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When I look at the be quiet! Pure Loop 3 360 liquid cooling system, it presents a clear conclusion: this cooler can handle a CPU such as the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D without issues. It operates quietly, reliably, and blends unobtrusively into a PC or workstation setup with minimal RGB, as it does not include any lighting at all.
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In other words, this cooler is clearly optimized for performance – suitable for developers, rendering rigs, AI workloads, and similar use cases. You attach the pump to the CPU and don’t have to worry about overheating. The challenge, however, is that recommending such systems is becoming increasingly difficult for me – and at some point, I may explain the reasons behind that.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
be quiet! Pure Loop 3 360 Video review
Technical specifications
- Radiator dimensions, including fans: 397×120×52 mm
- Pump dimensions: 68.5×93.4×44.9 mm
- Total weight: 1250 g
- Compatibility with Intel sockets: 1851 / 1700 / 1200 / 1151 / 1150 / 1155
- Compatibility with AMD sockets: AM5 / AM4
- Noise level: up to 37.2 dBA
- Tube length (mm) 400
- Pump speed: up to 5000 RPM
- Fan model: Pure Wings 3 120mm PWM high-speed
- Fan dimensions: 120×25 mm
- Fan speed: up to 2100 RPM
- Radiator material: aluminium/copper
Market position
Although the be quiet! Pure Loop 3 360 is priced at around $120 – comparable to RGB-equipped competitors and even some of the more expensive air coolers from other brands – it does not include lighting or visual flair.
Package contents
The included components are high-quality for its price. It comes with mounting hardware for the necessary sockets and three specialized Pure Wings 3 fans in the Pure Loop 3 version. However, it does not include a bottle of coolant for filling the radiator.
This can be an issue, as the radiator itself has a refill port. In fact, I confirmed afterward that the manufacturer guarantees they will send a replacement bottle of coolant by mail if there is a problem with the current one. However, this requires providing the serial number.
External appearance
The design of the be quiet! Pure Loop 3 360 is understated but not bland. In liquid coolers, the most visually interesting elements are usually the fans or the pump. Here, the pump has no lighting or display, but features a subtle textured form that interacts nicely with light without the distraction of RGB effects.
Additionally, the logo cover on the pump is removable and can be rotated as needed. However, beneath it there is a white LED. This means that if a semi-transparent cover is used, it will produce only white lighting. If be quiet! were to, for example, provide STL files for 3D printing custom covers, it could become a near-ideal solution for hardware customization – essentially offering this option without any extra effort.
An even more advanced implementation is seen in the Pure Loop 3 LX series, where RGB lighting is present on both the pump and the fans, and the included covers are interchangeable. There are ten covers in total, and their design is visually striking. Next time, I plan to try the 280 mm version, as the lineup only goes up to 360 mm – the 420 mm size is not available.
Fans
The Pure Wings 3 fans use a sleeve bearing and operate at speeds from 600 to 2,100 RPM. They generate up to 2.41 mm H₂O of static pressure and a maximum airflow of 101 m³/h, with a power consumption of up to 5.4 W. Their rated lifespan at 25 °C is up to 80,000 hours.
The fans are notable for their shortened cables and 4-pin PWM input/output, allowing for daisy-chained connections. The kit also includes a single extension cable that can be connected to any of the end fans.
Specifications and additional details
The box also includes a tube of thermal paste, a manual, and mounting kits for Intel sockets 1851, 1700, 1200, 1151, 1150, and 1155, as well as AMD AM5 and AM4. Incidentally, it’s noticeable how many different sockets Intel has produced, whereas AMD effectively has one standard: AM4 and AM5 are compatible with cooling solutions according to the standard.
The total weight of the system is exactly 1,250 g, with 400 mm braided tubes. The radiator measures 397 × 120 × 27 mm and is constructed from aluminum and copper. The cold plate is also copper, featuring concentric polishing.
The pump itself is arguably the highlight of the Pure Loop 3. It can reach speeds of up to 5,500 RPM while remaining so quiet that its operation is completely masked by the fans running at just 10% of their maximum speed.
Test bench and results
The test setup consists of an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X CPU on an ASUS ROG Strix B650E-E Gaming Wi-Fi motherboard, paired with 32 GB of Kingston Fury DDR5 6000 memory (2 × 16 GB). Power is supplied by a be quiet! Power Zone 2 1000 W unit, and the system is housed in a Gorilla Custom X case, manufactured in Ukraine. Ambient temperature during testing was 18 °C.
Testing the 12-core CPU in OCCT without fixed frequencies – drawing 160 W – showed that the liquid cooler barely reacted. The fans ramped up to 1,100 RPM from 800 RPM at idle, while the pump increased to 4,500 RPM from 3,800 RPM. Noise levels remained almost imperceptible.
With frequencies fixed at 5,300 MHz, power consumption rises to 200 W. Even then, temperatures reached short-term peaks of 86 °C and stabilized around 75 °C. Fan speeds increased to 1,500 RPM, and the pump ran at 5,500 RPM. Notably, the cooler was loudest not during OCCT, but in the Ryzen Master stress test during overclocking.
Conclusions
What might seem like a standard release actually offers interesting customization options, a high-performance pump, and effortless cooling for a 12-core CPU consuming 200 W. In my view, at a price of $120, the be quiet! Pure Loop 3 360 is nearly unmatched in terms of value. If you don’t need RGB or a pump display, this liquid cooler is hard not to recommend.
Read also:
- Review of Cougar SC140 ARGB/ARGB RB and Cougar Apolar 120 fans
- SAMA SM360 Pro Cooling System Review: Strong Performance, Weak Software
- ID-Cooling FX280 Pro SE Review: Efficient Liquid Cooling System
- Corsair Nautilus 360 RS Review: Well-Built Liquid Cooling System
Where to buy be quiet! Pure Loop 3 360