SilverStone NovaPeak 360 AIO Review: No frills, only Performance
I am taking a look at the SilverStone NovaPeak 360 cooler in this article. This cooler is available in 240mm and 360mm sizes. It is available in ARGB and all-black color options. The salient features include:
- All-black design with a single white LED indicator
- Dual-ball bearing PWM fan with sound-dampening pads
- A slightly convex copper baseplate ensures firm contact with the processor
- Radiator-optimized cooling fans with tremendous airflow and static pressure figures
- Three-phase, six-pole motor design
This cooler is compatible with Intel LGA115x/1200/1700/1851/20XX and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets. The black cooler has an MSRP of USD 109.99 without tariffs. Its MSRP with tariffs is USD 139.99. This cooler comes with a 3-year warranty.
Pricing and Availability
| NovaPeak 360 on Amazon.com | $105.90 At the time of review |
| NoaPeak 360 on Amazon.co.uk | £106.73 at the time of review |
Specifications
Packaging and Unboxing
The main packing box has a blue color theme. You can see a picture of the cooler. The pump top features a static white LED lighting. Other than that, this cooler has no RGB/ARGB lighting.
The cooler and accessories are tucked in a cardboard container for safe shipping.
Let’s see what is provided in the box.
- 1x Cooler
- 3x Black Fans
- 1x Intel Backplate
- 1x AMD Mounting Bracket
- 1x Intel Mounting Bracket
- 4x Thumb Screws
- 4x Spacers for Intel LGA1700/1851
- 4x Intel LGA 1700/1851 Standoffs
- 4x Intel LGA115x/1200 washers
- 2x AMD Standoffs/Clips
- 1x Thermal Paste
- 12x Radiator Screws
- 12x Fan Screws
- 1x 3-way PWM Splitter Cable
- 1x Molex to 2-pin socket cable
- 1x User Manual
- 1x Warranty Paper
Closer Look – Radiator
The aluminum radiator is finished in black spray coating. It has a dimension of 397x120x28mm (LxWxH). Here, 28mm refers to the height of the unit. The overall height with 120x25mm fans is approximately 53 mm. Please note that regular AIOs have a 27mm thickness or height of the radiator.
The radiator has a 20 FPI count and has 12 channels for the coolant flow inside the radiator. There is a gap of 105mm between the two mounting holes on opposite ends.
SilverStone has used black clamps over the union of tubes and barb fittings for a neat and clean look. There seems to be a third port as well that has a black cover. It seems to be reserved for factory use only. Tampering with it might cause the vacuum pressure in the loop to be lost. Three sticker labels are also visible, showing the part number, serial number, and power rating.
I am showing the side view of the unit. The side frame of the radiator has no branding. SilverStone uses rubber tubes with a nylon braided sleeve. The tube length is 460mm. The rear chamber is thicker than the far chamber.
Pump Top
Let’s take a look at the design of the pump block.
The pump top features a different design with a different outlook. It is not circular or square. You can spot a SilverStone logo, which is a static white LED lit. The area around the logo is ribbed and looks good in person. The housing has a dimension of 67x54x81mm (WxHxD).
All sides of housing have no texture or branding whatsoever. The left and right sides have a bit of an inset coming from the top towards the base.
Looking at the backside of the housing, you can see the 90ᵒ fittings with tube connection. The tube connections can be rotated to adjust for any user requirement. You can see a flat cable coming out from this area.
The pump is powered by a 3-pin DC cable. The same cable powers the white LED. The pump is rated for 3100 RPM ±10%. It is rated for 3.2W using 0.27A at 12VDC.
The copper base has a protective cover over it. Don’t forget to peel the cover before installing the block.
The SilverStone logo on the pump top has a solid white static light color. The user has no control over it. It looks good in person.
Fans
The NovaPeak 360 comes with three black 120mm fans. These have a size of 120x120x25mm. Each fan has a7 blades. Each mounting corner has an anti-vibration pad. The center has the SilverStone brand logo. Although the overall look seems to be a square design, the circular frame is quite apparent around the blade assembly.
The frame is quite sturdy and features a line pattern.
You can see a 4-arms assembly on the backside. One of the arms holds the wires that come out from the center. The fans are made in China, and they use double-ball bearings. They are rated for 0.17A at 12VDC each.
Each fan features a 4-pin PWM connector.
Installation
We are not covering the details of installation. We only report any issue or observation recorded during installation. One thing I appreciate about SilverStone is listening to the feedback. I recorded an observation in the last generation liquid cooler about the standoffs installation/removal on the LGA1700 socket. SilverStone has addressed that in NovaPeak, and now these standoffs are fixed on the backplate. This potentially eliminates the risk of damaging the nearby components on the motherboard. However, SilverStone is still using the same clip-based AMD mounting. I suggest they switch to screw based mounting for convenient installation.
Clearance
You need to ensure that your PC Case supports a 360mm AIO in a 397x120x53mm size.
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
- Maxsun B850 Graphics Card for Display
- WD SN850 500GB 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 for 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 on the optimal airflow inside the chassis.
Result
You can see that the SilverStone NovaPeak 360 is sitting in second place in the graph and manages to beat the 420mm AIOs as well. This is a good performance from this cooler, albeit the fans are loud at full speed.
Conclusion
In my last content, I tested the Delta L36 ARGB White V2 cooler from Ocypus. This time, I have tested a new cooler from SilverStone, which is NovaPeak 360. This cooler is compatible with Intel LGA115x/1200/1700/1851/20xx and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets.
We have an aluminum-made radiator measuring 397x120x28mm. The complete assembly is black. The total height of this cooler with 120x25mm fans is approximately 53 mm. The radiator has a 20 FPI count, and it has 12 channels for coolant flow. SilverStone uses rubber tubes with nylon braided sleeves, having a length of 460mm.
The block or pump top features a distinctive design. There is no frill when it comes to this cooler. The only area that has any sort of lighting is on the top cover, where the SilverStone logo lights in solid, static white. This cooler has a copper base and comes with a thermal paste tube. The pump is not PWM regulated and has a speed of 3100 RPM ±10%.
This cooler comes with 3x black fans. Each fan has 7x blades. These fans are rated for a maximum of 2200 RPM speed, generating 69.8 CFM airflow while maintaining 3.5mmH₂O static pressure. Their noise rating is 35.1 dBA. These fans use standard 4-pin PWM connectors. A 3-way PWM splitter cable is provided as well.
The installation of this cooler on the AMD AM5 socket requires 4 items in 2 steps. Although the installation is simple, I would suggest SilverStone to switch to the screw based mounting on AMD platform as well. The intel backplate has integrated standoffs, which is a wise move.
This cooler has an MSRP of USD 109.99 and comes with a 3-year warranty from the manufacturer. In our testing, this cooler has performed quite well, coming in at the second slot, though a narrow margin from a budget-friendly Ocypus Delta L36 V2. The fans are loud at full speed, so I suggest using custom fan curve or Auto PWM settings.
Pros:
- Thermal Performance
- Stylish block
- Easy Cable Management
- Intel LGA1700/1851 Compatible
- Intel LGA20xx Compatible
- AMD AM4/AM5 Compatible
- Easy Installation
- Price
Cons:
- Noise
