be quiet! Pure Loop 280mm

In conclusion, we find that the Be Quiet! Pure Loop 280 cooler is an excellent product. Even with the focus on keeping noise levels down, Be Quiet! hasn't left thermal performance behind, so the Pure Loop offers a very good balance between thermal performance and acoustics. And they're able to do all of this while keeping the price of the cooler quite reasonable (despite the ongoing pandemic), with the Pure Loop 280 easily found for less than $110. Taking in consideration both the cooler's performance and that low price tag, we can say that the Pure Loop 280 is a very good deal for users who want great overall cooler performance combined with an elegant appearance.

We tell it like it is; we always have and will do that. And I am afraid that we'll not be recommending the Pure Loop series at this time. It's certainly not bad in performance or acoustics; contrary, it's actually quite good for the money. But the paradox is that within that low 35 DBa acoustic spectrum, the pump hardly is bearable to hear as it's there anytime and all the time, that buzzing noise and resonation it makes lifts it to a rather bothersome level.

The be quiet! Pure Loop 280 will not set the world on fire in terms of performance; however, it still does quite well. It typically traded blows with the Deepcool Castle 280EX, Corsair H115i Platinum, and Fractal Design Celsius+ S28 Prisma, while being a tiny bit quieter at maximum RPM. It should be noted that the pump is mounted on the tubing, meaning there was little to no pump noise with this model. Instead, the noise users will hear is entirely related to the fan's airflow. This did give it a more pleasing noise profile, at least subjectively.

With so many all-in-one liquid coolers placing a greater emphasis on RGB lighting and software customisation, it's refreshing to examine an alternative focussed squarely on hardware optimisations. be quiet!'s Pure Loop eschews the glitzy extras and instead introduces a handful of intriguing hardware tweaks with varying levels of success. The pump, moved from above the processor to a decoupled unit further up the tubes, hasn't proved noticeably quieter in our testing but does result in a low-profile CPU block that's particularly sleek.