INTRODUCTION

   If you’re a demanding gamer or professional looking for the best possible cooling efficiency for your system without breaking the bank getting a AIO (all-in-one) liquid CPU cooler is the best way to achieve that. Needless to say that radiator size and number of fans play a very large role so just like you can't really compare a single fan 120/140mm AIO model to a dual fan 120/140mm one you also can't compare a dual fan 120/140mm one with a tri-fan 120mm one (although we've seen a couple of exceptions to date). Performance aside however there are three other things/factors people tend to look for when getting a new AIO model noise levels, expandability (expanding the loop with extra radiators and/or GPU blocks) and looks (LED lights). The brand new Floe Riing RGB 360 TT Premium Edition AIO Liquid CPU Cooler by Thermaltake seems to tick at least three of the four boxes mentioned and today we have it on our test bench.

   The beginning of every myth and legend is about dreams and desire: the challenging, creative and combative features of Thermaltake Group create an exciting and fascinating user experience to share with everyone, while allowing users to enter a selfless state in terms of function and potential. Thermaltake Group's 3 main brands: Thermaltake, Tt eSPORTS and LUXA2 have been merchandising throughout the world, and have successfully established 6 business footholds in areas such as Europe, America, Oceania, Japan and China, with 95 regional distributors and over 4000 premium retailers. All product planning is orientated by observation of global PC peripheral market and understanding of consumer demands. Thermaltake creates direct contact opportunities with resellers and consumers by participating major global ICT exhibitions and trade shows every year, and develop innovative marketing strategies for the promotions of new products. Meanwhile, Thermaltake incorporates the composite marketing system by making branch offices and regional distributors both the distribution channel and technical support or service center to provide instant support; by maintaining close contact with end users, we manage to strengthen corporate competitiveness and create the momentum for the growth of accomplishments. With its outstanding wisdom and strength Thermaltake Group is recruiting creative talents to build a cultural brand for the enjoyment of entertainment, e-Sports, technology and lifestyle!

   Since the Floe Riing RGB 360 TT Premium Edition AIO Liquid CPU Cooler is pretty much the successor to the very successful Water 3.0 Riing RGB model which we reviewed a while back both coolers have several similarities. Both are manufactured by Asetek (and are currently available in 240/280/360mm) and both feature 360mm radiators, three RGB 120mm fans (256 colors/40.6CFM/2.01mmH2O/26.4dBA - Water 3.0 Riing RGB model) with external RGB controllers, 326mm sleeved tubings, high-performance ceramic pumps (3600RPM) and all-copper waterblocks. Still although at first glance at least these two don't seem to be that different they aren't identical either since this time over Thermaltake has not only paired their brand new and improved Riing Plus RGB fans (16.8mm colors/42.34CFM/1.54mmH2O/24.7dBA) with a RGB LED placed ontop of the pump/waterblock combo (thus significantly adding to the looks of the cooler) but due to its increased size the ceramic pump also seems different (detailed specs however are not made public by Thermaltake/Asetek). So let's take a closer look and see just what you can expect from the Floe Riing RGB 360 TT Premium Edition AIO Liquid CPU Cooler.

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

The long box inside which we received the AIO cooler has a large product picture at the front alongside the company name and logo and some of the product features.

Printed at the base of the box are the product specifications and the product features in 11 languages.

The product features are also listed and showcased with the help of several pictures located at the rear of the box.

Once again we see that the entire bundle is wrapped inside plastic bags and placed inside a thick piece of cardboard.

Inside the box you will find the radiator/tubes/pump/waterblock combo, three Riing Plus RGB PWM 120mm fans, smart fan controller, Molex power cable, micro USB to micro USB cable, two pieces of Velcro tape (for mounting the smart fan controller with), 12 fan mounting screws, installation guide, warranty information paper and all the necessary mounting hardware for Intel LGA1150/1151/1155/1156/1366/2011/2011-3/2066 and AMD AM2/AM2+/AM3/AM3+/FM1/FM2/AM4 mainboards.

THE FLOE RIING RGB 360 TT PREMIUM EDITION

If we leave out the rather thick pump/waterblock combo the Floe Riing RGB 360 TT Premium Edition is pretty much identical to its predecessor.

Thermaltake has once again used a 27mm thick 360mm radiator (just a tad thicker would be nice).

The FPI (fins per inch) count of 21 is yet another similarity between this radiator and the one used in the previous model.

Moving to the sleeved tubings these are also 326mm in length.

This time over however the Thermaltake logo placed ontop of the pump/waterblock combo is RGB illuminated.

Just like with every other AIO made by Asetek the tubings can be rotated from the side of the pump/waterblock combo.

The round copper waterblock comes ready with a thin layer of thermal conductive paste on it.

One of the largest changes is the Riing Plus RGB fans used which can spin up to 1400RPM to produce airflow levels of up to 42.34CFM with just 24.7dBA of noise.

These fans also feature vibration absorbing rubber pads on all four corners.

With all three fans mounted the thickness of the radiator increases to almost 53mm.

The included RGB lighting controller has a total of 5 available ports for RGB peripherals (you can attach the fans and pump on it - if your mainboard has an RGB header we suggest attaching the pump there). With the rear switches you can assign a number to this specific controller (which means you should be able to use up to 4 together).

