By: Hai Wang
December 24, 2021
I remember about four years ago, I was planning on upgrading my desktop computer. The goal was to build a gaming PC with an up-to-date graphics card. However, my PC building plan was not carried out well. The reason was I could not buy the graphics card I wanted. I went to all the computer hardware stores in my city just by hoping the “out of stock” status on their website was inaccurate. Reality taught me their inventory information was unfortunately very accurate. I then decided to just shop online. Shockingly, the online price for high-end graphics cards were incredibly high. It almost doubled the price for the particular model I wanted to buy. Since then, I realized there was a serious shortage of graphics cards globally, and guess what, after four years the situation probably only got worse due to COVID-19. On the other hand, until now, I have never been aware of a shortage on CPU supply. That got me thinking, if a processor can have a high-performance graphics processing module built-in, there is no need to buy a dedicated graphics card. Yes, lots of mainstream CPUs have built-in graphics support, but the performance is not impressive, since they are not really designed for heavy gaming. I am really looking forward to seeing a CPU with high-end GPU core integrated, even if that requires a high performance CPU cooling solution. Today’s review unit, the XPG Levante 360, it is a CPU cooler that features a massive 360mm radiator. I believe this product is ready to take any cooling challenge only by looking at the size of the radiator, including the imaginary all-in-one type of CPU I have in my mind. Aside from the cooling performance, there are so many nice features about this product. Do you want to know more? Let us just read on and find out!
Today’s review unit was shipped from Brea, California, USA to us here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada via UPS Standard along with the XPG Mage mechanical keyboard my colleague Aaron Lai recently reviewed. The shipping box was in mostly good condition. All corners of the shipping box were well-protected with tape. Not that tape could increase the structural integrity of the shipping box, but it certainly could not hurt, haha.
The picture of the XPG Levante 360 is located on the front of the retail box with a red background. From the picture, you can roughly know what you will get from XPG, which is an all-in-one CPU cooler with three RGB LED fans. Of course, you will also get the installation kits for various Intel and AMD sockets. They are just not shown in the front cover of the retail box. XPG's brand is printed at the bottom left corner, and the product name, Levante 360, is printed right below the XPG logo. Above the product photo, several key features of this product are provided. In terms of motherboard native support of ARGB LED control, the supported brands are shown on the bottom right. As expected, pretty much all the mainstream motherboard companies' logos can be found there. If you turn to the side panels of the retail package, more information about the product is presented, such as its dimensions. Overall speaking, the retail package design of the XPG Levante 360 is simple and effective. You should be able to find the useful information about this product without any trouble.
For you to know the XPG Levante 360 a little bit more, the specifications of the cooler from the official website are listed below:
-WATER PUMP:
--Water Block Dimension (H*W*D): 86 x 72 x 36mm
--Water Block Material: Copper
--Control Mode: PWM (Pulse Width Modulation)
--CPU Socket Support: Intel: LGA 115x, 1200, 1366, 1700, 2011, 2066; AMD: AM4, TR4 (TR4 bracket not included)
--Thermal Grease: Pre-Applied
-RADIATOR:
--Radiator Dimension: 394 x 120 x 27mm
--Radiator Material: Aluminum
--Tube: 400mm Sleeved Rubber tube
-FAN:
--Fan Size: 3 Fan Slots (120mm ARGB)
--Fan Dimension: 120 x 120 x 25 mm
--Bearing Type: Fluid Dynamic Bearing
--Fan Speed: 600~2000 RPM ± 10%
--Fan Static Pressure: 1.42mm-H2O
--Fan Air Flow: 61.5 CFM
--Fan Noise: 34.0 dB (A)
-Protection: Auto-Restart
-Weight: Product：1.3kg (2.9lb) ±5%; with Package：2.38kg (5.2lb) ±5%
-Warranty: 5 years
Upon opening the retail box, you will find everything is well-packed. I paid special attention to the fins on the radiator, since they are relatively easy to bend. I did not find any unacceptable damage on the fins, meaning the packaging provides good protection to its contents. Aside from the all-in-one water cooler, three addressable RGB LED 120mm fans are another set of major components you will find in the retail box. The installation of XPG Levante 360 requires smaller accessories, and they are all contained in a number of plastic bags. A bunch of screws, washers, and mounting kits for both Intel and AMD sockets are found in those bags. Due to the ARGB LED feature of this AIO, a lighting controller is included out of the box, and it is packaged inside an antistatic bag. The printed installation guide is also provided for the user's convenience. I did not find any thermal paste, since it has been pre-applied to the water block already. I would prefer to have a tube of thermal paste provided rather than having thermal paste pre-applied, just in case I need to install this kit to a different computer in the future.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Hardware; Installation
3. Test Results
4. Conclusion
