Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Review

Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Overview
Hatching everything from it’s cardboard shells, we find that all of the parts are also enclosed in plastic bags. This includes of course the radiator and pump as well as the individual 140mm fans. Removing all the hardware from the bags, you will find everything needed for an easy installation in all modern CPU sockets. Additionally you get a rubber fan shroud, a manual, and a warranty card.

Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Overview Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Overview

For fans Cooler Master has included a pair of their own making, the MasterFan Pro 140 AP. This pair is of course 140mm in size, 25mm thick and features rubber sound dampening at the attachment points. The frames are black high impact plastic while the blades are a semi transparent grey that almost looks brown in certain lights. You will find four pin PWM connectors at the end of braided cables for speed control, but additionally they both have switches built into the motors to adjust the speed between Silent, Quiet, and Performance. They claim speeds from 650-2800rpm resulting in 46.2-82.2CFMs of air flow and between 1.59-5.28mmH20 of static pressure. With our rather thin radiator this should be plenty of flow and more than enough pressure.

pro-280-12 pro-280-14

Moving to the AiO itself, we have a nice large 280mm radiator finished in matte black paint attached to our dual chamber pump via thick sleeved tubing. The middle of one side of the radiator features the Cooler Master logo and the name of the AiO in white. While very simple, it stands out quite well and looks pretty good. It’s a little odd that CM chose not to do the same with the other side of the radiator.

Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Overview Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Overview

This aluminum radiator is only 27mm thick, definitely on the thin side for watercooling radiators, but very standard for AiOs. Being so thin it has a pretty high fin per inch count and a slightly more square than normal fin design. The square design is intended to give the fins more contact with the cores of the radiator that carry the water. Whether true or not it ends up giving the rad a slightly more uniform look than others. At the inlet and outlet connections you will find the sleeving is connected with heat shrink at both ends. Going by feel it seems to be a decent diameter soft rubber tubing beneath that black sleeving. The length of the tubing is not listed by CM anywhere, we guess that it’s right around 12” or slightly longer. Basically it’s enough length to top mount the cooler in a standard mid tower, but that’s about it.

Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Overview Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Overview

We are already familiar with the pump at the end of the tubing as it’s the same one used in the Pro 240. For those new to this pump design it is about twice as tall as most current AiO pumps on the market due to it’s unique dual chamber design. Basically in one chamber you have the pump making contact with incoming cooler water which it then sprays on the water block that collects heat from the CPU and whisks it away to the radiator without ever contacting the pump. The idea is stronger flow and a longer life for the radiator thanks to lower operating temperatures.

Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler

One side features the inlet and connector tube, while the other has just the outlet. The pump housing can be equipped with wings for either Intel or AMD and has just a single four pin power connector. Inside the top the pump are blue LEDs which light up the CM logo etched in clear plastic.

Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler

The base or water block is all copper and protected with a sticker for shipping. Checking out the base the finish is only somewhat smooth about a “B” grade.

Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler Cooler Master MasterLiquid Pro 280 Liquid CPU Cooler