Page 2 - Physical Look - Hardware; Installation
Compared to the last closed-loop water cooler I saw, the Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240P Mirage, the be quiet! Pure Loop 240mm is a notably different product in both the appearances and the design of the cooler. There are some similarities, as both use a matte black finish for most of the components and the tubing. The be quiet! branding is limited to the CPU block head, while the Pure Loop product name can be found on the sides of the radiator. The whole design is a bit different than the typical Asetek AIO coolers we often see. In fact, the be quiet! Pure Loop lineup uses solutions from KD Industrial. Otherwise, the be quiet! logo is found on the block, over a brushed silver finish and surrounded by a translucent ring for a white LED ring. A single cable to power the CPU light comes out of the block and terminates in a three-pin header connection.
The radiator on the be quiet! Pure Loop 240mm features a standard fin layout. The fins are placed in this manner so they come into contact with the liquid running through the top and bottom. The result is a wavy set of fins. Heat from the liquid runs through the radiator and transferred to the fins through the contact points. Fans are attached on the radiator to dissipate the heat. The liquid is transported from the water block to the radiator via tubing. The tubing is made from rubber and sleeved for a nicer finish. This measures 400mm in length and should fit in most standard midsize cases on the market. It is possible this may be a bit short in some larger full-size towers, although it depends on where you place the radiator in relation to the processor on the motherboard. The tubing is both strong and flexible and should not form any kinks, even in more extreme bends. The tubes pivot on the water block to allow for easier maneuverability should it be required.
The radiator itself measures approximately 277mm in length, 120mm in width, and 27mm in thickness. These are standard dimensions for a 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler. The size of a radiator plays a pretty big role in cooling, as larger surface areas result in better heat dissipation. The radiator is made up of aluminum, which performs satisfactorily in terms of heat transfer. However, the main advantage of this material is its lower mass, which should reduce the strain placed on this case. Near the end of the radiator is a small screw hole with an opening to access the liquid inside the Pure Loop 240mm. This allows users to top up the liquid inside the cooler, which can evaporate over time. I really appreciate features like this, as it enables users to easily maintain this cooler without needing to replace it right away. This should extend the overall lifetime of the cooler. Overall, the build quality of the be quiet! Pure Base 240mm radiator is good with no bends or defects to be concerned about. It is not that surprising if you do find any considering the malleability of aluminum, but thankfully be quiet! has protected this unit well.
Located on the tubing between the block and the radiator is the water pump, which makes for a neat design. Ideally, separating the pump from the CPU block should reduce noise, according to be quiet!, because the decoupled pump should reduce audible vibration, especially since the pump is now suspended. Otherwise, the pump spins up to 5500 RPM and has a cable leading off of this block with a three-pin connection to power the pump.
Going down the tubing, we get to the water block of the be quiet! Pure Loop 240mm. For the most part, it too has standard dimensions of approximately 95mm in length, 85mm in width, and 40mm in height. I really appreciate the simplistic look of this CPU block with the brushed metal look, and it should blend well in most builds. Otherwise, the base making contact with the processor is made up of copper and is plated with nickel for its durability and resistance to corrosion. The base is flat with a slight circular finish that slightly show milling marks. Two holes with captive screws can be found on the top and bottom of the block for mounting this on the processor. A plastic label was placed on this area for protection with warning notices to remove the label before installing the Pure Loop 240mm.
The two fans included with the be quiet! Pure Loop 240mm are be quiet! Pure Wings 2 120mm high-speed retail fans. These are similar to the fans found in the be quiet! Pure Base 500DX, albeit the smaller size and higher speed. This means internally we have rifle bearings with a lifespan of 80,000 hours. The rated noise level is a maximum 35.9 dbA, but we will see what this means when we test for noise levels. In terms of other numbers, each fan produces a maximum air pressure of 2.23mm H2O with an airflow rating of 65.51CFM. Otherwise, I would have liked to see some rubber dampeners on each corner to soften vibration between the fan and radiator. Finally, these fans are PWM controlled and are terminated with 4-pin headers. We also have a fan adapter so that both fans can be connected to a single header on the motherboard.
Installing the be quiet! Pure Loop 240mm is a straightforward process. The first step is to use the correct backplate for your system. A single backplate is provided for consumer Intel mounts. Users building on an AMD platform can use the backplate included with their motherboard. As I am testing with an AMD AM4 motherboard, I used the stock backplate and mounted the two arms in place. This is pretty similar to Noctua's mounting system, as each arm has a hole to mount one side of the water block. Other sockets like LGA20xx do not use this backplate and mount directly to the motherboard with some screw standoffs. Securing the backplate with the four screws and two arms is pretty easy. I would recommend screwing these in a star-pattern to ensure it is mounted tightly.
The next step would be to either mount the fans and radiator to the case or to mount the water block onto the motherboard. If you choose to go with mounting the radiator, the 400mm length should allow you to mount either to the top or front of the case, depending on how you want to deal with the cooling. I mounted my radiator to the top of my Fractal Design Define S2 with the fans pushing air through the radiator. This is made easier since the case features a removable top frame. I mounted the radiator first and then proceeded to apply some of the included thermal paste in a square pattern on my CPU. Next, I removed the plastic protective sheet on the base of the CPU block and installed it with the captive screws. As this uses two screws to mount to the arms, you should screw in both sides at the same time with small turns to start with. This will ensure both sides are mounted with even amounts of pressure. My last step was to plug all of the connectors in place, including the two Pure Wings 2 120mm fans and the power connection for the pump and lights. An additional SATA power cable is provided for each of these headers, so I installed them as part of the cabling process.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware; Installation
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
