MSI MAG CORELIQUID 360R AIO CPU Cooler Review

1. Introduction2. Unboxing and First Look3. Installation Process4. Testing Methodology: Thermals/Acoustics5. Performance and Comparisons6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

MSI chose not to follow the in the footsteps of other manufacturers by using an Asetek based design for its new MAG CoreLiquid AIO series, and I commend them for this. However, I can’t help but feel a touch of disappointment when looking at the MSI MAG CoreLiquid 360R as a whole package. I was looking forward to testing this alternative approach to closed-loop coolers, with the pump integrated into the radiator, and was hoping to see a performance gain over the typical CPU block mounted pump setup.

In the end, the thermal performance proved to be slightly underwhelming, as the MSI MAG CoreLiquid 360R was even outperformed by smaller 240mm coolers from other manufacturers. That's not to say thermal performance of the CoreLiquid 360R is outright bad, but it simply cannot match the performance of other coolers of a similar size.

Both the Deepcool Castle 240EX, and the Arctic Liquid Freezer II especially, are considerably cheaper to purchase than the MSI MAG CoreLiquid and offer similar features and improved thermal performance, while the other 360mm cooler in our comparison data, the NZXT Kraken X73, is only about £10 more expensive than the CoreLiquid 360R, yet it offers significantly improved cooling abilities.

Currently priced at around the £150 mark, the MSI MAG CoreLiquid 360R isn’t exactly cheap, so for this price, I would expect a high-quality product. While the radiator, tubing and fittings all appear to be manufactured from good quality materials, the CPU block top cover and the fans are a little cheap looking in my opinion. The fan frames are quite flimsy in certain areas and the plastic CPU block top cover feels like a bit of an afterthought.

However, there are some design features of the MAG CoreLiquid I rather like. Moving the pump from the CPU block to the radiator means that the CPU block is less bulky and takes up less space on the motherboard, leaving plenty of RAM clearance. RGB lighting effects on both the CPU block and fans are bright with vivid colour.

Installation of the MSI MAG CoreLiquid is reasonably straightforward, the upper mounting bracket that slides in place on the CPU block speeds up installation time and all the screws and fixing have a high-quality appearance with the black chrome nickel-plated coating. CPU socket support is extensive and even covers high-end desktop AMD Ryzen Threadripper platforms, something you don’t always get from some other AIO coolers.

Another area of the CoreLiquid 360R design I’m quite fond of is the use of all standard cables for connecting the fans, pump and RGB lighting. Often, other manufacturers use proprietary cable connections which means the extra hassle of installing additional fan controllers or RGB hubs, leading to more cabling and extra work needed to make the system look neat and tidy.

This is not a problem with the CoreLiquid series, the fans are equipped with standard 4-pin cables that connect directly to motherboard headers, so fan curves can be set using the BIOS or motherboard software. RGB lighting cables from the fans and pump are daisy-chained together, again using standard 3-pin 5V connections and connect directly to motherboard headers for simple RGB lighting synchronisation.

The only thing that is missing from the MSI MAG CoreLiquid 360R is a simple RGB lighting hub for those who don’t have RGB headers in their system. However, that is not a big deal now since almost all recent motherboards are equipped with at least one RGB header these days, but it would still have been beneficial for one to be bundled with the cooler just in case.

So, while the MSI MAG CoreLiquid 360R may not be optimal for cooling a high-power desktop processor such as the Intel Core i9-9900KS used in our test bench, it may well have the thermal performance capacity to cool slightly lower-power CPUs perfectly well. Paired with a mid-range CPU such as an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5 CPU, the MAG CoreLiquid 360R should do the job of keeping the CPU temperature under control while looking the part too, especially for those users with an MSI themed system.

The MSI MAG CoreLiquid 360R is available to purchase now from Overclockers UK priced at £149.99 HERE.

Pros

• Smaller CPU block due to the radiator mounted pump.
• Vivid RGB lighting effects.
• Easy installation.
• Extensive CPU socket support.

Cons

• Disappointing thermal performance.
• Questionable quality in certain areas.

KitGuru says: MSI should be commended for trying something new by not releasing just another Asetek-based AIO cooler. However, thermal performance of the CoreLiquid 360R isn't quite as good as as the competition when tested on our i9 processor.

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