MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360 liquid cooling system: rational water balance

Liquid cooling systems have long since gone beyond the exotic and have become a common solution for productive PCs. Once they were chosen only by enthusiasts and connoisseurs of techno-aesthetics, but with the transition to the CPU chiplet architecture and the reduction in the area of computing crystals, the requirements for the efficiency of chip cooling have increased. Because of this, the appearance of SRO even in the composition of mid-range PCs no longer raises unnecessary questions. But the issue of cost in this category does not disappear anywhere, so relatively inexpensive SRO models are in the greatest demand. Today we have a new three-section system for review - MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360, which offers a number of original options. Of course, the most interesting thing is its efficiency and justification of the current price of 4400 UAH (~$105).

Package contents

The system is delivered in a relatively compact cardboard box. Inside, the SRO is additionally fixed in a pressed form, which acts as a protective damper for safe transportation.

All-in-one liquid cooling systems have a simple mounting procedure. In the case of the MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360, the developers have further simplified this task by pre-mounting the fans on the radiator block. So we have a pre-assembled single structure - radiator/fans and a water block with a pump connected by hoses.

The kit also includes a bracket for mounting on the back of the PCB, sets of fittings for mounting on platforms with Intel LGA1700, LGA1200, LGA1851 and AMD AM4/AM5 connectors. The delivery includes a separate bracket frame for LGA1851, thermal paste and a set of screws for fixing the radiator block in the case.

Design and layout

So, in the case of the MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360, we are dealing with a three-section liquid cooling system that does not require maintenance.

The radiator block is designed to use three 120 mm fans and has dimensions of 394 x 119.6 x 27.2 mm.

The cooler features 12 liquid channels and an aluminum radiator cassette with a density of 20 fins per inch (FPI). Three 120 mm fans are provided to blow this array. In this case, the DF1202512RFMN are used. The fans have the company's CycloBlade 9 design technology, which involves the presence of an appropriate number of blades, united by a ring on the outer radius.

This design should increase static pressure and airflow capacity. The dimensions of the fans are 120x120x25 mm. The declared rotation speed is 500–2050 rpm, PWM control is provided. At peak, they are capable of generating an airflow of 64.89 CFM. The use of a fan with a grooved sleeve should provide an operating time of 40,000 hours.

The white color of the blades with a translucent base is a hint at the use of additional lighting. Yes, the fans have addressable ARGB illumination.

Adding additional lighting to a three-fan SRO system usually involves a whole bunch of cables: one wire from each fan for power and one for lighting. The result is a large tangle that requires separate organization.

MSI developers have quite elegantly solved this issue by providing hidden serial switching of power and interface conductors. The aesthetic effect is excellent. Although, such a solution implies a rejection of universality. Internal connectors for serial connection of fans use original 5-pin connectors.

MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360 is equipped with a pump of considerable dimensions (71.23 x 69.47 x 75.05 mm) with a rather interesting external design. The block is covered by a decorative grille with chopped shapes, which add a certain external aggression. On one of the segments of the panel there is a logo of the gaming series, on the other - the designation of the MAG line. A separate light-conducting layer is also visible, so apparently the pump also has additional ARGB lighting.

As for the technical nuances, we note the declared rotation speed of the pump of 3400 rpm and the use of a bearing with ceramic rolling elements, which allows the developers to declare a working resource of 50,000 hours. A 4-pin connector is provided for connecting the pump power supply, another three-pin connector is used for ARGB lighting.

The base of the heat sink is a solid copper base without screw fasteners. The surface is ground, but without final polishing to a "mirror shine".

The radiator block is connected to the pump using rubber hoses (EPDM + IIR) 390 mm long. The coolant tubes have an additional nylon braid. The fittings at the connection to the water block allow you to adjust the position of the hoses, depending on the design features of the system.

MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360 is designed to work with current platforms – AMD AM4/AM5 and Intel LGA1700/1851. At the same time, as we noted, the SRO comes with a set of racks for mounting on LGA1200, although its support is not officially stated.

At the same time, for LGA1851, the developers propose a certain technological technique that should improve the processor's thermal regime. Since in the case of Core Ultra chips, the computing cores are located on a separate die and are offset relative to the physical center of the CPU heat spreader, the engineers also propose to shift the heat sink pad of the SRO water block by a few millimeters.

