The Be Quiet! Pure Loop 280mm AIO Cooler Review: Quiet Without Compromise
by E. Fylladitakis on October 14, 2021 9:00 AM ESTConclusion
Be Quiet! designed the Pure Loop series to be a reflection of the company’s ideals – simple, subtle, effective, and focused on operating with the lowest possible levels of noise. From what we've seen during our testing the 280 mm version of the Pure Loop cooler, we conclude that the cooler has certainly lived up to those ideas, making for a major win for Be Quiet!.
The thermal performance of the Pure Loop 280 mm cooler is good, yet as you might expect for an acoustics-focused cooler, unexcitedly so. It does not do much better than most other AIO coolers, and many other products using two 140 mm fans tend to offer better thermal performance. As a matter of fact, even some 240 mm solutions can thermally outperform the 280 mm version of the Pure Loop.
However, when taking noise levels into consideration, the tables shift dramatically. The Pure Loop 280 delivered impressively low noise figures, making for the quietest two-fan cooler that we have ever tested here at AnandTech. And when we plotted that as part of a thermal resistance to sound pressure level chart, we could clearly see the Pure Loop 280 going head-on with products that cost twice or thrice as much.
Be Quiet! is a company that usually goes with subtle designs and the Pure Loop series are no exception. The Pure Loop 280 visually is very serious and elegant, based on clean, basic geometric shapes. It would probably look out of place in an extravagant PC with colorful RGB lighting all around it but it will definitely look great when the aesthetic theme needs to be clean and serious.
In conclusion, we find that the Be Quiet! Pure Loop 280 cooler is an excellent product. Even with the focus on keeping noise levels down, Be Quiet! hasn't left thermal performance behind, so the Pure Loop offers a very good balance between thermal performance and acoustics. And they're able to do all of this while keeping the price of the cooler quite reasonable (despite the ongoing pandemic), with the Pure Loop 280 easily found for less than $110. Taking in consideration both the cooler's performance and that low price tag, we can say that the Pure Loop 280 is a very good deal for users who want great overall cooler performance combined with an elegant appearance.
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hansmuff - Thursday, October 14, 2021 - link
Hopefully not too stupid a question: how do you know when to add more liquid to the loop? Or should one completely drain and then refill in certain intervals?I went and looked at the manual for this loop, and it doesn't even mention the fillport at all.
Stuka87 - Thursday, October 14, 2021 - link
You cannot fill up AIO coolers. They are hermetically sealed. But quality ones lose very little liquid over time. I have run them for 5 years without issues.DirtyLoad - Thursday, October 14, 2021 - link
This is not true, this cooler is an AIO and has a fill port. Also, they include a bottle of coolant. Please read review before commenting.damianrobertjones - Monday, October 18, 2021 - link
Bought three AIO coolers. None of them arrived with extra coolant.evilspoons - Monday, October 18, 2021 - link
The spec page for this product on the manufacturer's web site has a line that says: "Fill port: ✔"https://www.bequiet.com/en/watercooler/1960
Click "technical data".
ceb1974 - Thursday, October 14, 2021 - link
I'll never go back to air coolers.A5 - Thursday, October 14, 2021 - link
OTOH, I'll never go liquid. More stuff to break, costs more, and not that much better.meacupla - Thursday, October 14, 2021 - link
Liquid cooling is significantly better, but only if you use a 280mm, 360mm, or larger, radiator per cpu/gpu.240mm is basically similar to top end air, while anything under that is not worth it.
hansmuff - Friday, October 15, 2021 - link
Quieter, it is much, much quieter. I can't hear my AIO when the machine is under heavy load for a few minutes. After that yes the fans will ramp up. But I've never been able to get an air cooler to that degree of a low ramp-up. With regular (non gaming) loads I can't hear my machine when I sit at it in the middle of the night (as in, no other noise) and I've never had that on air cooling.evilspoons - Monday, October 18, 2021 - link
I have a NH-D15 with the fan ramp set up fairly carefully in my UEFI... and a Fractal Define XL R2 with acoustic padding all over the place. It takes several minutes of extended load on my 5800X before it gets louder than ambient noise. It's silent too at night just web browsing or whatever.I'm not opposed to the idea of a AIO but then I'd have to take a big chunk of acoustic padding off to put the radiator in the top of the case, so maybe next time. Haha.