Passport characteristics, scope of delivery and price
| Manufacturer | cooler master |
|---|---|
| Family | Master Liquid |
| Model | MasterLiquid ML360P Silver Edition |
| Model code | MLY-D36M-A18PA-R1 |
| Type of cooling system | liquid closed type pre-filled non-expandable for processor |
| Compatibility | motherboards with Intel processor sockets: LGA2066, LGA2011-v3, LGA2011, LGA1151, LGA1150, LGA1155, LGA1156, LGA1366, LGA775; AMD: TR4, AM4, AM3+, AM3, AM2+, AM2, FM2+, FM2, FM1 |
| Fan type | axial (axial), 3 pcs. on one frame |
| Fan Model | DF3602512RFMF |
| Fan power | 4-pin connector (common, power, rotation sensor, PWM control, 12 V, 0.32 A, 3.84 W) + 3-pin connector (addressable LED backlight, 1.2 A, 7.2 W) |
| Fan dimensions | there is no data |
| Fan speed | 650-1800 rpm |
| Fan performance | maximum 76.5 m³/h (45 ft³/min) |
| Fan static pressure | maximum 15.5 Pa (1.58 mm w.c.) |
| Fan noise level | 8-30 dBA |
| Fan mean time to fan failure (MTTF) | 160 000 h |
| Radiator dimensions | 394×119×27.2mm |
| Radiator material | aluminum |
| flexible hose material | braided FEP hoses |
| water pump | integrated with a heat sink, two chambers in a water block |
| Pump dimensions | 82.9×72×52.9 mm |
| Pump power | connector 3 pins (common, power, rotation sensor, 12 V, 1.3 W) + connector 3 pins (addressable LED backlight, 2.0 W) |
| Pump noise level | <15 dBA (from a distance of 1 m) |
| Pump Mean Time to Failure (MTTF) | 70 000 h |
| Heat sink material | copper |
| Heat sink thermal interface | thermal grease MasterGel in a syringe |
| Peculiarities |
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| Contents of delivery |
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| Retail prices at the time of publication | from 13 to 22 thousand rubles |
Cooler Master Masterliquid ML360P Silver Edition
The Cooler Master Masterliquid ML360P Silver Edition liquid cooling system is supplied in a relatively large box of medium-thick corrugated cardboard. On the outer planes of the box, the product itself is shown in color, as well as the main features and technical characteristics are listed, there are also drawings of the pump and radiator with the main dimensions. The inscriptions are mostly in English, but some of them are duplicated in several languages, including Russian. Papier-mâché molds, polyethylene foam pads and plastic bags are used to protect and distribute parts. The sole of the heat sink is protected by a plastic film.
Inside the box are a heatsink with a connected pump, a frame with fans, a set of fasteners, cables for connecting the backlight controller, the controller itself, installation instructions, a brief instruction for the backlight controller, a description of the warranty and thermal grease in a syringe.
The installation manual is an accordion book of good printing quality. The information is mostly presented in the form of pictures and does not need to be translated, although there is an important note in several languages, including Russian. The company’s website has a description of the system, PDF files with a description of the system and installation instructions, and software for updating the controller firmware.
The system is sealed, primed and ready to use. The pump is integrated into one unit with a heat sink. The manufacturer indicates that the water block is two-chamber, apparently the pump chamber is on top, and the heat sink chamber is on the bottom. The sole of the heat sink, directly adjacent to the processor cover, is a copper plate 1.5 mm thick. Its outer surface is polished, but not polished and slightly, by 0.01-0.02 mm, convex towards the center.
The dimensions of this plate are 61.5 x 55 mm, and the inner part, limited by the screw holes, measures approximately 51.5 x 45 mm. Thermal paste in a small syringe, which, of course, is less convenient than a pre-applied layer. A complete supply of thermal paste should be enough for three times in the case of processors with a small cover area. In all tests, thermal paste from another manufacturer was used, packaged in a syringe and slightly more liquid. Looking ahead, we will demonstrate the distribution of thermal paste after all tests are completed. On the processor (Intel Core i9-7980XE):
And on the sole of the pump:
It can be seen that the thermal paste was distributed in a very thin layer over most (and most importantly in the center) of the processor cover area, and its excess was squeezed out of the edges. The dense contact area has a large area.
A series of additional tests were also conducted with the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX processor. Thermal paste distribution on 2990WX processor:
On the base of the pump:
In the case of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX processor, the tight contact patch is also large.
Note that when installing the pump on processors with an LGA2066 / LGA2011 socket, do not tighten the fixing nuts to the stop, as this may break off the ears on the pump. In the case of mounting on AMD Ryzen Threadripper processors, the clamping force is controlled by screw springs, and in general, even with broken ears, the pump can still be fixed on such processors.
The pump housing is made of hard black plastic. On top of the pump is a casing in the form of a cut cone, made of aluminum alloy and having a silver coating. The cover on the upper end of the casing is made of plastic with a silver coating. Between the lid and casing, as well as on top of the lid, there are inserts made of transparent plastic with a translucent mirror coating, which are illuminated by addressable RGB LEDs located under the pump lid. These LEDs are externally controlled via a 3-wire interface. The diameter of the cylindrical part of the pump housing at the bottom is 72 mm. Pump height 53 mm.
