Page 3 - Installation and Test Results
Installing the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Core II 360 White is a straightforward process. With the Intel LGA1700 socket, you can start by picking the right backplate and mounting the double-ended screws on the other side to keep this plastic piece in place. For AMD users, you can install the brackets with retention holes and use the integrated backplate from your motherboard. I preferred the AMD installation route here, as I found the plastic Intel backplate often fell out and required constant pressure on the back before you install the screws. If you cannot easily maneuver around your computer, you may need a second person to hold the backplate in place.
The next step would be to either install the fans and radiator in the case or mount the water block over the processor. I chose to go with the former, and mounted my radiator with fans attached to the top of the case. This is an effortless process, but I do want to stress that you attach the cable to the fans first before mounting the radiator. If you do it after, you will truly have little room to maneuver when it is mounted, as I have experienced personally. While this was clearly a user error, I questioned the detachable cable here, especially since it is proprietary and must be used with these fans out of the box.
After mounting the radiator at the top of my case, I applied thermal paste, which should be included from Cooler Master, and mounted the water block and pump combination on top of my Intel processor. Before I did this, I removed the plastic protective sheet on the bottom of the block. Based on the instructions, Cooler Master recommends screwing this in using a cross pattern to ensure even tightening and pressure applied to the processor. I was able to complete the installation without any significant issues as expected. I also tried to tidy up the tubes with the clips, but ended up removing them because I did not find them useful.
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:
- Cooler Master MasterLiquid Core II 360 White
- 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
- be quiet! Silent Loop 3 420mm
- Cooler Master MasterLiquid 240 Atmos
- Cooler Master MasterLiquid 240L Core ARGB 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, the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Core II 360 White idled at a temperature of 23c. This was among the lower numbers, and only a degree warmer than the lowest. However, idle results are only a partial 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 Cooler Master MasterLiquid Core II 360 White performed excellently, providing the lowest full load temperature of 67c. This is impressive as it was cooler than everything we have tested, even when compared to the larger 420mm or other 360mm options. Granted, the delta between most of these options was a degree or two, which is within the margin of error. Even so, I am still glad the MasterLiquid Core II 360 kept competitive. There was no thermal throttling noticed during our tests, as all cores were able to reach their boost frequencies for sustained periods.
In the sound analysis, on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 is silent and 10 is loud, I would rate the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Core II 360 White as a 4.0/10 idling and 5.0/10 under full load. The fans attached to the AIO were quiet, but there was constant pump noise throughout testing. This was worse when there was no load on the processor, as the fan noise did not cover the pump noise. It was not malfunctioning or making clicking noises, but rather, it was just audible in operation. I did test moving the cooler around to remove any chance of air bubbles, but the noise was the same. On a day-to-day basis, you will hear the cooler, which is a bit disappointing. I would like to see Cooler Master improve in this area particularly.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware
3. Installation and Test Results
4. Conclusion
