Introduction
In our preparation for the next round-up content, we are doing reviews of the provided 360mm AIOs. This time we are taking a look at the COUGAR Poseidon GT 360 cooler. Poseidon GT is a high-performance liquid cooler and is available in 240mm and 360mm sizes. This AIO features UTTERRIGHT fins, high-efficiency fans, and ARGB Lighting on the pump housing with a mirror effect. This unit is compatible with Intel LGA 115x/1366/1200/1700/2011/2066 and AMD TR4/TRX4/AM5/AM4/FM2/FM1/AM3/AM2+/AM2 sockets. COUGAR is providing a 5-year warranty on this cooler. The pump design features ZrO₂ made bearing providing toughness and strength.
Product: COUGAR Poseidon GT 360
Price: £118.30 [AMAZON UK pricing at the time of this writing]
COUGAR Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler Specifications
Packing Box
The cooler is shipped inside a slim design packing box that is finished in a COUGAR theme. Salient features are mentioned over here which we have covered in the introduction.
COUGAR has mentioned more features over here including:
- Rotatable Pump Cover
- ARGB Lighting
- UTTERRIGHT Fins
- MHP120 Fans
We can see an egged carton holding the components. This is a standard layout for shipping AIOs as it prevents damage to the unit during shipping where possible.
Accessories
Let’s see what is provided in the box.
COUGAR has provided a user guide with instructions about installing this unit on supported sockets.
We have:
- AMD Stud Bolts
- Intel LGA1200/115x/1366 Stud Bolts
- Intel LGA1700 Stud Bolts
- Intel LGA2011/2066 Stud Bolts
- Silicon Pads
- Thumb Nuts
We have:
- AMD Ring Bracket
- Intel Ring Bracket
- Intel Backplate
COUGAR has done a good job with the backplate as it comes prepared. There are markings on each arm or mounting corner showing the socket type. You can use a slider to move the screw to the desired location and it will get locked there.
COUGAR has provided:
- 12x Radiator Screws
- 12x Fan Screws
- 1x Thermal Paste
COUGAR has provided a 3-way PWM splitter cable and there is a dedicated A-RGB controller as well. In case your motherboard does not have a dedicated header, you can use this controller to regulate the lighting effects on the pump top. This controller is SATA powered and there is a large side single button on it.
One end of the controller has a fixed 3-pin, 5V standard RGB connector. It is nice to see that COUGAR has used standard connectors. Wise move!
Closer Look
Let’s dive in and see what this AIO is about.
The dimension of this radiator is 392x121x27mm. It is made of aluminum material. 27mm refers to the height of this radiator. Adding 25mm thick fans would make the overall height of 53mm approximately. This radiator has a 20 FPI count and there are 12 channels for coolant flow.
Above picture shows a close-up view of the fin stack. COUGAR has used different designs for the fins. The fins are implemented at 90° unlike how standard or regular fins are installed. COUGAR has done a fine job with the fins tacking
Above picture shows the concept. On the left, we have a regular or standard fin layout whereas the right one shows the UTTERIGHT design by COUGAR. According to COUGAR, this would give more heat dissipation.
The far end has a rectangular layout. There is no branding or sticker of any sort over here.
COUGAR has used metallic clamps to conceal the tubes and fittings connections. There is a serial number sticker as well.
I really like the gray and black color combination on the radiator. I wish COUGAR had done gray textured sleeves on the tubes to make this unit more aesthetically pleasing. Side frames are riveted to the main housing. There is a COUGAR branding over here.
We are showing the underside of the mounting holes over the side frame. There is a gap between the actual fin stack and the main frame of this radiator. There is no protection under the mounting holes but as long as you are using bundled screws, you are good.
This unit has rubber tubes that run to approximately 400mm. These have nylon braided mesh sleeves for aesthetics.
The pump housing is made of ABS material and has a dimension of 71.5×49.8mm. 49.8mm is the overall height of this block. The top cover is rotatable making the COUGAR logo to be changed as per the installation orientation of the cooler. I appreciate COUGAR for taking care of minute details and making it a convenient design for the user. There is a mirror effect on the top behind the COUGAR brand name. This will only show up once A-RGB lighting is enabled. There is a diffuser line running below this cover that is also A-RGB backlit.
