CrashGamingTTV

I've been in the market recently for a 360mm AIO and after considering all the options, I decided on going with the Deepcool Castle 360. While I really like the aesthetic of the NZXT Kraken coolers, I refuse to use them for one reason — the CAM software provided by NZXT for controlling RGB and fan speeds is quite literally malware. Just by using CAM, you opt-in for NZXT's data collection. Every minute, data is uploaded from your PC to NZXT's servers and downloaded to your PC — so much so that users report gigabytes of data uploaded a month. Now, NZXT isn't selling this data they say, however they do use it ambiguously to further their products. Any person who even slightly values their privacy would not find this acceptable. Even if they reduced the amount of data uploaded/downloaded, the user still has no idea what the contents are, making it very questionable. Now, there is a silver lining. NZXT is in the process of re-working CAM and the next version should have a way to disable these metrics, although it will cause you to lose some features. There are definitely other 360mm AIOs that I considered, but this was my thought process for them: 1. Asus ROG Ryujin 360 - One of my top picks as I have a Asus ROG Ryuo 120 in my system already, but the aesthetic on this one is a bit bulky imo and I don't need the added noise or cooling from the VRM fan. 2. Corsair H150i Pro - Slightly older CPU cooler, the CPU block doesn't look quite as good. 3. Thermaltake Floe Riing RGB 360 TT Premium Edition - Great price for a 360mm AIO, but the CPU block doesn't look great with it being completely branding. 4. Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360R RGB - Again, a decently priced 360mm AIO ruined by branding. 5. Deepcool Captain 360EX - Significant reports of this cooler breaking and leaking. 6. Alphacool Eisbaer 360/420 - Was tempted to go with this one due to the expandability, but the aesthetic isn't great and there are a decent amount of reports about leaking. All in all, I settled on the Deepcool Castle 360 for the following reasons: 1. Great aesthetic, I love the double pane design with the cylindrical block and the fact that it's compatible with both Asus Aura and Gigabyte RGB Fusion (not to mention MSI or ASRock's RGB software). 2. Deepcool has a good reputation when it comes to damaged components; they're known for covering the cost of damaged components due to product faults in the past. 3. The cooling should be practically the same as any other 360mm AIO as it's just another pump in block design.