be quiet! Pure Loop 2 280MM AIO Cooler Review

The RGB looks great, with some really warm and vibrant colours that really pop thanks to the black mounting kit and the brushed aluminium top plate. Obviously, since the pump is on the tubing the block is very low profile too, which I think looks pretty cool.

Temperatures

Right away, the Pure Loop 2 seems to be running a little on the warmer side, but still within what we expect from similarly priced rivals, but far from the best really.

Optimisation improved things quite a lot though, with temperatures dropping nicely to 74c, putting it in line with many other high-end coolers that all scored… exactly the same!

Acoustics

Acoustics are interesting though, as while it’s somewhere in the middle here, it actually sounds quieter than most. The acoustic profile is more pleasing to the ear, with less turbulence and absolutely no motor noise, all I can hear is airflow, which is to say it sounds quieter than the numbers imply.

Optimisation made zero difference to the fans, and honestly, I think be quiet! has set their fans to be a little too gentle. I increased their RPM profile to a much higher setting and still found them to be surprisingly quiet and knocked a few extra degrees off the CPU load temperatures in the process.

CineBench R23

CPU performance clearly isn’t an issue though, with our fourth-highest score yet on the stock CPU, it’s clear that the new pump is doing a fine job here.

But when overclocking the PWM signal needs increasing or the score doesn’t go up as much as you would expect. I sped the fans up to around 75% and the score easily pushed into the mid-27500 region. Of course, it’s not surprising that be quiet! tuned this to run quieter, that’s what they do.