The backlight cable and the power cable from the pump are 31 cm long. The hoses are elastic, but relatively flexible, they are enclosed in a silver braid made of slippery plastic, the outer diameter of the braided hoses is approximately 13.5 mm. The length of the hoses along the flexible part is 36.5 cm (not short). L-shaped fittings, made of aluminum alloy, turn at the inlet to the pump, which facilitates installation of the system.
The radiator is made of aluminum and has a matte silver finish on the outside. Radiator dimensions – 394 × 118.5 × 26.5 mm. The maximum thickness of the heatsink with attached fans is 59mm. Note that the fans can be attached to the heatsink without using a screwdriver, as the screws have large knurled heads (and they have threaded holes for attaching the heatsink to the case panel through the fans). The complete system (without the backlight controller and cables to it) with fasteners for LGA 2011 has a weight of 1528 g. Fasteners are made mainly of hardened steel and have a durable galvanized coating. The frame on the back of the motherboard is made of durable plastic.
The standard size of the complete fans is 120 mm. Three fans are installed in one frame made of plastic with a silver finish. This design greatly facilitates the installation of fans on the heatsink and reduces the number of cables, which improves the convenience of connecting the system. Rubber pads are glued to the frame near the mounting holes. In theory, these elastic elements should reduce vibration noise, but in practice this will not happen, since the mass of the fan and the rigidity of the vibration damping elements make it possible to reasonably assume that, due to the high resonant frequency, this system will in any case not have any significant anti-vibration properties. But at least the option of a bounce due to a loose fit is excluded.
The fan tray has a four-pin connector (common, power, rotation sensor, and PWM control) at the end of the 60.5 cable. There is a separate cable with a three-pin connector for the backlight. The backlight cable is 61 cm long. These cables are encased in a slippery braided sheath. According to the legend, the sheath reduces aerodynamic drag, but taking into account the thickness of the flat three/four-wire cable inside this sheath and its outer diameter, we strongly doubt the veracity of this legend. However, the shell will allow you to maintain a single style of interior decoration of the case.
The fan impellers are made of transparent plastic and are lightly frosted on the outside. On the stators of the fans, eight addressable RGB LEDs are placed around the circumference, which illuminate the impeller from the inside.
Backlight control
The complete controller controls only the operation of the backlight.
The controller is magnetized by the plane where there are no buttons, which facilitates its installation in the computer case.
The controller is connected to a SATA power cable, which is much more convenient than to a peripheral connector (“Molex”). The controller has 4 outputs (channels) for connecting devices with addressable RGB lighting (A1—4) and one output for devices with RGB lighting (R1).
There are several ways to control the backlight of devices connected to the controller: from the RGB or ARGB ports on the motherboard, buttons on the controller itself and / or the Reset button (loop-through connection to the button on the PC case). This controller is not compatible with Cooler Master MasterPlus software (for PC under Windows), connection to a USB port (to a regular type A or to a block on the motherboard) is used only to update the controller firmware. Use the buttons on the controller to select the lighting mode, color (if applicable), and effect switching speed (also if applicable). The Reset button can be used to switch backlight modes, which is convenient if the controller is in a closed case, and other backlight control options are not available. A short press on Reset switches modes, and a long hold restarts the computer. Turning off the power does not reset the selected mode. The backlight modes in case of their selection with the button are shown in the video below:
By the way, there is a cable in the kit that allows you to transmit a signal from the fan (or pump) tachometer to the controller, and in the brief manual for the controller and in the software there is a mention of the Mirage effect associated with this signal, but where and how it manifests itself remains unclear.
The Cooler Master Masterliquid ML360P Silver Edition comes with a 5-year warranty. For the SJO, this is a very decent time.
Testing
A full description of the testing methodology is given in the corresponding article ” Testing methodology for processor coolers of the 2020 sample “. For the load test, the powerMax (AVX) program was used, all cores of the Intel Core i9-7980XE processor worked at a fixed frequency of 3.2 GHz (multiplier 32). Processor consumption when measured from the 12V auxiliary header on the motherboard under load varies from 273W at 59°C CPU temperature to 276W at 72°C. In all tests, unless otherwise noted, the pump runs on 12V.
Determination of the dependence of the cooler fan speed on the PWM duty cycle and / or supply voltage
An excellent result is an almost linear increase in the rotation speed when the duty cycle is changed from 20% to 100%, the rotation speed adjustment range is wide. When the fill factor (SC) drops to 0, the fans do not stop. This may be of value if the user wants to create a hybrid cooling system that operates fully or partially in passive mode at low load.
Adjusting with voltage allows you to get a stable rotation in about the same range as in the case of PWM. The fans stop when the voltage drops to 3.0 – 3.1 V and start from 5.0 – 5.1 V. It will not work to connect the fans to 5 V, as they may not start. Note that when the short circuit is less than 100, that is, when the fan controller recognizes PWM control, the rotation speed stabilization system is turned on. It maintains a constant rotation speed when the voltage drops to a certain limit, and the lower the short circuit (and rotation speed), the lower the voltage can decrease without reducing the rotation speed.
