Valkyrie has released two new coolers in V and A series nomenclature. These coolers are available in 240mm and 360mm size and colors options are black and white. I am taking a look at V360 Lite ARGB Black AIO in this article. This is their new flagship cooler but it comes at an attractive price point of €108.25 with 5 year warranty period.
This cooler features their new in-house designed pump for efficient cooling. The block is not circular and it has a distinctive design where you can see a circuit from the top and a subtle A-RGB back lighting as well. This cooler comes with 3x B12 fans having airflow rating of 81.68 CFM and static pressure rating of 4.0mmH₂O.
This cooler is compatible with Intel LGA115x/1200/1700/20XX and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets.
V360 Lite Specifications
| Cold Plate Material | Copper |
| Cold Plate Dimension | 58.64×56.28×3.3mm |
| Radiator Material | Aluminum |
| Radiator Dimension | 120x397x27mm |
| Radiator Size | 360mm |
| Pump Speed | 800 to 2800 RPM ±10% |
| Pump Voltage | 12VDC |
| Connector | 4-pin PWM and 3-pin A-RGB |
| Block Pump Lighting | A-RGB |
| Tube Length | 450mm |
| Tubing Material | CIIR + EPDM Hose |
| Tubing Sleeve | Polyester Filament |
| TDP | 300W |
| Weight | 2.69Kg |
| Warranty | 5-Years |
| Socket Support | Intel LGA115x/1200/1700/20XX AMD AM4/AM5 |
Packaging and Unboxing
The outer box is made of cardboard material and is finished in black and red colors. This packaging is minimalistic compared to the packaging of SYN360 but it is effective.
There is a carry handle on the top to easily carry the box after shopping. The cooler and accessories are nicely tucked inside the thick white color Styrofoam pad unlike the traditional egged carton.
Accessories
Let’s see what is provided in the accessories department.
There is a warranty guide and installation manual inside the main box. The manual is easy to follow and provides clear instructions about installation of this cooler.
The following are provided in the accessory box:
- 1x Intel Backplate
- 2x Mounting Brackets/Fasteners
- 2x AMD Bracket
- 4x AMD Screws
- 4x Intel LGA20XX Standoff Screws
- 4x Intel Other sockets standoff screws
- 4x Thumb Screws
- 1x Thermal Paste
- 1x Nut Locker
- Velcro Strips
- 3x Tube Clips
- 12x Radiator Screws
- 12x Fan Screws for Push/Pull
Closer Look – Radiator
The three B12 ARGB Black fans come pre-installed on the radiator. They use proprietary connectors for inter-connectivity and then there is an extension cable with standard connectors. This removes the need for any control hub.
They use proprietary connectors for inter-connectivity and then there is an extension cable with standard connectors. This removes the need for any control hub.
The radiator is made of aluminum material. I spotted a few pressed or bend fins in the stack. The dimension of this radiator is 397x120x27mm (LxWxH) which is same as for the SYN360. Here 27mm refers to the height of the unit. The overall height with 120x25mm fans is 53mm including the heads of the screws (approximately).
The radiator has 20 FPI count which means you would need high static pressure fans and Valkyrie has got you covered in this department. There are 12 channels for the coolant flow inside the radiator. There is a gap of 105mm between two mounting holes on opposite ends.
Valkyrie uses black metallic clamps to conceal the connection between tubes and barb fittings. There is a sticker label showing the serial number of the unit.
I am showing the side view of the unit. There is a Valkyrie branding in the middle of the side frame. There are arrow markers facing each other on the frame of B12 fans. I think it is for overall looks and may not imply another meaning.
My Valkyrie is using the CIIR + EPDM Hose unlike FEP corrugated braided sleeve tubing on SYN360. EPDM is enough to tell you that Valkyrie is not compromising anything here. The sleeve material is Polyester Filament . The tube length is 450mm. So far all good! You can see that the far head has a slim size compared to large size near head on the radiator.
Pump Block
Let’s take a look at the elegant design of the pump block.
The pump housing is not a traditional ring design. We have edge design that is quite elegant and stands out from the competition. There is a Mecha-Inspired magnetic Cover with a visible circuit board. The good part is that you can take off the cover and rotate in 90ᵒ to match any orientation of the installed cooler.
