Valkyrie SYN360 ARGB Review: Top Performance With An LCD

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Hayyan Serwer

At HI Digital I test and write about different hardware configurations to show other PC users what they can expect from their build. My end goal is to educate the masses to make the right decision when they are looking for new PC parts to buy

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I am taking a look at a flagship liquid cooling solution from Valkyrie. It is SYN360. It is a 360mm size liquid cooler that is also available in 240mm size. This cooler is available in white and black. Valkyrie has emphasized the presentation, and I hope that the performance is equally good.

This cooler is compatible with Intel LGA 115x/1200/1700/20xx and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets. I have seen some brands skipping the Intel previous sockets altogether; it is nice to see Valkyrie providing extensive coverage. Valkyrie has provided 3x X12E white fans with this cooler. The cooler has an LCD screen with the unique feature of coming with a 16GB SD card.

Key Takeaways

• The Valkyrie SYN360 ARGB White is a feature-rich 360mm AIO with an LCD screen, boasting excellent performance and broad socket compatibility.
• You should buy the Valkyrie SYN360 ARGB White if you want no compromises on high-end cooling and plan to overclock your CPU and like having an LCD screen to show off your temps.
• You should not buy the Valkyrie SYN360 ARGB White if you want easy-to-use software to control the LCD or if you’re on a budget.

Here are the key specifications:

Packaging And Unboxing

Valkyrie has done some magic on the presentation of this cooler. Unbox is simply a jaw-dropping experience. The keyring is quite stylish! The fans are provided in a separate container and each comes in a dedicated box.

All boxes are numbered for ease of identification; even the radiator box has a number. The following are provided:

• 4x Nuts/Caps
• 4x Intel/AMD Standoff Screws
• 4x Intel 20xx Standoff Screws
• 1x Intel Backplate
• 2x Intel Mounting Brackets
• 2x AMD Mounting Brackets
• 1x Thermal Paste Tube
• 1x USB C Cable for the Display Screen
• 3x Tube Clips
• 2x Magnetic Clips for the Block
• Velcro Ties
• 12x Radiator Screws
• 24x Fan Screws
• 1x Nut Locker
• 1x Booklet (User Manual)
• 1 Control Hub
• 4x Screws for Control Hub
• 2x Cables for Control Hub

Design

It is time to take a look at each component of the cooler. I will start with the radiator.

Radiator

Valkyrie uses an aluminum-made radiator. It has a dimension of 397x120x27mm. These are standard numbers. Installing 120x25mm fans would make the overall height of this unit to be 53mm, including the fans’ screw heads. The FPI count is 20, and there are 12 channels for the coolant flow. The complete assembly is finished in white. The fin stacking job is satisfactory. There is a gap of 105mm between two opposite-end mounting holes.

Looking at the side of the unit, you can spot Valkyrie branding in the center of the radiator frame. The near end has a thicker block compared to the far end. Valkyrie uses FEP corrugated braided sleeve tubing with white mesh. The tube length is 425mm. Take note that Valkyrie has used an offset design on the block that could make one tube longer than the other, which does not mean that both tubes have different lengths.

Looking at the tube end side of this radiator, there is a considerable gap between both tube connections. The tube connection is concealed using white clamps. SYN360 ARGB White is printed over a serial number sticker.

Block

Let’s take a look at the pump block.

The overall outlook of the block is a square design. There is a 2.4” LCD screen. You can display various sensor readings, animations, pictures, etc. The media will work as long as it is in 4:3 size. The screen resolution is 320x240px.

There are two magnetic clips in teal (blue shade) over the block. Valkyrie has provided a pair of red color clips as well in the accessories, though I am not sure how these sync with the white outfit.

The upper portion of the housing is made of aluminum material and has a silver outlook. The middle and lower part is made of ABS material. The white and silver colours look pleasant in person. However, the teal colour needs to go. There is Valkyrie branding in the center.

There is a USB-C port on the side to which the USB cable is connected. There is also a memory card slot that has a 16GB card provided by the Valkyrie. I appreciate them using the Type-C port, whereas others are still sticking with the micro-USB port.

You can also see that there is a spring-loaded screw installed in the housing. This cooler uses a two-point mounting mechanism.