Determination of the dependence of the temperature of the processor at its full load on the speed of rotation of the cooler fans
In this test, our Intel Core i9-7980XE processor does not overheat at 24 degrees of ambient air even at the minimum fan speed when adjusted using only PWM.
Determining the noise level depending on the speed of rotation of the cooler fans
The noise level from this cooling system is low throughout the entire range of fan speeds. It depends, of course, on individual characteristics and other factors, but somewhere from 40 dBA and above, the noise is, from our point of view, very high for a desktop system; from 35 to 40 dBA, the noise level is classified as tolerable; below 35 dBA, the noise from the cooling system will not stand out much against the background of typical non-noisy PC components – case fans, fans on the power supply and on the video card, as well as hard drives; and somewhere below 25 dBA the cooler can be called conditionally silent. The background level was equal to 16.7 dBA (conditional value, which shows the sound level meter).
The rotation speed of the pump can be adjusted by changing the supply voltage:
The pump stops when the voltage drops to 3.8 V and starts from 4.0 V. It turns out that, if necessary, the pump can be connected to 5 V.
The noise level from the pump alone is approximately 17.5 dBA. The pump is very quiet. We present the dependence of the noise level of the pump only on voltage.
It makes no sense to reduce the noise from the system by reducing the pump supply voltage.
Plotting the dependence of the noise level on the temperature of the processor at full load
Plotting the dependence of the real maximum power on the noise level
Let’s try to get away from the conditions of the test bench to more realistic scenarios. Let’s say that the temperature of the air taken in by the cooling system fans can rise to 44 ° C, but the temperature of the processor under maximum load does not want to be raised above 80 ° C. Having limited ourselves to these conditions, let’s plot the dependence of the real maximum power (denoted as Max. TDP ) consumed by the processor on the noise level ( details are described in the methodology ):
Taking 25 dBA as a conditional noiselessness criterion, we get the approximate maximum power of processors corresponding to this level. This is about 230 W for an Intel Core i9-7980XE processor. If you do not pay attention to the noise level, then the power limits can be increased somewhere up to 275 watts. Let us clarify once again that in harsh conditions of blowing the radiator with air heated to 44 degrees, when the air temperature drops, the indicated power limits for silent operation and maximum power increase.
Using this link , you can calculate the power limits for other boundary conditions (air temperature and maximum processor temperature) and compare this system with several other coolers tested by the same method (the list is updated).
Testing on an AMD Ryzen Threadripper Processor
As an additional test, we decided to see how this system handles the cooling of the Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX processor . All processor cores worked at a fixed frequency of 3.5 GHz (multiplier 35). Load: Stress FPU from the AIDA64 package.
The dependence of the temperature of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX processor at full load on the fan speed:
In fact, the 2990WX processor does not overheat at 24 degrees of ambient air even at the minimum fan speed in the case of regulation using only PWM.
The dependence of the noise level on the temperature of the processor at full load:
The power consumed by the processor (in total for two 12V connectors for powering the processor) varies from 259 to 276 W as the processor temperature rises from 57 to 73 degrees (according to monitoring data, we recall that the real temperature is 27 degrees lower). Restricting ourselves to the above conditions, let’s plot the dependence of the real maximum power (denoted as Max. TDP) consumed by the processor on the noise level already in the case of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX:
Taking 25 dBA as a conditional noiselessness criterion, we get that the approximate maximum power of a processor corresponding to this level is about 230 W. If you do not pay attention to the noise level, then the power limit can be increased somewhere up to 280 watts. Once again, we will clarify: this is in harsh conditions of blowing the radiator with air heated to 44 degrees. As the air temperature drops, the specified power limits for quiet operation and maximum power increase. For a non-specialized system, the result is very good.
You can use this link to calculate the power limits for other boundary conditions (air temperature and maximum processor temperature) and compare this system with several others tested in the same way (the list of systems grows) with an AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX processor.
findings
Based on the Cooler Master Masterliquid ML360P Silver Edition liquid cooling system, you can create a conditionally silent computer (noise level 25 dBA or less) equipped with an Intel Core i9-7980XE (Intel LGA2066, Skylake-X (HCC)) or AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX processor, if the processor consumption under maximum load does not exceed 230 W, and the temperature inside the case does not rise above 44 ° C. With lower cooling air temperatures and/or less stringent noise requirements, the power limits can be significantly increased. Fans of modding will appreciate the multi-color and multi-zone static or dynamic lighting of fans and pumps, which has a standard three-pin connection. The lighting of the fans and the pump can be controlled using, for example, the controller included in the package. Among other advantages, we note the good workmanship, the braiding of cables and hoses (at least helping to maintain a uniform design style for the inside of the computer), connecting the controller to the SATA power connector, convenient fan mounting and rather long hoses. The features of the system are silver color and a single frame for three fans, the second greatly facilitates the assembly of the system and its connection.
