Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX AIO Review

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Stock Clock Testing

For our stock clock testing, we have configured our CPU to run at factory settings for speed, voltage, and configured memory to XMP mode. This yields an approximate power at the wall of 300w under load (a 200w differential from idle, which pulls about 100w). This results in the CPU running at 3.8GHz on all cores during the looping rounds of Cinebench R20. You can read more about this in our introduction article here.

Max Fans – 100% Pump Speed

Cooler Master MASTERLIQUID PL360 FLUX - stock clock - max RPM fan test results

We started our testing by turning the fans all the way up to 11 which brought the Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX to the front of the pack at 50C, besting the runner up at 53C making it the coolest effort we have seen to date on this scenario.

Keep in mind that with this test that the maximum fan speed varies from unit to unit. The Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX checks in at 2300RPM while the MSI MEG CORELIQUID S360 spins at 2000RPM and the Corsair H115i Platinum and SilverStone IceGem280 top out in the 1600-1800RPM range. The Enermax LIQTECH II and SilverStone PF360-RGB check in over 2000 RPM.

1500 RPM Fans – 100% Pump Speed

Cooler Master MASTERLIQUID PL360 FLUX - stock clock - 1500 RPM fan test results

Dropping the fans to 1500 RPM closed the gap a bit due to the fan speeds being set the same and eliminating that potential source of variance. The Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX remained in the coolest spot by a margin of 3 degrees Celsius. The rest of the crowd was not far behind.

1000 RPM Fans – 100% Pump Speed

Cooler Master MASTERLIQUID PL360 FLUX - stock clock - 1000 RPM fan test results

Lowering the fans further to 1,000 RPM shook up the playing field in the rearview mirror. The Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX continued its winning streak at 59 degrees Celsius with the Corsair H115i Platinum nipping on its heels but still leading the other 360mm contestants by a couple of degrees. With the Corsiar pulling ahead, it’s likely that the placement change has more to do with 140mm fans being able to provide higher amounts of airflow at lower RPMs compared to 120mm fans.

600 RPM Fans – 100% Pump Speed

Cooler Master MASTERLIQUID PL360 FLUX - stock clock - 600 RPM fan test results

Bringing the fans down to their lowest levels found the Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX to fall into a tie for last place with the MSI MEG CORELIQUID S360 and Enermax LIQTECH II 360 winning this match. Interestingly enough, we could not tell a difference in sound levels on the Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX between 600 and 1,000 RPM.

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David Schroth
David is a computer hardware enthusiast that has been tinkering with computer hardware for the past 25 years and writing reviews for more than ten years. He's the Founder and Editor in Chief of The FPS Review.

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