Valkyrie V360 Lite AIO CPU Cooler Review

1. Valkyrie V360 Lite2. Test Results3. Closing Thoughts4. View All Pages

Test System Specifications:

• CPU – AMD Ryzen 9 9950X
• Motherboard – ASRock Phantom Gaming X870E Nova WiFi
• Memory: 32GB (2 x 16GB Modules) Kingston Fury DDR5-6000
• Graphics card: MSI Radeon RX 6600 XT Gaming X
• Storage: 1TB Corsair MP600 Elite PCIe Gen4x4 NVME M.2 SSD
• Power Supply: Seasonic Prime TX-1000
• Chassis: Open Test Bench
• Thermal Compound: Arctic MX-6
• O/S: Windows 11 Version 24H2

Testing Methodology:

We are primarily focussing on the performance of each cooler at 100% fan speed and also when locked to 40dBA noise output. We will focus on cooling performance using a manual overclock with all-core frequency and VCORE locked to 5.2GHz/1.3v (AMD) and 5.5GHz/1.3v (Intel) and Precision Boost Overdrive performance.

• The test data is logged using HWINFO and the final 10 minutes of the data is calculated to find the average CPU temperature and CPU clock multiplier (AMD PBO Test) and then plotted in the charts.
• For testing, we use a 30-minute looped run of Cinebench R23 and record the steady-state CPU temperature at the end of the test. This ensures that the CPU has had ample time to warm up and reach a steady state under all of the coolers.
• The ambient is maintained at 19-21 degrees Celsius. Where there is variation beyond this temperature range, we add extra repeated tests to ensure consistency. However, this is well controlled now with A/C.
• We also test each cooler with at least two fresh installs (typically three) to mitigate the likelihood of poor mounting spoiling results.
• Ambient temperature and humidity are controlled via a mini split air conditioning system inside the test room. Ambient temperature is maintained between 19-20C, Temperature delta figures are shown in the charts (ambient temperature is deducted from the measured component temperature).

Test Results:

Acoustics

Let's start by looking at noise output, as this will give us a better understanding of thermal performance based on the noise.

The V360 Lite isn’t the loudest cooler we have tested, but at 53dBA it's up there amongst the higher output coolers. At this noise level it will be distracting, so if you are sensitive to noise you will need to work on tuning the fan curve to your liking.

Thermal Performance: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X

At £110 we wouldn’t class the V360 Lite as a budget AIO, more mid-range. However, with an average CPU temperature of 62°C over ambient, the V360 Lite performance at max fan speed is bettered by some budget coolers such as the Monetch Hyperflow ARGB, the ID-COOLING FX360 INF isn’t far behind either.

Reducing all cooler fans to hit the 40dBA noise target puts everything on a level playing field and the true thermal performance can be seen.

In this scenario, we have to reduce the Valkyrie V360 Lite fan speed all the way down to 1380 rpm putting performance only on par with the  ID-COOLING FX360 INF at 66°C over ambient, which is significantly cheaper while the Montech Hyperflow ARGB, which is also cheaper than the V360 Lite is 3°C cooler.

In the PBO test the important metric is clock multiplier as the CPU automatically adjusts frequency based on a target temperature, so the measured CPU temperature between coolers is close.

In this test the Valkyrie V360 Lite is again towards the bottom end of the chart with a clock multiplier of 52.3x which means the CPU is running around 30 MHZ slower than the top-performing coolers. This isn’t a huge performance loss but it confirms that the thermal performance of this cooler isn’t great.

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