Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360 review

Behind the name Enermax is a manufacturer of PC components founded in Taiwan in 1990. Our portfolio includes PC power supplies, cases, keyboards, and other peripherals. However, our main focus now is developing visually appealing and powerful cooling components for PC systems. These include AiO liquid cooling systems, CPU coolers and case fans. The AiO water cooler portfolio has been extended by the manufacturer in January 2023 with his Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360 and more.

The Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV is a further development of the AQUAFUSION we already used in our 2019 tests, with some innovations. These include a slightly adapted mounting system with extended compatibility with all current mainstream sockets and a patented pump block with a dual-chamber design that is supposed to extend the service life of the cooling solution. increase. Enermax has also equipped the AiO liquid cooling with new addressable SquA ADV ARGB fans. These now offer illuminated fan blades as well as RGB rings. As always, we start with the technical details.

Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360 Review: Technical Details

cooler specs

External dimensions (with fan)	394 x 120 x 52 mm (width x height x depth)
Weight (with fan)	1300g
material	Copper (under radiator), aluminum (fins)
cooling capacity	none
Compatibility AMD	AM5, AM4, AM3(+), FM2(+), FM1(+)
compatible intel	LGA 1700, 1200, 115x, 2066, 2011, 2011-3, 1366
price	€119.90 *
Features	Pumps with ceramic bearings, sleeves and swivel hoses

Fan specifications

fan designation	Enermax SquA ADV RGB Fan
Size	120mm×120mm×25mm
speed	500-2000rpm
Volume	15 to 32.6 dB(A)
support volume	66.3 – 135.6 m³/h
air pressure	0.67 – 3.6 mmH²O
special features	Fluid dynamic bearing (FDB)
connection	4Pin PWM + 3Pin RGB (using expansion adapter)

Pump specification

Size	about. 69 x 55 x 69 mm (width x height x depth)
Pump speed	1600-3200rpm
Bottom plate	copper
hose length	400 mm
hose diameter	none
special features	ceramic bearing

Packaging and scope of delivery

Enermax packs the AQUAFUSION ADV 360 in a large, colorfully printed cardboard box. Black therefore dominates, complemented by some rainbow stripes that should highlight the ARGB aspect of the water cooling. All technical data and the 6 most important features are listed. All information is written in English only.

Inside the box, the AQUAFUSION ADV was wrapped in cardboard and covered with protective foil. Additionally, Enermax will donate cardboard slipcases to radiators. This is supposed to protect the aluminum fins from damage. The included His 3 Her SquA ADV 120 mm fans with ARGB lighting are individually packed and wrapped in protective foil. Finally, the box contains all mounting accessories such as screws, backplates, spacers, brackets, thermal paste, along with detailed mounting instructions and a bag with numerous connecting cables.

design and finish

Visually, Enermax has left the old design of the radiator and pump on the AQUAFUSION ADV. The heat exchanger is therefore kept in a simple black, but with glossy manufacturer lettering and on the side he has two large notches. It’s made of aluminum and has a thickness of 27mm, which is within the average range of many compact liquid cooling systems on the market.

The water supply hose is about 400 mm long, wrapped in a fine black sleeve and ends at two movable joints on the pump block. Their mobility allows both the pump block and the radiator to be placed in different positions within the case. Connections between hoses and radiators or pumps were realized via pressed plastic sleeves. Therefore, this compact liquid cooling system cannot be expanded.

The base of the pump block is mostly black plastic, and the lid has an opalescent ARGB ring and mirror. Unlit, this mirror looks unremarkable, but when enabled, it reveals the manufacturer’s logo and his RGB ring of Infinity Optics. A 5V 3 pin cable can be connected to the pump unit to control the ARGB LED.
With ceramic bearings built into the block, the pump rotates up to 3200 rpm and is connected to the mainboard via a 3-pin connector. Heat is transferred from the CPU heatspreader to the pump block through a large copper plate.

The included SquA ADV ARGB fan is black plastic and has a speed range of 500-2000 rpm. The milky fan is connected via a 4-pin PWM connector for power and via a 5V 3-pin ARGB header for controlling lighting on the frame and fan hub. Additionally, the fan corners have small rubber bumpers to prevent vibrations from being transferred to the radiator or case.

