ADATA is an established manufacturer of PC components and peripherals. The company was founded in Taiwan a little over 20 years ago. The growth of the company over the last decade, in particular, has been rather explosive, and by 2016 ADATA was already the second-largest memory-related products manufacturer in the world. With virtually no room to grow into the memory market anymore, ADATA began to diversify its product portfolio in multiple directions, ranging from PC cooling systems to electric powertrains.

One major expansion for ADATA has been to make further inroads into the PC gaming market, with the mother company founding a new brand, XPG (which stands for “Xtreme Performance Gear”). The XPG logo was initially only found on performance RAM modules, which ADATA had leagues of experience on. Nowadays, ADATA is greatly broadening the products bearing the XPG logo by releasing gaming peripherals, coolers, and even power supply units.

By retail standards, ADATA isn't wasting any time in the pace of their expansion efforts – the company has launched dozens of new products witht the aim of breaking into several market segments almost simultaneously over the past couple of years. A few weeks ago, we had a look at one of their latest diversification attempts in the form of the XPG Cybercore 1300W PSU, a notable high-end PC power supply unit. Today we are taking a look at their attempt to take a piece of the CPU cooler market with the XPG Levante 360, a sizable all-in-one (AIO) liquid cooler.

Packaging & Bundle

ADATA supplied the Levante 360 in a sizable cardboard box featuring a striking red color. A picture of the cooler decorates the front of the box, albeit with all of the cables edited out. It is fairly sturdy and has custom internal cardboard inserts, providing excellent shipping protection.

The items bundled alongside the XPG Levante 360 are a fairly sparse collection, with ADATA keeping things to the essentials. Inside the box, we found the necessary socket mounting hardware, adapters for powering the fans, and a basic RGBW lighting controller for those whose motherboard/system does not have one on-board.

ADATA is supplying three Vento Pro DF1202512LFS4A 120 mm fans for the radiator of the Levante 360. The fans have semi-transparent blades and a black frame, obviously to enhance the RGB lighting effect. There is also an LED ring surrounding the interior of the frame. These Vento Pro fans have strange, double-layered blades, the likes of which we have not seen before – possibly designed this way in order to optimize the air pressure/flow characteristics of the fan for use on a radiator.

The ADATA XPG Levante 360 mm AIO Cooler

The XPG Levante 360 looks, and actually is, very similar to an Asetek reference design. ADATA makes no effort to hide it and actually advertises the fact that their cooler is based on such a proven platform. It is a typical AIO cooler, mainly consisting of a large radiator and the main block, with the main block accommodating the low-profile pump inside it. The only notable charge by ADATA’s engineers was the inclusion of RGBW lighting LEDs into the block.

The black radiator is a typical dual-pass cross-flow design, with tiny fins soldered on thin oblong tubes and space for three 120 mm fans. It is the classic radiator that is used by most AIO coolers, regardless of whether they are based on the Asetek reference design or not. It has been many years since it was first introduced but it still remains unbeaten in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness.

The block itself is very small and round, hinting that ADATA did not stray at all from the reference design. The XPG brand's logo can be seen at the top, illuminated by RGBW LEDs that are installed under it. The L-shaped hose connectors offer a little bit of adjustment.

Most of the main block is made out of plastic, with the obvious exception of the contact plate, which is made out of copper. Although it is not machined down to a mirror finish, the circular base is very smooth and comes with the thermal paste pre-applied. Although the company offers an optional TR4 socket adapter for the cooler, the circular base is not large enough to cover the die(s) of Threadripper processors. It would work but we advise against using it on an sTR4 processor.

The RGBW lighting on the fans of the Levante 360 is visually magnificent. It is difficult to capture the effect in pictures but the light is diffused excellently and the circular ring surrounding the blades creates a crisp lighting effect. The lighting is untethered from the fan’s engines, meaning that it will not be affected by the speed of the fans and even continue if the fans stop completely. The downside of this design is the number of cables, which can make cable management a bit of a challenge, especially with cases that have little to no room behind the right-side panel.

