Installation

Installing the cooler is not difficult, but AQIRYS does have some improvements to make. No manual is included and staring at an over-cluttered manual on a smartphone isn't ideal. That said, the first step is to prepare the HYDRA 360 for installation, which means attaching the necessary brackets—in this case AMD—as shown. Then install the fans and try your best to deal with the cable clutter. While the fans are daisy-chainable, the excess wiring means you will need to take some time and clean things up before moving forward. After that is done prepare the AM5 socket by removing the plastic AMD mounting brackets.


Now install the AMD standoffs by screwing them into the motherboard backplate. Once done apply thermal paste and then secure the pump to the motherboard. On AM4 you will need to add the included washers while on AM5 they are not needed. However, beyond that the mounting process is the same for both sockets.


Now you can mount the radiator and then plug everything in, once done you're good to go.

Overall, the installation is easy enough on AMD and Intel, with no real complications. However, the mounting hardware feels more complex and has far more parts than the competition. The online manual being overly cluttered doesn't help either. While the process of installing the cooler isn't terrible, there is definite room for improvement here.