Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360 Core II review

We're not short of excellent and affordable all-in-one liquid coolers today—many of the best liquid coolers are wildly affordable under $100, which means Cooler Master has its work cut out for it. But the cooling company is making a darn good effort with the MasterLiquid 360 Core II.

The MasterLiquid 360 Core II bucks the trend for liquid coolers in 2025: it doesn't have a screen stuck on the pump. There's no screen anywhere on this unit, in fact, which lends to its agreeable price tag of just $100/£95. At the time of writing there's even a $15 coupon at Amazon to knock it down to $85 but I'm not sure how long that'll stick around. That price puts the MasterLiquid 360 Core II on a competitive footing with some of the best value liquid coolers out there, such as Arctic's new and improved Liquid Freezer III 360 A-RGB at $94.

I have the 360 mm model for review, as that's more or less the standard size for new PC builds and has broad in today's best PC cases. However, you can save yourself another $15 on the smaller Masterliquid 240 Core II.

The 360 mm model comes with three MF 120 Lite ARGB fans. These use a sleeve bearing, which means they're far from a top-tier model. The good news is they're not overly loud in testing, ending up around a similar volume to the majority of liquid coolers. I test at the maximum fan speed, however, and these only reach a rather pedestrian 1750 rpm. That's a bit slower than some with similar noise levels, such as Corsair's RS120 rated to 2100 rpm and included on the Titan 360 RX LCD.

These fans have ARGB lighting that shines through the translucent blades from LEDs buried within the fan hub. The overall effect is nothing special compared to some flashier models on the market, but these fans are pretty vibrant. In the right case, they could look great, and they do pair well with the infinity mirror effect on the pump unit.

The pump is relatively slim and low-profile compared to some on the market today—looking at you, Tryx. It houses a G9R 'dual-chamber' pump and one that Cooler Master claims is capable of "silent performance". That's not strictly true, it's not silent, but it is relatively low noise.

I tested the pump without any other fans on in the system to get a bead on its actual noise output and, granted, I don't have an acoustic chamber to test this in with zero outside noise, but my office is pretty quiet. It hit around 34 decibels, which is a touch quieter than Corsair's affordable Nautilus 360 RS but a little louder than the Titan 360 RX LCD. Altogether, cooler pumps have come on leaps and bounds in recent years, and it's not particularly noticeable once the fans whirr to life.

But what are low noise levels without top cooling performance? The good news is the MasterLiquid 360 Core II performs extremely well in testing. Using an Intel Core i7 14700K, I put it through its paces in Baldur's Gate 3 and Metro Exodus. The MasterLiquid often outperformed Corsair and NZXT models here, with the lowest average temperature in Baldur's Gate 3 of the seven coolers we've tested in the past month.

The same good performance can be seen through our more demanding U-intensive tests. In X264, it keeps the 14700K to a moderate 78 °C on average. That's stellar performance in a very taxing test. Through a 10-minute run of Cinebench R23, the MasterLiquid manages to keep the chip down to a very impressive 76 °C. The time it took for the chip to return to idle temperature following a Cinebench run is also decent at 140 seconds, which is on par with other capable liquid coolers.

The 14700K is a bit of a hog and a worst-case scenario for this liquid cooler. On a more reasonable chip, it performs even better. I lowered the 14700K to 120 W and the MasterLiquid 360 Core II kept it below 50°C throughout Cinebench R23 for 10 minutes—this result being the best of the bunch in my testing.

As for the installation process, it's about as simple as it comes. The three fans come pre-installed in a push configuration, which works best for a top-mounted exhaust set-up. The fans come connected to one another using a single cable for both ARGB and PWM, and there's an adapter in the box to split these back out into PWM and ARGB connections to connect to your motherboard. This adapter cable is just over 600 mm in length, plenty for most cases. The pump also comes with an ARGB connector and a DC fan header, and the former can be attached to the same adapter as the fans for one ARGB header connection to your motherboard.

The tubing measures 400 mm, which is on the shorter side, but Cooler Master has included two clips to keep them neatly arranged. Otherwise the pump installation is a breeze. For my Intel system, I had to fit the backplate and thread some standoffs in to hold it firmly in place, and then the cooler sits atop of that and screws in with some thumbscrews. On an AMD system, it's even easier. Remove the included cooler mount and screw in a replacement, then the pump sits atop of that.

The only major downside for what is otherwise a straightforward installation is the lack of thermal paste. There's none pre-applied to the coldplate nor is there a tube included in the box. Don't forget to pick some up!

Put it all together and you're looking at a superb performing liquid cooler that doesn't break the bank. It's not the flashiest, though it does look pretty good for the infinity effect pump and ARGB fans. The noise levels are reasonable and well within the usual range for this size of cooler, too. The only elephant in the room is the Arctic Liquid Freezer III Pro 360, the newer version of the superb Liquid Freezer III. We don't have that in for testing yet, though the older model is still the cooler to beat in many of our charts.

The Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360 Core II doesn't knock the Arctic Liquid Freezer III off its perch, but it is a great alternative. If you can find it on sale for less, you should save the pennies and pick one up.