1. Introduction2. Unboxing and First Look3. The Installation Process4. Testing Methodology5. Performance and Comparisons6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

Cooler Master have earned a well-deserved reputation for producing quality CPU coolers. Today we are looking at their new 280mm all-in-one cooler – the MasterLiquid Pro 280. Cooler Master claim that the MasterLiquid Pro 280 should deliver unparalleled performance due to its innovative pump/waterblock, which features ‘657% more surface area' to allow for better heat dissipation. With the inclusion of 2 MasterFan Air Balance fans as well, could the MasterLiquid Pro be a ‘must have' liquid cooler?

With a price of just over £100 here in the UK, the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 is not the cheapest AIO we have ever seen, but hopefully it will justify the price by giving excellent performance. In this review, we go over the build quality, installation process and thermal performance of the MasterLiquid Pro 280 before giving our final verdict.

Specification

General:

• Intel socket support: LGA 2011-3/2011/1366/1156/1155/1151/1150/775
• AMD socket support: FM2+/FM2/FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2
• Waterblock Dimensions (LxWxH): 94.8(L) x 68(W) x 56.9(H) mm
• Radiator Dimensions (LxWxH): 311(L) x 138(W) x 27(H) mm
• Radiator Material: Aluminium (Radiator), Copper (Baseplate)

FEP (Tubing):

• Tube Length: 358mm ± 5mm
• Tube Diameter: ø 8mm

Fan:

• Fan Dimensions (LxWxH): 140(L) x 140(W) x 25(H) mm
• Fan Spee:d 650-2,200 RPM ± 10%
• Fan Airflow: 64.21 CFM ± 10%
• Fan Air Pressure: 3.15 mmH2O ± 10%
• Fan Life Expectancy: 70,000 hrs
• Fan Noise Level (dBA): 6-30 dBA
• Fan Bearing Type: POM Bearing
• Fan Connector: 4-Pin (PWM)
• Fan Rated Voltage: 12 VDC
• Fan Rated Current: 0.16 A
• Fan Power Consumption: 1.92 W
• Fan Weight: 172g x2

Pump:

• Pump Life Expectancy: 50,000 hrs
• Pump Noise Level: Pump Rated Voltage 12 V
• Pump Rated Current: 0.5 A

Pump Power Consumption: 6 W

The MasterLiquid Pro 280 ships in a plain black box, with very little on the front.

Inside, all the installation hardware is packaged in a separate box. The screws are even laid-out and labelled in their own plastic case, something I really appreciate as it makes installation so much easier.

The manual is also included in this box – it does a good job of guiding you through the installation process step-by-step. Incidentally, we assess the installation process on the next page of this review.

The two MasterFan Air Balance fans are also included in the box. We did a full review of these fans HERE.

Above we get a look at the radiator unit itself. It has a very ‘square' look to it, with straight edges and no curves anywhere. I really like this look – it is clean and simple, and actually reminds me a bit of EKWB's radiators.

The pump/waterblock is round and features a blue LED as well. The tubing is also sleeved, which is something I also appreciate as it looks much better than plain rubber tubing. In this case, it is no less flexible either.Here I will walk you through the installation process. It is worth noting we test using a Z97 motherboard – socket LGA 1150. The process below reflects that.

 

The first thing to do is insert the longest four screws into the backplate. Cooler Master include 4 clips to hold the screws in place.

Then, attach the backplate to the rear of the motherboard socket, as pictured.

Next, we can install the fans. Cooler Master include a rubber gasket-type mount for the fans which should reduce vibrations. Place this on-top of the radiator, aligning the holes from the rubber with the radiator holes.

After that, go ahead and screw in the two 140mm fans.

Next, there are two brackets that need to be attached to the pump (as above). These slide in place but are also secured by two small screws.

After applying some thermal paste to your CPU, you can then go ahead and place the pump on top of the CPU.

Lastly, the pump just needs to be secured with 4 thumbscrews and installation is complete.

All-in-all, it is pretty painless. It is not quite as easy as the Asetek method – utilised by the Arctic Liquid Freezer 240, for example – but it is far from difficult.To test all CPU coolers, we devised an easily repeatable test with no variables other than the coolers themselves. This ensures that figures from every cooler we test are comparable with each other.