Testing Methodology

Although the testing of a cooler appears to be a simple task, that could not be much further from the truth. Proper thermal testing cannot be performed with a cooler mounted on a single chip, for multiple reasons. Some of these reasons include the instability of the thermal load and the inability to fully control and or monitor it, as well as the inaccuracy of the chip-integrated sensors. It is also impossible to compare results taken on different chips, let alone entirely different systems, which is a great problem when testing computer coolers, as the hardware changes every several months. Finally, testing a cooler on a typical system prevents the tester from assessing the most vital characteristic of a cooler, its absolute thermal resistance.

The absolute thermal resistance defines the absolute performance of a heatsink by indicating the temperature rise per unit of power, in our case in degrees Celsius per Watt (°C/W). In layman's terms, if the thermal resistance of a heatsink is known, the user can assess the highest possible temperature rise of a chip over ambient by simply multiplying the maximum thermal design power (TDP) rating of the chip with it. Extracting the absolute thermal resistance of a cooler however is no simple task, as the load has to be perfectly even, steady and variable, as the thermal resistance also varies depending on the magnitude of the thermal load. Therefore, even if it would be possible to assess the thermal resistance of a cooler while it is mounted on a working chip, it would not suffice, as a large change of the thermal load can yield much different results.

Appropriate thermal testing requires the creation of a proper testing station and the use of laboratory-grade equipment. Therefore, we created a thermal testing platform with a fully controllable thermal energy source that may be used to test any kind of cooler, regardless of its design and or compatibility. The thermal cartridge inside the core of our testing station can have its power adjusted between 60 W and 340 W, in 2 W increments (and it never throttles). Furthermore, monitoring and logging of the testing process via software minimizes the possibility of human errors during testing. A multifunction data acquisition module (DAQ) is responsible for the automatic or the manual control of the testing equipment, the acquisition of the ambient and the in-core temperatures via PT100 sensors, the logging of the test results and the mathematical extraction of performance figures.

Finally, as noise measurements are a bit tricky, their measurement is being performed manually. Fans can have significant variations in speed from their rated values, thus their actual speed during the thermal testing is being recorded via a laser tachometer. The fans (and pumps, when applicable) are being powered via an adjustable, fanless desktop DC power supply and noise measurements are being taken 1 meter away from the cooler, in a straight line ahead from its fan engine. At this point we should also note that the Decibel scale is logarithmic, which means that roughly every 3 dB(A) the sound pressure doubles. Therefore, the difference of sound pressure between 30 dB(A) and 60 dB(A) is not "twice as much" but nearly a thousand times greater. The table below should help you cross-reference our test results with real-life situations.

The noise floor of our recording equipment is 30.2-30.4 dB(A), which represents a medium-sized room without any active noise sources. All of our acoustic testing takes place during night hours, minimizing the possibility of external disruptions.

*noise levels above this are not suggested for daily use

Testing Results, Maximum Fan Speed

Our maximum speed testing is performed with both the fans and the pump of the kit powered via a 12V DC source. This input voltage should have the pump and fans matching the speed ratings of the manufacturer. The Vento Pro fans rotate at just their rated speed, with our tachometer reading 2000 RPM. There was no difference between the three fans, hinting that the quality control is excellent.

The thermal performance of the XPG Levante 360 shows that the cooler performs about the same as other similarly-sized solutions, particularly those based on Asetek's reference design. The average thermal resistance of 0.0768 °C/W does not inspire awe for a cooler with such a massive radiator, but as one might expect, it's very close to the performance of other recent coolers with 360 mm radiators, which also puts it ahead of older coolers.

Three powerful 120 mm fans provide great airflow but they give a significant handicap to the Levante 360 when it comes to acoustics. With all three fans running at their maximum speed, we took a reading of 40.5 dB(A). This is not a bad figure for a cooler with three fans, but there are coolers that do it better, and such a loud cooler is not particularly comfortable for continuous use.

Testing Results, Low Fan Speed

Using a PWM voltage regulator, we reduced the speed of the fans manually down to half their rated speed, which is 1000 RPM for the Vento Pro 120 mm fans. The pump was also connected on the same power source, functioning properly at this low-speed setting.