For this purpose, a separate metal bracket is provided, which is used during positioning and direct fastening of the water block. The frame, which is installed instead of the standard one, even has two positions with different displacement of the physical centers of the water block and the processor cover.

MSI developers offer two options for connecting the MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360 to the motherboard. The first is intended for most typical cases. In this case, only three connectors are connected - PUMP_FAN for the SRO pump (usually has increased power), CPU_FAN - a single cable from the three fans of the radiator block, as well as the ARGB_V2 addressable lighting connector (the pump and fan lighting are pre-combined here).

The second option is designed for cases where an MSI motherboard with proprietary EZ Conn technology is used. In this case, the pump power is also connected to the PUMP_FAN connector, but the fan power and ARGB lighting of all elements are grouped on a single JAF_1 (Ez Conn) port. In fact, this allows you to reduce the number of connections to the board.

Test platform configuration

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (8P+12E; 3.9/5.5 GHz + 3.3/4.6 GHz)
• Motherboard: MSI MAG B860 TOMAHAWK WIFI (Intel B860, ATX)
• Memory: Kingston FURY Renegade DDR5-7200 2×16 GB (KF572C38RWK2-32)
• Graphics card: MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 16G GAMING SLIM STALKER 2 EDITION
• Drive: Kingston KC3000 1 GB (SKC3000S/1024G)

To test the capabilities of the MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360, we used a platform based on the Core Ultra 7 265K processor and the MSI MAG B860 TOMAHAWK WIFI motherboard. Despite the fact that the chip has a typical TDP of 125 W, the peak power consumption of this CPU is much higher. In addition, to remove additional power limits, settings with PL1/PL2 indicators of 250/250 W were used. So, with appropriate cooling, during the experiments, the motherboard will maintain the maximum operating frequencies of the 20-core processor for a long time, allowing us to obtain maximum performance. These are the conditions we need to evaluate the effectiveness of the SRO.

The choice of the Core Ultra 7 265K is also interesting because Intel recently officially reduced the recommended price of this model by $100 - from $399 to $299. Of course, we are talking about price tags for American trading platforms, but these chips have also started to become cheaper in Ukraine. In turn, the price reduction in some way increases the attractiveness of the CPU itself and the practical value of checking the efficiency of the cooling system using the example of this particular chip. It can also be recalled here that Intel processors with the "K/KF" indices in the model name are supplied without a standard cooler, so the issue of choosing cooling for it gets even more practical benefits.

The process of installing the SRO is quite simple and does not take much time. Initially, we install the complete bracket on the back of the motherboard and fix it with threaded posts through the corresponding standard holes next to the processor connector.

We replace the standard frame for mounting the water block with the version for LGA1851. After applying thermal paste to the processor cover, we install the water block in its seat, having previously removed the film from the surface of the heat sink.

Using four spring-loaded screws with internal thread, we fix the water block/pump in the required position.

To connect the power supply for the fans and ARGB lighting, we use one proprietary connector JAF_1 (EZ Conn). Another cable for powering the pump is connected to PUMP_FAN. The latter is often offered with increased power - 24 W or even 36 W, although in the case of the MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360 this is not a fundamental issue. According to the specifications, the pump of this model consumes only 2.5–3 W of energy, so even the capabilities of typical connectors (12 V, 1 A; 12 W) will be quite enough here.

Before starting experiments with determining temperature regimes, we checked the operating conditions of the Core Ultra 7 265K processor. Under a relatively long multi-threaded load, the productive cores operated stably at 5200 MHz, while the frequency of the energy-efficient processors remained at 4600 MHz.

These figures allowed the chip to score 36,123 points in the multi-threaded stage of Cinebench R23. A typical result for a 20-core Intel processor in this test discipline.

As for power consumption, at the fixed PL1/PL2 power limits of 250 W, the actual power consumption under load averaged 200 W. Minimum values were ~180–190 W and peak spikes up to ~210 W. These are good values in the context of checking the efficiency of the cooling system.

