TRYX STAGE 360 Review – A Showpiece On Its Own

Unboxing

TRYX is back with another cooling product, and just like the first model it introduced, there’s something new about the new TRYX STAGE 360 AIO cooler: a cube-shaped display with a space to showcase models or ornaments, hence the name; the box design is more conventional this time in which opening the box immediately reveals the parts for assembly, with the fans already pre-installed for you to save time.

Unlike the PANORAMA SE, the cooler is split into more parts, with a lot more standoff screws, socket screws, and different brackets for each processor types. Also new is the magnetic fan headers which helps with cabling, though on the contrary, you’re given the same TRYX a-01 thermal paste as before (which comes pre-applied).

Walkaround

Structure-wise, the radiator side is more or less the same, while the pump is a whole lot more interesting to look at. For starters, the cubic display structure attaches magnetically to the pump through three positioning slots – an improvement over the PANORAMA coolers – sitting on top of the slim pump block responsible for the cooling.

The pump itself comes pre-installed with the Intel socket bracket, which uses a rotating lock mechanism to secure itself, as far as we can tell, it’s using a similar if not the same Asetek pump (TRYX didn’t specify which model was used) to keep the liquid flowing. The small notch on the pump is for the display’s additional locking mechanism which we’ll explain in a bit; connection-wise, the pump only requires PWM, while the display requires not just USB 2.0, but also a SATA power connection to drive the cube’s two 4-inch IPS displays and its onboard dual-core processor.

The cube’s displays are situated on both sides, whereas the bottom serves two functions: by default, it’s a mirror which provides extra visual effects on both screens, but you can physically flip the plate into a plain anodized aluminum base if that’s what you want. Behind the assembly you’ll find a screw acting as the locking mechanism so it doesn’t fall off if you’re transporting the PC case elsewhere, adding an additional safety mechanism in case the pump block’s magnets couldn’t secure it properly.

Small detail: TRYX’s branding has this space-y themes, so on the display cube you’ll find a laser-engraved anodized aluminum shell displaying redacted “mining log” on the planet of Proxima Centauri b. Fun fact – this planet exists, and it’s the closest known exoplanet to Earth at just 4.24 light year away. Seemingly, the STAGE AIO is some sort of extraterrestrial artifact according to TRYX’s lore.

On the radiator side, TRYX gives the AIO a trio of its ROTA SL 120 ARGB fans, which fixes one aesthetic pain points of the original ROTA found in PANORAMA coolers. Instead of the “ponytail” cable design, all fans are now connected using pogo pins, which carries both PWM and ARGB signal into a magnetic adapter that splits into traditional headers that connect to motherboards.

Here’s how the cooler looks like when installed and powered on – the dual 4-inch, 720 x 720 IPS displays can be configured to display content individually or combined together, while the mirror at the bottom servers extra visual effects. The dual-core processor onboard handles the display and system monitoring, which means no processing power is taken away from the host system short for sending the necessary telemetry to display the system metrics.

Specifications

TRYX STAGE 360 (L-S360A-DM3M-G0W)

Full specifications available on product webpage.

CPU socket compatibility		Intel: LGA1851/1700/1200/1151/1150/1155/1156 AMD: Socket AM5/AM4
Radiator dimensions		Unspecified
Radiator tubing		420mm EPDM sleeved
Fan(s)	Model	3x TRYX ROTA SL 120 ARGB (Pre-installed)
	Size	120 x 120 x 25 mm
	Speed	500~1850 (±10%) RPM
	Airflow	65.64 CFM
	Pressure	2.49 mmH₂O
	Noise	28.87 dBA
Pump/Block	Block Type	Asetek Pump
	Size	Unspecified
	Pump Speed	800~2800 (±10%) RPM
	Flow Rate	Unspecified
	Noise	25.3 dbA
Onboard display		Magnetically-attached perpendicular dual 4-inch IPS display 720 x 720 resolution (254 PPI), 8-bit (16.7M) color Onboard dual-core processor
Included accessories		12x Radiator screws 4x Intel LGA1200/115x standoff screws 4x Intel LGA1851/1700 standoff screws 4x AMD standoff screws 4x AMD standoff collars 4x Pump locking screws 1x Intel pump bracket (pre-installed) 1x Intel backplate 1x AMD pump bracket 1x TRYX a-01 thermal paste (2g) 2x Velcro tapes 1x Magnetic PWM/ARGB pogo cable 1x User manual