Looking at the backside of the housing, you can see that both fittings and tube connections are in offset mount with left side mount meant for inlet and right side for outlet (my wild guess). The tube connections can be rotated to adjust for any user requirement. There are two flat cables coming out from the side of the main housing.
One cable has a standard 4-pin PWM connector to regulate the speed of pump which is 800 to 2800 RPM ±10% using 12VDC. The other cable has a 3-pin 5V A-RGB connector for A-RGB LEDs on the block.
The housing has actually two covers. The top one and the middle one. Both are removable. I forgot taking picture of the second one while doing photo shoot, pardon me for that. You can simply lift off these covers. There are two spring-loaded screws that are pre-installed on the block making it a two point contact mounting.
There is a copper base that has a pre-applied thermal paste. Another good thing is that Valkyrie has provide a tube of thermal paste as well. It will come handy when redoing the cooler in a long run. The cold plate has a dimension of 58.64×56.28×3.3mm.
I have removed the top cover and showing the top of the mid section. This is a magnetic connection. There are three pins that make contact with the top cover for A-RGB lighting.
You can see the inside of the top cover where it has 4x pads in a + design. This design enables the user to rotate the top cover and install it in either of four directions to match the orientation of the cooler.
You can see the top cover and the rest of the housing. The visible circuit board is something new.
Fans
Valkyrie has supplied their powerful B12 fans with this cooler. These are black fans featuring A-RGB lighting. The white version of this cooler comes with white B12 fans. Each fan has transparent (almost) blades with stripes on the surface to maximize the airflow. The center has a large diameter which makes sense as it houses A-RGB LEDs. The frame is made of PBT and PC materials.
The frame is square and has cut-to-size anti-vibration pads. There are 4 arms on the backside that shape the airflow coming out from the blades. These fans are rated for 0.2A each at 12VDC and made in China. There is a slope design on the borders as well. These fans use FDB bearings.
The fans are connected using proprietary connector cables. There is an adapter extension cable that has 4-pin PWM and 3-pin 5V A-RGB connectors to control the speed and lighting effects of the fans.
There is a 7-pin proprietary connector on each fan.
The specifications include:
| Model | Valkyrie B12 |
| Dimension | 120x120x25mm |
| Speed | 800 to 2150 RPM ±10% |
| Airflow | 81.68 CFM |
| Static Pressure | 4.0 mmH₂O (Max) |
| Noise Level | 30.5 dB(A) Max |
| Bearing | Fluid Dynamic Bearing |
| Lighting | A-RGB |
| Frame Material | PBT + PC |
| Voltage | 12VDC |
| Connector | 4-pin PWM and 3-pin A-RGB |
| Cable Length | 650mm |
Installation
We are not covering the details of installation. I only report if there is any issue or observation recorded during installation. This cooler has a strange mounting mechanism on the AMD platform but overall installation is simple.
The only thing you would need to take care of is the placement of mounting brackets. They are to be placed in the center hole on each arm. You may have to wiggle the block a bit when placing over the studs. This is a downside of a two point contact mounting. Anyhow, nothing big of a deal.
D-RGB Lighting
The adapter extension cable for the fans uses standard connectors which makes the A-RGB lighting compatible with the RGB sync technology of the motherboard manufacturers. I have tested the cooler on GIGABYTE X670E AORUS MASTER motherboard and control the lighting using the RGB Fusion 2.0 app. It was working flawlessly. Here are a few pictures.
Thermal Testing
The following configuration is used for thermal testing:
- AMD Ryzen 7950X
- GIGABYTE X670E AORUS MASTER
- Kingston Renegade Fury 32GB 6400MHz CL32 DDR5 kit
- ASRock Phantom Gaming RX 7600 Graphics Card for Display
- Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus 2TB NVME SSD
- Be quiet! Straight Power 11 850W Platinum PSU
- Praxis Wetbench
Here is the settings table for testing:
| Clock (MHz) | Auto |
| Voltage (V) | Auto |
| PBO | Advanced |
| PPT | 200000mW |
| TDC | 480000 |
| EDC | 640000 |
| Boost Clock Override | +75Hz |
| Platform Thermal Throttle Limit | Auto |
| Thermal Paste | Stock |
| Thermal Paste Application | Stock |
| Test Run Time | 30 minutes |
| Idling Time | 10 minutes |
| All Fans Speed | 100% PWM Duty Cycle |
| Pump Speed | |
| Stress Software | CINEBENCH R23.2 |
| Monitoring Software | HWINFO64 |
We are reporting delta temperature in the graph because room temperature varied from 20.9°C to 22.8°C throughout the day. 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.