Valkyrie has provided a 16GB memory card from Netac. It is a class 3 category card. I like this idea. You can save your media files on the memory card, and this would make the cooler retain the display settings even if the PC is changed.

Looking at the backside of the housing, you can see offset tube connections, as I mentioned above. One connection is on the top, whereas the other is on the bottom. Valkyrie has used black clamps over connections. You can see a flat cable coming out from here.

The unit comes with pre-applied thermal paste. I have taken pictures after testing the cooler; hence, paste is not shown. The cold plate measures 60x50x3mm. Valkyrie has used a Skived copper cold plate and high-RPM pump providing a good cooling solution for the modern Intel and AMD processors.

The pump is PWM-regulated, which is a nice touch. However, no performance data is provided by the Valkyrie. The pump speed was 2824 RPM.

X12E White Fans

My Valkyrie has provided 3x X12E White fans with SYN360 ARGB White cooler. Each fan has 9x blades. There are three notches on the trailing edge towards the center. The center has a silver finish and you can see a CNC-milled bearing shell made of brass material. This provides added stability and precision.

Valkyrie has come up with a fresh design for the ARGB lighting effects. The thick diffuser is sandwiched between the mounting corners and the main frame. There is no anti-vibration pad on the mounting corners.

You can see VALKYRIE branding in the center. The exposed diffusers can be seen in a slope design.

There is a cut-to-size cable on one side of the fan. It has two proprietary connectors. There is a 7-pin connector, as can be seen. The other end of the cable has a 7-pin socket.

Valkyrie has provided an extension cable in each fan box. It has 4 connectors:

• 1x 7-pin socket connector
• 1x 4-pin PWM connector
• 2x 3-pin 5V ARGB connectors

There is a 4-arms assembly on the backside. The arms are designed to guide the airflow. The fans’ model is X12E-W. These fans are made in China and use Fluid Dynamic Bearings.

Salient specifications of these fans include:

Control Hub

There is a Control Hub with this cooler. The maximum current for PWM ports is 2.6A. The PWM fan voltage is 12VDC. RGB maximum current is 3A at 5VDC.

There is a leaflet printed paper over the top that helps the users identify the ports along with their connection requirements. It can be removed.

Looking at one side, you can see 3x ARGB ports and 3x Fan ports. There is also a 2-pin port to which the bundled cable is connected for connection on the ARGB header of the motherboard.

Looking at the opposite side of the hub, you will find 3x 4-pin PWM ports and 3-pin ARGB ports. There is also a red color 4-pin PWM port that must be connected to report RPM or TAC signal to the motherboard. There is a 3-pin port that needs to be connected to the CPU Fan header of the motherboard using the bundled cable.

The hub is SATA powered for which you need to connect the SATA cable from your PSU to this port. Valkyrie has provided two cables to establish a connection between the control hub and the motherboard.

Installation

I have tested this cooler on Intel LGA1700 sockets. Here are the steps:

1. Place the backplate on the backside of the motherboard.
2. Secure the backplate using the Intel LGA1700 standoff screws.
3. Place 2x Intel Mounting Brackets over the standoff screws.
4. Use 4x nuts to secure the mounting brackets.
5. The brushing tool will come in handy for the above step.
6. Remove the protective cover from the base of the cooler.
7. Place the block over the CPU so that the spring-loaded screws make contact with the standoffs on the mounting brackets.
8. Use a screwdriver to complete the block’s installation
9. Install the radiator assembly as per the requirement.
10. Connect the cables.
11. Installation is complete.

Clearance

This cooler has no clearance issue concerning DIMM slots, NVMe Heatsink covers, and PCIe slots. The dimension of this cooler is 397x120x53mm. Keep this in mind for the PC Case clearance.

Myth.Cool Software

Valkyrie has provided a software named Myth.Cool. This software is required for LCD screens. It has a powerful module that can read the PWM controllers of the motherboard as well as the graphics card.

However, this software is pretty basic and has an inconvenient user interface. You may need to spend some time to get used to it. The display options are also basic. Valkyrie has provided a page full of non-required functions/apps for your system.

