Page 3 - Test Results
Our test configuration is as follows:
CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K
Motherboard: ASUS ProArt Z690-Creator WiFi
RAM: Crucial Pro Overclocking DDR5-6000 2x16GB
Graphics: EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 FTW3 ULTRA GAMING
Chassis: Thermaltake Core P3 TG Pro Snow
Storage: XPG Atom 30 1TB
Power: FSP Hydro PTM Pro 1200W
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro
Compared hardware:
- be quiet! Silent Loop 3 420mm
- be quiet! Dark Rock Elite
- be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 5
- be quiet! Light Loop 360mm
- be quiet! Pure Loop 2 FX 240mm
- be quiet! Pure Rock 2 FX
- Cooler Master MasterLiquid 240 Atmos
- Cooler Master MasterLiquid 240L Core ARGB White
- Cooler Master MasterLiquid Core II 360 White
- DeepCool AK620 Digital
- DeepCool Mystique 360
- Noctua NH-D12L
- Noctua NH-U12A chromax.black
- Noctua NH-U9S chromax.black
- SilverStone IceMyst 360
- Thermaltake TOUGHLIQUID Ultra 360
All tests were run on our custom-built computer to best reflect real life performance. The computer remained in the same location in the same room throughout all tests. The room temperature in our testing lab was around 22c. Each cooler was used with its stock thermal paste to rate its performance. All thermal pastes were given a proper amount of time for them to fully settle. The fans on all heatsinks were connected to the motherboard's CPU 4-pin fan header. The test computer was turned on and left idling for at least one hour for the idling tests. High CPU load results were obtained using the Prime95 in-place large FFTs test with a maximum number of worker threads for the tested CPU for a minimum of 10 minutes or until the temperature was deemed stable. Temperature results were measured with HWiNFO, which reports the CPU's integrated digital thermal sensor for maximum accuracy. Each temperature result was calculated by taking the maximum value of the cores inside the CPU.
After letting my computer sit idle for a while, I checked the temperature of the processor. From the first graph, you can see the be quiet! Silent Loop 3 420mm idled at a temperature of 22c. This was tied with the lowest numbers, which is good. It was also the same idle temperature as the other 360mm AIO coolers. However, idle results do not give a full representation of what CPU coolers can do, so we started up the Prime95 tests to see the more pertinent metrics.
With more than enough time to load the processor, you can see how all the coolers performed with the peak temperatures recorded. The be quiet! Silent Loop 3 420mm performed decently with a maximum full load temperature of 68c. This is the only 420mm radiator in our comparison list, but compared to other 360mm AIO liquid coolers, this result was one degree warmer than the coolest options like the SilverStone IceMyst 360, DeepCool Mystique 360, and Cooler Master MasterLiquid Core II 360. Even so, this is within the margin of error. It also performed notably better than the 240mm options and all the air coolers, which is a bit more expected. There was no thermal throttling noticed during our tests, as all the cores were able to reach their boost frequencies.
As for the sound analysis section, on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 is silence and 10 is very loud, I would rate the be quiet! Silent Loop 3 420mm at around 4.0/10 under full load and a 3.5/10 idling. The Silent Wings 4 fans were exceptionally quiet while being more than capable of moving air. The pump does emit a quiet but still noticeable whirring noise, but its sound is kept to a minimum. Under full load, the fans and pump do make a bit more noise, but it is still impressive. On a day-to-day basis, I doubt you will notice the moving parts of this cooler, even when it is under full load. I should not be too surprised given be quiet!'s record, but I still am satisfied with Silent Loop 3’s performance-to-noise output.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware; Installation
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
