German parts companies shut up! (hereafter, Be Quiet) has avoided RGB lighting for a long time. However, in line with the company’s 20th anniversary, FX line Mainly featuring colorful lights in the shape of the company’s Light Wings fan, the newly modified case, air cooler and AIO offering.
We have one of the new FX coolers on our test bench, specifically the Pure Loop 2 FX 360mm. This is the larger of the three new FX AIOs, also available in 280 and 240mm models. Aside from the RGB ring fan, it also includes a rainbow glow in the ring around the cold plate, so if you want to illuminate the inside of the case with your favorite color, the CPU is cool. Be Quiet explains.
While most liquid coolers today are based on the Asetek design where the pump is contained in the CPU block, this cooler features an in-house design by Be Quiet that places the pump along the cooling line near the radiator. increase. Be Quiet’s large and bright cooling system keeps CPU temperature and fan noise low enough to best aio cooler listYou’ll need to have a testing regime in place to find out.? But first, here are the specifications for Be Quiet.
Be Quiet Pure Loop 2 FX Specifications
| cooler | Be Quiet Pure Loop 2 FX 360mm |
| Manufacturer’s suggested retail price | $154.90 USD |
| Dimensions with fan | 397×120×52mm |
| Gross weight | 1545g |
| Socket compatibility | AM4/AM5, LGA 1700/1200/2066/1150/1151/1155/2001 |
| Rated noise level | 8.9 dBA at 25, 20.1 dBA at 50, 34 dBA at 100 |
| pump speed | 4000-5500RPM |
| radiator size | 397×120×27mm |
| Radiator material | aluminum |
| CPU block | copper |
| lifespan | 60,000 hours operating rating |
New test configuration
| cooler | Be Quiet Pure Loop 2 FX |
| Comparison Coolers Tested | Deep Cool LS520 |
| Cougar Poseidon GT 360 | |
| CPU | Intel i9-12900K |
| motherboard | MSI z690A-Pro DDR4 |
| case | Be Quiet Silent Base 802 Window |
| PSUs | Deep Cool PQ1000M |
Testing Pure Loop 2 FX on Intel’s i9-12900K. Due to the increased heat density of the Intel 7 manufacturing process, as well as changes to core and component layouts, Alder Lake CPUs are more difficult to cool than their predecessors in the most heat-intensive workloads. This means coolers that kept previous generations like the i9-10900K nice and cool struggle to keep Intel’s i9-12900K below TJ max (the maximum temperature before the CPU starts throttling) It means that there are cases. Many coolers I’ve tested can’t keep the i9-12900k below TJ max when the power cap is lifted for workloads like Cinebench and OCCT.
Keep in mind that there are many factors that can affect cooling performance. Your system’s motherboard can affect this. There are motherboards on the market with CPU sockets that do not comply with Intel’s specifications, which can cause distortion and poor contact with the CPU. The case you use also affects the cooling effect.
With this in mind, we rate CPU coolers on a scale of three.
Tier 1: These coolers are able to keep the i9-12900K below TJ max at most loads without enforcing power limits. I believe only the best liquid coolers meet this criteria.
Tier 2: These coolers can apply a CPU power limit of 200W to keep the i9-12900K below TJ max. I believe most liquid and air coolers meet this criteria.
Tier 3: These coolers can apply a CPU power limit of 140W to keep the i9-12900K below TJMax.
Packing and contents
Be Quiet’s Pure Loop 2 FX comes packaged in a large box about 2 feet long with molded cardboard for protection.
Package includes:
- 360mm liquid cooler
- 3x 120mm Light Wings fans
- Fits into all modern CPU sockets including LGA1700 and upcoming AM5 motherboards
- cable ties
- thermal paste
- user manual
- aRGB & Fan Controller Hub
- extra coolant
Installation of cooler
Installing Be Quiet Pure Loop 2 FX was very easy. First, secure the backplate screws to the backplate using the O-rings. Once the backplate is pressed against the motherboard, screw the standoffs in place. Then use screws to secure the mounting brackets to the standoffs. Finally install the CPU block.
What is the difference from other coolers?
Pure Loop 2 FX is user refillable and contains additional coolant.
Most AIOs are not user serviceable. This means that if a certain amount of coolant escapes (either through evaporation or leakage), they should be discarded. The Be Quiet not only allows coolant to be refilled using a screw-covered, easy-to-access port, but also includes extra coolant in case you need it. That said, unless you plan to use the cooler for several years on multiple platforms (which tends to be difficult given socket changes requiring new mounting hardware), coolant loss is usually not a big issue with AIO .
In-house pump design
The majority of liquid coolers on the market today are based on Asetek designs (licensed or not) where the pump is integrated into the CPU block. However, the Pure Loop 2 FX incorporates Be Quiet’s in-house design, where the pump is positioned closer to the radiator along the cooling line.
