Founded in 2007, German company Cougar offers a wide range of peripherals, from CPU coolers to keyboards to gaming chairs. Companies like Noctua are known for their “solid” browns, while Cougar is known for having orange accents on many of their products, especially orange fans (not here).
On our test bench is Cougar’s Poseidon GT 360, an AIO liquid cooler with a 360mm radiator. The GT 360 tamed Intel’s Core i9-12900K and turned our best cpu cooler list? We’ll have to do some testing to confirm, but first he’ll show you the specs provided directly by Cougar. The Poseidon GT 630 is currently available in Canada for $149.99. It is also available in Australia and Taiwan, and will be available in other regions soon.
Cougar Poseidon GT 360 specs
| cooler | Cougar Poseidon GT 360 |
| Manufacturer’s suggested retail price | $149.99 Canadian Dollar |
| Radiator dimensions | 392×121×27mm |
| Socket compatibility | Intel Socket LGA 115X / 1200 / 1366/ 1700 / 2011 / 2066 |
| AMD AM4 / AM5 / sTRX4 / sTR4 / FM1 / FM2 / AM2(+) / AM3(+) | |
| Rated noise level | Up to 34.5 dBa |
| Cold plate material | copper |
| CPU block dimensions | 71.5×49.8mm |
Packing and inclusions
Cougar’s Poseidon GT 360 is packed in a medium-long box with molded cardboard and soft covers for the individual parts for protection.
Package includes:
- CPU block + radiator
- 3 Cougar MHP 120 fans
- Mount for all modern CPU sockets including LGA1700, TR4 and AM4/AM5 motherboards
- thermal paste
- information leaflet
- fan splitter
- ARGB controller
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Installation of cooler
Installing Cougar’s Poseidon GT 360 was very easy. First, fix the radiator to the case. Then press the backplate onto the motherboard and use the standoffs and silicone pads to secure it.
The Cougar does not come with thermal paste pre-installed, but a small tube of thermal paste is included with the unit. After applying the thermal paste, press the CPU block onto the standoffs and secure using the provided thumbscrews.
New test configuration
| cooler | Cougar Poseidon GT 360, 360mm AIO liquid cooler |
| Comparison Coolers Tested | BeQuiet Pure Loop 2 FX, 360mm AIO |
| Cooler Master Master Liquid PL360 Flux, 360mm AIO | |
| Cooler Master Master Liquid PL240 Flux, 240mm AIO | |
| Cougar Forza 85, air cooler | |
| Corsair iCUE H100i Elite, 240mm AIO | |
| DeepCool AK500, air cooler | |
| DeepCool LS520, 240mm AIO | |
| DeepCool LS320, 120mm AIO | |
| Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120SE | |
| CPU | Intel i9-12900K |
| motherboard | MSI z690A-Pro DDR4 |
| case | keep quiet!silent base 802 window |
| PSUs | Deep Cool PQ1000M |
What is the difference from other coolers?
CPU block with ARGB lighting and rotatable infinity mirror
The CPU block supports ARGB lighting and features an “infinity mirror” with the Cougar logo that can be adjusted to any position. This means the pump can be mounted in any rotation without the logo being oriented weird.
Hardware ARGB controller
Some coolers on the market require the use of proprietary software to change lighting settings. Cougar’s Poseidon has no software. That means you usually have to use his BIOS control on your motherboard to change the lighting options or download a tool like this: Open RGB Also signal RGB to make adjustments. However, Cougar includes a SATA-powered hardware ARGB controller that lets you change his ARGB settings with the click of a button, literally.
Cougar MHP 120 Fan
There’s more to liquid coolers than just radiators and pumps. The included fan has a big impact on cooling and performance. The Poseidon GT 360 includes three of his Cougar MHP 120 fans, which are black and high static pressure. These fans do not support his ARGB lighting. This choice felt strange considering he has RBG lighting in the CPU block.
| model | MHP120 |
| size | 120×120×25mm |
| fan rotation speed | 600-2000RPM ±200RPM |
| air flow | 82.48 CFM |
| air pressure | 4.24mmH2O |
| noise level | Max 34.5dB(A) |
| lighting | none |
“UTTERIGHT” fin design radiator
Many radiators use curved fins, but Cougar’s Poseidon AIO does not. Instead, the Cougar uses a right-angled molded “UTTERIGHT” fin. Cougar says the design allows for a larger heat transfer area and improved cooling efficiency compared to more common fin designs.
test configuration
Cougar’s Poseidon GT 360 with Intel’s Core i9-12900K is tested with an MSI Z690 A PRO DDR4 motherboard and Be Quiet’s Silent Base 802 case. 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 tested failed to keep the i9-12900K below TJ max when the power cap was lifted for workloads like Cinebench and OCCT.This is AMD’s latest Ryzen 7000 CPUsalso has a higher TDP than previous generation chips.
Keep in mind that there are many factors besides the CPU cooler that affect cooling performance. The system’s motherboard can particularly affect this, as there are motherboards on the market with CPU sockets that do not conform to 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 would expect most liquid coolers and the best air coolers to meet this standard.
Tier 3: These coolers are able to keep the i9-12900K below TJ max with a CPU power limit of 140W 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, for 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.
Do not test OCCT without power capping. Because when I try this, the CPU package draws over 270W, instantly throttling even the best of his AIO coolers. Instead, we test at 200W to give the cooler a chance of passing. We’ve also included the 140W results to provide comparable data to CPUs that consume less power, such as AMD’s Ryzen 5800x and Intel’s i5-12600K.
