Silverstone pf360

SilverStone PF360-ARGB is the brand's new all-in-one liquid cooling system with maximum performance. A 360mm configuration with three fans that come packed with lighting just like the pump block supporting the iconic RGB technologies on the motherboards. Its 120 mm fans provide a flow of 94 CFM each at 2200 RPM, to be at the level of the best systems on the market, and for a price that will surprise many.

All this we will see in detail in our Review, but not before thanking SilverStone for placing their trust in us by giving us their RL to do our Review.

SilverStone PF360-ARGB technical characteristics

Unboxing

We start with this review of the SilverStone PF360-ARGB by unpacking everything included in the bundle, which is no small feat. The disassembled system comes in a compact box made of rigid cardboard and with all its faces painted white and blue with a photo of the cooling system and its lighting activated on the main face. Right behind we have all the technical information that describes the product, as well as some of its main properties.

Now we open the box in the upper area and we have absolutely all the components placed in an egg-shaped cardboard mold and in turn put in innumerable plastic bags.

Let's see below all the accessories that come inside the bundle:

• SilverStone Cooling System PF360-ARGB 3x 120mm Fans ARGBBackplate UniversalBracket for AMD Socket and Grip SystemGrip System for IntelThermal Paste SyringeARGBA 4pin Adapter - MOLEX for Fans4 Pin Multiplier for FansSATA Power Connector for PumpDrive SATA Connector for Pump lighting control Synchronization cable for motherboard

As we see, we have many cables included and in case we will have to use all of them, although we will do this in the assembly section. For inexperienced users, we strongly recommend looking at the documentation, which for some reason is not included in the bundle and which, therefore, we will have to download from the official website.

Exterior design and features

The SilverStone PF360-ARGB is the brand's top-of-the-range cooling system in 2019, launched on October 6, it is emerging as one of the best in relation to quality-price ratio. Although of course we will see it based on the performance it will offer in our test bench.

What we have in hand is an all-in-one liquid cooling system consisting of an infinite pump loop, tubes and 360mm radiator for mounting on the front or top side of our cassis. The system is full of addressable RGB lighting as we will see later, since both the three fans and the upper part of the package of the pump have RGB LEDs in abundant quantity.

360mm radiator

The SilverStone PF360-ARGB radiator is the element in charge of cooling the circuit water, the specific chemical compound of which we do not know. It is 120mm wide, 394mm long and 28mm thick, so there is room for three fans of course. It is entirely made of aluminum with anticorrosive properties and a dense finned between the vertical channels through which the coolant circulates.

This element is contained in a rigid metal frame that supports the circuit and two tanks at both ends to direct the liquid. Both the entrance and the exit are located on the side with 400 mm long rubber tubes and braided in black nylon thread. The connection will be made using plastic sleeves. In addition, at the end of the radiator we have a plug to purge the circuit or change the liquid when necessary, which is a great advantage for its maintenance.

The fans can be installed both on one side and the other, depending on the configuration we choose in our chassis, including push and pull, although we only have the right screws for the fans available.

Pumping block

We now turn to the SilverStone PF360-ARGB pumping block, which is also reached by the two rubber tubes with a plastic connection system with 90 ° elbows that can rotate left and right as needed.

This water block has dimensions of 61 mm long, 61 mm wide and 50 mm high. Very small as we see and quite adjusted to the CPU dimensions such as those that belong to the Intel LGA 2066 platform or to AMD AM4 itself with its Ryzen. Its construction is based on a high quality copper base with 0.2 mm micro channels where the liquid travels, and the rest of the structure in hard plastic with RGB lighting. Even the clamping system of the pump shaft is plastic, it seems, it is not the most durable, but it is what isolates the best from the water.

The design of this pump keeps the cold and hot liquid chambers separate so that heat does not spread to the entire block. In turn, the pump motor keeps the coil from the axis of rotation, which uses a three-phase 6-pole system working at 12V and 0.39A to improve power and smooth rotation. Keep in mind that a direct current motor usually has two or four coils that generate a little more noise in motion. The benefits it offers are 3400 RPM controlled by a sinusoidal signal generator (which in principle is not a PWM as such) with AEC-Q100 certification for maximum durability.

The compatibility we have with this block will be:

• For Intel we have compatibility with the following sockets: LGA 775, 1366, 1150, 1151, 1155, 1156, 2011 and 2066 And in the case of AMD, the following: AM2, AM2 +, AM3, AM3 +, AM4, FM2, FM2 + and FM1

Fans

Now we are going to focus on the design and performance of the SilverStone PF360-ARGB fans.

The system obviously consists of three 120 x 120 x 25 mm fans that will be installed on top of the radiator itself. Each of them has addressable RGB lighting located on the axis of internal rotation. These fans are composed of 9 blades with a translucent white curved helix design to be illuminated. The outer frame includes anti-vibration rubbers on both sides to prevent more noise.

These fans will be controlled by the PWM signal from the motherboard if we connect them, with a speed between 600 and 2200 RPM at 12V and 0.32A. Which is a lot if we consider that there are three of them installed. The maximum noise level will be 35.6 dBA delivering a static air pressure of 3.53 mmH2O and a maximum flow of 94 CFM. All this makes up a system with considerable power at maximum speed, which will inevitably be noisy when it exceeds 1200 RPM.

