Αqirys Aquarius 360 ΑΙΟ

[testman78]

Introduction

Aqirys is a fairly new brand catering to all things PC gamers could want, from cases, power supplies, CPU coolers (air/water), fans, keyboards, headsets, standalone microphones, mice, pads and more! Aqirys is a hardware and gaming equipment company based in Romania. The Aquarius 360 ΑΙΟ is one of the company's AIO coolers with a 360mm radiator. The Aquarius ΑΙΟ is available in both black and white colours, and in a range of sizes, including 240mm, 280mm and the biggest 360mm model here – the Aquarius 360 ΑΙΟ. It has RGBs on both the fans and pumps, plus it’s highly feature-focused as well. Let’s take a closer look at this eye-catching, all-white 360mm AIO. TDP is on 300W.



Before we move on, here are the specifications as obtained from the manufacturer's website:





Packaging & Contents

Before getting into the presentation of our Aquarius 360 ΑΙΟ AIO CPU Cooler review will discuss its packaging. Of course, we’ll also talk about the inclusions of the box. The box is robust and sturdy. With a blue colour scheme, it’s a pleasant design. The product’s name is set in front, while Aqirys and a number of logos are present too. The company also included a list of the primary features placed on the box’s right corner.



On the back, you can see the specifications of the cooler and radiator's size.



The features of the cooler are printed on the sides in 12 languages.




You’ll find another logo of Aqirys at the centre of the package’s cover.



Internal packaging is the norm for most AIOs these days, using the recycled cardboard to segment and separate the gear in transit. As an added precaution, the radiator is in a bag, the head unit and tubing are in another bag, all three fans are bagged separately, and the hardware is contained at the left. We have no complaints about the packaging. It is informative outside, and since our sample arrived without a scratch, it all works as intended.



Here, you’ll find the unit, consisting of the radiator, tubing and pump/cooling block, installation instructions, three Aqirys 120mm PWM fans, Aqirys welcome note ARGB controller, thermal paste tube, thermal paste tool and manual. Mounting hardware and accessories are provided for all Intel and AMD platforms, including LGA 1700. On the AMD side, only AM4 is supported.













The most interesting part here is the dedicated RGB controller. This tiny device (powered by a SATA cable) allows users who don’t have a motherboard that can adjust RGB settings to manually control illumination effects. There is also an ARGB adapter cable and a fan y-cable.




A Closer Look

Out of the box, the AIO is pretty understated, lacking any lighting or immediately visible branding. However, being the white edition, Αqirys has covered the radiator in that color and sleeved the tubes accordingly as well. The radiator looks OEM, but the sleeving on the tubes is braided and feels sturdy while looking great. Thanks to the long screws, attaching the fans to the radiator is no problem.



The 360mm radiator is made of aluminum and has aluminum fins. That housing and its fins are coloured in a sleek, clean white to ensure consistency. The design is based on high fin count in mind, as our count has this radiator at 20 FPI. The radiator is of standard size, namely 39.5cm in length for the 360 mm model, with 2.7 cm in thickness and 12.2 cm in width. Opting for high static pressure fans is always a good idea with this type of radiator, and Αqirys seems to have that covered!



The Aquarius 360 ΑΙΟ uses 45cm long, flexible sleeved tubing. It’s an adequate length, even for a larger chassis. They also maintain the clean white appearance of the rest of the cooler, though the white material will certainly get dirty quickly if it is touched by fingers regularly.



Alongside the flexibility of the tubes, there is also a good degree of adjustment at the entry points to the block. There is a fill/drain port near the tubes, but this is for warranty purposes, not user maintenance.



The pump block uses a circular design, with the top illuminated via ARGB LEDs shows off the Αqirys logo when the system is running. It has a diameter of 70 mm, but if we take into account the external plastic on which the mounting brackets are mounted and the area of the hoses, it extends to 78 x 84 x 45 mm. Αqirys also made sure to offset the wiring for easier management.





We did remove the protective sticker that ships over the cold plate, which exposed a slightly convex copper base, which is left with more of a matte finish. We also notice that there are signs of use, with some residue on the plate, and what looks like a line from the edge of a processor.



The trio of Αqirys’s A-RGB 120mm PWM fans feature an all-white housing alongside translucent blades. This maintains the white theme of the entire AIO and allows the LED on each fan to shine brightly through the blades. The fans have a plastic frame with 9 white blades. Anti-vibration pads are provided on the mounting corners, and that’s a nice bonus.



