be quiet! Pure Loop 2 FX 360mm AIO Liquid Cooler Review

A Closer Look

The Pure Loop 2 FX certainly presents itself well with a nice and sleek black aesthetic. Not, incidentally, that you should expect much different from a be quiet! product. As with all AIO liquid coolers though, there are clearly a lot of individual components that go into the overall design. Let us, therefore, take a closer look at some of them.

CPU Block

The CPU block is a surprisingly compact design. It is, in fact, notably smaller than what you usually expect to see from an AIO liquid cooler. There is almost certainly, however, a very specific reason for this we’ll get onto shortly.

With a brush steel effect to the external casing and the be quiet! logo to the top, the CPU block presents itself excellent, and, in all honesty, looks fantastic even before the ARGB has been turned on. With its relatively small size too, handling it is nice and easy which should, all going well, help out when we get onto the installation.

So, why is the CPU block so small? Well, this is predominantly due to the fact that it doesn’t house the pump. This is, instead, fitted onto the hose. Why have they done this? Well, while it may have been a design choice, it’s more likely due to the fact that, without naming names, there are patent issues within America that prevent certain AIO manufacturers from having the pump installed in the block. As such, this design choice does seem to strongly indicate that the be quiet! Pure Loop 2 FX will see a North American release.

Contact Plate

The contact plate comes with an amazingly well-polished nickle-coated surface. Offering plenty of coverage too, this should be absolutely perfect for all socket types supported including Intel’s LGA1700 and AMD’s upcoming AM5.

Radiator

The radiator, on the whole, is fairly standard fare as you would largely tend to expect from a 360mm AIO liquid cooler. On the plus side, however, unlike many other manufacturers, be quiet! has at least gone to some effort to give it a bit of additional aesthetic appeal.

This, admittedly, pretty much begins and ends with the ‘Pure Loop 2 FX’ logo embossed onto the side. As noted above though, at least be quiet! has done something to make the radiator a bit more interesting and unique and in terms of the size and placement, this certainly adds to the aesthetics rather than detracts.

The radiator filling port is located at the top and can be easily accessed via a single screw. It should, of course, be noted that refilling the radiator is not something that should be regularly required. In fact, most average estimates suggest that an AIO can operate for about 3 years before any notable amount of liquid is lost. Presuming you plan to keep your be quiet! Pure Loop 2 FX for quite a while, however, this, in combination with the huge amount of coolant provided in your accessories (while honestly could last for up to 10 years), legitimately adds to the longevity of this product!

Fans

Given that the be quiet! Pure Loop 2 FX is a 360mm AIO, it should clearly come as no surprise to learn that you are provided with 3 x 120mm cooling fans. – These are all be quiet!’s own ‘Light Wings’ models and with their attractive design to the blades, certainly look exceptionally professional.

The Light Wings fans are also available to purchase both as kits or individually. As such, if you would like to learn more about them, you can check out our comprehensive review of both the Light Wings 120mm and 140mm cooling fans via the link here!

Overall

The be quiet! Pure Loop 2 FX certain presents itself excellently. It’s not only an excellent professional-looking cooler (even with the ARGB not yet turned on), but in terms of build quality, it’s pretty much faultless. Everything looks solid!

Of course, though, how it looks is merely only one part of this review. Next, we have the matter of actually getting this installed onto our test bench and, well… Let’s just say that be quiet! does have something of a reputation for not having the easiest of installation methodologies. – There’s only one way to find out though. Let’s get this strapped onto our test bench!