We have previously determined the possibilities of configuring the fans and pump of the MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360. The corresponding parameters can be adjusted in the proprietary MSI Center package.

As for the fans themselves, their speed varies in the range of 500–2050 rpm, which corresponds to the declared characteristics. When using the minimum relative level (0%), the speed is ~500 rpm. However, the manufacturer recommends not using indicators lower than 20%. In such conditions, the fans rotate at ~800 rpm. At 50% we get ~1300 rpm, and at 100% – the maximum ~2050 rpm.

The wide range allows you to significantly adjust the fan speed. Here you can rely on the proposed smart mode, or independently configure the algorithm for changing the speed depending on the CPU temperature. The process itself is simple and quite intuitive.

The pump parameters can also be adjusted, although the possibilities are more limited here. In the range of 50–100%, we received fairly stable speed indicators – ~3400 rpm. When reduced to 20% of the maximum, the frequency was ~2750 rpm. We note in advance that such a change had almost no effect on the CPU temperature indicators.

MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360 Performance Testing

To test the overall efficiency of the MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360, we chose four operating modes of the 120 mm fans – 500 rpm, 1000 rpm, 1500 rpm and 2050 rpm. Despite the fact that the minimum speed is not recommended by the developers, the option is interesting for research and will allow you to evaluate the capabilities of the SRO "at minimum". In turn, the maximum speed will demonstrate the overall potential of the system, and intermediate values will help determine the dependence of the processor heating on the SRO operation settings.

In the 500 rpm mode, the Core Ultra 7 265K temperature under load reached 92–94C, and initial signs of throttling appeared. Obviously, at minimum fan speeds, the efficiency of the SRO is no longer enough to adequately cool the chip, which consumed ~200 W of power during testing.

So, the developers' recommendations with fan speed settings of 20% really shouldn't be ignored, especially when it comes to 20-core processors.

When the speed was increased to 1000 rpm, the maximum temperature of the Core Ultra 7 265K under load was already 80C. The difference with the initial values is quite significant. These are already reasonable indicators for long-term operation of the CPU.

Increasing the frequency to 1500 rpm further improves the efficiency of the cooling system. The peak chip temperature dropped to 76C.

At maximum fan speed (~2050 rpm) during multi-threaded rendering, the Core Ultra 7 265K chip warmed up to only 72C at its peak. Of course, with increasing fan speed, the noise level of the cooling system also increases. In general, the MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360 demonstrates good results in this indicator, but if the volume of the SRO is of fundamental importance, in terms of the balance between noise and cooling efficiency, it is better to look for a mode with fan speeds of 1000–1500 rpm. Of course, this refers to cases when the processor consumes ~200 W under load. If a more economical CPU model is used, or even the same Core Ultra 7 265K operating in the recommended Intel mode, the optimal fan speed range may be even lower.

As we have already noted, changing the pump speed in the range of 2700–3400 rpm does not lead to significant temperature "consequences" for the CPU operation - the difference in indicators does not exceed 1 C. At the same time, we register small changes in the background noise level, so if this is an important option, you can reduce the speed without actually losing cooling efficiency.

We conclude our practical experiments with an aesthetic "dot". The illumination is configured in MSI Center. Of course, the Mystyc Light synchronization technology is supported, so not only the LEDs of the fans and the SRO pump, but also other platform devices can be illuminated in unison.

The backlight of the radiator fans is quite bright, so if necessary, it will generate fill light inside the system unit.

Price and warranty period

MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360 is already available in Ukraine. Despite its recent appearance on sale, the model has managed to get under the promotional offer. Currently, the SRO is offered for 4399 UAH ($105), instead of the starting price of 4900–5000 UAH in March. Considerable competition in this segment requires appropriate solutions.

A 2-section version of the MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 240 with a smaller radiator and a pair of 120 mm fans is also available for sale. The current price of this version is UAH 3899. The functionality is identical. The more compact modification is rather interesting when using compact cases. If free space allows, the older model is more attractive. Still, it is more efficient (2–7C), with a small difference in price.

The cooling system comes with a 3-year warranty, which is typical for devices in this class. In some cases, manufacturers offer longer warranties (up to 4–5 years) in an attempt to stand out from the competition.