This test initially suggests that the new XPG Levante 360 is significantly superior than older similarly sized coolers. With an average thermal permittance of 0.1036 °C/W, the Levante 360 is measurably better than older 360 mm coolers, such as the Fractal Design Celsius S36. However, a closer inspection reveals that the Levante 360 achieves this performance with its fans running at significantly higher speeds and, albeit the difference is minor, it does run louder.

The noise output of the XPG Levante 360 under these operating conditions is 34.5 dB(A), a figure that is slightly audible but definitely comfortable for continuous use. The upside is that the pump is entirely silent, with no whining sounds or any form of noise coming from it, electromechanical or otherwise. The end result is that these noise figures are good for a cooler with three 120 mm fans, especially high-speed fans such as the Vento Pro.

Thermal Resistance VS Sound Pressure Level

During our thermal resistance vs. sound pressure level test, we maintain a steady 100W thermal load and assess the overall performance of the coolers by taking multiple temperature and sound pressure level readings within the operating range of the stock cooling fans. The result is a graph that depicts the absolute thermal resistance of the cooler in comparison to the noise generated. For both the sound pressure level and absolute thermal resistance readings, lower figures are better.

The graph displays that the XPG Levante 360 is a significant upgrade over older designs, capable of delivering significantly better thermal performance at the same sound pressure level. On the other hand, it brawls to compete with other recent releases of 360 mm radiator coolers, which tend to perform a little better and are capable of reaching lower thermal resistance figures. Compared to those coolers, the biggest advantage of the XPG Levante 360 is that it is capable of reaching lower noise levels, allowing the cooler to reach nearly inaudible noise figures while still delivering effective cooling performance.

Conclusion

ADATA has been taking huge diversification steps in recent years. Some of them appear very well calculated, while a few may be overestimating the product's market potential. From our point of view, the XPG Levante series, which is the first and only AIO cooler series that the company currently offers, is running the risk of ending up the latter.

The XPG Levante 360 bases its effectiveness and competitiveness on the proven reliability and dependability of Asetek's cooling platform. It is factual that these designs have been proven time and time again to be extremely reliable and good all-around performers. And the XPG Levante 360 is no exception to that rule, as it is an immaculately made product, free of imperfections. ADATA’s engineers apparently chose, and rightfully so, not to meddle with a proven design. As a result, the only major difference between the XPG Levante 360 and Asetek’s reference design is the advanced Vento Pro fans.

But because the market already has plenty of Asetek-derived AIO coolers, ADATA still needed to do something to set the cooler apart in the eyes of consumers. And since the Vento Pro fans are the only major performance differentiator between this AIO cooler and countless Asetek clones, ADATA's marketing department is relying on the fans to be that X factor – and arguably stumbling over themselves in the process.

Case in point: ADATA is using a rather poorly designed graph to promote the capabilities of the fans; one that is likely to do more harm than good for the company. The graph groups CFM and dB(A) – linear and logarithmic figures respectively – on the same axis in order to speciously suggest extraordinary airflow performance. The Vento Pro fans are by all means excellent fans, but contrary to ADATA's statistician-unapproved marketing, they're not that good.

Cooling performance aside, arguably the primary selling point of the XPG Levante 360 is its addressable RGB lighting. The company’s engineers did a great job there as well, as the visual effect of the RGBW LEDs on the fan’s blades and rims is outstanding. While the lighting of the company’s logo on the main block itself is not as impressive, it is good as well. If your motherboard does not support addressable RGB lighting, ADATA includes a basic controller that will get the job done, albeit it would force the user to open the case in order to change any settings.

Overall, the XPG Levante 360 is a well-made, large AIO cooler with addressable RGB lighting. It performs very well overall, with a good performance-to-noise ratio and a well-implemented lighting system. But, for better or worse, the same can be said about several other coolers on the market. The end result is that the XPG Levante isn't able to do enough to set itself apart from the competition – it's a commodity product in the truest sense: it's more than fit for purpose, but it's as unremarkable as a dozen other 360 RGB coolers also on the market.

As a result, we have no problem recommending the XPG Levante 360 – its performance and feature set make it a very good and reliable cooler – we just can't recommend it over the other coolers on the market. And as ADATA isn't looking to undercut the market here on pricing – selling the cooler at around $180 – the XPG Levante 360 cooler ultimately finds itself stuck in the middle of a market full of similarly excellent coolers.