Valkyrie should go back to the drawing board and work on the software design and optimization from scratch. Take a look at iCUE!

Digital RGB Lighting

This cooler is tested on GIGABYTE AORUS Z790 ELITE AX, and the lighting effects are tested using RGB Fusion 2.0. The lighting effects were working fine.

Thermal Testing

I have used below mentioned configuration to test the performance of this cooler: –

• Intel i7 13700k
• GIGABYTE Z790 AORUS ELITE AX
• Asgard BRAGI ROG Strix RGB 32GB DDR5 kit 7200MT/s CAS34
• Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB NVMe SSD [For OS]
• GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 VISION OC [For Display]
• Corsair AX1200i Platinum PSU
• Open-Air Test Config

Here is the settings table for testing:

Here are the results:

Valkyrie SYN360 ARGB White cooler has taken the top spot on our graphs, defeating the Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360 ATMOS and the EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 Lux D-RGB coolers. This is too good a performance from this cooler, but it has a 43.2 dBA sound level, which is where the Cooler Master cooler has an advantage, but the EKWB cooler matches with the SYN360.

Should You Buy It?

Buy It If

✅You want the most premium best performance cooler:  The Valkyrie SYN360 ARGB White offers a top-notch performance, giving a tough time to the competition when it comes to raw performance.

✅You like an LCD Screen on the Cooler: If you are in the market looking for a cooler that has an LCD screen, then Valkyrie has got you covered with a SYN360 cooler.

✅You are looking for multi-socket support: This cooler is compatible with Intel LGA115x/1200/1700/20xx and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets. I have seen many brands skipping on either LGA20xx or LGA115x/1200 sockets on their new coolers. Valkyrie has covered you for good.

✅You want a control hub with the cooler: the Valkyrie SYN360 ARGB White comes with a Control Hub that allows multiple fans to be connected to the motherboard at a time for a single control.

Don’t Buy It If

❌You want maximum customization of LCD Screen: Valkyrie needs to rework its software as it is basic and not user-friendly. It is also filled with not-needed functions. It seems like we have powerful hardware with sluggish software.

❌You prefer standard connectors: The fans of this cooler don’t have standard connectors. Skip this cooler if this is not what you need or prefer. Valkyrie has provided 3x Adapter cables, though.

Final Words

I have tested the Valkyrie SYN360 ARGB White cooler. It is a flagship liquid cooler from the manufacturer that is a featured rich cooling solution with zero compromise on performance and aesthetics. Valkyrie has used 425m long FEP corrugated braided sleeve tubing with white mesh. There are three clips for a clean and neat outlook. The block is made of aluminum and ABS materials. There is a 2.4” LCD screen having a screen resolution of 320x240px. It can display media in 4:3 size. There is a blue, white, and silver color combination. I prefer only white and silver.

The cold plate has a 60x50x3mm size and comes with a high-performance pre-applied thermal paste. The pump is PWM-regulated. From my testing, it was spinning up to 2824 RPM. The tubes are installed in an offset manner on the block.

There are 3x X12E white fans with a different-looking (refreshing) ARGB lighting diffuser pattern. The center of these fans has a brass-made bearing shell for stability and longevity. These fans use proprietary connectors. They have a short length for clean cable management. They can be daisy-chained and then used as a bundled adapter cable for connection with the motherboard. Alternatively, connect them directly to the included control hub. The daisy-chain solution gives clean cable management compared to the control hub.

The block has a USB-C port for connection with a USB 2.0 header on the motherboard. Valkyrie has also included a 16GB memory card so that display settings and media can be saved over the card. This would make the cooler independent of the software and one PC setup. When it comes to installing this cooler on LGA1700, you would need 11 items to install the block over CPU in 9 steps. Overall, installation is convenient.

This cooler retails at USD 220. The core reason for this price is the LCD screen and the memory card. The feature set, the presentation, the sheer performance of this cooler, and a 5-year warranty justify the price.

Hayyan Serwer

[How-To Guides Expert]

Laiba, our tech guru at HI Digital, simplifies and crafts How-To Guides with a Google IT Support Certificate. Beyond tech, she captures the city’s aesthetics through her lens. Join her journey where tech meets creativity!

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