Until pretty recently, cooling storage was at best an afterthought for most enthusiasts and PC builders. When motherboards first started including heatsinks for NVMe drives, in many instances they could actually reduce the performance of an SSD compared to uncooled drives, since flash memory chips are actually designed to run warm.
But current-generation PCIe 5 SSDs can transfer more data than ever before, and with that speed comes lots of extra heat. Not only is some kind of cooling recommended for current PCIe 5 SSDs, it’s often a requirement. These drives will throttle in many workloads without some sort of heat dissipation, and in some instances they can crash without proper cooling.
Manufacturers have been creating many new and unique coolers to tackle this problem, like Thermalright’s unique HR-10 2280 Pro which utilizes both heatpipes and a fan to keep a modern drive cool.
Today we’ll be looking at a unique 360mm AIO from TeamGroup, which cools both your CPU and an M.2 SSD. As such, we’ll be testing this TeamGroup cooler both against other liquid and air coolers like our traditional cooling reviews – but also against other SSD heatsinks.
Specs
| Cooler | TeamGroup T-Force Siren DUO360 AIO |
| MSRP | $399.99 |
| Radiator Material | Aluminum |
| Pump Speed | 4000 RPM ±10% |
| Pump Flow | 850ml/min |
| Pump MTTF | Unlisted |
| Socket Compatibility | Intel LGA 1700/115x/1200/1366/2011(v3)/2066 |
| Row 7 – Cell 0 | AMD: AM5/AM4/FM2(+)/FM1/AM3(+)/AM2(+) |
| Base (CPU & SSD) | Copper |
| Max TDP (Our Testing) | ~250W on Intel i7-13700K |
| Installed Size (with fans) | 396mm (L) x 120mm (W) x 52mm (D) |
| Warranty | 5 years |
Packing and Included Contents
TeamGroup’s T-Force Siren DUO360 arrives in a box similar is size to most other 360mm AIOs, using molded foam, cardboard, and plastic for the protection.
Included with the package are the following:
- Three 120mm fans
- 360mm radiator with CPU & SSD blocks
- Thermal paste
- PWM splitter cable
- ARGB splitter
- Screwdriver
- Thermal pads
- Cable management Velcro strap
- Mounts for all modern CPUs
LGA 1700 Cooler Installation
The installation of this unique cooler is easy enough, but it does have some compatibility issues with motherboards, which we’ll detail below.
1. As with other AIOs, I would advise installing the fans to the radiator and securing the radiator to your computer case prior to other installation steps. In most cases, this makes the rest of installation easier.
2. Intel users will begin by pressing the backplate against the motherboard and securing it by screwing in the mounting standoffs from the front side of the motherboard.
3. Next, attach the mounting brackets to the CPU block, and then apply thermal paste to the CPU.
4. Place the CPU block on top of the standoffs and secure it with the included screws.
5. Now it’s time to get the SSD block installed.
This part is where motherboard compatibility can be tricky. To prevent the cooler’s SSD block from causing compatibility issues with other parts, you’ll need to have an M.2 slot directly below the CPU, and one specifically with its data/pin connections facing the front of your computer case, or one that is next to the RAM slots.
Motherboards that don’t meet these requirements may have problems. I originally intended to test this unit on an ASUS TUF motherboard. On this motherboard, the pins of the m.2 connection faced the rear of the computer. The problem this created is that one of the SSD block’s tubes would either hit the VRM heatsinks, preventing installation, or the other tube would interfere with the PCIe slot below it, preventing installation of a graphics card.
Assuming you don’t have motherboard compatibility issues, installing the SSD block is relatively simple. You’ll take the base of the unit and install the first thermal pad. Then, set the M.2 SSD on top of the thermal pad and place another thermal pad on top of the SSD. In essence, you’ll end up with your SSD sandwiched between the two thermal pads.
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Next, place the base with the SSD against the SSD block and secure it with the included screwdriver. Place the lighting lid on top of the SSD block, if you prefer ARGB lighting. Finally, install the SSD block like you would a normal M.2 drive.
6. Connect the PWM and ARGB headers, and don’t forget to take off the plastic peel before turning on your computer.
Features of the T-Force Siren Duo 360 AIO
*️⃣ SSD cooling block
The stand-out feature of the Siren Duo 360 is the inclusion of an SSD block, which allows the AIO to cool both the CPU and a modern SSD. It, like the CPU block, utilizes a full copper base for ideal thermal efficiency. Is this just a gimmick, or does it actually serve a purpose? We’ll find out soon in the thermal benchmarks section.
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*️⃣Pure copper contact plate
This AIO arrives with a pure copper CPU contact plate, like most others on the market.
*️⃣Fully rotatable tubing
The tubing of the liquid cooler can be rotated in any direction, making installation easier.
*️⃣27mm-thick radiator
The AIO includes a radiator 27mm thick. With fans installed, the thickness is a total of 52mm.