Test rig

Using an open-air test bench, we deploy an Intel Core i7-4790K plugged into a Gigabyte Z97X-SOC Force motherboard. Alongside this is 16GB of 2400MHz Corsair Vengeance DDR3, as well as a 120GB OCZ Trion 150 SSD. Powering everything is a Corsair RM750x PSU.

The test process

Testing coolers involves taking a total of 4 temperature readings per cooler. First, we measure the idle temperature of the i7-4790K at stock speeds (turbo boost disabled), before measuring its temperature under load at stock speeds. Next, we overclock the CPU to 4.5GHz using a 1.3 Vcore, ensuring greater heat output. In its overclocked state we then measure the idle and load temperatures of the CPU again. The figures we present are temperature deltas – meaning we take each temperature reading and minus the ambient temperature from it. This allows us to test in an environment that is not temperature-controlled.

To ward off potential comments or questions, we know 4.5GHz using a 1.3 Vcore is not the ‘best’ overclock – this particular CPU could reach that frequency at closer to 1.25 on the Vcore, which is more efficient. That is not the point, however. We are trying to stress the coolers to see how they deal with excess heat … hence the higher than necessary Vcore.

Where possible, each cooler’s fans are plugged directly into the motherboard using the CPU_Fan or CPU_Opt headers. Some AIOs, however, ship with their own fan controllers or PWM hubs. If we are unable to plug the fans directly into the motherboard, it is specified in the performance section of the review.

An idle reading comes from leaving Windows on the desktop for 15 minutes. A load reading comes from running Prime95’s (version 26.6) Small FFTs test for 15 minutes – enough time for temperatures to plateau.

Noise output

Unfortunately I am unable to properly measure the sound output of CPU coolers using a digital sound meter. This is because I am based alongside a busy road (with high ambient noise levels). Using a sound meter is, as such, not possible as there are variables out of my control. However, I will try my best to subjectively describe the noise output in a helpful manner.Temperatures

All temperature charts are sorted with lowest load temperatures at the top.

The MasterLiquid Pro 280 is a decent performer when dealing with both a stock-clocked and overclocked CPU. However, it is unable to dethrone the Liquid Freezer 240 which remains king of our cooling charts.

Acoustics

The MasterLiquid Pro 280 is nice and quiet, though. The pump is especially quiet and I would say it is actually the quietest pump of any AIO I have ever used. This is with it next to me on an open-air test bench as well – I am sure that in a case, it would be dead silent.

The Air Balance fans also acquit themselves well, giving off a mere hum when the CPU is at stock clocks. Of course, the fans do ramp up when the CPU is overclocked, but the noise is still far from offensive. I have heard much louder AIOs so in this regard the MasterLiquid 280 can be considered a success.Today we assessed the new Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 AIO.

Things got off to a great start as Cooler Master have paid close attention to the packaging and presentation of the hardware. The mounting kit is neatly laid-out in a labelled box – something I love to see as it is very helpful when it comes to installing the cooler.

The radiator and pump look great as well. I am particularly drawn to the square edges of the radiator – it reminds me of the EKWB radiator design and I think it looks fantastic. The pump, too, lights up blue when the system is powered-on which definitely adds some pizazz.

Installation is also pretty pain-free. I would say Asetek's way of doing things is simpler, but there is nothing too fiddly to do when installing the MasterLiquid Pro 280 – there are just a couple extra steps when compared with an Asetek AIO.

Performance is also pretty good, but nothing revolutionary. When our CPU was overclocked, the MasterLiquid Pro 280 came in around 5.3 degrees hotter than the Arctic Liquid Freezer 240, so it was unable to dethrone that Arctic cooler from the top of our charts. It is nice and quiet, though, with an incredibly quiet pump being the stand-out feature here. This alone should ensure good sales figures for Cooler Master. The Air Balance fans also push a fair amount of air at low noise levels.

All-in-all, then, we are happy to recommend the Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280. It marries good looks with decent performance while still being pretty easy to install. It isn't the best all-in-one we have ever seen but it is definitely a good option to consider if you are drawn to the visual side of things.

You can buy one from Amazon for around £100 inc. VAT HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

Pros

• Looks good.
• Solid performance.
• Nice and quiet.
• Installation hardware is labelled and neatly laid-out.

Cons

• Performance is not as good as the cheaper Arctic Liquid Freezer.

KitGuru says: While it does not break new ground, the MasterLiquid Pro 280 looks good and offers solid performance.

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