It’s not just radiators and pumps. Fans have a significant impact on cooling performance and noise levels. Pure Loop 2 FX includes Be Quiet’s latest Light Wings fan. This includes his ARGB lighting in the ring around the blade. Forex lineup.
| model | Wings of light |
| size | 120mm |
| fan rotation speed | Up to 2500RPM |
| air flow | 52.3 CFM (100% speed) |
| air pressure | 2.6 mm H2O (Velocity 100%) |
| noise level | Up to 31 dB(A) |
| lighting | ARGB |
New test configuration
| cooler | Be Quiet Pure Loop 2 FX |
| Manufacturer’s suggested retail price | $154.90 USD |
| Comparison Coolers Tested | Deep Cool LS520 |
| Cougar Poseidon GT 360 | |
| CPU | Intel i9-12900K |
| motherboard | MSI z690A-Pro DDR4 |
| case | keep quiet!silent base 802 window |
| PSUs | Deep Cool PQ1000M |
Testing Pure Loop 2 FX on Intel’s i9-12900K. Due to the increased heat density of the Intel 7 manufacturing process, as well as changes to core and component layouts, Alder Lake CPUs are more difficult to cool than their predecessors in the most heat-intensive workloads.
This means that coolers that kept previous generations like the i9-10900K nice and cool can sometimes struggle to keep Intel’s i9-12900K below TJ max. Many coolers I’ve tested can’t keep the i9-12900K below TJ max when power capping is lifted for workloads like Cinebench and OCCT.
Keep in mind that there are many factors besides the CPU cooler that affect cooling performance. Your system’s motherboard in particular can affect this. There are motherboards on the market with CPU sockets that do not comply with Intel’s specifications, which can cause distortion and poor contact with the CPU. The case you use also affects the cooling effect.
With Alder Lake’s cooling demands in mind, we evaluate CPU coolers in three different tiers.
Tier 1: These coolers are able to keep the i9-12900K below TJ max at most loads without enforcing power limits. I believe only the best liquid coolers meet this criteria.
Tier 2: These coolers can apply a CPU power limit of 200W to keep the i9-12900K below the TJ max threshold. I believe most liquid and air coolers meet this criteria.
Tier 3: These coolers are able to keep the i9-12900K below TJ max with the 140W CPU power cap applied.
test method
To test the limits of a cooler’s ability to dissipate heat, we run two major stress tests. cine bench When OCCT 10 minutes each. This may be a short amount of time, but it’s enough to push most coolers (air and liquid) to their limits.
While stress testing in Cinebench, I ran with the power cap removed and a 200W CPU power cap applied. In this test setup with MSI’s z690 A Pro DDR4 motherboard and Be Quiet’s Silent Base 802 computer case, only the best coolers can pass the Cinebench test when the power cap is lifted.
I don’t test OCCT without power capping. Because when I try to do so, the power consumption of the CPU package exceeds 270W, instantly throttling even the best of his AIO coolers. Instead, we test at 200W to give the cooler a chance of passing. We also include the 140W results to provide closer data for lower-end CPUs such as AMD’s Ryzen 5600x and Intel’s i5-12400.
Core i9-12900K thermal results
Cinebench test results
Running Cinebench without power capping is the most thermally demanding load in my testing, and most coolers don’t pass this particular test. Pure Loop 2 FX somehow passed, but just barely. It peaked at the maximum TJ temperature, but the CPU did not throttle.
If the power limit is capped at the more reasonable 200W, the Pure Loop 2 works well both on the default fan curve and when capped at 50%. Here it is 2 degrees Celsius behind Cougar’s Poseidon GT360 on the default fan curve and 2 degrees Celsius ahead when 50% speed is applied.
OCCT test results
I usually like to run OCCT small set stress tests for stability when overclocking, but on Alder Lake I haven’t been able to find a cooler that can handle OCCT without throttling unless power capping is applied. did.
I tested OCCT at 200W to demonstrate a thermally demanding load, but how do these coolers perform on CPUs that are easier to cool, like Intel’s i5-12400 and AMD’s Ryzen 5600X? A power limit of 140W was also applied to demonstrate
The OCCT thermal results were slightly different than the Cinebench results. At all power caps and fan settings, the Pure Loop 2 FX lagged slightly behind Cougar’s Poseidon GT360, but was quieter than Cougar’s AIO in all these tests.
noise level and acoustics
To test the noise level, the SLM25TK sound level meter was placed 18 inches behind the back of the Be Quiet Silent Base 802 PC case and recorded early in the morning to achieve the lowest possible noise floor. The graph below shows the average results measured over 5 minutes, taking into account sudden fluctuations in the measurements.
Most of the time, Pure Loop 2 FX runs pretty quietly. With fan speed capped at 50%, he’s the quietest cooler of the three units we tested in this review. At max fan speed, the Pure Loop 2 isn’t exactly quiet, but it’s quieter than DeepCool and Cougar’s AIO. The company seems to live up to its name.
Conclusion
When I tested the 1st generation Pure Loop AIO, my results weren’t the best, so I wondered if the Pure Loop 2 FX would pass my test. However, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Be Quiet’s Pure Loop 2 FX is a significant improvement, allowing the i9-12900K to cool even under demanding workloads. If the fan speed is capped at 50% of his, the silence enthusiast will be delighted to know that this is the best performing cooler I’ve ever tested.
At initial launch, the Pure Loop 2 FX will be available at various retailers with an MSRP of $154.90 USD up to $30 USD until the end of September 2022 (or until stocks last). If you can find this cooler for that price, it’s a steal for those who like great quiet cooling performance and lots of RGB.
