we will test the new model of liquid cooling (AIO) AORUS Waterforce X 360 de GIGABYTE, under its premium brand AORUS. This is the second generation of AORUS liquid coolers, which offers quality of life improvements in terms of its components, as well as changes in the fans and new function of being able to put animations GIFs y videos al LED display which comes on top of liquid cooling.
The sample of the AORUS Waterforce X 360 AIO comes in quality loan from AORUS LATAM.
AORUS Waterforce X 360 – Specifications
Being the second iteration of liquid cooling of the brand, AORUS brings changes to its liquid cooling, which now has the name WATERFORCE, similar to its water block video cards. Here is a summary of the changes coming with the new AORUS Waterforce X 360:
-Fan connections have changed from a “proprietary” connection to conventional PWM and ARGB (5v).
-It is now possible to put pictures/videos on the water pump, something that was not possible with the AORUS Liquid Cooler series.
-New fan design.
According to AORUS, there are also the following changes:
-Improved dissipation performance.
-New thickness of hoses contributes to a better flow of water, collaborating with a faster heat dissipation.
There are other changes that also improve quality of life, such as fewer cables coming out of the pump (they are now routed through the hose), and the LCD panel can be manually manipulated to change orientation.
According to GIGABYTE, the manufacturer of the liquid cooler is ASETEK (7th generation) which gives confidence as its quality has been proven for many years by different brands in the closed-loop liquid cooler market.
The reference price in the United States of this liquid cooling is 210 US dollars and in Peru, it will have an approximate price of 240 US dollars, with a 3-year warranty.
AORUS Waterforce X 360 – Specification Table
Stress test – Temperatures
To stress and standardize dissipation systems, we use Prime95 SFFT with and without instructions avx, with a manual overclock using the processor AMD Ryzen 9 3900X. We have changed some parts to our old test bench, so the previous results are invalid.
From now on, we will use this configuration for the next tests related to dissipation systems.
Here is a summary of the test bench for air and/or liquid dissipation systems.
testing bench
Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 3900X (4.175GHz @ 1.325v LLC High) Motherboard: GIGABYTE X470 AORUS Gaming 7 WIFI Rev 1.0 RAM: TeamGroup Vulcan Z 3200MHz CL16 (2x8GB) Graphics card: GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 2080 Ti GAMING OC SSD: Trion OCZ150 500GB Liquid refrigeration: AORUS Waterforce X 360 (What we are testing) Operating system: Windows 10 Home 20H2
Note: All AIOs tested will have their pump at maximum RPM in all tests, unless otherwise specified. In the event that the maximum RPM of the pump generates noise, we will emphasize this in the final analysis.
Fans are tested at 1500 RPM (standardized) as well as their maximum RPM. The noise of both scenarios is measured and compared in the respective section.
Prime 95 Non-AVX
Having more information in our database, we can review what are the differences between the 240mm and 360mm version of the AORUS Waterforce X coolers. In P95 Non-AVX, the 240mm version has similar performance to the 360mm, but with the maximum RPM. (generating a lot of noise).
Prime 95 AVX
The same is repeated in the second test (P95 AVX) with the 240mm version having a technical tie with the AORUS Waterforce X 360, but generating a lot of noise. The AORUS Waterforce X 360 is 6.5 degrees lower than the Waterforce X 240 at the same RPM.
The AORUS Waterforce X 360 (at maximum RPM) leads the table with the lowest temperature.
Noise
Although performing performance tests is one of the most important aspects when analyzing liquid cooling, just as important is the noise generated by the fans. Remember that when analyzing a dissipation system (in liquid dissipations) we do it at 1500 RPM and at its maximum RPM.
In the case of liquid cooling AORUS Waterforce X 360, the maximum RPM is 2706 (this is what the sensor measures, although its maximum by software is 2500RPM).
El AORUS Waterforce X 360 generates noise slightly above the Waterforce X 240 and this makes sense, since it comes with an additional fan (3x120mm) What one can do, is by having three fans, lower the RPM to 1200 and enjoy less generated noise.
