be quiet! Pure Loop 2 280

INTRODUCTION

Using their newest Pure Wings 3 in 140mm, be quiet! tries to squeeze every inch of performance out of their Pure Loop 2 Series. But is it truly better? Or is it exactly the same thing but in black?

WHAT'S IN THE BOX?

 The new be quiet! Pure Loop 2 in 280mm comes inside the usual be quiet! style of AIO packaging. Inside we will find the following items:

• be quiet! Pure Loop 2 280mm Radiator
• 2x Pure Wings 140mm
• 2-1 PWM Splitter
• Intel Mounting Hardware
• AMD Mounting Hardware
• Thermal Paste
• Coolant

Similarly to most, or all, be quiet! AIOs, there is an additional screw on the radiator allowing the user to drain the loop in case he wishes to maintain, clean, or simply exchange the coolant in use. Naturally, out-of-the-box, the Pure Loops comes completely pre-filled. But in case you want to continue using the coolant be quiet! is using after a rinse, there is a bottle with additional coolant inside the box.

Down below you will also find a short summary of the coolers specs:

COMPATIBILITY

Thanks to the be quiet! mounting hardware they have been using on all of their latest coolers, we can install the Pure Loop 2 series on all today's relevant sockets. Down below you will find the full compatibility list:

INDIVIDUAL COMPONENTS

TUBES & Pump

The tubes attaching the radiator to the water block are sleeved in a nice feeling and high-quality seeming material. From start to finish, they are 400mm long. However, a few centimeters before the tubes enter the radiator they are interrupted by the inline water pump.

This pump is controlled via a regular PWM header and can spin up to 5500RPM

Generally, the location of the pump doesn't create any compatibility or mounting issues in most cases, as it is not significantly wider than the tubes themselves. However, the in-line build type can bring the advantage that a bad installation orientation is impossible by default. No matter the position or orientation of the AIO, the pump will always be either below the water block or radiator, making it safer for the pump. We would still recommend installing the radiator above the water block as a general rule.

RADIATOR

The radiator used for the non-FX Pure Loop 2 280 is identical to the one we found on the FX- version. With quite small bezels (22 & 14mm) and being 27mm thick there is nothing negative to be said about it.

On the positive side, we love that be quiet! is marking the model of the AIO on both sides of the radiator. A small additional step that can have a quite good looking outcome for the user.

BASE

Below the water block, we will find the same nickel-plated copper base that be quiet! has been using for quite some time. 

Although this is supposed to be the non-FX version, we can still find the same ARGB line on the cover of the waterblock.

Identical to the FX, be quiet re-purposed the cap including its brushed aluminum finish and black be quiet! logo.

FAN

The fans included with the Pure Loop 2 280 are be quiet!'s newest Pure Wings 3 in 140mm.

In contrast to the recently released Silent Wings 4 140mm, these Pure Wings have been heavily altered resulting in a much more radiator-focused fan blade design.

Unfortunately, there is no documentation on these fans yet. Therefore, the only information that we have is that these fans are spinning at up to 1800RPM and can be controlled via PWM.

While connecting the fans, make sure to use the 2-1 PWM splitter to control both fans using the same header on your motherboard.

APPEARANCE

Compared to the Pure Loop 2 FX in 280, the sole difference between the two is the fan.

Instead of relying on be quiet!'s RGB-shining Light Wings, the non-FX model features an all-black fan design resulting in an obvious lack of RGB. 
If this is a design approach that looks more appealing to you, will be a question you'll have to answer for yourself.

As for the implementation, we can say that the Fans look just fine, all black, high-quality, and without any obviously unwanted optical features.

The water block cover used on the Pure Loop 2 is the same one used on the FX- version. Featuring that brushed aluminum look including the surrounding RGB line brings some RGB lightning into the mix.

BENCHMARK

We benchmarked the cooler using our new CPU Cooler Benchmark Machine featuring 3 different Workloads at 320, 250, and 120W.

For the Pure Loop 2 280, all three workloads could be applied.

120W

At 120W going through the CPU, the Pure Loop 2 280 managed to keep the CPU at 29°C above ambient, this positions it marginally behind the FX- version. Compared to all coolers, it a very high position pointing at a very balanced AIO.

After slowly reducing the fan speed we created a Noise-to-Performance curve. Even if the new black version was only marginally behind the previously released FX- version in max performance, it was quite a bit behind on the noise-to-performance front. From start to finish, the black Pure loop couldn't catch up.

Compared to other AIOs, such as the bigger Cougar Poseidon GT 360, it offers a much more enjoyable noise level.

250W

At 250W, the comparison between the FX and non FX changed. At 55.8°C above ambient, the Pure Loop 2 280 managed to stay at the top of the list outperforming quite some 360mm AIOs.

The corresponding Noise-to-Performance graph looks also slightly different with the non-FX version now taking the lead for the upper 30% of the max fan speed.

320W

Thanks to the AIOs excellent performance, it was capable of withstanding the full might of our benchmark machine at 320W. 

Cooling down such a load resulted in a temperature of 76.5°C above ambient. The corresponding noise-to-performance graph looks quite similar to the one created by the 250W, just slightly shorter.

CONCLUSION

All in all, the differences between the be quiet! Pure Loop 2 280 and Pure Loop 2 280 FX can be boiled down to a design decision between having all-black or ARGB Fans.

Performance-wise, there is little difference. Depending on the workload, one of them was slightly ahead of the other one, but generally, the fans performed relatively equally in terms of performance. Taking noise into consideration changes this slightly. Although both fan models are perfectly capable of utilizing the radiator's full performance, the Light Wings were slightly quieter all across the board resulting in a better noise-to-performance ratio.

Other than performance, the Pure Loop 2 in 280mm was able to score the same points as the FX model did. The water block cover looks solid and modern and the thin RGB line gives it the 2023- esthetic. The tubes are high-quality grade, adjustable at the water block and long enough to install the AIO in most cases (longer wouldn't have hurt though). And the general quality of the complete AIO leaves little to be desired.

Thanks to all the reasons mentioned above, similarly to the already released FX Pure Loop, we can absolutely recommend it for even higher-end CPUs in 2023.