MSI MAG CORELIQUID A15 360 Overview
Available in both 240mm and 360mm sizes, the MAG CORELIQUID A15 lineup available in a single black colorway. The A15 360 is a 360mm cooler, and out of the box it is a pretty standard looking entry-level AIO. For airflow duties you have three of MSI’s CycloBlade 9 fans, a 9-blade 120mm ARGB fan design, attached to a 27mm thick 360mm radiator, and a pump housing with an angular square design.
The first component up in our overview is the 360mm aluminum radiator. This radiator is very simple in it’s design, with a black paint job, clean of any MSI branding on any of its surfaces. The 27mm thickness is right in line with the standard size we see on most AIOS. With 20 fins-per-inch, the included CycloBlade 9 fans and their hybrid design, optimized with both airflow and static pressure in mind, should do the trick, as we have seen with previous MSI AIOs.
The nylon-braided EPDM cooling lines exit from one end of the radiator’s end cap, and connect to the radiator via crimped connectors. These lines are quite flexible and have an adequate length for installing in a mid-tower case.
Moving on to the pump housing, we have pretty standard entry-level design. The squared body is very straightforward, with an angular section on top, complete with ARGB lighting zones. Multiple brushed aluminum panels make up a few of the top cap’s design, while a large section of slanted openings makes up the majority of the remaining space, aside from the lightning bolt-esque line across the center.
Moving around to the sides we find the two cooling lines exiting from the bottom side of the pump housing. Each line is paired up with a swiveling fitting to make installation and fitment much easier than with fixed connections. Internally, the pump provides an operating speed of up to 3400 RPM, with a maximum noise rating of 20 dBA.
The other sides of the pump housing are free from any major features, aside from an ARGB-lit accent line that makes its way around all sides of the pump housing. Both a 4-pin PWM and 3-pin ARGB cable exit from the pump housing’s right side, providing power and control for the pump and LEDs, respectively.
Taking a look at the base of the cooler, we find a large copper base, free from any pre-applied thermal material. We also find that there are no visible screws or components holding the copper plate to the pump, a feature that MSI says helps with sealing the unit and providing reliable operation. MSI includes a small syringe of thermal paste for installation needs.
A universal mounting bracket for both AMD and Intel installations is slotted into the pump housing body, which just requires you to make sure you have the appropriate motherboard brackets installed during installation. Also of note is that this cooler supports the ability to offset the coldplate on supported Intel Ultra 9 and Ultra 7 CPUs for additional cooling performance.
As far as the included fans go, MSI has provided three of their 120mm CycloBlade 9 ARGB fans that provide up to 64.898 CFM of airflow at their full speed of 2,050 RPM. And while MSI does not provide any specifications regarding static pressure, we have found that these fans can provide up to 2.59mm-H2O. These fan specifications don’t necessarily convey much ability to efficiently move air through the radiator’s 20 FPI density, though we have seen in other recent reviews that these specification numbers don’t always equate to higher or lower performance alone.
The rubber feet at each corner help isolate any vibrations that may come from the nine fan blades, which is always a welcome feature. Speaking of the number of blades, the use of nine blades is typically associated with a high airflow fan, whereas seven are typically found on higher static pressure fans. That said, the ends of the blades on the CycloBlade 9 fans are all connected via a single ring, which helps guide all of the airflow through the radiator and not out across the edges of the blades.
MSI has already mounted these fans to the radiator from the factory, which is another welcome feature, and the fact that they also chain to each other without any external cabling will really help reduce cable clutter and installation headaches that can come from trying to wrangle the power and lighting cabling from each cable.