Above picture shows the top cover from another angle.
There is no branding on any side of this unit. There are two flat cables coming out of the housing. One cable powers the pump and has a 3-pin connector. The other cable is for the A-RGB lighting. It has two standard RGB connectors using a 3-pin interface at 5V. Speaking of the pump, it has a rated speed of 3200 ± 200 RPM, running at 12VDC using 0.35A/4.2W power consumption. The pump bearing is made of ZrO₂ providing higher strength and toughness to enhance the durability.
The tubes have a 90° connection with the fittings or in other words, there are 90° angled adapter fittings over here. Users can rotate tubes to the right or left side as per requirement. We can also see a copper base having a protective cover on it. It measures 51x54mm. There are notches on the main frame that act as a holder of the ring bracket. Unlike the ASETEK design where the ring bracket is slid into notches for the installation, COUGAR is using a different design. These notches will only hold the bracket by pressing the bracket down which is why the installation mechanism is different as well.
Above picture shows the housing after removing the top cover. Yes, you can remove the top cover as well though it is not needed. Now you can see the COUGAR brand name. Now, we come to know that the diffuser covers the entire area not just the border area.
Above picture shows the inner side of the top cover.
This unit comes with 3x MHP 120 fans. These are non-RGB fans and feature metal-reinforced bearing shell. Each fan has 9x blades. We can see a golden color metal-reinforced shell in the center of the hub. COUGAR branding can be seen on the hub. The frame does not have a ring design or square shape.
There are anti-vibration pads on the mounting corners.
There are arrow symbols on one side of the main frame. These provide a visual aid to the user to determine the direction of airflow through the fan and the direction of blades’ spin.
There is a COUGAR branding on the other side of the frame.
Looking at the backside of this fan, we can see a 4-arm assembly. One arm has an inset on which wires are routed. These fans are made in China.
Each fan is powered by a 4-pin PWM connector cable.
The specifications of the fans are:
| Dimension | 120x120x25mm |
| Type | 4-pin PWM Connector |
| Speed | 600 – 2000 ± 200 RPM |
| Airflow | 82.48 CFM |
| Air Pressure | 4.24mmH₂O |
| Noise | 34.5 dB(A) |
| Bearing Type | Not Known |
| Lifespan | 300,000 hours at 25°C ambient |
| Rated Voltage | 12VDC |
| Rated Current | 0.23 A |
| Rated Power | 2.76 W ± 10% |
Installation
We are not covering the details of installation. Please refer to the user guide for detailed instructions about installing this cooler. However, we have noticed that the ring bracket does not go on the block, instead, it is placed in a loose condition on the mounting assembly. The user is required to place the block in an offset manner and then rotate the block so that the notches hold the ring bracket. Then start screwing the thumb nuts to complete the installation. This is not a convenient installation. Also, we have noticed that the screws or bolts need to be in a perfectly straight line with the holes otherwise they will not go in properly. We would suggest installing this cooler out of the case just in case. Also, there is a bypass to all this. Put the ring bracket under the notches so that it does not move then carefully placed it on the assembly and secure it using thumb nuts much like how we do on ASETEK design. Other than that, we did not find any issues.
A-RGB Lighting
COUGAR is using standard 3-pin, 5V connectors for A-RGB lighting making this solution compatible with RGB sync technologies from all major motherboard manufacturers. We have tested the lighting on GIGABYTE Z690 AERO G DDR5 motherboards. The D-RGB lighting is working fine with RGB FUSION 2.0 on these motherboards. Here are a few pictures.