*️⃣Full RAM compatibility
As the AIO’s CPU block doesn’t overhang or interfere with a motherboard’s DIMM slots in any manner, you are free to use any size of RAM not matter how tall without any worries of incompatibility.
*️⃣Accessible refill port
While you shouldn’t need to refill this unit’s coolant at any time during the duration of it’s warranty, TeamGroup provides an accessible refill port, should you need to do so. Unlike other manufacturers, the company also doesn’t include a technically illegal “warranty void if removed” sticker on the port, to trying to scare you away from servicing your own equipment.
*️⃣Integrated radiator pump
While most AIOs on the market are based on Asetek designs, which incorporate the water pump into the CPU block, TeamGroup’s AIO utilizes a high speed pump integrated into the unit’s radiator.
*️⃣Three 120mm CF1225H12S fans
There’s more to a cooler than just the heatsink or radiator. The bundled fans have a significant impact on cooling, noise levels, and the unit’s aesthetic appeal. The fans included are listed as model CF1225H12S, which aren’t sold separately at this time. These fans sport seven blades and are designed for use with liquid cooling radiators. These fans also include helpful arrows indicating the direction they should be installed, which can be useful for new system builders.
| Model | Sickleflow Edge |
| Dimensions | 120 x 120 x 25mm |
| Fan Speed | 600- 2200RPM ± 300RPM |
| Air Flow | Up to 70.07 CFM |
| Air Pressure | Up to 3.88 mmH2O |
| Bearing Type | Unlisted |
| Lighting | ARGB |
| MFFT | Unlisted |
LGA1700 Socket Bending
Note there are many factors other than the CPU cooler that can influence your cooling performance, including the case you use and the fans installed in it. A system’s motherboard can also influence this, especially if it suffers from bending, which results in poor cooler contact with the CPU.
In order to prevent bending from impacting our cooling results, we’ve installed Thermalright’s LGA 1700 contact frame into our testing rig. If your motherboard is affected by bending, your thermal results will be worse than those shown below. Not all motherboards are affected equally by this issue. I tested Raptor Lake CPUs in two motherboards. While one showed significant thermal improvements after installing Thermalright’s LGA1700 contact frame, the other motherboard showed no difference in temperatures whatsoever. Check out our review of the contact frame for more information.
Testing Methodology
Modern high-end CPUs, whether Intel or AMD, are difficult to cool in intensive workloads. In the past reaching 95C+ on a desktop CPU might have been a cause for concern – but with today’s processors, it is considered normal operation. Similar behavior has been present in laptops for years due to cooling limitations in tight spaces.
All testing is performed with a 23C ambient room temperature. Multiple thermal tests are run on each CPU to test the cooler in a variety of conditions, and acoustic measurements are taken with each result. These tests include:
1. Noise normalized testing at low noise levels
2. “Out of the box”/Default Configuration Thermal & Acoustics Testing
a.) No power limits enforced
b.) Because CPUs hit Tjmax in this scenario, the best way to compare cooling strength is by recording the total CPU package power consumption.
3. Termal & Acoustics testing in Power Limited Scenarios
a.) Power limited to 175W to emulate a medium intensity workload
b.) Power limited to 125W to emulate a low intensity workload
The thermal results included are for 10-minute testing runs. To be sure that was sufficiently long to tax the cooler, we tested both Thermalright’s Assassin X 120 R SE and DeepCool’s LT720 with a 30-minute Cinebench test with Intel’s i9-13900K for both 10 minutes and 30 minutes. The results didn’t change much at all with the longer test: The average clock speeds maintained dropped by 29 MHz on DeepCool’s LT720 and 31 MHz on Thermalright’s Assassin X 120 R SE. That’s an incredibly small 0.6% difference in clock speeds maintained, a margin of error difference that tells us that the 10-minute tests are indeed long enough to properly test the coolers.
Testing Configuration – Intel LGA1700 Platform
| CPU | Intel Core i7-13700K |
| Motherboard | MSI Z690 A Pro DDR4 |
| Case | Be Quiet! Silent Base 802, system fans set to speed 1 setting. |
| Monitor | LG 45GR95QE |
| PSU | Cooler Master XG Plus 850 Platinum PSU |
| SSD | 2TB TeamGroup Z540 PCIe 5 SSD |
SSD Thermal Results
The only reason anyone would consider purchasing the T-Force Siren Duo 360 is for the integrated SSD water block. So we’ll start by taking a look at how it performs cooling the SSD. Before I decided what workloads I would use to test this, I had to do a bit of research, because SSD cooling testing was new to me. I spoke to experts in the storage industry to determine the best ways of testing. It was pointed out to me that the actual temperature of the unit is less important than the actual performance of the drive. In fact, you don’t want NAND to run too cold, as this reduces its lifespan.
I wound up up settling on a custom IOMeter script which is designed to hammer the controller that powers the Teamgroup Z540 PCIe 5 SSD, which I’m using in these tests. Solodigm’s Allyn Malvento described it as an “industrial workload.” Teamgroup uses Phison’s E26 controller, which can reach up to 125 degrees Celsius before throttling – making it ideal for thermal testing.
