Thermalright Grand Vision 360 Review: It’s not a competition, it is a massacre (again)

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Thermalright Grand Vision 360 Review: It’s not a competition, it is a massacre (again)

The last time I used the title of it’s not a competition, it is a massacre was when Thermalright released its Phantom Spirit 120 EVO air cooler. To this day I consider it one of the best options in air cooling. And after testing it, I’m equally impressed with Thermalright’s latest AIO, the Grand Vision 360.

This cooler not only has some of the best thermal performance I’ve seen from any AIO I’ve tested, but it also has a fancy LCD display with tons of preset customizations available, while retaining a reasonable price tag of $129. You can bet this one will soon be added to our list of the best coolers we’ve tested. But before it lands there, let’s take a look at the cooler’s features and specs, followed by its impressive results in our testing.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Cooler specifications

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Cooler	Thermalright Grand Vision 360
MSRP	$129 (U.S.)
Radiator Material	Aluminum
Pump Speed	Up to 6400 RPM
Lighting	ARGB on fans, diffused lighting strip on CPU block
Warranty	3 Years
Socket Compatibility	Intel Socket LGA 1851/1700/1200/115x AMD AM5 / AM4
Unit Dimensions (including fans)	403 (L) x 120 (W) x 53mm (D)
Base	Copper cold plate
Maximum TDP (Our Testing)	>265W with Intel’s i7-14700K

Packing and included contents

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The Grand Vision 360 is the first product from Thermalright with packaging that I would describe as “fancy.” As you open the top, the white section with “low temperature, high performance” pops up. The product is secured with plastic wrappings and molded cardboard. The fans are preinstalled for convenience.

Included with the box are the following:

• Three 120mm fans
• 360mm radiator and CPU block
• Thermal Paste
• LCD Screen
• Mounting accessories for modern AMD & Intel platforms

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Features of Thermalright’s Grand Vision 360

Thermalright TF7 Thermal Paste

Included with the AIO is a small tube of Thermalright’s TF7 thermal paste. This is one of the better pastes on the market, as you can see in our best thermal paste tests. 

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Accessible refill port

I go out of my way to recognize companies when that don’t include a consumer-unfriendly “warranty void if removed” sticker on top of the refill port – an action which is technically ******** under the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act in the USA. Thermalright includes an accessible refill port hidden behind a sticker with its logo on it, so that users who wish to service their equipment can do so. Most users won’t have to do this during the three-year warranty rating, but it’s nice to have the option should the need arise. 

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27mm radiator 

The Grand Vision 360 includes a radiator 27mm thick, which is standard for most liquid coolers.

  Fancy 3.4-inch display 

One thing that immediately sets the Grand Vision 360 apart from its competitors, at least in this price range, is the inclusion of a 3.4-inch, 480×480-resolution screen. 

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Software with tons of customization options 

You don’t need to install Thermalright’s software to operate the AIO normally, but you’ll need to download it if you wish to customize the display. Thermalright doesn’t make it obvious where to download the software, but

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

At first glance, you’ll see the screen shown above and might think that Thermalright’s software is rather basic. The software is deceptively simple looking, but exploring the options further reveals a wide variety of preset customization options – more than I’ve seen from any other AIO software I’ve used before!

Cable management features 

Thermalright’s Grand Vision AIO features pre-installed fans with a quick-connect system; the cables are routed through the tubing of the AIO with clips. This was a good effort. But it ends up a tad bit messier than needed. This is a minor complaint in an otherwise stellar product. 

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

  TL—H12-X28-S 120mm PWM fans 

There’s more to a cooler than just the heatsink or radiator. The bundled fans have a significant impact on cooling and noise levels, as well as how the cooler looks in your case. The fans included are TL—H12-X28-S (that’s a mouthful!) 120mm PWM fans, which, as the benchmarks will show, enable strong cooling performance both at full speed and when restricted to low noise levels.

These fans are pre-installed and feature a quick-connect system, designed to save the user time and offer tidy cable management. They’re also slightly thicker than normal: 28mm instead of the normal 25mm fans.

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Dimensions	120 x 120 x 28mm
Fan Speed	Up to 2150 RPM
Air Flow	Up to 80.45 CFM
Air Pressure	Up to 2.65 mmH2O
Bearing Type	S-FDB V2
Lighting	ARGB

Full RAM Compatibility 

Like almost every other AIO on the market, the Grand Vision 360 doesn’t interfere with or overhang RAM DIMMs in any manner – allowing for all sizes of RAM, no matter how tall.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

Testing configuration – Intel LGA1700 and LGA1851 platform

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CPU	Intel Core i7-14700K
GPU	ASRock Steel Legend Radeon 7900 GRE
Motherboard	MSI Z790 Project Zero
Case	MSI Pano 100L PZ ******
System Fans	Iceberg Thermal IceGale Silent

There are many factors other than the CPU cooler that can influence your cooling performance, including the case you use and the fans installed in it. A system’s motherboard can also influence this, especially if it suffers from bending, which results in poor cooler contact with the CPU. 

To prevent bending from impacting our cooling results, we’ve installed Thermalright’s LGA 1700 contact frame into our testing rig. If your motherboard is affected by bending, your thermal results will be worse than those shown below. Not all motherboards are affected equally by this issue. I tested Raptor Lake CPUs in two motherboards. And while one of them showed significant thermal improvements after installing Thermalright’s LGA1700 contact frame, the other motherboard showed no difference in temperatures whatsoever! Check out our review of the contact frame for more information.

I’ve also tested this cooler with Intel’s latest platform, Arrow Lake and LGA 1851.

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CPU	Intel Core Ultra 9 285K
GPU	MSI Ventus 3X RTX 4070Ti Super
Motherboard	MSI Z890 Carbon Wifi
Case	MSI MPG Gungnir 300R
System fans	Pre-installed case fans

LGA 1700 and 1851 Installation

The installation of the AIO is simple. The following steps assume that you will mount the radiator to your case first, which is generally a good idea unless you are building in a very cramped case.

1. You’ll first need to place the backplate against the rear of the motherboard.

2. Next, you’ll secure the backplate by attaching standoffs. You’ll then place the mounting bars on top of the standoffs, and secure them with the included screws.

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3. Apply the included thermal paste to your CPU. If you have any questions on how to do this properly, please refer to our handy guide on how to apply thermal paste.

4. Place the CPU block on top of the CPU, and secure it with a screwdriver.

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5. Connect the PWM and ARGB cables to your motherboard. If you wish to use the display, you’ll need to connect the USB cable to the CPU block on one end, and to a USB and SATA power header on the other ends.

6. Afterwards, power on your computer as installation is complete.

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(Image credit: Tom’s Hardware)

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#Thermalright #Grand #Vision #Review #competition #massacre

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