be quiet! Pure Loop 3 LX 360: An All rounder with excellent augmentation
I am taking a look at a new mainstream cooler from be quiet! which is Pure Loop 3 LX 360. This generation is available in Pure Loop 3 (non RGB) and Pure Loop 3 LX (ARGB) editions. The LX series of these coolers comes with a next level of block customization using lighting foils.
They have provided a sheet of 10 such foils in the box. These foils are easy to replace or interchange, and they add more to the look of the cooler. The LX series coolers are available in 240mm and 360mm sizes, whereas the non-LX are available in 280mm size in addition to the above sizes.
This cooler is compatible with Intel LGA 115x/1200/1700/1851 and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets.
Purchase Links
Amazon UK – £112.99 at the time of the review
Amazon US – $133.88 at the time of the review
Specifications
Packing and Unboxing
be quiet! is using its standard theme on the packing box. The outer box has a black outlook and is made of cardboard material.
The egg carton inside the outer box contains the cooler and accessories for safe shipping.
The following are provided:
• 1x Intel Backplate
• 2x Intel Mounting Brackets
• 4x Intel Backplate Screws
• 4x Locking Washers / O-Rings
• 4x Intel Spacer Nuts
• 4x Mounting Brackets Fastening Screws
• 1x set of AMD AM4/AM5 Mounting Brackets
• 4x AMD Screws
• 4x AMD Spacers
• 12x Radiator Screws
• 12x Fan Screws
• 1x Thermal Paste Tube
• 3x Zip Ties
• 1x Adapter Extension Cable
• 1x Sheet of 10 Lighting Foils
• 1x Pump Top Cover
• 1x User Manual
• 1x Safety Paper
Closer Look – Radiator
The new cooler has a standard aluminum-made radiator measuring 397x120x27mm. It does come with pre-installed fans, unlike the current trend. The total height of the unit is 52mm.
The fin stack has 12 channels for coolant flow and has a 20 FPI count. It has a gap of 105mm between the two opposite end holes. Overall build quality is satisfactory as I did not observe any bent or broken fins.
Looking at the tube connection on the radiator, the connections can be seen located in the center of the main housing. The connections are concealed using single housing of clamps. Serial number of the unit can be seen on the sticker.
be quiet! continues the provision of a refill port on its coolers. This cooler also comes with a refill port on the radiator. It uses a Philips screw as a cover. However, this time, be quiet! does not include a coolant refill bottle.
Looking at the side of the radiator housing, you can see that it has no branding. The manufacturer uses rubber tubes. These tubes have a black nylon braided mesh sleeve and they run to 410mm in length.
Block
While the overall outlook of the block is based on the Silent Loop series of liquid coolers, there is one catchy difference, which is the top of this block featuring a frosted diffuser with A-RGB LEDs underneath. Why is it different? You can place any one of the 10 lighting foils that come with the cooler over the top for an illustrative look with vivid lighting effects. This creates stunning visuals.
be quiet! uses two-point contact on this cooler, much like the predecessors. It comes with a screw on each side of the main housing.
Looking at the back of the housing, you can spot two 90ᵒ fittings for the tube connection. Two single flat cables come out of the housing.
The pump on this cooler is PWM regulated using a 4-pin connector. The pump is rated for 3000 to 5500 RPM speed. It uses a 6-pole, 3-phase motor for quiet operations. The other connector is 5V, 3-Pin A-RGB for the A-RGB LEDs.
The cooler has a copper base. It has a protective sticker. Don’t forget to peel it off.
Installing lighting foils is simple. You may bend one corner of the foil and tuck it on the pump top, followed by inserting the remainder of the foil. Then put the cover over the top, and you are good to go.
Light Wings LX120 PWM Fans
This cooler comes with LX 120 PWM fans from be quiet!. I have already covered these fans in detail. The salient feature of these fans is the closed-loop motor design to ensure that the RPM of the fans does not change. Each fan has 9 frosted blades with a stripe design.
Looking at the backside, you can see a 4-arm assembly with an angular design for directed airflow. One of the arms is wider so that wires can be placed over it. The power rating of the fans is printed on the backside.
The two arrow markers show the direction of the airflow through the fan and the direction in which the blades spin.
This side of the fan has be quiet! branding, and you can see a small length of power cable over it.