These fans have separately the power head and the RGB head. And the bundle includes a multiplier to connect them all together and in turn an output to the motherboard with 4-pin header. And if we prefer, we can make use of a MOLEX adapter that is included to connect it directly to the power supply and be continuously giving its maximum speed, which we do not see recommended.

Mounting details

The fact of not including a manual in the SilverStone PF360-ARGB, we do not know if it has been lost in the transport or has simply been discarded , makes us have to go to the official page where we will have everything perfectly explained.

In any case, the system is quite intuitive, we have a universal backplate that we must replace with the one mounted on the board, for example, the AM4 from AMD or the LGA from Intel. In our case, the LGA 2006 is already directly compatible, so we can skip this step. In any case, it is just a matter of placing the corresponding adapters in the backet to raise the plane to the IHS of the CPU and then screw the claws of the pump with the spring screws. Intel's claws are fitted as standard, but we can remove them and place AMD's in the pumping block itself. We do not have to worry about tightening them fully, the spring system will control the maximum pressure on the CPU.

Perhaps the most convoluted thing will be to connect all the cables to make the set work, the task of which intensifies when we try to hide the tangle of cables in the rear area of ​​the chassis. First, we separate the power cables, connecting the pump directly to the board, and the three fans with the multiplier and directly to the board.

Regarding lighting, doing it neatly and with this scheme, it is simple. It's just about connecting the RGB headers to each other with the multiplier. We connect the one at the end to the controller adapter or to a second adapter for the board. If it is Asus, MSI or ASRock we will use the 4-pin G-DV header (3 operational), while if it is a Gigabyte, we can use the three GDV pins or the previous one for the new boards. We must make sure to connect everything to power, in case of using the remote, with the included SATA header.

RGB lighting

Now we can see the RGB lighting of the SilverStone PF360-ARGB in action, specifically that of the pumping head. The system will be synchronized with the three fans, since we have a cable to interconnect both elements.

In turn, the included remote will allow us to select from a large number of lighting effects. And of course, if we want to lighten the cable density a little, then we will remove the remote and connect the system directly to the motherboard so that it is itself the one that synchronizes the lighting. The system is compatible with Asus AURA Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light, Razer Chroma and of course SilverStone's own for other products such as chassis.

Performance testing with the SilverStone PF360-ARGB

After assembly, it is time to show the temperature results with this SilverStone PF360-ARGB in our test bench that consists of the following components:

TESTING BENCH
Processor:	Intel Core i9-7900X
Base plate:	Asus X299 Prime Deluxe
Memory:	16 GB @ 3600 MHz
Heatsink	SilverStone PF360-ARGB
Graphic card	AMD Radeon Vega 56
Power supply	Corsair AX860i

To test the performance of this heatsink with its two fans installed, we have subjected our Intel Core i9-7900X to a stress process with Prime95 for a total of 48 uninterrupted hours and at its stock speed. The entire process has been monitored by the HWiNFO x64 software to show the minimum, maximum and average temperature throughout the process.

We must also take into account the ambient temperature, which we have permanently maintained at 24 ° C.

The results show that the three fan system is very effective as could be expected. With temperatures at rest that are practically the same as those offered by the environment with 26 ° C and an average value after these two days of stress of only 56 ° C with eventual peaks below 70 ° C, which is practically the best we have ever experienced. had with the latest models tested.

This also shows how solvent the connection has been between the polished copper cold plate and the IHS soldered to the DIEs of this CPU. The thermal compound offers us a great quality in this aspect, and we can use it for at least one or two more assemblies.

Final words and conclusion about SilverStone PF360-ARGB

Refrigeration systems are increasingly betting on aesthetics, including complete RGB systems such as the SilverStone PF360-ARGB. It does not provide extra performance, but it is a claim for gamers, especially if they are compatible with the technologies of the boards such as the one we are analyzing today.

A system in 360 mm format with a radiator of standard measures for the chassis and with quite long 40 cm nylon reinforced rubber tubes that give great versatility. In it, we have included three 120mm fans with high RPM and a large air flow. In tests we have not reached these maximum 2200 RPM, and the set in general is quite silent.

We recommend our guide to the best heatsinks on the market

The pumping block has a large block of very well polished copper, although we are surprised that plastic has been chosen for everything else. The pump itself is very quiet despite its 3400 RPM, giving us very good temperatures with CPUs as powerful as the Core of the X family.

Compatibility is also complete, it even supports 775 sockets from before 2016, except as always the Threadrippers for being a 60 x 60 mm block.

Finally, we have found this SilverStone PF360-ARGB for a price between 114 and 134 euros depending on which online store we choose. Without a doubt a set that is very worthwhile for its incredible aesthetics and for its adjusted price despite being the star format in high-performance gaming configurations. For all this, we see it as highly recommended.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ FILLING OF LIGHTING	- USE OF PLASTIC FOR PUMPING BLOCK
+ GREAT THERMAL PERFORMANCE BEING 360 MM	- TOO MANY CABLES AVERAGE
+ PRETTY LONG RUBBER TUBES
+ PUMP ASSEMBLY + PRETTY QUIET FANS
+ QUALITY / VERY GOOD PRICE

The Professional Review team gives you the gold medal and recommended product:

SilverStone PF360-ARGB

DESIGN - 87%

COMPONENTS - 82%

REFRIGERATION - 93%

COMPATIBILITY - 91%

PRICE - 90%

89%

A 360 mm RGB-packed system at a great price