Final words and conclusion
Final words and conclusion
Be quiet! Performs well with acoustics at standard levels. At processor defaults (an average 90 Watt TDP CPU), this device is quiet, as we hover at 33-34 decibels. Obviously, you can manually adjust the fan RPM to add a little power and make the item whisper quiet. That often comes at the expense of some performance. However, the latter is plenty, since this 280mm type has enough cooling capacity. Once you begin tinkering, the fan RPM increases, there's no way around it, and at that point, depending on your BIOS settings, you're approaching 40 decibels quickly. It's great to see that the pump now is PWM based, so you can reduce the noises deriving from it. It's (pump) still in your face, though, halfway down the tubing.
Aesthetics
Wires, wires, wires, and that logo are always in your face. Evidently, be quiet continues to believe that they can sell you a product and constantly market or brainwash you with their brand. I have no clue who conceived of the concept. No Bueno, no go. At least from my perspective, I know this is a subjective issue. In addition, the grey faceplate does not complement the rest of the LCS's dark style and is not suitable for current PCs where black and dark colors are the predominant aesthetic trend.
Another aesthetic flaw is that big logo on the radiator ... why is that there?; the white is bright and always in your face.
Usability
Overall it is easy to install with the mounting system, prefilled. It's one of the more relaxed and comfortable kits on the market to use and install. The black design will make this kit match up nicely in any PC. It simply is a good alternative to heat pipe coolers with the added benefits of being fairly quiet. Installation is simply a breeze, easy and fast. No skills are required other than the need for ten minutes to install the kit. Socket LGA1700 and AM5 are already supported here as well.
Performance
The Pure Loop 2 FX performance was satisfying at best, right where I expected it to be for a conventional mainstream LCS unit. Even with a decent tweak on the processor, we've been hard-pressed to pass 80 Degrees combined with 1.40 Volts. Everything below it ran fine, and there's plenty of capacity left for your tweaking efforts. At processor defaults, all registers are nominal, good temps, and low noise (aside from that pump).
Final words
In the end, the pump has been improved, being PWM compatible, be quiet! added their new aRGB fans, and you get a fan HUB. Overall we're pleased with what we see; however, cooling performance the kit did not gain anything at all. In fact, cooling performance is somewhat lacking compared to other competing LCS kits. Aesthetics-wise, the design could have been great, but the enormous be quiet! logo ruins the looks for me. Also, the bright white logo 'Pure Loop 2 FX' plastered on the side of the radiator is a no-go for me. The aRGB fans, however do look nice but became rather loud once we started to overclock. In the end, this remains to be an average LCS kit, and be quiet! really needs to move away from their logo fetish. If priced low enough, it could make sense for the non-overclocker.
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