Teamgroup’s liquid cooling solution performed especially well in this torture test, with results nearly 5x faster than an uncooled SSD and 30% faster than a basic SSD heatsink – proving that liquid cooling a PCIe 5 SSD isn’t a gimmick, but can actually reap tangible performance benefits.
That said, it’s important to reiterate that this workload is a custom script designed to hammer the Phison E26 SSD controller. This is an example of a worst-case scenario, and most users’ workloads, particularly when doing common tasks like gaming or mainstream productivity work, will not be anywhere near as thermally demanding as this custom script. So while active cooling can definitely help keep performance high in PCIe 5 drives, it’s not necessary for everyone.
Intel Core i7-13700K, No Power Limits Thermal Results
Without power limits enforced on Intel’s i7-13700K, the CPU will hit its peak temperature (TJMax) and thermally throttle with even the strongest of air coolers. So for most coolers, we measure the CPU package power to determine the maximum wattage cooled. But Teamgroup’s Siren DUO360 achieves a level of cooling performance that many competing liquid coolers are unable to achieve – it kept Intel’s i7-13700K under its peak temperature in this workload. As such, I’ve compared the actual temperature of the CPU in this benchmark against the eight other liquid coolers I’ve tested capable of this level of cooling capacity.
With a result of 70 degrees C over ambient, TeamGroup’s Siren DUO360 doesn’t outperform any of the competing coolers featured here. But it’s worth remembering this is a curated list of top-tier liquid coolers. The fact that TeamGroup’s cooler is even on this list, while it’s also cooling an SSD, demonstrates that its cooling capacity is amongst the strongest on the market. Most AIOs, even 360mm AIOs, cannot keep Intel’s i7-13700K under TJMax in a maximum intensity workload.
That said, the acoustics of the Siren Duo at full fan speeds are a bit noisy, with a recorded noise level of 50 dBA. This is at the edge of what I consider comfortable, but it’s comparable to many other coolers of this class, which usually range from 48-52 dBA. If you are concerned about noise levels, the next section’s noise-normalized results show that this unique AIO excels even when the cooler is set to run quietly.
Thermal Results with noise normalized to 38.2 dBA
Finding the right balance between fan noise levels and cooling performance is important. While running fans at full speed can improve cooling capacity to some extent, the benefits are limited and many users prefer a quiet system. With this noise normalized test, I’ve set noise levels to 38.2 dba. This noise level is low, but slightly audible to most people.
The Siren Duo’s thermal results with full fan speeds weren’t very impressive, but it’s a different story when you set the fans to run quietly. Cooling 233W over the course of testing, TeamGroup’s T-Force Siren Duo 360 ties with Cooler Master’s 360 Atmos for the Thrid-best performance we’ve seen from an AIO when setting fans to run quietly.
175W Cinebench Results
Most coolers on the market are able to keep Intel’s i7-13700K under its peak temperature if the power consumption is limited. So for this test, we’ll be looking at the CPU’s actual temperature. In this test, TeamGroup’s performance was a bit disappointing, performing only a single degree better than air cooling. Then again, you probably wouldn’t (or at least shouldn’t) buy a $399 cooler to handle thermally limited workloads.
But temperatures also aren’t the only part of the story with a reduced wattage workload; noise is equally important. With a measurement of only 44.6 dBA, the Siren Duo 360 performs in the middle of the road compared to other coolers of its class. A result like this means that you don’t really need to tune your fans with this cooler if moderate noise doesn’t bother you. Only the most extreme workloads will cause the cooler to run loudly in a default configuration.
125W Cinebench Results
The lowest power limit I test with Raptor Lake CPUs is 125W. This is a high enough limit to allow the CPU to maintain its base clock speeds, even in the most intensive tests, and most coolers should be able to keep the CPU below TJMax under these conditions – even low-end coolers.
Looking at thermal performance, the result of 38 degrees C over ambient is similar to most of the other 360mm AIOs shown here. Really, thermals do not matter in this scenario. Even Intel’s basic stock cooler can handle a load like this with ease. Noise levels, rather than CPU temperature, are the most important factor here.
When it comes to acoustics, TeamGroup’s unique AIO ties with Cooler Master’s 360 Atmos in this scenario for the best results I’ve seen so far, measuring only 38.2 dBA. This is a very low noise level that shouldn’t bother anyone.
Conclusion
TeamGroup’s T-Force Siren Duo 360 answers the question of whether a PCIe 5 SSD can benefit from liquid cooling – and that answer is yes. With storage results up to 30% faster than a basic NVMe heatsink, the utility of liquid cooling SSDs is no longer in question. But that 30% advantage comes under extremely heavy workloads, so don’t think you need to invest in an active cooler for your drive if you’re just gaming or doing other basic tasks.
This, plus $399 list price of this cooler makes it impossible for me to recommend outside of the storage enthusiast realm. This cooler (or other future models like it) need a price reduction of $100 or more before their makes can expect more widespread adoption.