TT RGB PLUS SOFTWARE

You can download the TT RGB Plus software from the official product support page.

This may not be the best looking software but it’s very easy to navigate since all of the connected fans are easy to access (unfortunately the pump was not shown in the software).

From within the software you can change the speed of the fans (Performance/PWM/Silent), switch color of the LEDs from RGB to single, choose one of the 13 available LED modes (there are actually 4 available sound controlled modes), set the brightness and speed of the LEDs and finally you can save each configuration to one of the 5 available profiles (the software is compatible with other TT products as well - we also need to point out that these screenshots were taken without our two AC's controlling the ambient temperature).

Here you can see some of the colors of the Riing Plus RGB fans and the pump right before we installed the unit in our test rig.

TEST BED

TESTING METHODOLOGY

   Testing complete water cooling kits or individual radiators is no different than testing CPU Coolers and since we want all of you to be able to compare similar products we created new and separate charts (you can still cross-compare results however since we are using the same test rig). So once again single (120/140mm) watercooling solutions are tested with the radiator mounted at the rear of our test rig while dual/triple/quad (240/260/280/360/420/480/560mm) solutions with the radiator mounted at the top. For the dBA tests complete water cooling kits or radiators with bundled fans are measured both while on idle mode or with the fan controller in the minimum setting and while on extreme load or with the fan controller all the way to the highest possible setting (PWM fans do that on their own without our intervention). Every single test takes place in a temperature controlled room of 23 degrees Celsius Ambient Temp with the help of two AC units placed diagonally inside the room. When testing complete water cooling kits we use the Arctic Silver 5 thermal paste. Finally much like when testing CPU Coolers it's very important to point out that just because a water cooling kit outperforms another when tested with our test rig (when we test complete water cooling kits) that does not necessarily mean that the same performance differences will apply 100% for other CPU models and in other situations (such as different ambient temps and system configurations).

     To successfully record the load temperatures we use the latest OCCT application for around 6-10 minutes to push the processor to its limits and after that is done and the temperatures are recorded we wait for about 10-20 minutes for the CPU to cool down and record the idle temperatures. This is done to allow time for the thermal conductive material to achieve the optimal performance level. Same procedure is then repeated with the Passmark BurnIn Test as a failsafe just in case the OCCT results are wrong. This procedure takes a lot more time than the usual peltier/thermometer tests but this way not only can we deliver real world results to our readers based on real CPUs but we can also triple check the results using a variety of programs. Last but not least the temperatures were recorded using both the latest versions of AIDA64 and RealTemp while the noise level tests (when fans exist in the bundle) are performed using a high precision ExTech HD600 Decibel Meter placed about 10-15cm above the radiator. Still although the same testing procedure applies to all units do take into consideration that unlike the official numbers which are measured in special noise isolated labs with just the fans here we also have both the rest of the cooler and the rest of the system (although all system fans are turned off when recording noise levels).

TEST RESULTS

CONCLUSION

   From our charts it’s very clear that the Floe Riing RGB 360 TT Premium Edition by Thermaltake is not only quite better compared to its predecessor (Water 3.0 Riing RGB) but it also features the highest cooling efficiency of all the AIO liquid CPU coolers to ever reach our lab. Still there’s one thing we need to point out and that’s the stated specifications of the Riing Plus RGB fans bundled with the cooler. You see although Thermaltake claims that these fans can go up to 1400RPM and can produce less noise compared to the regular Riing RGB models bundled with the Water 3.0 Riing RGB AIO our tests say otherwise. For example the TT RGB Plus software recorded speeds of up to 1621RPM (even with a -+10% these fans shouldn’t exceed 1540RPM) when PWM mode was also enabled (if PWM is disabled the max speed does comply with the stated RPM) while our very own HD600 decibel meter recorded almost the same noise levels we got while testing the Water 3.0 Riing RGB (based on the specs we were expecting even less). That being said even at 1600RPM the performance gap between the Water 3.0 Riing RGB and the Floe Riing RGB 360 TT Premium Edition is larger than what we thought it would be.

   So how much are you required to pay in order to get your hands on what is probably the highest performance and one of the best looking AIO liquid CPU coolers in the market currently? Well with a price tag of USD175.12 inside the USA (Amazon) and 185.89Euros inside the EU (Amazon DE) the Floe Riing RGB 360 TT Premium Edition by Thermaltake is certainly not what we’d call affordable but at the end of the day for such performance and looks the price feels just about right. Only question now is just how long it will take for us to see something even better but even if that was to happen tomorrow the Floe Riing RGB 360 TT Premium Edition AIO by Thermaltake is still worth our Platinum Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Excellent Cooling Efficiency (Performance PWM Mode)
- Noise Levels
- TT RGB Plus Control Software
- Thin Radiator (27mm)
- Up To Six 120mm Fans In Push & Pull
- Temperature Controlled Pump RGB LEDs (Can Be Adjusted Manually)
- Digital RGB Lighting Controller
- 326mm Long Sleeved Tubes

CONS

- Price (For Some)
- Long Radiator (Compatibility)