Conclusion
Today we looked at the performance of the Cooler Master MASTERLIQUID PL360 FLUX AIO CPU Cooler and stacked it up against various competitors that we’ve previously reviewed to see how it would perform with its 18 cores clocked to 4.7GHz dumping 500w of heat into it. We’ll recap the performance below and see how the Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX stood up to the heat in our kitchen!
Summary of Temperatures
From a temperature performance perspective, the Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX did a fantastic job keeping our Intel 10980XE in check at both stock clocks and when overclocked to 11. When the fans were running at or above 1500 RPM, it outperformed every AIO that has crossed our test bench thus far.
As the fan speeds drop on the Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX, it becomes a bit less effective at its job but still commands respect at the 1000 RPM level. For maximum cooling, you’ll want to set your fan curves a bit more aggressively, however, that will be at the trade-off of adding some noise to the environment.
Summary of Sound Levels
The Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX was quiet, but not the quietest AIO cooler to cross our test bench. At full blast, it announced its cooling power at 49 dB(A) but quickly stepped down to inaudible as it sunk below 1500 RPM.
Overall, your ears won’t notice if you’re running the Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX at 1500 RPM which gives it a great intersection between performance and sound levels.
Final Points
Looking at the charts, there’s a bit to unpack here with the Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX‘s performance. Previously we saw the MSI MEG S360 slap the playing field around with a silent trout, but then the Cooler Master MASTERLIQUID PL360 FLUX dropped temperatures beyond that like it saw a state trooper while generating a little bit more noise.
After rerunning the numbers a few times, we believe the significant performance bump at the higher RPM fan levels is associated with the pump speed running at a significantly higher RPM than other pumps on the market and the fans generating more static pressure and airflow than fans we typically see – both being awesome moves for Cooler Master, even if we did hear it a bit more than the quietest comparisons.
With all this considered, we have a new performance king out of the 360mm AIOs that we’ve reviewed here at The FPS Review. Considering the budget, it’s not out of line with its competition and will give you just enough RGB to keep your case well decorated. If you’re in the market for a new AIO, the Cooler Master MasterLiquid PL360 FLUX should certainly be on your shortlist.
Discussion
