Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360 Atmos AIO CPU Cooler Review

Test System Specifications:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X
• Motherboard: Gigabyte X670 Aorus Elite AX
• Memory: 32GB Kingston Fury FK560C36BBEAK2-32 DDR5-6000
• Graphics card: Gigabyte RX 6700 XT Gaming OC
• Storage: 500GB Corsair MP600 PCIe Gen4 NVME M.2 SSD
• Power Supply: Seasonic Prime TX-1000
• Chassis: Open Test Bench
• Thermal Compound: Arctic MX-6
• O/S: Windows 11 Version 22H2

Testing Methodology:

We are primarily focussing on the performance of each cooler at 100% fan speed and also when locked to 40dBA noise output. We will focus on cooling performance using a manual overclock with all-core frequency and VCORE locked to 5.2GHz/1.3v and Precision Boost Overdrive performance.

• The test data is logged using HWINFO and the final 10 minutes of the data is calculated to find the average CPU temperature and CPU clock multiplier (PBO Test) and then plotted in the charts.
• For testing, we use a 30-minute looped run of Cinebench R23 and record the steady-state CPU temperature at the end of the test. This ensures that the CPU has had ample time to warm up and reach a steady state under all of the coolers.
• The ambient is maintained at 19-21 degrees Celsius. Where there is variation beyond this temperature range, we add extra repeated tests to ensure consistency. However, this is well controlled now with A/C.
• We also test each cooler with at least two fresh installs (typically three) to mitigate the likelihood of poor mounting spoiling results.
• Ambient temperature and humidity are controlled via a mini split air conditioning system inside the test room. Ambient temperature is maintained between 19-21C, Temperature delta figures are shown in the charts (ambient temperature is deducted from the measured component temperature).

Test Results:

Acoustics

We’ll start by looking at the noise output as this will give us a good understanding of the cooler’s performance based on noise.

With the fans running at their maximum speed of 2300RPM, the Atmos noise level is measured at 51dBA which is comparable to other coolers running similar speed fans. However, 51dBA might be a touch too loud for some users so tuning fan speed may be beneficial.

Thermal Performance

In the manual OC test with fans still running at max RPM, the brute force performance of the Atmos is exceptional, It is right up there with the best coolers we have tested and trading blows with the current cooling king the EK-Nucleus.

To tune the fans down to 40 dBA operation the speed had to be reduced to just under 1600RPM, which brought the Atoms even closer to the EK-Nucleus performance and if you look down the chart where the previous Cooler Master PL360 Flux is you can see a huge improvement in thermal performance for the Atmos compared to the older model, which is even more impressive.

The important metric in the PBO test is the CPU clock multiplier. The Atmos was able to hold on to an average 51.4 X CPU clock multiplier while cooling 202W of package power with an average 68°C delta temperature, which means again it is sitting pretty in 2^nd place and giving similar CPU performance as the EK-Nucleus in first place which is an all-round excellent result for Cooler Master.

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