Result
Valkyrie has again delivered a solid cooling solution in the form of V360 Lite. This cooler is sitting on top in our test result although we don’t have more coolers in the result but ARCTIC and EKWB coolers will give a good reference point.
The overall sound output of V360 Lite is recorded at 43.7 dB(A) which is closer to that of SYN360.
Conclusion
I tested SYN360 white from Valkyrie and this cooler got my praise for its sheer or raw performance albeit a slightly elevated noise level. This cooler in fact won the category of Raw Performance out of the box in our round up of 360mm coolers in 2024. Valkyrie has released new coolers in A and V Lite series.
Meet V240/V360 Lite and A240/A360. These coolers are available in black and white. I have taken a look at the V360 Lite ARGB Black edition this time. Valkyrie is offering these coolers at an attractive price point and I wanted to see if they live up to the standards set by SYN360 while offering a true value to the bucks. (spoiler: they do).
The V360 Lite ARGB Black is compatible with Intel LGA115x/1200/1700/20XX and AMD AM4/AM5 sockets. It is good to see Valkyrie still providing support for old Intel sockets providing more market segment unlike the competition.
We have an aluminum made radiator measuring 397x120x27mm. The complete assembly is black. The total height of this cooler with 120x25mm fans is 53mm approximately including the heads of the screws. The radiator has 20 FPI count and it has 12 channels for coolant flow. There were a few bent or pressed fins on the surface. This would not impact the overall performance though.
Valkyrie uses CIIR + EPDM Hose on V360 Lite coolers along with Polyester Filament sleeve. EPDM is a wise move by the vendor. I have used EPDM soft tube from Alphacool and still using whenever doing a custom loop build. This is an industrial grade material. The tubes run to 450mm length which is plentiful.
The distinctive feature of this cooler is its edge design. It is not circular which has almost become a traditional layout. The top cover of the housing is removable and be rotated in 90ᵒ to align with the orientation of the cooler. Another feature is the visible circuit board on the top cover along with a infinity mirror subtle A-RGB lighting.
This cooler has a copper base and comes with a pre-applied thermal paste. In addition, there is a thermal paste tube in the accessory box that will cover you for good when redoing the cooler in a long run. The pump is PWM controlled and its speed rating is 800 to 2800 RPM ±10% at 12VDC.
My Valkyrie has provided 3x B12 fans with this cooler. These fans have 9x blades with each having stripes. These fans use Fluid Dynamic Bearings and are rated for maximum of 2150 RPM ± 10% speed generating 81.68 CFM airflow while maintaining 4.00mmH₂O static pressure. Their noise rating is 30.5 dBA. These fans have a short length cable that runs to only one side of the frame and uses proprietary connectors for daisy-chaining. This daisy-chain connection can then be connected to the motherboard using an adapter extension cable.
The overall installation of this cooler’s block on AMD AM5 socket requires 12 items in 5 steps. The AMD mounting is different than the other coolers though not difficult. However, fitting a two point block on the studs of the mounting brackets might require you to exert a little more pressure. Take care when installing the mounting brackets as their proper installation is a key. Since this cooler uses standard connectors on the extension cable, it is compatible with RGB Sync technology of the motherboard manufacturers.
This cooler has MSRP of €108.25 and comes with a 5-year warranty from the manufacturer. This cooler offers a top notch thermal performance challenging the likes of EK Water Blocks Nucleus CR360 Lux DRGB and ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 360 showing its might and meat. This is a second cooler from Valkyrie on our test bench and they have won our Must Have award consecutively.
Pros:
- Excellent Thermal Performance
- Edge Pump Cover Design
- Rotatable Cover
- Visible circuit Board
- Infinity mirror subtle A-RGB lighting
- Powerful Pump and Cold Plate Design
- B12 Black ARGB Fans
- Easy Cable Management
- Intel LGA1700/1851 Compatible
- AMD AM5 Compatible
- Easy Installation
- Better Noise
- 5-year Warranty
Cons:
- None
