Final words and conclusion
Final words and conclusion
The number of AIO kits based upon an Asetek design far exceeds the number of days in one year due to a complex and binding patent they have. This round is not any different. the Celcius+ is a worthy overhaul of a pretty good series. Fractal Design really focussed on silent operation, and even when tweaked you will be hard-pressed to hear this LCS. The flipside of that coin is that when you keep your fans at low RPM, you'll drop a bit in cooling capacity. In that mindset of 'enough cooling' versus 'sheer silence,' things work out in a very balanced matter. Personally I am not in favor of coolant temperature based RPM levels, the danger herein is simply, the CPU heats up much faster than coolant. However, with the 360mm model tested we cannot see any issues capacity wise either. The Fractal Design Celsius+ S36 does not disappoint in terms of performance, in fact even at 1.40 Volts for the CPU tweaked I'd be fine using this cooler for short bursts of time. At that point however the cooler does become noisy as at one point the coolant will heat up requiring more airflow. Fractal Design tried to diversify the product by giving it a more luxurious feel, the sleeved cable and tubing help. We like that the wires are ticked away in sleeving preventing cable clutter at the cooler black level. However at the Radiator, there's a bit more to manage, we like the inclusion of that RGB/FAN hub, but also realize it's still two wires per FAN that you need to deal with.
Noise
Noise levels, at defaults and up-to 1.35 Volts on our proc this is a completely silent product, on our ASUS Sabertooth we simply leave the default PWM based fan profile for what it is (not the AUTO setting), and yeah, we reached 30~31 dBA under full processor load. Up-to 1.35 Volts (tweaked) the noise levels remain very silent, after that at 1.40v and serious CPU load (based on a 90W TDP processor) nature of airflow kicks in. Overall it remains silent (under normal conditions), if you are sitting close to the pump you can hear a bit of a buzz coming from it though really, minimal. However, in a closed chassis that cannot be heard. We'd classify the cooler as a performance product and thus it matches mainstream to high-end cooling, cooling capacity is definitely good enough for even a nice overclock.
Aesthetics
The overall looks are very good as far as I am concerned, all-black design makes the rad/fans/pump look nice. My one dislike is that Fractal logo on the cooling block. I simply do not like logos 'in your face'. I mean even NZXT is aware of that fact where you can disable the NZXT logo. Fractal Design obviously is aware of this and made the logo small, but still very visible. The rest is subtle enough and we like the sleeved tubing and hidden cables. Handy is the fan HUB/RGB on the radiator, cabling from the fans to the hub could have been a notch longer though as the 360mm model barely can reach that fan HUB.
Handy is the extra option to use PWM automated mode, but we prefer the PWM controlled fans and pump, realistically though you can also rewire the fans to your motherboard of course. Nothing a 5 bucks fan splitter cable can't manage.
Design
Overall it is easy to install with the mounting system, prefilled. It's one of the easiest 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 heatpipe coolers with the added benefits of being fairly quiet whilst offering very nice looks. We like the simplicity, only one wire goes from the water-block to the motherboard, and then the fan just needs a FAN header on the mobo as well. Installation is simply a breeze, easy and fast. No skills are required other than the need for ten minutes to install the kit.
Pricing
The 360 kits as tested today will cost a whopping $199 USD / € 214 Euro, which is for the Prisma model with aRGB fans. Should you opt for the non-RGB fans (Dynamic) that's 169 USD / 179 EUR. For your information, the previous model Celcius 360mm was priced 119 USD. So prices now have nearly doubled if you want aRGB and 40 bucks more for the non-RGB model. For that money, you will not reach that 'enthusiast' segment of cooling. Yes, performance is definitely good for a 360mm thin rad based product but remains to be just that if you compare it to stand-alone kits like a custom loop. That said, a strong focus for this kit definitely has been silence and in that respect, we take our hats off and need to bow, as it is that, silent.
Final words
The new Celsius+ S36 is easy to install and a well-performing product series. We like the new automated / PWM mode, but in the end, think that 99% of end-users will use that PWM mode setting. An advantage of the kit is that Fractal Design is hiding wires inside that sleeved tubing, likely an expensive thing to accomplish. That helps the visual effect at the cooling block level as fewer wires are less cable spaghetti to look at. The routing at the fan hub on the radiator, however, is a bit messier as you still need to deal with the same wires, but granted we like it much better this way. Overall the Celsius+ S36 manages well at all fronts bit trades in silence over performance, making this unit a bit more complicated to understand as it surely has plenty of capacity. Compared to the previous model there is more cooling capacity, up to 1.35 volts on the 90W TDP CPU the fans stay at low RPM as the coolant is not heating up enough, and that means sheer silence. Once that coolant passes 55 Degrees C, only then fans will spin up to normal audible levels. But before you reach that 'boiling point' you will need to have seriously sodomized that CPU of yours. So yes, silent acoustics have been a massive priority for Fractal Design and in that respect, mission accomplished, totally. As such is worthy of a recommendation and thus our recommended award with the one statement that LCS kits passing 200 EUR/USD is starting to become an issue for many, myself included. These LCS coolers will be backed by a 5-year warranty and are available starting this week.
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