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Starting out with the 240mm radiator for the Silent Loop 2, be quiet! uses a conventional 27mm-thick aluminium radiator. This is spray-painted black for better appearance, as is usual for consumer AIOs.
The fin density is what we would describe as average compared to alternative 240mm AIOs. 400mm length tubes with the usual premium sleeving materials are used for aesthetics and quality emphasis.
One unique feature for the Silent Loop 2 is the refill port and included fluid. A user can refill the radiator as a general maintenance measure. This should enhance the usable lifespan of the Silent Loop 2 AIO cooler, especially for those who are comfortable with this reasonably straightforward process. be quiet! recommends a refill after 2 years, according to the manual.
The more cynical side of me does question why a refill port is necessary when quality units from the likes of Asetek have 5 year warranties and no need for top-up ports. But I will let you ponder that point with your own perspective and opinion.
The Silent Loop 2 deploys a nickel-plated copper cold plate. be quiet! suggests that it is a large area cold plate to permit for installation on large CPU heatspreaders for the likes of Ryzen, Intel HEDT, and even Threadripper (via an upcoming bracket that is yet to become available).
According to the be quiet! marketing materials, over 120 micro fins are used for cooling within the cold plate.
There is no clear indication of the OEM and our be quiet! contact would not tell us who the OEM is when we asked. The reason given for this, according to be quiet!, is because they are confident with the quality of the OEM vendor and do not want to make it a point of discussion.
That probably means it is not from the premium CoolIT or Asetek stables as they would be shouted loudly about. The pump-block unit does, however, look similar to the Cougar Aqua 240 AIO mounting design and that used Fly Alpine Electronics Co. Ltd as the Chinese OEM.
Large physical sizing is a clear trait for the pump-block unit. This houses the 2800 RPM, 3-pin power pump which features limited DC control ability. The manual highlights that DC-control voltage should be kept between 9V and 12V, but this control is dependent upon your motherboard fan header control abilities (which are generally good for modern boards).
Edit: Please see comment from be quiet! with respect to speed control for the pump. “While this is technically correct, it’s actually possible to do this if you have a motherboard that allows voltage control of the fan headers (like the ASRock X570 Taichi) as you mention in the conclusion, or with a 3-pin fan controller, or with a cable with built-in transformer. So there are several options, although not that straight-forward. More importantly: where we strictly advised against regulating the pump speed with Silent Loop 1, this time around we even encourage it.”
The large pump unit is a three chamber design which, according to be quiet!, allows the second chamber to offer enough space for the coolant to spread and reduce turbulence, which in turn will reduce noise levels from the pump. There is also use of a 6-pole motor.
Another area that be quiet! points out is that the physically large pump block unit allows for dampening material to minimise noise output. This looks to be a differing design logic compared to alternative pump-block units that may opt for smaller dimensions instead.
A small strip of ARGB lighting is deployed on top of the pump block unit. This strip surrounds the brushed aluminium style cover plate which has a high quality appearance and looks premium even with the light switched off.
RGB lighting control is handled through the conventional motherboard ARGB header control and included software. This is ideal for users, such as myself, who would prefer to minimise supplementary pieces of RGB control software on their system. Arguably better still is that the included in-line controller also permits for a solid degree of RGB LED control.
The be quiet! logo is white LED illuminated but this can be turned off if preferred. For a better look at the Silent Loop 2 cooler's RGB lighting, make sure to watch our video review on YouTube or Vimeo.
Two 120mm Silent Wings 3 PWM High-Speed fans are used with the Silent Loop 2. These 120mm blowers operate at around sub-500 to 2200 RPM rotational speed and are rated for up to 73 CFM of airflow and 3.37mmH20 air pressure.
The fans are non-RGB fans but they do utilise and all-black design with seven blades. Ridges on the blades are used to adjust the turbulence and pressure profile of the airflow. And a funnel shaped frame is designed to accelerate the sub-sonic airflow through the fan frame.
A Fluid Dynamic Bearing and 6-pole fan motor provide mechanical abilities. According to be quiet!, the fans are rated for a 300,000 hour lifespan.
One single 4-pin PWM connector is used for power and speed control via the end of a black braided cable. Just the one cable exiting each fan is a breathe of fresh air, in my opinion, with today's RGB fan market often requiring a silly number of cables for simple connectivity. This is a key positive for cable management and general system tidiness.