Software – AORUS Engine and RGB Fusion 2.0
The installation of the software is imperative to access the functions of both behavior (pump and fans) and aesthetics of the product. There is no way to avoid it, so you will have to have these programs on your PC:
-AORUS Engine (controls pump/fan speeds)
-RGB Fusion 2.0 (controls the ARGB of fans and LED screen)
AORUS Engine
La PUMP It has four speed modes (RPM):
-Quiet (silent)
-Balanced (balanced)
-Max (maximum)
-Custom (personalized)
We would recommend them to use a custom curve, as well as AORUS to improve the balance curve, since it doesn’t make much sense (it never reaches 100% even if the processor temperature is high).
In fan mode, we have more choices to choose from:
-Default (default)
-Zero RPM
-Quiet (silent)
-Balanced (balanced)
-Performance (performance)
-Max
-Custom (personalized)
For most users, we would suggest using the balanced profile, as it will generate little noise unless the situation calls for it. The second alternative is to use a custom fan profile.
RGBFusion 2.0
RGB Fusion 2.0 offers several customization modes on the AORUS Waterforce X 240 liquid cooling LED screen. Here are all the options offered by the software:
-Enthusiast 1
-Enthusiast 2
-Enthusiast 3
-Enthusiast 4
-Enthusiast 5
-Function mode
-Custom text
-Custom image
-Custom gif (custom gif)
-Custom video (personalized video)
-Chibi time
-Carousel mode
Final analysis
The AORUS Waterforce X 360 Liquid Cooler offers a marginal improvement compared to its 240mm version and this comes as no surprise as having a larger radiator contributes to a larger dissipation area.
We will make a brief summary of the other changes (improvements) and reviews of the new AORUS Waterforce X series.
Standard 5V ARGB cables for the fans, thicker hoses
The AORUS Waterforce X 360 fan cables are no longer proprietary and use 5V ARGB which is the normal standard for ARGB devices, with no proprietary connections.
Another change in the new AORUS Waterforce X compared to its predecessor is that they use thicker hoses, allowing more liquid flow from the pump to the radiator. The only criticism is that the hoses are more difficult to manipulate (they are more rigid).
New options in the LED panel and MicroSD storage
One of the options that we hoped to see through a software update was the possibility of at least being able to put animated GIFs on the LED screen, something that never happened. With the AORUS Waterforce X, these two options are now possible, adding animated GIFs and Mp4 videos within the possibilities with the closed-loop liquid cooling LED screen.
In addition, it comes with a MicroSD slot, which is used to expand storage in the case of putting several videos or animated GIFs.
Software is the weak point of the product
The need to have two software installed for the correct operation of liquid cooling is something that makes liquid cooling quite unattractive. AORUS/GIGABYTE should try to have a specialized module for their liquid cooling or remake AORUS Engine/RGB Fusion to a single software using modules (similar to what Razer offers).
This limits a bit that maybe AORUS software can be used smoothly with other motherboard manufacturers, as it would require using three software at the same time (competitor, AORUS Engine and RGB Fusion 2.0).
Also, RGB Fusion 2.0 offers little customization in the ARGB of the fans, something that the brand needs to improve to implement options that the competition offers in the market.
Score (3.5/5)
Performance (5/5): The performance of the AORUS Waterforce X 360 liquid cooling is marginally superior to the Waterforce X 240, obtaining low temperatures. By having better performance, one can work it at lower RPM, resulting in less noise.
Software (2/5): The weakest point of liquid cooling, since it requires two software for the proper operation of the product (AORUS Engine and RGB Fusion 2.0). RGB Fusion 2.0 requires more polish.
Noise (4/5): The noise generated by the fans is quite low and by having a greater dissipation capacity (that is, lower temperatures) the user can make a super silent profile.
Price (3.5/5): The AORUS Waterforce X 360 does not come with such an end-user friendly price, although it is one of the few AIOs that comes with all the visual options that the product offers, such as GIF and video playback, in addition to expansion via MicroSD and rotating screen.
Guarantee (3/5): To be a premium product, I think GIGABYTE/AORUS should extend their warranty as other brands offer 5-6 years on their liquid coolers (globally).