Testing
We have used the following configurations for testing:
- Intel core i7 12700k
- GIGABYTE Z690 AERO G D5
- Sabrent Rocket 32GB DDR5 Kit @ 4800MHz CAS 40
- GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 3060 VISION OC
- Sabrent Rocket Q 500GB NVMe SSD [For OS]
- Be quiet! Straight Power 11 850W Platinum PSU
- Thermaltake Core P6 TG Snow Edition in an open frame layout
Test table is:
| Clocks | P-Cores 4.8GHz
E-Core 3.8GHz |
| Voltage | 1.20V |
| C-States | Disabled |
| Speed Step | Disabled |
| Rest of settings | Stock, Auto |
| XMP | XMP Loaded where available |
| Thermal Paste | Noctua NT-H1 |
| Thermal Paste Application | X lines method |
| Headers | CPU_FAN, CPU_OPT, and PUMP Headers |
| Stress Software | CINEBENCH R23.2 |
| Stress Run Time | 30 minutes |
| PC Idle Time | 5 minutes |
| Monitoring Software | HWInfo64 |
| OC Tool | Intel XTU |
A bit of note about the new platforms. We have seen AMD AM5 and Intel Alder Lake S CPUs taking more power and this time both sides have aimed at reaching the maximum clocks regardless of thermal limit. In fact, the AM5 SKUs will run into thermal limits right away depending on the cooling solution and the clocks being used. This has made testing of CPU coolers challenging because viewers/readers are not used to a new nomenclature which is what clocks are sustained under a given load using a particular cooler. That is if the cooler is capable of providing enough cooling head to sustain the high frequencies. Traditionally we are used to going the other way around that is which cooler is better in terms of thermal capacity. Despite this, we are using temperatures as a base for measuring this unit. Among other reasons is the high thermal density of these new CPUs.
The ambient temperature was in the range of 25°C to 25.5°C. Since the variation in the ambient temperature is within 1°C, we are reporting absolute temperatures in the graph. The testing is done on an open-air bench system. Once inside the chassis, the temperatures are expected to rise and would largely depend upon the optimal airflow inside the chassis.
Disclaimer: Every silicon is different hence no two same SKUs are likely to take same voltage to yield same performance at same thermals per se but margin would be close. Not every stress test run may yield the same result which could be due to various reasons like thermal paste application, ambient temperature variation, mounting pressure of the cooler, etc. This is very why we have listed our variables and their settings. Let’s take a look at the results.
Result
COUGAR Posiedon GT 360 is sitting on the top with 1°C difference. This is a good performance from this cooler at its price point.
Noise
Our sound meter shows this unit making a sound output of 51 dB(A) at an ambient of 32 dB(A).
Conclusion
Our streak of 360mm AIOs continued as we have taken a spin at COUGAR Poseidon GT 360 cooler before we start our next mega project of rounding up 360mm size AIOs. As the name suggests, this is a 360mm size AIO. There are many categories under Poseidon’s name from COUGAR. They have sent us a GT series cooler for testing. We are also expecting their new AIO to show up soon. This unit is compatible with Intel LGA 115x/1366/1200/1700/2011/2066 and AMD TR4/TRX4/AM5/AM4/FM2/FM1/AM3/AM2+/AM2 sockets.
This cooler has an elegant gray and black color combination on the radiator housing and fin stack. Radiator is made of aluminum alloy. It has a dimension of 392x121x27mm. The side frame of the housing is finished in gray color adding a subtle touch to the look and feel. This radiator features UTTERIGHT fins where fins are installed at 90°, unlike the traditional layout. According to COUGAR, this would provide a better heat transfer. FPI count is between 20 and 21. There are 12 channels for the coolant flow. The mounting holes have a standard gap between them. COUGAR is using rubber tubes having an approximate length of 400mm. These have nice mesh sleeves for aesthetics. I wish these were in a gray or gray and black combination and that would have made the overall outlook more pleasing.
The pump top is rotatable. There is a COUGAR branding under this cover that is A-RGB backlit. There is also an infinity mirror effect. In addition, the diffuser is left exposed on the exterior of the housing providing a subtle A-RGB touch all around. The pump has a rated speed of 3200 ± 200 RPM, running at 12VDC using 0.35A/4.2W power consumption. It features ZrO₂ bearing for longevity and strength. The pump housing has a dimension of 71.5×49.8mm. it also has a black and gray color finish. It has a copper base measuring 51x54mm.
