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Taken as a whole, the Gamdias CHIONE P5 360 isn't a bad option considering it’s in the budget price range for a 360mm AIO with ARGB and an LCD display, retailing for £130 in the UK. In terms of the thermal performance, it isn’t setting our charts alight with blistering performance but it's competing with similarly spec and priced coolers from other manufacturers. The noise output is considerably lower than some of those competitors too, so if noise is important to you, this might be the one to choose.
Installation of the cooling hardware is relatively simple – remove stock brackets, screw in standoffs, fasten the cooler in place and that’s done, this part of the installation takes just a few minutes. However, I would have liked to see Gamdias pre-apply thermal compound to the copper base and the wiring from the LCD screen is a bit of a mess with several connections including SATA power, USB, PWM and ARGB all on individual cables. This looks untidy when installed and adds time to the install, connecting up and managing cables; there is surely a more streamlined way to do it.
In terms of the build quality, overall it's good, the radiator coating is smooth, even and looks premium, the tubing has braided sleeving and the plastics quality feels OK. However, the shiny piano black plastic on the LCD screen surround is a fingerprint magnet, and on our sample there was a huge fingerprint/smudge under the outer glass of the LCD screen, which could not be cleaned off so it obscured the display.
The RGB lighting effects on the fans is fine – unlike some other budget coolers there isn’t much light bleed from the individual LEDs on the fan hubs, they are well diffused. The RGB strip under the LCD screen gives a nice glow in darker lighting conditions and the info displayed on screen is clear and easy to read. The software is OK but it's not as advanced or user-friendly as some of the premium brands.
Ultimately, if you are looking for a budget AIO with RGB lighting and a LCD screen, then this might be worth considering. The low noise output at max fan speed is certainly appealing, thermal performance is average but in line with other budget options, though it's pretty easy to install but a little annoying with all the wiring connections. However, once it is installed it looks OK and it will be able to cope with the heat from even the highest power output of modern high end desktop CPUs.
The Gamdias CHIONE P5 360 is available to purchase now from Amazon UK priced at £131.90 HERE.
Pros:
- Reasonably low price for a 360mm AIO with LCD screen.
- Good RGB lighting effects.
- Daisy-chained connections keep cable clutter away from fans.
- Low noise at max fan speed.
Cons:
- Lots of wiring around the CPU block to manage.
- Some issues with build quality/Quality control.
- Average thermal performance.
KitGuru says: If you want a cheap 360mm AIO with an LCD screen this is worth loking at, however, there are lots of good cheap LCD-clad 360mm AIO available now, so competition is strong.
