In recent weeks we have had a fair number of be quiet! CPU coolers on our test bench. Only last week we saw the release of the brand new Dark Rock 4 range. With those both being air coolers, we were curious to see how one of their AIO CPU coolers would compare.
With be quiet! being a brand that prides itself on noise and performance that can sometimes be a difficult combination to successfully marry. This is particularly seen in high-performance coolers which have been designed with overclocking in mind. With the Silent Loop 360 though that is exactly what be quiet! is suggesting it is capable of, but who are we to take their word for it?
We, therefore, put the be quiet! Silent Loop 360 under the scrutiny of our testing. Can this really deliver a top performance while being “whisper-silent” at the same time? Let’s find out!
For in-depth specifications, please visit the official product page here.
“Silent Loop 360mm brings the famous be quiet! whisper-silent technology to the world of All-in-One water cooling. No compromise is required when choosing to water-cool demanding systems and heavily overclocked CPUs.” – be quiet!
As we often see with be quiet! products, the cooler is clearly on display to the front of the packaging. It is a criticism I have made of be quiet! products in the past, but their choice of black products on a black background has always confused me. Although you can just about make out the water block and the radiator/fans, it’s not exactly crystal clear either. Given that the box is black on all sides (as per be quiet! branding) you do struggle to get a good clear look at the cooler at least in terms of the packaging.
On the back of the box you will find some of the products sales pitch, but unusually very little about the cooler itself. This is again something that we see often in be quiet! products and it would be a much better use of the space and area if they gave more technical details or even more pictures of the actual product. To accommodate three languages (two further languages are on the side of the box), even the information which is provided is quite cramped. Putting it bluntly, for such an interesting product, the front, and back packaging is a bit boring.
On the side of the box, you are thankfully finally given some technical specification on the cooler itself. This is generally quite detailed and does including pretty much all the information you could want. As above though, I do see this as a bit of a missed opportunity in terms of the overall presentation of the product. There is such a thing as being bold and understated, this, however, is just understated and bland.
Thankfully once you open the box up, things get a lot more interesting. It’s pretty clear that be quiet! spent some time in consideration of the packaging design. Everything has a place and it all fits in fantastically well. All three fans have a space to insert and the radiator and water block are well secured to ensure no movement. In addition, a central insert in the box easily houses all of the parts needed to get this fitted to your system. This is certainly, internally at least, one of the best-packaged coolers we have seen.
All the parts and components are very well organized into individual packages. It’s a small thing that can make a big difference when it comes to assembly. Particularly separating the Intel and AMD bracket for the water block. As the cooler does not have a pre-applied thermal paste, it does come with a tube of ‘be quiet!s’ own. In addition to this is also has a triple adaptor to make sure you should have no problems connecting all 3 cooling fans to 1 single motherboard connection.
One slight point of concern in terms of ‘putting things together’ is that the screws to physically mount the water block to the processor are all completely unassembled. With a screw, spring, washer, and bolt, this is a little awkward, particularly if you don’t have the most dexterous of hands.
In terms of the mounting system be quiet! have really impressed here. I don’t think it’s unfair to say that as a brand, they are (and with good reason) known for not giving us the easiest of bracket installations. In this instance, however, there are some excellent features. With a single adjustable backplate with adhesive strips included, one of the more tricky aspects is already taken care of.
As for the actual water block itself though, be quiet! has provided both Intel and AMD clips which simply fit and clip around the water block through a recess. It’s not rocket-science, but such simple designs get a big thumbs up from me.
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