COUGAR has provided powerful MHP120 fans with this cooler. These fans have metal-reinforced bearing shell. Each fan has 9 blades and there are anti-vibration pads on the mounting corners. COUGAR is using a 4-pin PWM connector on the power cable. These fans have a dimension of 120x120x25mm. They have a maximum speed of 2000 ± 200 RPM with a maximum of 82.48 CFM airflow at 4.25mmH₂O static pressure. The noise level is rated at 34.5 dB(A) maximum. There is no mention of the type of bearing and no metal shell is not a bearing itself.
COUGAR has provided a dedicated A-RGB controller as well that would come in handy where there is no provision on your motherboard. They have also used standard connectors ensuring the maximum compatibility with RGB sync technologies from motherboard manufacturers. The controller is SATA powered and it has a single large-size button to handle the operations. We have tested the digital RGB lighting on GIGABYTE Z690 AERO G D5 motherboard using RGB FUSION 2.0 app. The lighting effects were working flawlessly.
While the overall installation seems easy, the very requirement of putting the ring bracket on the mounting assembly directly in a loose condition and then placing a block on top in an offset manner and rotating the block so that it snuggles the bracket is not a convenient way of doing it. Installing this cooler on Intel LGA1700 socket would require 14 items which is still less compared to 19 items on be quiet! coolers. I bypassed the ring bracket installation by directly placing the bracket on the block and holding it under the notches while placing it on the assembly. It was more convenient.
This unit is listed on SCAN UK at £118.30. COUGAR is offering a 5-year warranty on this cooler. This price point and good thermal performance make this cooler quite a contender for your buck. I hope COUGAR is good at customer service to honor the warranties. This cooler has taken the top slot in our graph. The fans are not that loud and the overall package is quite an offer that is hard to overlook. Obviously, the A-RGB lighting effects on pump housing are another plus.
Pros:
- Good Thermal Performance
- Rotatable Pump Top
- Digital RGB Lighting
- Metal-Reinforced Shell Bearing on Fan
- Extensive AMD sockets support
- Intel LGA1700 socket support
- A-RGB Controller
- Warranty
- Price
Cons:
- Tricky Installation
COUGAR Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler FAQ
Q: What is the Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler?
A: The Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler is a liquid cooling solution designed for CPUs, featuring a 360mm radiator, three 120mm fans, and a pump integrated into the CPU block.
Q: Is the Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler compatible with all CPU sockets?
A: The cooler supports a wide range of CPU sockets, including Intel LGA 2066/2011/1151/1150/1155/1156/1366/1200 and AMD AM4/TR4/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2/FM2+/FM2/FM1 sockets. It is important to check the compatibility of your specific CPU socket before purchasing.
Q: How does the Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler perform in terms of cooling efficiency?
A: According to our testing, the Poseidon GT 360 offers excellent cooling performance. It keeps the CPU temperatures low even under heavy load, making it suitable for overclocking or demanding applications.
Q: Does the Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler come with pre-applied thermal paste?
A: No, but there is a tube of thermal paste in the box.
Q: What are the dimensions of the Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler?
A: The radiator measures 392mm x 121mm x 27mm (LxWxH), while the CPU block measures 86mm x 86mm x 63.5mm (LxWxH). It’s important to ensure that your case has enough space to accommodate these dimensions.
Q: Are the fans on the Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler adjustable in terms of speed?
A: Yes, the three 120mm fans included with the cooler support PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) control, allowing for precise speed adjustment based on temperature requirements.
Q: Does the Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler include RGB lighting?
A: While the cooler focuses on performance, there is a small bit of ARGB lighting on the pump.
Q: What warranty is offered for the Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler?
A: The Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler comes with a limited warranty of 5 years from the date of purchase.
Q: Does the Cougar Poseidon GT 360 AIO Cooler support software control?
A: No, the cooler does not come with dedicated software control. However, the fans can be controlled through the motherboard’s fan control software, utilizing the PWM feature.
