Best budget 360mm AIO?

GoogalyMoogaly · 23 Jun 2024 at 12:42

So I'm looking to update my old H110i AIO to a 360mm AIO.

I'd like to go with a white one, but it's not a deal breaker. Also they seem to be more expensive.

The Arctic Freezer III seems like the best but the rad is too thick to fit. However given the pricing of the Freezer III I don't wanna pay silly prices (like the H150 prices) for the AIO.

So what reasonably priced 360mm AIO would you guys recommend?

I guess the other option would be to get a Freezer III and get the P12 Slim fans (which does start to bump that price up) but I don't know what screws you would use to attach the slim fans to the rad? Or if the slim fans would be any good on the Freezer III radiator?

Thanks.

Drumroll · 23 Jun 2024 at 13:03

EKWB Nucleus is good. I wasn't particularly impressed with the Arctic Freezer III, as the pump housing gets in the way when trying to use a 4000 series wide GPU vertically. Some cases with more clearance under the usual 7 expansion slots on most cases should be fine, or a slimmer GPU no issues.

jabski · 23 Jun 2024 at 13:25

Thermalright Notte 360 seems to get good reviews and slimmer than the Arctic Freezer III

freddie64 · 23 Jun 2024 at 15:16

jabski said:
Thermalright Notte 360 seems to get good reviews and slimmer than the Arctic Freezer III

That Thermalright is gonna be hard/imposible to beat at £65 for a white AIO with RGB and infinite mirror effect.

GoogalyMoogaly · 23 Jun 2024 at 15:24

Drumroll said:
EKWB Nucleus is good. I wasn't particularly impressed with the Arctic Freezer III, as the pump housing gets in the way when trying to use a 4000 series wide GPU vertically. Some cases with more clearance under the usual 7 expansion slots on most cases should be fine, or a slimmer GPU no issues.

I hadn't even considered that with the Freezer III, but I also haven't considered vertically mounting my GPU. But something to keep in mind for sure.

jabski said:
Thermalright Notte 360 seems to get good reviews and slimmer than the Arctic Freezer III

I found a review of the 240 version that said it worked well on Intel but not on AMD (not sure why), but for the minute this would be going in an AM5 system.

Drumroll · 23 Jun 2024 at 18:39

Another option would be the Phanteks Glacier with the D30s fans. More expensive, but performance was good and very quiet. Tuning down the pump a bit makes it dead silent. None of the high pitch from Corsair’s pump.

MatteRB26 · 24 Jun 2024 at 21:23

The thermalright Frozen Notte & Prism are both very highly praised in my other circles. I'm going to grab one for my wife's PC when we upgrade her CPU

mr griffin · 10 Jul 2024 at 01:01

EKWB Nucleus cant go wrong

MatteRB26 · 10 Jul 2024 at 07:20

Not sure if the Nucleus can be classed as "budget" :cry:

unless there's a low end variant I'm forgetting

Joxeon · 10 Jul 2024 at 10:44

Thermalright Strikes Again: $56.90 360mm Liquid Cooler | Frozen Prism Review

WE sponsored ourselves! Support independent testing & grab a GN Modmat or Case Magnet: https://store.gamersnexus.net/In this review, we benchmark the Thermal...

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Zeebedy · 10 Jul 2024 at 11:47

Yep, I paid £50 for my ThermalRight 360mm AIO and it performs as good as any high end cooler that i have used in the past.

Bito · 16 Jul 2024 at 07:05

Got the Thermalright AIO too. Working as well as the other AIO’s I have.

clone · Friday at 21:06

Artic freezer 3, best bang for buck.

Ace Modder · Friday at 23:07

Check out the Antec Virtex 360mm, great cooler I use it on my 7800X3D. Temp never goes over 65.

White version coming next month

GoogalyMoogaly · Saturday at 18:42

Ace Modder said:
Check out the Antec Virtex 360mm, great cooler I use it on my 7800X3D. Temp never goes over 65.

White version coming next month

And what does that do to make it cost twice as much as the ThermalRight Frozen Prism 360mm?

Ace Modder · Sunday at 00:19

GoogalyMoogaly said:
And what does that do to make it cost twice as much as the ThermalRight Frozen Prism 360mm?

Just an option for you, all AIOs are similar on the outside.

It's the quality of the fin stack in the main block that really defines the cost (other than higher end models with fancy screens etc) , i don't know the long term quality of the thermalright offerings.

What I do know is the Antec Vortex fin stack is good, especially for long term use.

Some cheap models can have gunk build up because of less quality materials etc. Not saying thermalright will be one, but if a price is usually half of all other brands then you have to wonder how they achieved that price point, and we're corners cut.

GoogalyMoogaly · Sunday at 01:01

Ace Modder said:
Just an option for you, all AIOs are similar on the outside.

It's the quality of the fin stack in the main block that really defines the cost (other than higher end models with fancy screens etc) , i don't know the long term quality of the thermalright offerings.

What I do know is the Antec Vortex fin stack is good, especially for long term use.

Some cheap models can have gunk build up because of less quality materials etc. Not saying thermalright will be one, but if a price is usually half of all other brands then you have to wonder how they achieved that price point, and we're corners cut.

That's fair and I've heard it speculated on before too. What has also been pointed out is that at that price you could buy 2 for the same price as some 360mm AIOs, so if you need to replace it you're still not exactly out of pocket. Of course I also have little proof on the quality or long term viability on of an Antec AIO. I mean the Peerless Assassin from Thermalright also seems to have a good price so you'd guess they cut corners on that too but you don't hear many complaints. Arctic Freezer 3 is also pretty cheap, so would assume similar corner cutting there.

tamzzy · Sunday at 07:49

Are thermalright cost cutting? or are other OEMs price gouging? That is the £1M question. From the performance and reliability of their products that I own, I have my opinion... :cry:

GoogalyMoogaly · Sunday at 17:37

tamzzy said:
Are thermalright cost cutting? or are other OEMs price gouging? That is the £1M question. From the performance and reliability of their products that I own, I have my opinion...

You do have to wonder if it really costs Antec and the others ~£70 to make the AIOs don't you?
Maybe they're all making them for ~£30 or less and what the other companies are actually wondering how Thermalright's shareholders are OK not making ~200% profit on each unit.

Ace Modder · Tuesday at 22:29

Also what about the licensing fees to pay Asetek to use their patent on the CPU block for a AIO - any pump in the CPU block in the block has to pay Asetek for their patent use (if they sell into the US) now I don't know if Thermalright are selling to the USA - the patent is a USA one but if you have to sell in the USA you havew to pay them to cover every single unit you make, regardless of what region it goes too, but if Thermalright don't sell into the US, then they could be circum-venting that patent fee, which I believe Asetek do make a lot of money on. It's an interesting topic