mercury products, they look excellent even when your system is turned off.

With excellent noise levels as well, you really are getting a decent product from Antec here and much better fans than you usually see for a product in this price range.

Performance

In terms of performance, without doubt, the Antec Mercury 360 did not shine particularly well in terms of temperature results in testing. Despite that, the figures provided were definitely within an acceptable range and in terms of maximum performance fell well within processor temperature limits.

The noise levels were definitely this coolers shining moment and that does open possibilities. For example, if you are willing to compensate for a little more noise (which was excellent for a 360mm cooler) then the temperature figures should tumble accordingly.

Should I Buy One?

For this price, you are going to struggle to find a CPU cooler that looks and performs on this level. When taking everything into consideration the Antec Mercury 360 is an excellent value for money cooler.

Yes, there are coolers that provide better temperature figures. There are coolers that have an array of lighting features, but when you take all factors into consideration this is an excellent cooler that in comparative terms is currently priced at around 30% less than you would expect.

Pros

Excellent Antec aesthetics with low-key and informative lighting effects.
A quality product that is clearly built to last.
Excellent noise performance figures. Particularly considering this is a 360mm fan system.
You will struggle to find a 360 cooler to compete in terms of pricing.