The PWM ARGB fans have an RPM range of 800–1800 and a maximum CFM of 75. Three cables come out from the side of the fan: two 3-pin ARGB mainboard connectors and a 4-pin PWM connector. Kudos to Αqirys for (sensibly) using white coloring for the connection cables. The lighting effects of the can be controlled via the ARGB motherboard software and synchronized with other ARGB elements in the PC build. Effects can be adjusted and synchronized via motherboards with ASUS Aura Sync, Gigabyte RGB Fusion, ASRock PolyChrome Sync, and MSI Mystic Light Sync. Alternatively, Αqirys bundles yours controller ARGB One-Click to ensure lighting effects are always accessible in all PC builds which may not support 3 pin and 5V ARGB lighting.




Test System & Methology

Test System:

Cpu:Intel Core i7-6700K@4.6 GHz.
Motherboard:Gigabyte G1.Sniper Z170
Memory:16Gb Corsair Vengeance LPX DDR4 2666Mhz
Graphics Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC2
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNova 1200 P2
Storage Drive: 3TB Seagate Barracuda
Boot Drive: SSD 850 PRO 2.5" SATA III 2TB
Chassis: Dimastech Bench Table Easy V2.5
Windows 10 64-bit




Software:

Speedfan
CPUID HW Monitor 1.23
CPUID CPU-Z 1.65
Prime 95

I am testing the performance as follows:

Ambient temperatures are kept at 23C throughout my tests.
The CPU Fan is set to 100% to eliminate inconsistencies as a result of PWM control.
Idle temperatures are obtained after booting the PC and idling on the desktop for 30 minutes.
Load temperatures are obtained after running Prime 95′s for 30 minutes.



Performance

Performance-wise, we see reasonable results from this cost-effective 360mm all-in-one. The Αqirys unit performance in-line with that of a similarly triple-fan competitors. So at least we are seeing nice early signs in terms of cooling performance.



Even when locked to OC results, the Aquarius 360 ΑΙΟ maintains its solid level of cooling performance.



Looking to see what Aquarius left in the tank, as we got to the 4.8 GHz overclocked testing. We find a big increase in the gap to first Water Cooling System, but still a good showing for a 360mm AIO cooler. 71 degrees is still well within the comfort zone, and well away from throttling.



In idle, the Αqirys Aquarius 360 ΑΙΟ is quiet. The pump is very quiet indeed and we detected none of the ticking noise you get with some All In Ones. Under stress, it's still nice, especially considering the good temps.




Final Thoughts

Starting with the aesthetics, the Αqirys Aquarius 360 ΑΙΟ White is hard to beat! The appearance is high-end with the mix of aluminum on both the head unit and the radiator. The quality of the coloring throughout is positive and consistent. The LEDs are not only on the pump head but also on the fans. ARGB lighting spreads seamlessly through the nine blades of the Αqirys’s A-RGB 120mm PWM fans, while reflecting a soft glow throughout the system. The set can be synchronized with ARGB motherboard software from ASUS, Gigabyte, MSI or ASRock. Light effects can also be controlled directly using the included Αqirys ARGB One-Click LED Controller. The wiring looks reasonable, and there are not too many cables, so it was rather easy to manage it all properly. The tubes are sleeved, they bend quite well, and additionally, they’re long enough (45 cm) even for larger systems. The 360mm aluminum radiator of the Aquarius 360 ΑΙΟ liquid cooler has a fin density of 20FPI (fins per inch), providing an area large enough for cooling in a relatively compact form factor. Installation is not time-consuming, and it’s rather easy, so most (or all?) users should manage without any problems. Performance is perfectly fine and is about where we would expect for a budget 360mm AIO. The 120mm PWM fans are relatively quiet (the load noise could have been lower). Warranty is clearly an area where Αqirys’s offering is weak. Even at the roughly $121 / €115.99 current selling price, 2 years of coverage is poor for a 360mm AIO. We’d typically expect to see 3 years or better at this segment of the market. So that’s one thing to bear in mind.



So we can conclude, with the Αqirys Aquarius 360 ΑΙΟ you don’t exactly get the most powerful AiO water cooling on the market, but in return it's a real eye-catcher in the case and the three included 120mm PWM fans also have addressable LEDs. The value for money is perfectly reasonable at around $121 / €115.99 currently. This looks like a solid option for your white-themed build. So, if you aren’t bothered by the poor two-year warranty and lack of AMD compatibility (aside AM4 that is), this looks like a solid option for your white-themed build.