DeepCool Mystique 360 – One display to rule them all

Key Features

In the time I’ve been testing coolers here, I’ve had several DeepCool coolers pass through my hands. Today I’ll add the Mystique 360 which is a new premium liquid cooler that boasts a large TFT display on the cooling block and improved fans that should offer high static pressure. The price of this cooler is also interesting for its class, so it remains to be seen how it will fare against a hot CPU in a test build.

Key features of the cooler

The DeepCool Mystique 360 follows the proven concept of most liquid AIO coolers on the market. That is the classic design, where a pump is integrated in the cooling block, which allows the coolant to flow through the tubing into a radiator, where it is then cooled by the air flow from the fans. Occasionally some manufacturers try to modify this concept by changing the position of the pump in the loop to avoid the overly generic patent from Asetek, which thankfully expires next year and hopefully we will finally see some innovation. However, the vast majority of liquid coolers are built in the classic way, with the pump in the cooling block on top of the CPU.

Unfortunately, the pump cannot be easily controlled by PWM, which was the first disappointment when testing this cooler. Personally, I don’t understand the manufacturer’s decision to equip any cooler nowadays with a pump that can only be controlled by changing the voltage (which is also not that simple, you will find out below). Mystique 360 is (like most of the coolers from DeepCool) equipped with Anti-Leak technology, which is a simple valve on the side of the radiator that passively regulates the pressure inside the loop according to the temperature of the coolant, so as not to leak liquid outside the loop due to high pressure. I also appreciate the design of the cables of the supplied fans, which can be connected in series. In addition, the cables are just long enough to connect the fans to each other comfortably. There is no need to worry about how to neatly tie up these cables in the build or how to connect them using splitters and couplers.

   

However, what worked well with the fan cables, unfortunately didn’t work so well with the cooling block cables. You’ll find as many as four different separate cables here, which means a lot of work tying them up to make the result look at least a little neat. So there’s a classic three-pin cable to connect the pump to the motherboard. Next you’ll find a cable for RGB sync (5V ARGB header), followed by a SATA cable for powering the 2.8″ TFT display on top of the block, and rounding it all off is an internal USB 2.0 cable for connecting said display and the management software. I can think of two ways this could be handled more elegantly. Either to use a proprietary connection to some central control unit that could be hidden in a partition of the case behind the motherboard, or at least to use short straps on the cable bundle from the pump for a neater look.

The copper coldplate of the cooling block is factory coated with a layer of thermal paste for the most convenient installation of the cooler. The tubes are attached to the cooling block using a pair of 90° swivel fittings, which have a pleasantly firm action and do not change their position too easily when pulling on the tubes. The tubes are 410 mm long and have a protective nylon braid on their surface, which also improves their appearance.

   

The centerpiece and main element of this cooler is the large 2.8″ TFT display on top of the cooling block. On this display you can change the information displayed using software, or you can display an animated or static image that you upload to the app.

Personally, I liked the option of displaying continuous graphs with clock speed and temperature over time, but for normal use I would probably make the most use of a basic display of temperature or time accompanied by clock speed or load values. A nice detail is the presence of gyroscopes, so you will always get the display in the correct position. However, I couldn’t utilize this feature in my test setup where I have the entire motherboard in a horizontal position, so I set the orientation manually.

   

The supplied accessories are pretty standard and it’s nice that the cooler is already factory fitted with fans, which significantly reduces the time it takes to install it in your build. Of course, that’s assuming you plan to place the Mystique 360 in the top position above the motherboard, which isn’t always possible and/or optimal.

   

Depending on your processor socket, you will choose the appropriate mounting kit with the Intel or AMD processor arms that you need to attach to the bottom of the cooling block. As already mentioned, the supplied fans have relatively short cables to connect them together, which is then solved by a long extension cable included in the accessories. Unfortunately though, the manufacturer didn’t include at least a small tube of thermal paste, so you have to make do with just the factory applied layer. I have repeatedly criticized such a move, and today is no exception. From my point of view, it’s pointless penny-pinching on a premium cooler that doesn’t make much sense and might unnecessarily frustrate users.

Pump, radiator and fan parameters

The physical dimensions of the DeepCool Mystique 360 do not stand out from its class. Thus, you shouldn’t run into any compatibility issues with your case if it supports AIO coolers up to 360 mm in size. The dimensions of the cooling block with pump are logically a bit larger due to the large LCD on the top of the cooling block. The price tag is quite reasonable within the premium cooler class and the five-year warranty is a nice extra bonus.

The supplied FT12 SE PWM fans boast extremely high static pressure values on paper, but as we already know, paper never refused ink and you will have to wait for independent tests. A minimum speed of 500 RPM will ensure quiet operation at low loads and the well proven FDB bearing should also last for tens of thousands of hours of trouble free operation. The question is what the acoustic profile of the entire cooler will be, which of course you will find out in one of the following chapters.

• Contents
• Key Features
• Measurement methodology
• Results – 39 dBA
• Results – 42 dBA
• Results – 45 dBA
• Results – 48 dBA
• Results – maximum speed
• Spectral analysis of noise
• Conclusion and evaluation

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