One end of the power cable has a proprietary 7-pin connector, and the opposite end has a socket so that fans can be daisy-chained.
Installation
The installation of this cooler is similar to the other be quiet! liquid coolers. Be quiet! has provided AMD mounting brackets with offset as well as regular mounting hole spacing. The offset spacing is -8mm. However, I have noticed that the cooler was underperforming in the offset mount.
Clearance
This cooler has a dimension of 397x120x52mm with fans. Your PC case should have clearance for this measurement.
A-RGB Lighting
This cooler uses a standard 5V, 3-Pin A-RGB connector on the pump side. This makes the cooler compatible with the RGB sync technology of motherboard manufacturers, including:
• ASUS Aura Sync
• ASROCK-Polychrome Sync
• GIGABYTE RGB Fusion 2.0
• MSI Mystic Light Sync
I tested the cooler on ASRock X870E NOVA WiFi, and the lighting was responding well to the changes in the PolyChrome app.
The above pictures show the stunning views of the block with foil customization.
Testing
The following configuration is used for thermal testing:
• AMD Ryzen 9 9900X
• ASRock X870E NOVA WiFi
• GSkill TridentZ NEO RGB 32GB 6400MHz CL30 DDR5 kit
• ASRock Phantom Gaming RX 7600 Graphics Card for Display
• Biwin Black Opal X570 Pro 4TB NVMe SSD
• Fractal Design ION+ 2P 860W Platinum PSU
• Thermaltake Core P6 TG Snow Edition in an open frame layout
Here is the settings table for testing:
Settings PBO Enabled [243W]
Clock (MHz) Auto
Voltage (V) Auto
Thermal Paste Noctua NT-H2
Thermal Paste Application Dots Method
Test Run Time 30 minutes
Idling Time 10 minutes
All Fans Speed 100% PWM Duty Cycle
Pump Speed
Stress Software CINEBENCH R23.2
Monitoring Software HWINFO64
I am reporting absolute temperature in the graph because the room temperature was at 22°C throughout the day. The testing is done on an open-air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.
Result
The be quiet! Pure Loop 3 LX 360 has a decent performance on the AM5 platform. The overall noise output is good which makes the cooler’s case strong.
Conclusion
Recently, I tested the premium liquid cooler from be quiet! which is Silent Loop 3 360 and 420. This time around, the brand has launched the awaited Pure Loop 3 series coolers. I have tested Pure Loop 3 LX 360. This cooler comes equipped with an aluminum radiator measuring 397x120x52mm, including the fans. The cooler is compatible with Intel LGA115x / 1200 / 1700 / 1851 and AMD AM4 / AM5 sockets. It does not support the Intel LGA20xx socket.
Like the predecessors, this cooler comes with a refill port integrated into the radiator housing. However, there is a catch this time. be quiet! did not provide a 100ml coolant bottle with this cooler. The rubber tubes run to 410mm and have nylon braided mesh sleeves. The PWM pump is rated for a 5500 RPM speed.
The pump housing is based on the Silent Loop series cooler, but with a major difference coming over the top. The pump top features ARGB LEDs under the diffuser. The lid is removed so that you can insert either of 10 foils over the diffuser, and then the lid or cover is put back on. This gives stunning visuals to the block and overall outlook of the cooler.
This version of the cooler comes equipped with 3x Light Wings LX PWM fans. They feature closed-loop motor design. The fan is rated for 2100 RPM. Its life span is mediocre with 60,000 hours at 25ᵒC ambient temperature.
Be quiet! is using the same mounting kit as I have seen on its other coolers, hence the users of be quiet! The ecosystem will not face any issues. I have tested this cooler on the AMD AM5 platform. It requires 10 items to install the block over the CPU.
be quiet! Pure Loop 3 LX 360 has an MSRP of USD 129.90 | Euro 119.90. This cooler has a decent thermal performance with good acoustics at a reasonable price tag. The provision of lighting foils further augments the cooler, making it a compelling candidate. This cooler comes with a 3-year warranty.
Pros:
• Thermal Performance
• Lighting Foils
• A-RGB Backlighting over the pump top
• PWM Pump
• Light Wings LX Fans
• Compatible with Intel LGA1700/1851 sockets
• Compatible with AMD AM4/AM5 sockets
• Noise
• Refill port
• Price
Cons:
• Low warranty period
• Absence of coolant bottle