Once the radiator and fan are screwed together to form one unit, the thickness of the team is 52mm. Compact water cooling should therefore fit into cases that don’t have much space for water cooling components. In terms of build quality, we found no workmanship or paint defects on the fan, radiator or pump unit. Also, there were no bent fins or unsightly scratches.

Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360 Review: Assembly

For review purposes, I am using a test system on a bench table. This allows you to rule out factors such as heat build-up inside the case. However, the case (HYTE Y40) is used to illustrate the assembly procedure. The test system consists of the following components:

The compact liquid cooling system comes with detailed assembly instructions. All major assembly steps are clearly explained in this manual with text and pictures. First, this required connecting the radiator, including the fan, to the housing. Then attach the AMD mounting frame to the CPU block using four small screws.

Then, on the front of the motherboard, you’ll need to remove the AMD retention module’s front mounting bracket and instead screw four long threaded spacers onto the backplate. After applying the right amount of thermal paste and removing the protective foil on the copper plate, I was able to place the CPU block onto the standoffs. Subsequent locking is via four spring-loaded silver thumbscrews that are supposed to adjust the contact pressure.

Installation was very easy and completed quickly due to the solid mounting system. Specifically, the use of spring-loaded screws prevents excessive contact pressure on the installed CPU. If you have any doubts during the installation, check the detailed instructions and they will be clarified in no time.

lighting options

Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360 offers many lighting options, so this chapter will be devoted exclusively to this topic. All fans (rotors, fan frames) and pumps (pump cover) have addressable LEDs and can each be controlled via a 3-pin 5V ARGB connector. Each fan has a splitter so you can connect the fan and pump to a single he ARGB header on the motherboard. If your motherboard doesn’t have the corresponding header, Enermax also includes a control unit with accessories. It has numerous effects and control options and connects to the PSU via the SATA power connector. Finally, some impressions of activated lighting.

Loudness and cooling performance

As pointed out in the previous chapter, we are using an AM4 system based on Ryzen 5 1400 and MSI B350 PC Mate as test hardware. Ryzen runs at 3.8 GHz at 1.25V. I loaded Prime95 for 15 minutes to warm up the processor. Then I read the temperature of the CPU with the CPUID hardware monitor, and the room temperature was around 20°C during the measurement.

cooler	Operational scenario	RPM	temperature
AMD Wraith Stealth	50% PWM	1450rpm	99°C
AMD Wraith Stealth	100% PWM	2650rpm	89.8℃
LC-Power LC-CC-120-RGB	50% PWM	950rpm	61.1°C
LC-Power LC-CC-120-RGB	100% PWM	1500rpm	56.6℃
Enermax Aquafusion ADV 360	Fan 50% PWM Pump 7V	fan 1350rpm Pump 2200rpm	52.9°C
Enermax Aquafusion ADV 360	Fan 50% PWM pump 12v	fan 1350rpm Pump 3200rpm	51.3°C
Enermax Aquafusion ADV 360	Fan 100% PWM pump 12v	fan 2100rpm Pump 3200rpm	50.1°C

In terms of cooling performance on offer, the Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360 knows how to impress and can easily catch up with 360 mm variants from other manufacturers. The pump makes a slight hum at full speed, but this is easily drowned out by the fan when it’s running at maximum speed. When using the AQUAFUSION ADV in a silent system, we recommend throttling both the pump and the fan. At least our CPU only recorded 3 degrees higher temperature when slowed down, so throttling is basically not an issue. There is plenty of headroom before the critical temperature is reached. The sample fan minimum speed was 650 and the pump speed was 1600 rpm.

Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360 Test Summary

Now let’s go to the conclusion of this test. The Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360 basically represents a sensible extension of the old series. In particular, the renewed fans, whose rotors are now also illuminated, and the pump unit with an infinity look, will catch everyone’s eye. Plus, the build quality of the compact liquid cooling leaves no room for complaints. The overall package is rounded out by an excellent and simple mounting system, extensive accessory package and resulting high socket compatibility.

However, the Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360’s excellent cooling performance comes at the cost of a significantly higher noise level. In particular, the fan should be throttled to achieve silence. Overall, we wanted the minimum speed to be a little below 650 rpm. Otherwise other downsides could not be discerned.

At a price of 119.90 euros *, Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360 is not the cheapest compact water cooler with 360mm radiator and RGB lighting. Still, if you like the look, I think the Enermax AQUAFUSION ADV 360 is a great alternative to the competition.