Test System

CPU	Intel Core i9-13900K
Cooling	> TRYX STAGE 360 Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut
Motherboard	ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Dark Hero
GPU	NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Founders Edition
Memory	ADATA XPG CASTER DDR5-6000 CL30 (2x16GB) *configured to DDR5-6400 CL32
Storage	ADATA LEGEND 960 MAX 1TB
Power Supply	Cooler Master MWE Gold 1250 V2 Full Modular (ATX12V 2.52) 1250W
Case	VECTOR Bench Case (Open-air chassis) Cooler Master MasterBox 600
Operating System	Windows 11 Home 24H2

Installation

For our build, we use LGA1700 for Intel 13th/14th Gen processors, which requires items shown in the photo above. Note that the backplate can be adjusted between LGA1200/LGA115x (75x75mm) and LGA1700/1851 (78x78mm) dimensions by pushing the four sliders past the notch. For AMD systems, simply proceed by removing the built-in socket brackets on AM4/AM5 motherboards.

Now is a good reminder to secure the display onto the pump first. Once installed into the system, there’s a good chance your motherboard’s VRM will block access to this lock, so make sure to push the lock upwards into the ‘LOCK’ position before you start the pump installation process.

Depending on your CPU, you’ll need the corresponding standoff screw, pump bracket, or washers; the installation process usually involves screwing the standoffs into the bracket (Intel) / motherboard (AMD, with washers in-between), install the pump, then secure it using the bracket screws. Connect the ARGB, PWM, and SATA cables, and you’re good to go.

Performance

We have some interesting conclusions from testing the TRYX STAGE cooler. For one, the cooler seems to perform slightly worse on a top-mounted position inside the case (with plenty of cool air given), though it’s only by a small margin, with sufficient thermal headroom to work with. Front-mounted configuration shows no difference in thermals when compared to the other TRYX AIO we tested, along with our current bench rig’s AIO cooler.

We should note that recent BIOS updates on the Intel 13th/14th Gen platforms seems to cause the processor to load less predictably, which causes the plot lines to spike and dip a lot more than before. Still, when it comes to maximum power draw from the available cooling capacity, the front-mounted configuration generally sits somewhere 320-330 watts, while the top-mounted configuration limits the CPU to around 300-310 watts sustained. To be clear, that’s still more than the 280W figure TRYX has claimed, so we’re not complaining here.

In terms of fan noise, it’s excellent – apart from full speed being a tad louder than the TRYX PANORAMA SE, 70% and below made it significantly quieter while still capable of keeping everything cool. A further drop to 50% speed doesn’t reduce much of the noise as it approaches our office’s noise floor, though it manage to be the quietest AIO we’ve tested thus far.

Small caveat, though: the pump does produce a high-pitch noise over a certain speed (starting at around 50%), which may be slightly noticeable even when installed inside a PC case. We’ve attached an audio file above so you can hear for yourself (note – the audio has been boosted in volume).

*Note: Since the TRYX STAGE cooler comes with the same bundled thermal paste (TRYX ɑ-01) as the PANORAMA SE 360 ARGB we previously reviewed, refer to our test results for the thermal paste by clicking on this text.

Software

KANALI is what you’ll use to configure the AIO’s displays, which, besides the three presets by default, you are given the option to display whatever of your liking under the ‘Customization’ tab. Both modes allow you to enable telemetry display, and you can select up to six (three per screen); as mentioned earlier, you can either combine the two displays to show a single content, or have them displaying individual video loops as well. Whatever you upload to the AIO will be stored on its onboard storage, as to avoid using the host system’s resources for playback.

Verdict

So, how much will you be paying for the TRYX STAGE 360? The official local MSRP is RM999 (same price for both Black and White versions), making it slightly cheaper than its more powerful sibling, the PANORAMA SE 360. As a cooler, it’s a pretty decent performer good enough to handle most CPUs with ease, where even the worst-case-scenario of Intel Core Ultra 9 285K under 295W mode should still be manageable for its 360mm kit.

The reason you’ll be buying this is not for its performance specifically, but rather its showmanship. Those who likes to decorate their PCs will certainly be having a field day over this kind of design, and so far we have not seen anything employing this kind of form factor on AIO coolers. On the mechanical side, we find no issues in terms of installation and setup process – it’s generally well thought out, avoiding mistakes found on the previous TRYX cooler we tested.

So, an immediate win for TRYX? We believe so.

Special thanks to Sun Cycle Sdn Bhd (TRYX local distributor) for providing the TRYX STAGE 360 cooler for this review.