Asus' costly AMOLED liquid cooler suffers from cooling degradation — company offers replacements for affected units

ROG Ryuo IV SLC 360 ARGB
(Image credit: Asus)

The ROG Ryuo IV SLC 360 ARGB is one of the more visually striking all-in-one liquid coolers on the market and is probably capable of competing with the best CPU coolers. Nevertheless, Asus has found that some units have experienced reduced thermal performance. Therefore, the company is providing free replacements for impacted customers.

Asus reports that the affected ROG RYUO IV SLC 360 ARGB liquid coolers experience decreased cooling efficiency when exposed to prolonged high temperatures. The manufacturer indicates that this issue arises only when temperatures exceed 90 degrees Celsius for approximately 72 hours or more. However, under typical conditions ranging from 40 to 45 degrees Celsius, the cooling performance of the ROG RYUO IV SLC 360 ARGB is not compromised.

As stated in the FAQ, Asus assesses each ROG RYUO IV SLC 360 ARGB liquid cooler according to industry standards, which include a 72-hour aging test at 70 degrees Celsius. Therefore, operating the liquid cooler at temperatures exceeding 90 degrees for extended periods, like 72 hours, clearly falls outside its specifications. This scenario does not reflect typical usage conditions. Nonetheless, enthusiasts and overclockers often push their processor overclocks to the limit during long testing sessions.

Asus has not disclosed the technical reasons for the issues with the ROG RYUO IV SLC 360 ARGB. At this point, we can only assume it may be a manufacturing defect. Fortunately, this issue does not pose a risk to the other components of your system since it is related solely to performance.

Sadly, the issue isn't limited to a small number of units. Asus asserts that the problem is global, impacting devices with serial numbers that begin with T4 and have digits in positions 9 to 12 that fall within the specified ranges:

  • 1689 - 1932
  • 2025 - 2888
  • 2961 - 2998
  • 3193 - 3242 

However, if you have a ROG RYUO IV SLC 360 ARGB liquid cooler from the defective batch, you should contact Asus for a replacement. If you're unsure, you can always input the serial number of your liquid cooler in the tool at the bottom of Asus' FAQ page.

The ROG RYUO IV SLC 360 ARGB liquid cooler is not yet available at major U.S. retailers. However, Asus has released it internationally, with prices ranging from $300 to $400.

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Zhiye Liu
News Editor and Memory Reviewer

Zhiye Liu is a news editor and memory reviewer at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM.

  • Amdlova
    My cooler master V6-GT with 14 years says hello
    Reply
  • Lamarr the Strelok
    Best part of the article is the last sentence that tells the price.Please writers: tell us the price of things when reporting or reviewing stuff.
    It sucks because Asus was such a good company.They're slowly dying it seems.
    Reply
  • edzieba
    Therefore, operating the liquid cooler at temperatures exceeding 90 degrees for extended periods, like 72 hours, clearly falls outside its specifications. This scenario does not reflect typical usage conditions.
    With many CPUs having a TJMax above 90°C (e.g. 95°C for most Ryven CPUs), and boosting clocks to the thermal limit and then throttling to maintain that limit being the standard operating procedure for CPUs for the last decade, operating temperatures of 90°C are not outside the norm at all.
    One might claim that CPUs won't be under load for extended periods, but these coolers are clearly intended as displaypieces. A PC on display using one of these will not just be idling, it will be running a game in demo mode, which means protected periods at max temperature.
    Reply