With the Pure Loop, be quiet! offers a new all-in-one water cooling system for price-conscious users who are looking for proper cooling performance with quiet operation. The Pure Loop series is the direct successor to the Silent Loop series. With a new design and improved features for silent operation, be quiet! also promises high cooling performance. Whether these promises can be kept and whether the Pure Loop 360 is a real price-performance cracker, we have found out for you in our following test.
Specifications
| Model | Pure Loop 360 |
| Radiator dimensions, incl. fan ( H x W x D / mm) | 52 x 397 x 120 |
| Total weight (kg) | 1.36 |
| Socket compatibility | Intel 1200 / 2066 / 1150 / 1151 / 1155 / 2011(-3) square ILM; AMD: AM4 / AM3(+) |
| Fan model, number | 3x Pure Wings 2 120mm PWM high-speed |
| Volume (dB(A)) @ 25% / 50% / 100% rpm | 19.8 / 27.5 / 40.5 |
| Pump speed (rpm) | 5500 |
| Connection of the pump | 3-pin |
| Tube length (mm) | 400 |
| Refill port | yes |
| Available versions (mm): | 120 / 240 / 280 / 360 |
| Price | € 13.99 * |
Scope of delivery
In addition to the water cooling system itself, assembly material for the supported pedestals, an illustrated assembly or operating manual and heat-conducting paste are included. A small bottle containing cooling liquid is also included. This can be refilled as required via an opening on the radiator, which promises a longer usability of the water cooling system.
Three Pure Wings 2 High Speed fans are also included. The high speed version is specially designed for radiators and has a speed of up to 2000 revolutions per minute. Thus the Pure Wings offer sufficient power for our cooling. The appropriate screws for fixing the fans to the radiator are of course included and are packed in a separate bag. The fans are connected to the mainboard by an included PWM splitter cable. For the illumination of the cooling block and the operation of the pump a Y-cable is included, which supplies both with power via a SATA connector.
Workmanship and design
The production quality is as good as usual with be quiet! The slats between the webs are manufactured as cleanly as possible. Occasionally, small inaccuracies can be seen on the fins, but these are only optical in nature and have no influence on the cooling performance.
The hoses are sufficiently long at 40 cm. In order to emphasize the noble design, they were provided with a braided sheath. A sleeve was omitted for the remaining connection cables. The cables are easy to hide and do not stand out further inside. Another unique feature of the Pure Loop is that the pump is mounted between the radiator and the heat sink. The pump housing is specially insulated and doubly decoupled, which promotes quiet operation during cooling.
The heat sink itself makes a very valuable impression. be quiet! has come up with something special in the design. The combination of white LED, black case and aluminum look in the middle make the whole heatsink look very noble. Thus the Pure Loop becomes a real eye-catcher in every case.
Installation
We mounted the water cooling on an AMD base (AM4). For illustration we have selected and attached the appropriate excerpts from the assembly instructions. The individual steps are very good in the manual and shown in pictures.
We start by removing the AMD plastic modules. Important is, the pre-installed backplate is needed for the further installation and can stay in place. After we have removed the plastic holders, the black sleeves are put over the threads of the backplate. Then we snap the included AMD mounting bridges and screw them to the backplate. For our screws we use the outermost holes, these are also labeled AM4. With this we prepared our mainboard for the installation of the water cooling and can now insert and screw it into the case.
In the next step we will focus on the radiator and the fans. We now mount the fans on the radiator and fasten them with the included screws. Pay attention to the alignment, so that the connection cables of the fans point to the right side of the case. If all fans are mounted, we can now screw the prepared radiator to the case and proceed to the next step.
For further assembly it helps to put the case down. Now the heat-conducting paste included in the scope of supply can be applied to the processor. We recommend to apply it in the middle and then to distribute it carefully on the processor. As soon as we have done this, the heat sink can now be screwed to the already installed mounting bridges. The screws for this are already worked into the heatsink.
In the last step we wire everything. We start with the pump and the heat sink. These are connected by the included Y-SATA cable and then connected to the power supply or supplied with power by the SATA connector. The disadvantage is that the pump always runs at 100% and cannot be controlled. Be quiet! refers here to optimal operation. The fans are now connected by a PWM splitter cable and should be connected to the CPU fan port. This gives us the possibility to adjust the running speed to our needs via the PWM signal.
be quiet! also offers the installation guide online and in a video. We give it full marks for user-friendliness!
Performance test
For our test the Pure Loop 360 was built into our test system. In order to get a comparable value, we also exposed the processor to the Prime95 stress test for 15 minutes, as in our previous tests. We used the new be quiet! 802 Silent Base 802 (review) as the case.
Test system:
- AMD Ryzen 5 3600*
- ASUS TUF B450m-Plus Gaming*
- be quiet! pure power 11 500W*
- Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 3200 MHz*
- Gigabyte GTX 1660 Super OC*
- be quiet! pure loop 360*
For comparison we have added the values of the already tested NZXT Kraken X73 and Alpenföhn Gletscherwasser 360 AIO water cooling systems.
| Product | Temperature at 50% PWM | Temperature at 100% PWM |
| be quiet! Pure Loop 360 | 62,2° C | 58,6° C |
| NZXT Kraken X73 | 65,1° C | 57,1° C |
| Alpenföhn Gletscherwasser 360 | 67,2° C | 60,1° C |
In terms of performance, the Pure Loop has nothing to hide. It lies in the middle of the water cooling systems we have tested. At 50% PWM, the Pure Loop prevailed over the strong competition. The temperatures remain stable and the system can be operated in this mode without problems. The cooling performance promised by be quiet! can therefore be kept, so it is also recommended in overclocked systems. Since the pump always runs at full power, this is clearly audible at low fan speed.
Conclusion
We were completely convinced by the be quiet! Pure Loop 360. The cooling capacity is very solid and the numerous mounting aids also offer beginners a quick and easy installation. We also liked the fact that it is possible to refill the coolant and thus increase the service life. The new design and the white LED border, paired with the aluminum cover make the Pure Loop look very noble and it does not have to hide in any case.
Those who are looking for a really whisper quiet AiO water cooling or maximum cooling power will be disappointed here. The pump is clearly audible at low fan speed and other manufacturers offer much more powerful cooling solutions. However, given the price, one can overlook these points of criticism.
Is the Pure Loop 360 the already advertised price-performance hit? In our eyes it is a real recommendation. The Pure Loop can score points with the scope of delivery and user-friendliness. However, there are minor drawbacks in terms of cooling performance and volume.
A quite solid water cooling system, with a unique and noble design. With small reductions in cooling capacity and noise.be quiet! Pure Loop 360
Design
Workmanship
Installation
Cooling
Volume
Value for money
92/100
